essential to the development of macromolecular chemistry [3, 4] (for a brief review
of the scientific activities of Staudinger see [5]) as the newest branch of organic
chemistry. Elaborations of the Staudinger reaction into the Staudinger ligation [6]
and other methodologies continue even today. Very few new fields of organic
chemistry have developed since then, the most notable being supramolecular
chemistry [7], but none of them has produced the scientific and technological
impact to become a separate independent department as macromolecular chemistry
has done. The following event marks in the simplest way the impact of Staudinger
on organic chemistry. On 17th of April 1957, Hermann Staudinger gave a 20 min
lecture on macromolecular chemistry at the Imperial Palace invited by the Emperor
Hirohito of Japan, who was educated as a biologist. At the end of the lecture, The
Emperor asked the following question about macromolecules: “Is this a concept
that came into your mind to explain various phenomenological behaviors of a group
of compounds, or did you really prove their existence by rigorous scientific
means?” Staudinger was highly impressed by this question and answered: “It is
this experimental demonstration of the existence of macromolecules which forms
the essential part of my work in the field of macromolecular science.” This
discussion expanded the lecture time from 20 min to 1 h. For more details about
this visit to Japan see publications in this issue by Helmut Ringsdorf [9] and by
Akihiro Abe [8]. The Nobel Lecture of Hermann Staudinger [4] impresses mostly
through the use of organic chemistry methods like polymer analogous transformations to demonstrate the covalent rather than colloidal nature of the macromolecules. He elegantly states: “The only difference between macromolecules and the
small molecules of low molecular substances is one of structural size. . . . Possibly
the most important distinction between low molecular and macromolecular compounds is that the latter can exhibit properties which cannot be predicted even by a
thorough study of the low molecular substances.” He realizes also the role of
diversity in architectural design by stating: “With a few bricks it is impossible to
erect a great variety of buildings; nevertheless, provided that 10,000 or 100,000
bricks are available it is quite possible to construct the most diverse buildings, vis,
houses, halls, etc., the special construction of which cannot simply be predicted
from the buildings comprising few bricks.” He gives credit to Magda Staudinger, a
biologist, as being “ the originator in particular of new considerations in respect of
the relations between macromolecular chemistry and biology.” He recognized that
synthetic macromolecules “are inseparable mixtures of polymer homologous series
. . . while some natural polymers are monodisperse.” Staudinger’s Nobel Prize and
his Nobel Lecture [4] were in parallel with the discovery of the double helix of
DNA, published in Nature by Watson and Crick [10] and, therefore, the concluding
remark to his Nobel Lecture is timely even today: “In the light of this new
knowledge of macromolecular chemistry, the wonder of life in its chemical aspect
is revealed in the astounding abundance and masterly macromolecular architecture
of living matter.” It took a little time until his last student, Ringsdorf, was able to
bridge the gap between macromolecular chemistry, biology, and medicine, which is
a subject of great fundamental and technological interest in the fields of organic,
macromolecular, biological, and supramolecular sciences today.
178
V. Percec
of the scientific activities of Staudinger see [5]) as the newest branch of organic
chemistry. Elaborations of the Staudinger reaction into the Staudinger ligation [6]
and other methodologies continue even today. Very few new fields of organic
chemistry have developed since then, the most notable being supramolecular
chemistry [7], but none of them has produced the scientific and technological
impact to become a separate independent department as macromolecular chemistry
has done. The following event marks in the simplest way the impact of Staudinger
on organic chemistry. On 17th of April 1957, Hermann Staudinger gave a 20 min
lecture on macromolecular chemistry at the Imperial Palace invited by the Emperor
Hirohito of Japan, who was educated as a biologist. At the end of the lecture, The
Emperor asked the following question about macromolecules: “Is this a concept
that came into your mind to explain various phenomenological behaviors of a group
of compounds, or did you really prove their existence by rigorous scientific
means?” Staudinger was highly impressed by this question and answered: “It is
this experimental demonstration of the existence of macromolecules which forms
the essential part of my work in the field of macromolecular science.” This
discussion expanded the lecture time from 20 min to 1 h. For more details about
this visit to Japan see publications in this issue by Helmut Ringsdorf [9] and by
Akihiro Abe [8]. The Nobel Lecture of Hermann Staudinger [4] impresses mostly
through the use of organic chemistry methods like polymer analogous transformations to demonstrate the covalent rather than colloidal nature of the macromolecules. He elegantly states: “The only difference between macromolecules and the
small molecules of low molecular substances is one of structural size. . . . Possibly
the most important distinction between low molecular and macromolecular compounds is that the latter can exhibit properties which cannot be predicted even by a
thorough study of the low molecular substances.” He realizes also the role of
diversity in architectural design by stating: “With a few bricks it is impossible to
erect a great variety of buildings; nevertheless, provided that 10,000 or 100,000
bricks are available it is quite possible to construct the most diverse buildings, vis,
houses, halls, etc., the special construction of which cannot simply be predicted
from the buildings comprising few bricks.” He gives credit to Magda Staudinger, a
biologist, as being “ the originator in particular of new considerations in respect of
the relations between macromolecular chemistry and biology.” He recognized that
synthetic macromolecules “are inseparable mixtures of polymer homologous series
. . . while some natural polymers are monodisperse.” Staudinger’s Nobel Prize and
his Nobel Lecture [4] were in parallel with the discovery of the double helix of
DNA, published in Nature by Watson and Crick [10] and, therefore, the concluding
remark to his Nobel Lecture is timely even today: “In the light of this new
knowledge of macromolecular chemistry, the wonder of life in its chemical aspect
is revealed in the astounding abundance and masterly macromolecular architecture
of living matter.” It took a little time until his last student, Ringsdorf, was able to
bridge the gap between macromolecular chemistry, biology, and medicine, which is
a subject of great fundamental and technological interest in the fields of organic,
macromolecular, biological, and supramolecular sciences today.
178
V. Percec