Yves Chauvin (1930–2015) Nobel-Prizewinning Chemist Who Rearranged Carbon–Carbon Bonds

OBITUARY COMMENT Yves Chauvin (1930–2015) Nobel-prizewinning chemist who rearranged carbon–carbon bonds.

he impact of Yves Chauvin’s experiment, he reacted two types work across the chemi- of olefin (cyclic and non-cyclic) cal industries is mind- to show that the resulting prod- Tboggling. By dissecting how ucts combined fragments of both. carbon–carbon bonds shift in reac- He deduced that the molecular tions of petroleum compounds, swaps were not symmetrical, as Chauvin revealed the steps in one was commonly assumed, but were ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/GETTY of organic chemistry’s most impor- orchestrated by the formation of a tant reactions: metathesis. This temporary hydrocarbon ring con- Nobel-prizewinning work laid taining the metal catalyst. Other the path for chemical processes chemists, notably Robert Grubbs that are now used to make every- and Richard Schrock, with whom thing from pesticides to drugs. His Chauvin shared the 2005 Nobel proudest achievement, however, Prize in Chemistry, used this was developing crucial processes in insight to improve and develop the oil and plastics industries, now industrial reactions that under- used to produce millions of tonnes pin much of ‘green’ chemistry — of compounds each year. efficient industrial processes that Chauvin, who died on produce little waste. 27 January, was born in 1930 in When Chauvin retired from the Belgium, close to the border with IFP in 1995, he came to work in France. His French parents sent my surface organometallic chem- him across the border daily to istry laboratory at the University primary school; when his family of Lyon. He would regularly catch returned to France, Chauvin fin- the 5 a.m. train from his home in ished his education in Paris. His Tours to be at the bench by 8 a.m. summers were spent in a large family house higher temperatures and often produces Chauvin’s later collaborations adapted in Tours, in France’s Loire Valley, where he toxic by-products. homogeneous catalysis to ionic liquids, lived out the end of his life. The work led to the invention of pro- which can be effectively applied to a vari- After finishing his undergraduate degree cesses that are now central to the petro ety of reactions, and their products — used in chemical engineering in 1954 at Lyon’s chemical industry. The dimersol and for many industrial purposes — are readily college of industrial chemistry (École Supé- difasol processes pair smaller hydrocarbons isolated from the catalyst. rieure de Chimie Industrielle de Lyon), he to ‘octane boosters’ added to petrol or, in Yves’s scientific virtuosity was tempered began working at the French chemical com- a modified version, to the starting mate- with humility. He was reluctant to go to pany Progil (now part of Sanofi), where he rial for plasticizers, additives that increase Stockholm in 2005 because he felt that his met his wife, Huguette Labarre. the plasticity or fluidity of a material. The contribution was less than that of Grubbs Chauvin said that he regretted that mili- alphabutol process combines carbon mol- and Schrock, who made metathesis reac- tary service and other circumstances kept ecules to make feedstocks and additives for tions broadly practical. He balanced fun- him from pursuing a PhD. But he also felt everything from lubricants to plastics. damental and applied research, producing that not having one freed his mind to con- Chauvin continued to develop homoge- more than 100 papers and 130 patents. sider a broad range of topics. He resigned neous catalysis. He solved a major prob- Yves was always young at heart. He from Progil after two years because lem: the separation of the catalyst from never missed his 16-kilometre weekly managers demanded that he simply copy the reaction medium, drawing on his hike or failed to read the weekly edition procedures without exploring ideas from knowledge of batteries to develop ionic of Chemical Abstracts. His deep curiosity other fields. liquids as new solvents. was equalled by a knowledge and intuition In 1960, he moved to his scientific home Although Chauvin’s name became syn- that made him a fantastic inventor. Yves for the next 40 years, the French Institute of onymous with the process of homogeneous is deeply missed, both as a friend and as a Petroleum (IFP) near Paris. Here, Chauvin catalysis, he is best known for working out great scientist. ■ devoted himself to accelerating the pro- the steps of the intricate molecular dance duction of chemicals by a process known as known as olefin metathesis. Here, fragments Jean-Marie Basset is director of the KAUST homogeneous catalysis. In this procedure, of olefins — molecules containing double- Catalysis Center at the King Abdullah all components are dissolved in a solution, bonded carbon atoms — swap places with University of Science and Technology enabling fine control and the ability to work each other, much as dancing couples swap in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. He ran the with large volumes of chemicals at relatively partners. The genius of Chauvin was to laboratory at the University of Lyon in low temperatures. He bucked the trend in co-opt ideas from a very different chemical France where Yves Chauvin worked from petrochemistry that then favoured catalysis process called ring-opening polymerization. 1996 to 2009. on solid substrates, a technique that requires In a simple but ground-breaking e-mail: [email protected]