News Release

"Radical" Discovery Advances Medicine and Plastics

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Chemical Society

Immigrant Chemist's Revolutionary Finding Honored as Historic Landmark

When University of Michigan chemist Moses Gomberg announced in 1900 that he had isolated an organic free radical - a carbon molecule with an odd number of electrons - the chemistry establishment greeted the news with skepticism, then dismissed it as a curiosity. A century later, Gomberg's breakthrough has led to profound advances in biochemistry, biology and medicine, as well as the production of plastics for everything from children's toys to the space shuttle.

The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, will designate Moses Gomberg's discovery of organic free radicals a National Historic Chemical Landmark at a ceremony June 25 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The university is celebrating the centennial of Gomberg's work and will receive a commemorative plaque from ACS President Daryle Busch.

Most 19th century chemists believed it was impossible to isolate an organic free radical - a molecule with a free electron capable of pairing with an electron of another molecule. They had learned that electrons generally travel in pairs, and pair up quickly. The existence of organic free radicals seemed unlikely, especially since all attempts to find one had proved futile.

Gomberg succeeded where others had failed, but it took three decades for the world to recognize the significance of his finding that organic free radicals did in fact exist.

Beginning in the 1930s, experimentation with organic free radicals led to the development of polyethylene, PlexiglasÆ and other polymers used to make kitchen counters, telephones, sporting goods, toys, and countless other products. Today, organic free radicals are involved in manufacturing nearly half the polymers we use, from plastic packaging to latex paint.

More recently, organic free radicals have played a pivotal role in basic research. They explain why some oxidation processes support life and others cause disease. They enhance our understanding of how the cardiovascular system functions, how DNA is synthesized in the body, and other scientific phenomena, including global warming.

That Gomberg's discovery triumphed in the face of great odds is no surprise, given his personal history.

Moses Gomberg was born in 1866 in Elizabetgrad, Russia, a town south of Kiev now known as Kirovograd, Ukraine. Because the family was Jewish, it received harsh treatment after the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. In 1884, the government accused Gomberg's father of anti-tsarist activities and confiscated the family estate. The 18-year-old Gomberg also fell under suspicion.

The family fled to the United States, settling in Chicago, Illinois. There, young Moses followed the classic immigrant path to success. Speaking no English, he worked at odd jobs, most involving menial labor. He toiled in the Chicago stockyards under the brutal conditions described in Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle.

Through sheer force of will and brainpower, Gomberg learned English, completed his secondary education, and in 1886 entered the University of Michigan. He tried to enroll in a beginning course in physics, but the department head turned him down because he had no formal training in trigonometry. Three days later, Gomberg tried again. When the department again rejected him for the same reason, he insisted he knew the subject. The department head quizzed him, and was stunned to find that what Gomberg claimed was true.

Gomberg completed his studies, received his Ph.D., and embarked on the research that was to lead to his groundbreaking discovery.

The American Chemical Society started the landmarks program in 1992 for two closely related reasons: to commemorate and preserve landmarks in the history of chemistry, and to heighten public awareness of the key role chemistry has played in the history of the United States and nations around the world. More than 30 places, discoveries and devices have achieved landmark status since the program's inception.

Moses Gomberg's discovery of organic free radicals will be designated a National Historic Landmark by the American Chemical Society on Sunday, June 25, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

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A nonprofit organization with a membership of 161,000 chemists and chemical engineers, the American Chemical Society publishes scientific journals and databases, convenes major research conferences, and provides educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. (http://www.acs.org)


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