The productive scientific career of Charles Pedersen (October 3, 1904?October 26, 1989)

Charles J. Pedersen: Innovator in macrocyclic chemistry and co-recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in chemistry

“…''He had no competition-he was alone-he was original-he did something important-he knew it was important-and he knew what to do with his discovery… It is my belief that Pedersen's demonstration of the feasibility for synthesizing multiheteromacrocycles is leading to the development of a whole new synthetic field of organic host-guest chemistry.'' 4 Details of Pedersen's early life, his professional career, and his serendipitous discovery of crown ethers have been presented in his first-hand accounts, 1,5,6 and by Schroeder. 4 About ten years after his initial papers appeared, Pedersen published a detailed and extensive historical account of the compounds he had prepared, including their synthesis, their physical and metal complexation properties, and projected applications that he thought they might have.…”

“…4 Details of Pedersen's early life, his professional career, and his serendipitous discovery of crown ethers have been presented in his first-hand accounts, 1,5,6 and by Schroeder. 4 About ten years after his initial papers appeared, Pedersen published a detailed and extensive historical account of the compounds he had prepared, including their synthesis, their physical and metal complexation properties, and projected applications that he thought they might have. 6 He recognized that the use of cyclic polyethers for the solubilization of inorganic salts in organic solvents had significant potential applications.…”

“…Pedersen was born in Fusan, Korea on October 3, 1904 and died October 26, 1989 in Salem, New Jersey. 4 His father, Brede Pedersen, was a Norwegian engineer who worked at gold mines in northwestern Korea near the Yalu river and his mother Takino Yasui was a Japanese citizen who had accompanied her family to Korea where they entered into a large scale trade in soybeans and silkworms. At the age of four, he spent his first and last winter at the mines where his father worked.…”

“…His parents were interested and involved in his education. 4 Because foreign language schools did not exist in Korea at that time, he was sent at the age of eight to a convent school in Nagasaki, Japan. He completed secondary school in Japan in 1922, and came to the United States where he received a BS degree in chemical engineering at the University of Dayton in 1926 (Fig.…”

“…6 Pedersen's career in industrial research at DuPont was a productive one and resulted in many notable practical and scientific achievements including numerous patents. 4 His account of the serendipitous discovery of dibenzo-18crown-6 1,5,6 and the recognition of its structure on July 5, 1962 6 is fascinating to read. He had found the first synthetic compound that formed stable complexes with sodium and potassium ions.…”