American chemist known in the field of organic chemistry for his work on quinine total synthesis with Robert Burns Woodward. Having published his first scientific paper in 1939 and his last in 2008, he holds the rare distinction of having authored scholarly articles in eight different decades. In 1989, he received the “James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry” of the American Chemical Society and in 1990 the Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry.
Some of his major contributions include recognition of the aromatic nature of thetropylium cation, investigation of the stereochemistry of the Cope rearrangement, and pioneering work in carbene chemistry, including the discovery of dichlorocarbene. Some other notable work include the synthesis of fulvalene, the discoveries of the Doering-LaFlamme allene synthesis and the Parikh-Doering oxidation, prediction of the existence of bullvalene as a fluxional molecule, and elucidation of the mechanism of the Baeyer–Villiger oxidation. He also first articulated the modern form of the 4n + 2 rule for aromaticity (Hückel’s rule) and coined the term “carbene” along with Woodward and Winstein during a nocturnal cab ride in Chicago.
Doering was a Professor Emeritus at Harvard University and the former Chair of its Chemistry Department. Prior to joining the Faculty at Harvard, he was a member of the Chemistry Faculties of Columbia University (1942–1952) and Yale (1952–1968). He died on 3 January 2011.
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