Wesleyan University California Institute of Technology
Known for
Contribution to organic photochemistry
Awards
Arthur C. Cope Award (2011) William H. Nichols Medal (2007) Willard Gibbs Award (2000) E. O. Lawrence Award (1982) ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (1974)
Scientific career
Fields
Chemist
Institutions
Columbia University
Doctoral advisor
George S. Hammond
Other academic advisors
Paul Doughty Bartlett
Notable students
Jayaraman Sivaguru Miguel García-Garibay
Nicholas J. Turro (May 18, 1938 – November 24, 2012) was an American chemist, Wm. P. Schweitzer Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University. He was a world renowned organic chemist and leading world expert on organic photochemistry. He was the recipient of the 2011 Arthur C. Cope Award in Organic Chemistry, given annually "to recognize outstanding achievement in the field of organic chemistry, the significance of which has become apparent within the five years preceding the year in which the award will be considered."[2][3][4][5] He was also the recipient of the 2000 Willard Gibbs Award, which recognizes "eminent chemists who...have brought to the world developments that enable everyone to live more comfortably and to understand this world better."[6]
He received his B.A. degree summa cum laude from Wesleyan University in 1960. He attended graduate school at Caltech where he received his Ph.D. degree with George S. Hammond in 1963. Following a postdoctoral year at Harvard with P. D. Bartlett, he joined the faculty at Columbia University where he was the Wm. P. Schweitzer Professor of Chemistry.[7]
Although he worked in many areas of chemistry, he was most well known for his work in photochemistry and spectroscopy, which he applied to studies involving small molecules in solution, interfaces, thin films, polymers, biological systems including DNA and carbohydrates, nanomaterials, supramolecular and "super-duper" molecular systems.[8] His success in these areas is evident by his co-authorship of over 1000 papers. His expertise in photochemistry, spectroscopy and organic chemistry lead to a large network of international collaborators, including Fortune 500 companies such as Procter and Gamble.
He authored the influential books Molecular Photochemistry published in 1965, considered the "bible" of the field for several generations by organic photochemists, and Modern Molecular Photochemistry published in 1978. The latter was comprehensively revised as Principles of Molecular Photochemistry: An Introduction in 2008 and later as Modern Molecular Photochemistry of Organic Molecules in 2010 both of which were co-authored with V. Ramamurthy at University of Miami and J.C. Scaiano at the University of Ottawa. Turro has been selected as one of the most highly cited chemists for the past two decades, and has published over 900 research papers.[9] He was a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[10]
^"Nicholas Turro Dies At 74 | Chemical & Engineering News". Cen.acs.org. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
^Jayaraman, Sivaguru (Siva) (2013). "A tribute to Nicholas J. Turro—An icon of modern molecular photochemistry". Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry. 271: 130–131. doi:10.1016/j.jphotochem.2013.09.006.
^Ramamurthy, Vaidhyanathan; Mattay, Jochen (2013-01-28). "Nicholas J. Turro (1938 - 2012)". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 52 (5): 1363–1364. Bibcode:2013RSPTA.37130147.. doi:10.1002/anie.201209993.
^"Arthur C. Cope Award". Portal.acs.org. Archived from the original on 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
^"Turro Home Page". Archived from the original on 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
^"The Willard Gibbs Award". Chicagoacs.net. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
^[1] Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^"PHOTOCHEMISTRY BECOMES MORE COMPLEX: A SYMPOSIUM HONORING GEORGE S. HAMMOND ON HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
^Nicholas Turro publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
^"1991 IAPS Award in Photochemistry - Nick Turro". I-aps.org. 1938-05-18. Archived from the original on 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
Nicholas J. Turro (May 18, 1938 – November 24, 2012) was an American chemist, Wm. P. Schweitzer Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University. He was...
Line 1 of the Milan Metro Jesús Turró (born 1952), Spanish sailor NicholasTurro (1938 – 2012), American chemist Omar Turro, paralympic athlete from Cuba...
atmospheric chemistry Donald Truhlar, PhD 1970 Michael Tsapatsis, PhD 1994 NicholasTurro, PhD 1963 John S. Waugh, PhD 1953; Wolf Prize winner George M. Whitesides...
rational and free of witchcraft and superstition." American chemist NicholasTurro wrote "the book is entertaining and provocative reading... Whether or...
Jimmy Stewart, American baseball player and manager (b. 1939) 2012 – NicholasTurro, American chemist and academic (b. 1938) 2012 – Ernie Warlick, American...
Tucker (PhD) – Puerto Rican physicist (as of 2012); former Olympic luger NicholasTurro (1960) – chemist, Columbia University (as of 2012); National Academy...
postdoctoral research at Columbia University with Nicholas J. Turro (no relation) from 1992 to 1995. Turro joined the faculty of The Ohio State University...
1977 Barry M. Trost 1976 Karl F. Freed 1975 George M. Whitesides 1974 NicholasTurro 1973 John I. Brauman 1972 Roy G. Gordon [Wikidata] 1971 R. Bruce King...
George F. Chapline, Jr. Mitchell J. Feigenbaum Michael J. Lineberry NicholasTurro Raymond E. Wildung 1983 James Frederick Jackson Michael E. Phelps Paul...
organo-ruthenium complexes to examine the physical structure of DNA. With NicholasTurro and Vijay Kumar she studied the interactions of ruthenium phenanthroline...
group which has aided in the understanding of inorganic materials" NicholasTurro 2000 "For pioneering and interdisciplinary research on the interaction...
doi:10.1021/ja01162a544. Yang, Nien-Chu; D. Feit, Eugene; Hui, Man Him; Turro, Nicholas J.; Dalton, Christopher (1970). "Photochemistry of di-tert-butyl ketone...
5-trichlorophenyl-6-carbopentoxyphenyl)oxalate (CPPO) MCPO Mohan, Arthur G.; Turro, Nicholas J. (August 1974). "A Facile and Effective Chemiluminescence Demonstration...
; Devon Triplett, L.; Moscatelli, Alberto; Koberstein, Jeffrey T.; Turro, Nicholas J. (2011-10-05). "Photogeneration of gelatinous networks from pre-existing...
Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. doi:10.1002/14356007.a03_555. ISBN 978-3527306732.. Turro, Nicholas J.; Leermakers, Peter A.; Vesley, George F. (1967). "Cyclohexylidenecyclohexane"...
Group. pp. 1455–1532. doi:10.1002/0470023449.ch23. ISBN 9780470023440. Turro, Nicholas J. (1969). "Cyclopropanones". Accounts of Chemical Research. 2: 25–32...
award, Sigma Xi Young Investigator award. Scientific career Academic advisors Nicholas J. Turro V. Ramamurthy Website https://www.bgsu.edu/sivagroup/...
doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00076. PMID 32786672. S2CID 221124789. Nicholas J. Turro, Peter A. Leermakers, George F. Vesley (1967). "Cyclohexylidenecyclohexane"...
techniques DNA Microarray Biochip Carroll, Gregory T.; Wang, Denong; Turro, Nicholas J.; Koberstein, Jeffrey T. (2008). "Photons to illuminate the universe...