PERSONAL NEWS

Richard F. Heck (1931–2015)

An obituary

Richard Heck, one of the most renowned Tsutomu Mirozoki, whose work Heck retirement. His colleagues and friends chemists of our time, died on 9 October improved in 1972. fondly remember Heck as a simple, un- 2015 at Manila, Philippines. He is best This is inarguably one of the most im- derstanding and a humble person who known for the discovery and develop- portant chemical reactions developed in disliked public attention. His modest life ment of the Heck reaction, he was a re- this century. The Heck reaction became in the Philippines belied his accom- cipient of the coveted Nobel Prize for indispensable for the pharmaceutical plishments in the scientific world. Chemistry in the year 2010, shared with industry in the fields of drug manufac- Heck had survived prostate cancer and the Japanese chemists Ei-ichi Negishi ture and drug delivery for illnesses like had also been suffering from several and Akira Suzuki. ailments such as diabetes, chronic Heck was born in Springfield, Massa- obstructive pulmonary disease and liver chusetts, USA in 1931. It is said that as a cirrhosis when he died. child, he was interested in plants, their ‘If you would not be forgotten as soon nutrients and pigments, and used to pon- as you are gone, either write things worth der on the chemical composition of the reading or do things worth writing,’ fertilizers his family used for gardening. quotes Benjamin Franklin. Richard Heck This penchant for chemistry right from a was one such true stalwart of science, young age led him to take up chemistry who will always be remembered and in high school. Heck obtained his Bache- written about as his life and work stand lor’s degree in chemistry from the Uni- testimony to his legacy. versity of California, Los Angeles in An excerpt from Heck’s speech at 1952, and later also pursued his doctoral DLSU, which may very well have served degree there. as his last words, is as follows: ‘I find His ground-breaking work on the my meaning as a scientist in what I have palladium-catalysed cross-coupling of asthma, migraine, HIV, cancer, and been able to make of my country, in what carbon atoms was initially propounded in many more. DNA sequencing was revo- I have been able to contribute to signifi- 1968, when Heck was employed at Her- lutionized after incorporating the Heck cantly better the lives of people across cules, a chemicals and munitions manu- reaction to mark the DNA bases with cultures and societies. I find my meaning facturing company in Wilmington, organic dyes. Another important applica- in what I can bequeath to this world, Delaware, USA. He put forth a method tion of the reaction is in the production when the glory and splendour of a cele- involving the use of palladium as a cata- of organic light-emitting diodes for elec- brated achievement begins to wane, lyst to create bonds between carbon tronic display screens. when I would have to finally desert this atoms. Creation of complex organic Heck served as a professor of chemis- earthly habitat and leave myself to the molecules essentially involves bringing try at the University of Delaware for 18 creator.’ together carbon atoms to bind with each years from 1971 till his retirement, after other and it was a seemingly impossible which he continued as Professor Emeri- SWETHA GOPAL task until Heck achieved the feat. The tus. He was also an adjunct professor at coupling is also called as the Mirozoki– De La Salle University (DLSU) in Ma- S. Ramaseshan Fellow Heck reaction, after the Japanese chemist nila, where he moved with his wife after e-mail: [email protected]

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 109, NO. 12, 25 DECEMBER 2015 2321