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Division of the History of Chemistry
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Citations for Chemical Breakthrough Awards

All Awardees Sorted by Publication Date of Award Publication

NOTE: The YEARS in column 1 (text in BLUE) indicate a "live" link back to the individual Award Year table.
* Multiple simultaneous independent discoveries.
Additional supporting information on each award can be found at these individual award year tables.

Year of Award Date of
Award Pub -
Sort Field		 Scientists/Inventors Breakthrough Publication Location of Award
2015 1787 Louis Bernard Guyton de Morveau, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, Claude-Louis Berthollet, and Antoine-François de Fourcroy “Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique,” chez Cuchet (sous le Privilège de l'Académie des Nomenclature Chimique), Paris, France, 1787. Académie des Sciences (Paris)
2011 1811 A. Avogadro “D'UNE MANIÈRE DE DÈTERMINER LES MASSES RELATIVES
DES MOLÉCULES ÉLÉMENTAIRES DES CORPS, ET LES PROPORTIONS
SELON LESQUELLES ELLES ENTRENT DANS CES COMBINAISONS,”
Journal de Physique, 1811, 73, 58 - 76.		 Liceo Scientifico “A. Avogadro” Vercelli
2013 1842 N. Sinin “Beschreibung einiger neuer organischer Basen, dargestellt durch die Einwirkung des
Schwefelwasserstoffe auf Versindungen der Kohlenwasserstoffe mit Untersalpetersäure,”
Bulletin Scientifique publié par l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg, 1842, 10, 273-285.		 Kazan Federal University
2012 1848 L. Pasteur “Mémoire sur la relation qui peut exister entre la forme cristalline de la composition
chimique, et sur la cause de la polarisation rotatoire,”
Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences, 1848, 26, 535 - 538.		 École normale supérieure, Paris
2015 1852 E. Frankland “On a New Series of Organic Bodies containing Metals,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 1852, 142, 417-444. The University of Manchester
2020 1856 William Henry Perkin “Producing a new Coloring Matter for Dyeing with a Lilac or Purple Color Stuffs of Silk, Cotton, Wool, or other Materials,” Great Britain Patent No. 1984, August 26, 1856. Imperial College London
2011 1858 S. Cannizzaro “Lettera del Prof. Stanislao Cannizzaro,”
Nuovo Cimento, 1858, 7, 321-366.		 Università degli Studi di Genova
2022 1865 Auguste Kekulé “Sur la constitution des substances aromatiques,” Bulletin de la Société de Paris
1865, 3, 98 - 110.		 Ghent University
2016 1867 L. Pfaundler “Beitrag zur Chemischen Statik,” (Poggendorff) Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 1867, 131, 55-85. Universität Innsbruck, Austria
2012 1869 D. Mendelejeff “Ueber die Beziehungen der Eigenschaften zu den Atomgewichten der elemente,”
Zeitschrift für Chemie, 1869, 12, 405 - 406.		 Saint Petersburg State University
2014 1873 J. D. van der Waals “DE CONTINUITEIT VAN DEN GAS-EN VLOEISTOFTOESTAND,”
Ph.D. thesis, University of Leiden, 1873.		 University of Leiden
2012 1874 J. H. van't Hoff “LES FORMULES DE STRUCTURE. DANS L'ESPACE,”
Archives neerlandaises des sciences exactes et naturelles, 1874, 9, 445 - 454.		 University of Utrecht
2022 1874 Joseph-Achille Le Bel “Sur les relations qui existent entre les formules atomiques des corps organiques et le pouvoir rotatoire de leurs dissolutions,” Bulletin de la Société Chimique 1874, 22, 337 - 347. Médecine de l'Université Paris-Cité
2021 1876; 1878 J. Willard Gibbs “On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances,”
Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences
1876, 3, 108 - 248; 1878, 3, 343 - 524.		 Yale University
2018 1889 S. Arrhenius “Über die Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit bei der Inversion von Rohrzucker durch Säuren,” Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie 1889, 4, 226-248. Wilhelm-Ostwald-Institute for Physical and Theoretical Chemistry,
Leipzig University
2008 1889 C. M. Hall “Process of Reducing Aluminium by Electrolysis”
US Patent 400,766 (April 2, 1889)		 Oberlin College and Oberlin Heritage Center
2014 1891 E. Fischer “Ueber die Configuration des Traubenzuckers und seiner Isomeren,”
Chemische Berichte, 1891, 24, 1836-1845.		 University of Würzburg
2020 1895 Lord Rayleigh and W. Ramsay “Argon, a New Constituent of the Atmosphere,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London, A 1895, 186A, 187-241. The Royal Institution and University College London
2010 1896 P. Walden “Ueber die gegenseitige Umwandlung optischer Antipoden,”
Ber. Deutsch. Chem. Gesell. 1896, 29, 133 - 138.		 Riga Technical University, Latvia
2015 1898 P. Curie, M. Curie, and G. Bémont “Sur une nouvelle substance fortement radioactive, contenue dans la pechblende,” Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris, 1898 (26 December), vol. 127, pp. 1215-1217. ESPCI ParisTech (officially the école supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris; The City of Paris Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution)
2006 1900 M. Gomberg “An Instance of Trivalent Carbon: Triphenylmethyl” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1900, 22, 757-771. University of Michigan
2010 1900 V. Grignard “Sur quelques nouvelles combinaisons organomètalliques
du magnèsium et leur application à des synthèses d' alcools
et a'hydrocarbures,”
Comptes Rendus 1900, 130, 1322 - 1324.		 University of Lyon
2007 1905 A. Werner Neuere Anschauungen auf dem Gebiete der Anorganischen Chemie
Vieweg, Braunschweig, 1905.		 University of Zurich
2009 1905 H. Staudinger “Ketene, eine neue Körperklasse,”
Chem. Ber. 1905, 38, 1735-1739.		 Université de Strasbourg
2010 1906 M. Tswett “Adsorptionsanalyse und chromatographische Methode.
Anwendung auf die Chemie des Chlorophylls,”
Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell. 1906, 24, 384 - 393.		 Warsaw University
2018 1907 E. Fischer “Proteïne und Polypeptide,” Zeitschrift für Angewandte Chemie 1907, 20, 913-917. Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
2019 1907 American Chemical Society Chemical Abstracts (Volume 1 was published in 1907). Chemical Abstracts Service, Columbus, Ohio
2012 1911 E. Rutherford “LXXIX. The Scattering of α and β Particles by Matter and the Structure of the Atom,”
Philosophical Magazine, 1911, 21 [Series 6], 669 - 688.		 University of Manchester
2020 1913 H. G. J. Moseley “The High-Frequency Spectra of the Elements,” The High-Frequency Spectra of the Elements 1913, 26, 1024-1034. The University of Manchester
2013 1913 F. Soddy “Intra-atomic Charge,”
Nature, 1913 (4 December), 92, 399-400.		 University of Glasgow
2014 1913 L. Michaelis and M. L. Menten “Die Kinetik der Invertinwirkung,”
Biochemische Zeitschrift, 1913, 49, 333-369.		 Vivantes Klinikum Am Urban, Berlin
2019 1913 F. Haber and R. Le Rossignol “Über die technische Darstellung von Ammoniak aus den Elementen [Technical Presentation on Ammonia from its Elements],” Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie, 1913, 19, 53-72. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
2006 1916 G. N. Lewis “The Atom and the Molecule” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1916, 38, 762-785. University of California, Berkeley
2011 1917 R. Robinson “LXIII. - A Synthesis of Tropinone,”
Journal of the Chemical Society, 1917, 762 - 768.		 University of Liverpool
2018 1919 F. W. Aston “A Positive Ray Spectrograph,” The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science 1919, 38, 707-714. The Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University
2022 1920 Wendell M. Latimer and Worth H. Rodebush “Polarity and Ionization from the Standpoint of the Lewis Theory of Valence,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1920, 42, 1419 - 1433. University of California, Berkeley
2023 1923 J. N. Brönsted “Einige Bemerkungen über den Begriff der Säuren und Basen,” Recueil des Travaux Chimiques des Pays-Bas 1923, 42, 718 - 728. University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2011 1923 G. N. Lewis and M. Randall “Thermodynamics and The Free Energy of Chemical Substances,”
1923.		 University of California, Berkeley
2010 1926 J. B. Sumner “The Isolation and Crystallization of the Enzyme Urease,”
J. Biol. Chem. 1926, 69, 435 - 441.		 Cornell University
2020 1928 R. S. Mulliken “The Assignment of Quantum Numbers for Electrons in Molecules. I,” Physical Review 1928, 32, 186-222. New York University
2011 1928 O. Diels and K. Alder “Synthesen in der hydroaromatischen Reihe,”
Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie, 1928, 460, 98 - 122.		 Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
2018 1931 E. Hückel “Quantentheoretische Beitrage zum Benzolproblem. I. Die Electronenenkonfiguration des benzols
and verwandter verbindungen,” Zeitschrift für Physik 1931, 70, 204-286.		 University of Stuttgart
2007 1932 H. C. Urey, F. G. Brickwedde, and G. M. Murphy “A Hydrogen Isotope of Mass 2,”
Phys. Rev. 1932, 39, 164-165.		 Columbia University and National Bureau of Standards
2006 1934 E. O. Lawrence “Method and Apparatus for the Acceleration of Ions”
U.S. Patent 1,948,384 (20 February 1934),
assignor to Research Corporation, New York, NY.		 University of California, Berkeley
2019 1935 H. Eyring “The Activated Complex in Chemical Reactions,”J. Chem. Phys. 1935, 3, 107-115. Princeton University*
2019 1935 M. G. Evans and M. Polanyi “Some Applications of the Transition State Method to the Calculation of Reaction Velocities, Especially in Solution,” Trans. Faraday Soc. 1935, 31, 875-894. University of Manchester *
2006 1936 A. O. Beckman and Henry E. Fracker “Apparatus for Testing Acidity” U.S. Patent 2,058,761 (27 October 1936),
assignors to National Technical Laboratories, Pasadena, CA. 		Beckman Coulter
2023 1939 O. Hahn and F. Strassmann “Über den Nachweis und das Verhalten der bei der Bestrahlung des Urans mittels Neutronen entstehenden Erdalkalimetalle,” Naturwissenschaften 1939, 27, 11 - 15. Max Planck Institute for Chemistry,
Mainz, Germany
2023 1939 L. Meitner and O. R. Frisch “Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons: a New Type of Nuclear Reaction,” Nature 1939, 143, 239 - 240. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden
and the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2006 1939 L. Pauling The Nature of the Chemical Bond
Cornell University Press, 1939.		 Caltech
2006 1941 R. J. Plunkett “Tetrafluoroethylene Polymers” U.S. Patent 2,230,654 (4 February 1941),
assignor to Kinetic Chemicals, Inc. of Wilmington, DE.		 DuPont
2008 1942 R. Adams (Senior Editor) First volume of Organic Reactions, John Wiley, 1942 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2013 1944 O. T. Avery, C. M. MacLeod, and M. McCarty “Studies on the Chemical Nature of the Substance Inducing Transformation of Pneumococcal Types,”
Proceedings of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1944, 79, 137-159. 		The Rockefeller University
2009 1946 E. M. Purcell, H. C. Torrey,
and R. V. Pound 		“Resonance Absorption by Nuclear Magnetic Moments in a Solid,”
Phys. Rev. 1946, 69, 37-38.		 Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University
2016 1947 E. C. Anderson, W. F. Libby, S. Weinhouse, A. F. Reid, A. D. Kirshenbaum, and A. Grosse “Radiocarbon from Cosmic Radiation,” Science 1947, 105, 576-577. The University of Chicago
2015 1949 D. Crowfoot, C. W. Bunn, B. W. Rogers-Low, A. Turner Jones “The X-ray Crystallographic Investigation of the Structure of Penicillin,” in H.T. Clarke, J.R. Johnson, R. Robinson (editors), Chemistry of Penicillin, Princeton University Press, Chapter XI, pp. 310-366, 1949. Oxford University
2007 1950 D. H. R. Barton “The Conformation of the Steroid Nucelus,”
Experientia, 1950, 6, 316-320.		 Harvard University
2016 1951 H. Gutowsky, D. W. McCall, and C. P. Slichter “Coupling among Nuclear Magnetic Dipoles in Molecules,” Physical Review, 1951, 84, 589-590. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2018 1951 T. J. Kealy and P. L. Pauson “A New Type of Organo-Iron Compound,” Nature (London) 1951, 168, 1039-1040. Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
2017 1951 Linus Pauling, Robert B. Corey, and H.R. Branson “The Structure of Proteins: Two Hydrogen-Bonded Helical Configurations of the Polypeptide Chain,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 1951, 37, 205-2011 California Institute of Technology
2021 1952 Kenichi Fukui, Teijiro Yonezawa,
and Haruo Shingu		 “A Molecular Orbital Theory of Reactivity in Aromatic Hydrocarbons,”
The Journal of Chemical Physics 1952, 20, 722 - 725.		 Kyoto University
2006 1953 H. F. Fisher, E. C. Conn, B. Vennesland,
and F. H. Westheimer		 “The Enzymatic Transfer of Hydrogen.
I. The Reaction Catalyzed by Alcohol Dehydrogenase”
J. Biol. Chem. 1953, 202, 687-697. 		The University of Chicago
2007 1953 J. D. Watson and F. H. Crick “Molecular Structure Of Nucleic Acids,
A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,”
Nature, 1953, 171, 737-738.		 Medical Research Council, Cambridge
2007 1953 J. D. Roberts, H. E. Simmons, Jr., L. A. Carlsmith,
and C. W. Vaughn		 “Rearrangement in the Reaction of Chlorobenzene-1-C14
with Potassium Amide,”
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1953, 75, 3290-3291.		 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2009 1953 S. L. Miller “A Production of Amino Acids Under Possible Primitive Earth Conditions,”
Science 1953, 117, 528-529.		 University of Chicago
2017 1954 A. T. James and A. J. P. Martin “Gas-Liquid Chromatography: A Technique for the Analysis and Identification of Volatile Materials,” Brit. Med. Bulletin 1954, 10 (3), 170-176 National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill which became the Francis Crick Institute in 2016
2008 1956 H. C. Brown and B. C. S. Rao “A New Technique for the Conversion of Olefins
into Organoboranes and Related Alcohols,”
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1956, 78, 5694-5695.		 Purdue University
2009 1957 M. Sela, F. H. White, Jr., and
C. B. Anfinsen		 “Reductive Cleavage of Disulfide Bridges in Ribonuclease,”
Science 1957, 125, 691-692.		 National Institutes of Health
2010 1957 J. C. Sheehan and K. R. Henery-Logan “The Total Synthesis of Penicillin V,”
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1957, 79, 1262 - 1263.		 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2013 1958 M. Meselson and F. W. Stahl “The Replication of DNA in Escherichia Coli,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1958, 44, 671-682.		 California Institute of Technology
2014 1962 N. Bartlett “Xenon Hexafluoroplatinate(V) Xe+[PtF6]-,”
Proceedings of the Chemical Society, 1962, 6, 218.		 The University of British Columbia
2006 1963 B. Merrifield “Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis. I. The Synthesis of a Tetrapeptide”
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1963, 85, 2149-2154. 		Rockefeller University
2009 1963 R. G. Pearson “Hard and Soft Acids and Bases,”
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1983, 85, 3533-3539.		 Northwestern University
2006 1965 R. B. Woodward and R. Hoffmann “Stereochemistry of Electrocyclic Reactions”
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1965, 87, 395-397.		 Harvard University
2022 1966 Robert L. Letsinger and V. Mahadevan “Stepwise Synthesis of Oligodeoxyribonucleotides on an Insoluble Polymer Support,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1966, 88, 5319 - 5324. Northwestern University
2008 1966 J. A. Osborn, F. H. Jardine, J. F. Young
and G. Wilkinson		 “The preparation and properties of
tris(triphenylphosphine)halogeno-rhodium(I) and some
reactions thereof including catalytic homogeneous
hydrogenation of olefins and acetylenes and their derivatives”
J. Chem. Soc. (A) 1966, 1711-1732.		 Imperial College London
2018 1969 R. Hirschmann, H. Barkemeyer, J. B. Conn, J. E. Deak,
R. G. Denkewalter, R. S. Dewey, M. J. Dickinson, V. Garsky, F. W. Holly, T. A. Jacob,
S. R. Jenkins, H. Joshua, T. Lanza, Jr., J. D. Milkowski, R. F. Nutt, W. J. Paleveda, Jr.,
E. F. Schoenewaldt, J. Sondey, R. G. Strachan, S. L. Varga, D. F. Veber, R. A. Vitali, E. Walton		 “Studies on the Total Synthesis of an Enzyme,” Parts I, II, III, IV, and V. Journal of the American Chemical Society 1969, 91, 502, 503; 505, 506, and 507. Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories, Division of Merck & Co., Inc.
2007 1973 P. C. Lauterbur “Image Formation by Induced Local Interactions:
Examples Employing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance,”
Nature 1973, 242, 190-191.		 SUNY at Stony Brook
2006 1974 M. J. Molina and F. S. Rowland “Stratospheric Sink for Chlorofluoromethanes:
Chlorine Atom-Catalysed Destruction of Ozone”
Nature 1974, 249, 810-812.		 University of California, Irvine
2016 1977 F. Sanger, S. Nicklen, and A. R. Coulson “DNA Sequencing with Chain-Terminating Inhibitors,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 1977, 74, 5463-5467. Medical Research Council, Cambridge, England
2017 1977 A. Maxam and W. Gilbert “A new method for sequencing DNA,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 1977, 74, 560-564 Harvard University
2022 1977 Hideki Shirakawa, Edwin J. Louis, Alan G. MacDiarmid, Chwan K. Chiang, and Alan J. Heeger “Synthesis of Electrically Conducting Organic Polymers: Halogen Derivatives of Polyacetylene (CH)x,” J. Chem. Soc., Chemical Communications 1977, 578 - 580. University of Pennsylvania
2008 1980 T. Katsuki and K. B. Sharpless “The First Practical Method for Asymmetric Epoxidation,”
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1980, 102, 5974-5976.		 Stanford University
2008 1982 G. Binnig and H. Rohrer “Scanning Tunneling Microscope,”
U.S. Patent 4,343,993 (10 August 1982),
assignors to International Business Machines Corporation.		 IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, Rüschlikon, Switzerland
2015 1985 H. W. Kroto, J. R. Heath, S. C. O'Brien, R. F. Curl, and R. E. Smalley “C60: Buckminsterfullerene,” Nature 1985, 318, 162-163. Rice University
2017 1985 R. K. Saiki, K. B. Mullis, H. A. Erlich “Enzymatic Amplification of β-globin Genomic Sequences and Restriction Site Analysis for Diagnosis of Sickle Cell Anemia,” Science 1985, 230, 1350-1354 Cetus Corporation sold to Chiron Corporation in 1991. Chiron was acquired by Novartis International in 2006.
2021 1987 R. Noyori, T. Ohkuma, M. Kitamura,
H. Takaya, N. Sayo, H. Kumobayashi, and S. Akutagawa		 “Asymmetric Hydrogenation of β-Keto Carboxylic Esters.
A Practical, Purely Chemical Access to β-Hydroxy Esters
in High Enantiomeric Purity,”
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1987, 109(10), 5856 - 5858.		 Nagoya University
Institute for Molecular Science, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Japan
Takasago International Corporation

* Multiple simultaneous independent discoveries.

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