Everything about James Crafts totally explained
James Mason Crafts (
March 8 1839 –
20 June 1917) was an
American chemist, most known for developing the
Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation reactions with
Charles Friedel in
1876.
Biography
James Crafts was born in
Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from
Harvard University in
1858.
Although he never received his
Ph.D., he studied
chemistry in Germany at the
Academy of Mines (
1859) of
Freiberg and as
Robert Bunsen's assistant at
Heidelberg, then in
Paris (
1861) in
Wurtz's laboratory.
He there first met
Charles Friedel, with whom he later carried out some of his most successful research. He returned to the
United States in
1865. In
1868, he was appointed as the first
professor of chemistry at the newly founded
Cornell University in
Ithaca, New York, where he remained until
1870.
During the following four years he acted as professor of chemistry at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but in
1874 took
leave of absence, joined
Friedel in
Paris, and devoted himself exclusively to scientific research. Upon his second return to the United States in
1891, he became professor of organic chemistry at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (
1892-
97) where he served as president from
1898 to
1900. In 1900, he resigned the presidency of MIT, and again turned to the investigation of problems in organic and physical chemistry.
Works
His investigations were largely in the field of
organic chemistry, but his name is connected also with many interesting achievements in
physics and in
physical chemistry. He invented a new
hydrogen thermometer; measured the
densities of
iodine at very high temperatures; demonstrated an interesting regularity in the variation of the
boiling points of chemically allied
substances with the external pressure; prepared a number of new
compounds of the
element silicon, which are interesting because of their chemical resemblance to the corresponding compounds of
carbon; and also prepared new compounds of
arsenic. But his most important achievement was the discovery, jointly with Friedel, of one of the most fruitful
synthetic methods in organic chemistry.
Hundreds of new
carbon compounds have been brought into existence by this method (
(External Link
)), which is based on the
catalytic action of the
chloride of
aluminium.
Recognitions
In recognition of Crafts's services to
science, the
French government made him a chevalier of the
Legion of Honor (
1885), and the
British Association for the Advancement of Science made him one of its corresponding members.
Harvard University conferred on him the honorary degree of
LL.D. in 1898.
The Crafts entry at MIT's
Senior House dormitory is named in his honor.
Bibliography
The numerous results of Dr. Crafts' researches were published in various scientific periodicals, mainly European, as was custom in his time. He also wrote a textbook of
Qualitative Analysis (1869, and several later editions).
Further Information
Get more info on 'James Crafts'.
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