Marjorie Constance Caserio
Encyclopedia
Marjorie Constance Caserio (born February 26, 1929) is an American chemist. In 1975, she was awarded the Garvan Medal by the American Chemical Society
.
Caserio was born Marjorie Constance Beckett in Cricklewood
, London
, England
. She attended the North London Collegiate School
and began studying podiatry
at Chelsea College
, but soon developed a preference for chemistry and graduated with honors in the subject in 1950. She was awarded a Sir John Dill Fellowship by the English-Speaking Union
which allowed her to study at Bryn Mawr College
in the United States and she earned an MA in chemistry in 1951. Her thesis was "The alkaline hydrolysis
of ethyl
p-alkybenzoates."
For a year she worked at the Fulmer Research Institute in rural Stoke Poges
, researching the effects of fluoride
s on titanium
, but disliked the work and decided to seek her PhD in chemistry. She interviewed with Nobel
laureate Derek Barton and was accepted to Birkbeck College, but without financial aid, so she returned to Bryn Mawr. She earned her PhD in 1956. Her dissertation was "The bromination of napthalene."
She was hired by John D. Roberts
for a postdoctoral position at the California Institute of Technology
. She spent nine years at Caltech, working on 3 and 4 membered carbocyclic ring compounds, the reactions of alcohol
s with diazomethane
, the hydrolysis
of diaryliodonium salts, the deanimation of nitrous acid
, and benzyne reaction intermediate
s in nucleophilic substitution
. She collaborated with Roberts in writing an organic chemistry
textbook, Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry, first published in 1964. Notable for its comprehensiveness and then-unusual emphasis on spectroscopy
, it proved enormously influential in how the subject was taught. Also working with Roberts was chemist Fred Caserio. In 1957, she married Caserio; she became a US citizen the same year.
In 1964, she was hired as the second faculty member in chemistry at the brand new University of California, Irvine
. At UC Irvine she worked on addition reaction
s in allene
s and bonding and reactions of sulfur
compounds. She was one of the first scientists to employ nuclear magnetic resonance
and ion cyclotron resonance
to study these areas. She became a full professor at UC Irvine in 1972 and chair of the chemistry department in 1987.
In 1990, she became vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of California, San Diego
. She later served as interim chancellor and retired in 1996.
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
.
Caserio was born Marjorie Constance Beckett in Cricklewood
Cricklewood
Cricklewood is a district of North London, England whose northeastern part is in the London Borough of Barnet, western part is the London Borough of Brent and southeastern part is in London Borough of Camden.-History:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. She attended the North London Collegiate School
North London Collegiate School
North London Collegiate School is an independent day school for girls founded in 1850 in Camden Town, and now in the London Borough of Harrow.The Good Schools Guide called the school an "Academically stunning outer London school in a glorious setting which, in 2003, demonstrated its refusal to rest...
and began studying podiatry
Podiatry
Podiatry is a branch of medicine devoted to the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and lower leg. The term podiatry came into use first in the early 20th century United States, where it now denotes a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine , a specialist who is qualified by their...
at Chelsea College
Chelsea College
Chelsea College may refer to :* Chelsea College * Chelsea College of Art and Design* Chelsea College of Science and Technology* Chelsea Independent College * Kensington and Chelsea College...
, but soon developed a preference for chemistry and graduated with honors in the subject in 1950. She was awarded a Sir John Dill Fellowship by the English-Speaking Union
English-Speaking Union
The English-Speaking Union is an international educational charity which was founded by the journalist Evelyn Wrench in 1918. The ESU aims to "bring together and empower people of different languages and cultures," by building skills and confidence in communication, such that individuals realize...
which allowed her to study at Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
in the United States and she earned an MA in chemistry in 1951. Her thesis was "The alkaline hydrolysis
Hydrolysis
Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which molecules of water are split into hydrogen cations and hydroxide anions in the process of a chemical mechanism. It is the type of reaction that is used to break down certain polymers, especially those made by condensation polymerization...
of ethyl
Ethyl group
In chemistry, an ethyl group is an alkyl substituent derived from ethane . It has the formula -C2H5 and is very often abbreviated -Et.Ethylation is the formation of a compound by introduction of the ethyl functional group, C2H5....
p-alkybenzoates."
For a year she worked at the Fulmer Research Institute in rural Stoke Poges
Stoke Poges
Stoke Poges is a village and civil parish in the South Buckinghamshire district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the south of the county, about three miles north of Slough and a mile east of Farnham Common....
, researching the effects of fluoride
Fluoride
Fluoride is the anion F−, the reduced form of fluorine when as an ion and when bonded to another element. Both organofluorine compounds and inorganic fluorine containing compounds are called fluorides. Fluoride, like other halides, is a monovalent ion . Its compounds often have properties that are...
s on titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
, but disliked the work and decided to seek her PhD in chemistry. She interviewed with Nobel
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
laureate Derek Barton and was accepted to Birkbeck College, but without financial aid, so she returned to Bryn Mawr. She earned her PhD in 1956. Her dissertation was "The bromination of napthalene."
She was hired by John D. Roberts
John D. Roberts
John Dombrowski Roberts is an American chemist. He has made contributions to the integration of physical chemistry, spectroscopy and organic chemistry for the understanding of chemical reaction rates....
for a postdoctoral position at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
. She spent nine years at Caltech, working on 3 and 4 membered carbocyclic ring compounds, the reactions of alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
s with diazomethane
Diazomethane
Diazomethane is the chemical compound CH2N2. It is the simplest of diazo compounds. In the pure form at room temperature, it is a extremely sensitive explosive yellow gas, thus it is almost universally used as a solution in diethyl ether...
, the hydrolysis
Hydrolysis
Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which molecules of water are split into hydrogen cations and hydroxide anions in the process of a chemical mechanism. It is the type of reaction that is used to break down certain polymers, especially those made by condensation polymerization...
of diaryliodonium salts, the deanimation of nitrous acid
Nitrous acid
Nitrous acid is a weak and monobasic acid known only in solution and in the form of nitrite salts.Nitrous acid is used to make diazides from amines; this occurs by nucleophilic attack of the amine onto the nitrite, reprotonation by the surrounding solvent, and double-elimination of water...
, and benzyne reaction intermediate
Reaction intermediate
A reaction intermediate or an intermediate is a molecular entity that is formed from the reactants and reacts further to give the directly observed products of a chemical reaction. Most chemical reactions are stepwise, that is they take more than one elementary step to complete...
s in nucleophilic substitution
Nucleophilic substitution
In organic and inorganic chemistry, nucleophilic substitution is a fundamental class of reactions in which an electron nucleophile selectively bonds with or attacks the positive or partially positive charge of an atom or a group of atoms called the leaving group; the positive or partially positive...
. She collaborated with Roberts in writing an organic chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
textbook, Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry, first published in 1964. Notable for its comprehensiveness and then-unusual emphasis on spectroscopy
Spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. Historically, spectroscopy originated through the study of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g., by a prism. Later the concept was expanded greatly to comprise any interaction with radiative...
, it proved enormously influential in how the subject was taught. Also working with Roberts was chemist Fred Caserio. In 1957, she married Caserio; she became a US citizen the same year.
In 1964, she was hired as the second faculty member in chemistry at the brand new University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
. At UC Irvine she worked on addition reaction
Addition reaction
An addition reaction, in organic chemistry, is in its simplest terms an organic reaction where two or more molecules combine to form a larger one....
s in allene
Allene
An allene is a compound in which one carbon atom has double bonds with each of its two adjacent carbon centres. Allenes are classified as polyenes with cumulated dienes. The parent compound of allene is propadiene. Compounds with an allene-type structure but with more than three carbon atoms are...
s and bonding and reactions of sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
compounds. She was one of the first scientists to employ nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance is a physical phenomenon in which magnetic nuclei in a magnetic field absorb and re-emit electromagnetic radiation...
and ion cyclotron resonance
Ion cyclotron resonance
Ion cyclotron resonance is a phenomenon related to the movement of ions in a magnetic field. It is used for accelerating ions in a cyclotron, and for measuring the masses of an ionized analyte in mass spectrometry, particularly with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometers...
to study these areas. She became a full professor at UC Irvine in 1972 and chair of the chemistry department in 1987.
In 1990, she became vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
. She later served as interim chancellor and retired in 1996.