A Small Tribute to Professor Asima Chatterjee, One of the Brightest Stars in the Galaxy of Organic Chemistry Amrit Krishna Mitra* Department of Chemistry, Government General Degree College, Singur Hooghly, West Bengal, Pin: 712409, India * Correspondence: Email:
[email protected]; Telephone: +91-33-2630-0126 Unedited version published online on 25/8/2021 Abstract Professor Asima Chatterjee was one of the few Indian women scientists who have been duly recognized during their lifetime for their brilliance. She isolated a significant number of natural products from several plant species indigenous to the Indian subcontinent and unravelled the mystery of their structures by simple chemical transformations, spectroscopic and degradative procedures. The development of new synthetic methodologies, discovery of reaction mechanisms and study of chemotaxonomy and medicinal applications of isolated molecules deserve huge praise definitely keeping in mind the infrastructure available in an Indian university in those days. She was honoured with many prestigious national awards. She supervised 59 Ph.D. and 3 D.Sc. students and had 328 publications to her credit. Thus, the legacy of this dedicated scientist in the research field of Synthetic Organic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry continued among her students. 25/8/2021 The article aims to portray the life and research of Professor Chatterjeeon in a brief manner to the young minds of all branches of science. online published version Unedited Keywords: Asima Chatterjee, Natural Product, Alkaloids, Coumarins, Indole, Chemotaxonomy, Medicinal Applications. I. Introduction ―I wish to work as long as I live.‖ --- Professor Asima Chatterjee Since time immemorial, India has been famous for its rich and valued contributions to the field of science.