How well do you know R. B. Woodward?
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Famed organic chemist Robert Burns Woodward would’ve turned 100 this year. Not only was he quite the character, he had a long-lasting impact on the field. Test your Woodwardian IQ by taking our quiz.
Credit: Walter Lwowski Collection
Where was R. B. Woodward born?
London, England
New York City, New York
Boston, Massachusetts
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Credit: Pixabay
Cambridge, England
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Fischer indole synthesis
Birch reduction
Diels-Alder reaction
Bargellini reaction
Credit: C&EN
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Germany
Scotland
Switzerland
England
Woodward’s mother was a native of what country?
Credit: Shutterstock
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isoquinoline
quinotoxine
ethyl quininate
7-hydroxyisoquinoline
Woodward and William von Eggers Doering made headlines for their synthesis of quinine, which today we would call a formal synthesis because the final steps were done previously by German chemists Paul Rabe and Karl Kindler. What, in fact, did Woodward and Doering make as their final product?
CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons
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Camel
Marlboro
Benson & Hedges
Pall Mall
What was Woodward’s preferred brand of cigarette?
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Monday
Thursday
Saturday
Sunday
What day of the week did Woodward hold his evening seminar (or group meeting in today’s parlance)?
Credit: Courtesy of the Hoye group and Addison Ault
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a -butyloxycarbonyl protecting group
a vacuum pump
an isothiazole ring
an infrared spectrometer
Woodward once wrote: “Our investigation now entered a phase which was tinged with melancholy.” What had to be “dismantled” at this stage of his group’s work?
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“I have none.”
“Everyone gets two weeks.”
“I take Christmas Day off.”
“What is a vacation?”
When asked about his vacation policy, Woodward once famously said:
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red
green
orange
blue
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Vitamin B-12
Vitamin C
Vitamin D-3
Vitamin E
What common supplement did Woodward’s group synthesize?
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