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© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
G. Crini et al. (eds.), The History of Cyclodextrins, Environmental Chemistry
for a Sustainable World 52, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49308-0_3
Chapter 3
Professor Casu and Cyclodextrins
Giangiacomo Torri, Annamaria Naggi, and Grégorio Crini
Contents
3.1 Introduction
158
3.2 Benito Casu, 1927–2016
161
3.2.1 Early Years
161
3.2.2 Professor Casu: Director of the G. Ronzoni Institute
161
3.2.3 Professor Casu: A Friendly and Generous Communicator
162
3.2.4 Membership
162
3.2.5 Awards and Distinctions
163
3.3 Casu’s Scientific Achievements
163
3.3.1 Professor Casu and Polysaccharides
163
3.3.2 Professor Casu and Cyclodextrins
164
3.3.3 Professor Casu: A Pioneer in the Dissemination of the Knowledge
of Cyclodextrins
171
3.3.4 Professor Casu: A Pioneer of Glycosaminoglycan Research
171
3.4 Conclusion
173
References
176
Abstract Three years ago, Professor Benito Casu, G.  Ronzoni Institute for
Chemical and Biochemical Research, passed away on November 11, 2016, shortly
before his 90th birthday. Professor Casu was an eminent scientist in the area of
chemistry and biochemistry of polysaccharides and glycosaminoglycans.
Casu’s scientific career started in the 1950s with the study of carbohydrates by
innovative spectrometric techniques. Professor Casu was on the list of prestigious
researchers who contributed in the 1960s to the development of cyclodextrins. At
that time, there was a lack of sufficient knowledge about these molecules. Few
researchers believed in the potential that these new molecules had. In the mid- 1960s,
Professor Casu was the first to demonstrate that infrared spectroscopy and proton
G. Torri (*) · A. Naggi
Istituto di Chimica e Biochimica G. Ronzoni, Milan, Italy
e-mail: torri@ronzoni.it; naggi@ronzoni.it
G. Crini (*)
Chrono-environnement, UMR 6249, UFR Sciences et Techniques,
Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Besançon, France
e-mail: gregorio.crini@univ-fcomte.fr