Society

Nobel laureate Negishi Ei-ichi dies

Jun 12 (NHK) - Japanese Nobel laureate Negishi Ei-ichi has died at the age of 85. He was awarded the 2010 Chemistry Prize for developing a new method to synthesize organic compounds.

Negishi died in the US city of Indianapolis last Sunday, according to Purdue University, where he served as a professor.

Negishi was born in former Manchuria in northeastern China in 1935. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, he worked at leading textile company Teijin before studying in the United States.

Negishi shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Richard Heck of the University of Delaware, and Suzuki Akira of Japan's Hokkaido University.

They developed what is called a "palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling technique" to link carbon atoms and synthesize complex organic compounds.

The technique has been used to develop new medicine, such as anti-hypertensive drugs. It has also been applied to create materials for thin LED displays.

Negishi was based in the United States, but he also collaborated with researchers in Japan studying how to create fuel from carbon dioxide through artificial photosynthesis.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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