Photo credit: Associated Press — File:John Cornforth 1975.jpg (Wikimedia Commons) · Public domain
John Warcup Cornforth
1917–2013 · Australia, United Kingdom · 20th century
Nobel Chemistry 1975
Australian-British chemist, deaf since youth, who unravelled the stereochemistry of enzymatic reactions and cholesterol biosynthesis.
Nobel Prize work
Cornforth used isotope labelling to trace the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalysed reactions, above all the synthesis of cholesterol from squalene. By following individual hydrogen atoms through enzymatic steps, he showed that enzymes distinguish between identical-looking atoms — prochiral positions — revealing how nature controls molecular handedness. The prize was shared with Vladimir Prelog.
Fields
Related topics
Structural and stereoisomerism (cis–trans, enantiomers)
Distinguish constitutional isomers from stereoisomers, then analyze geometric and optical stereochemistry using molecular connectivity and three-dimensional arrangement.
Enzymes and enzyme kinetics
Enzymes accelerate reactions by lowering the activation free-energy barrier; they do not change the equilibrium constant.