Myron L. Bender
Encyclopedia
Myron Lee Bender was born in St. Louis, Missouri
. He obtained his B.S. (1944) and his Ph.D. (1948) from Purdue University
. The latter was under the direction of Henry B. Hass. After postdoctoral research under Paul D. Barlett (Harvard University
), and Frank H. Westheimer (University of Chicago
), he spent one year as a faculty member at the University of Connecticut
. Thereafter, he was a professor of Chemistry
at Illinois Institute of Technology
in 1951, and then at Northwestern University
in 1960. He worked primarily in the study of reaction mechanism
s and the biochemistry of enzyme
action. Myron L. Bender demonstrated the two-step mechanism of catalysis for serine proteases, nucleophilic catalysis in ester hydrolysis and intramolecular catalysis in water. He also showed that cyclodextrin
can be used to investigate catalysis of organic reactions within the scope of host-guest chemistry. Finally, he and others reported on the synthesis of an organic compound as a model of an acylchymotrypsin intermediate.
During his career, Myron L. Bender was an active member of the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society
. He was elected a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford University, and to the National Academy of Sciences
, the latter in 1968. He received an honorary degree from Purdue University in 1969. He was the recipient of the Midwest Award of the American Chemical Society in 1972.
Professor Bender retired from Northwestern in 1988. Both he and his wife, Muriel S. Bender, died that year. The Myron L. Bender & Muriel S. Bender Distinguished Summer Lectures in Organic Chemistry was established in their honor in 1989 and continues to be hosted by Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University.
Issn: 0002-7863
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. He obtained his B.S. (1944) and his Ph.D. (1948) from Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
. The latter was under the direction of Henry B. Hass. After postdoctoral research under Paul D. Barlett (Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
), and Frank H. Westheimer (University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
), he spent one year as a faculty member at the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
. Thereafter, he was a professor of Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
at Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
in 1951, and then at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in 1960. He worked primarily in the study of reaction mechanism
Reaction mechanism
In chemistry, a reaction mechanism is the step by step sequence of elementary reactions by which overall chemical change occurs.Although only the net chemical change is directly observable for most chemical reactions, experiments can often be designed that suggest the possible sequence of steps in...
s and the biochemistry of enzyme
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...
action. Myron L. Bender demonstrated the two-step mechanism of catalysis for serine proteases, nucleophilic catalysis in ester hydrolysis and intramolecular catalysis in water. He also showed that cyclodextrin
Cyclodextrin
Cyclodextrins are a family of compounds made up of sugar molecules bound together in a ring ....
can be used to investigate catalysis of organic reactions within the scope of host-guest chemistry. Finally, he and others reported on the synthesis of an organic compound as a model of an acylchymotrypsin intermediate.
During his career, Myron L. Bender was an active member of the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society
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...
. He was elected a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford University, and to the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, the latter in 1968. He received an honorary degree from Purdue University in 1969. He was the recipient of the Midwest Award of the American Chemical Society in 1972.
Professor Bender retired from Northwestern in 1988. Both he and his wife, Muriel S. Bender, died that year. The Myron L. Bender & Muriel S. Bender Distinguished Summer Lectures in Organic Chemistry was established in their honor in 1989 and continues to be hosted by Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University.
Bender Distinguished Summer Lecturers
| Lecturer | --- Year --- | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Frederick M. Menger | 1989 | Emory University Emory University Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of... |
| Julius K. Rebek Julius Rebek Julius Rebek, Jr. is a Hungarian-born American chemist and expert on molecular self-assembly.Rebek was born in Beregszasz , Hungary in 1944 and lived in Austria from 1945 to 1949. In 1949 he and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Kansas. Rebek graduated from the University... |
1990 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in... |
| Martin Newscomb | 1991 | Texas A&M University Texas A&M University Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school... |
| JoAnne Stubbe JoAnne Stubbe JoAnne Stubbe is an American chemist. She is currently the Novartis Professor of Chemistry & Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.-Career:... |
1992 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Peter B. Dervan | 1993 | 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... |
| Marye Anne Fox Marye Anne Fox Marye Anne Payne Fox is a physical organic chemist and university administrator. She was the first female chief executive of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. In April 2004, Fox was named Chancellor of the University of California, San Diego.-Early years:Fox was born in... and James K. Whitesell |
1994 | University of Texas |
| Richard Lerner Richard Lerner Richard A. Lerner is an American research chemist. Best known for his work on catalytic antibodies, Lerner is currently President of The Scripps Research Institute , and a member of its Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, in La Jolla, California.-Biography:Lerner grew up in Chicago and... |
1995 | Scripps Research Institute |
| Jan W. Verhoeven | 1996 | The University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
| Eric N. Jacobsen Eric Jacobsen Eric N. Jacobsen is the Sheldon Emery Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University... |
1997 | Harvard University Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country... |
| Larry E. Overman Larry E. Overman Larry E. Overman is Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. He was born in Chicago in 1943. Overman obtained a B.A. degree from Earlham College in 1965. and he completed his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1969, under Howard... |
1998 | 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... |
| Ronald Breslow Ronald Breslow Ronald C. D. Breslow is an American chemist from Rahway, New Jersey. He is currently University Professor at Columbia University, where he is based in the Department of Chemistry and affiliated with the Departments of Biological Sciences and Pharmacology; he has also been on the faculty of its... |
1999 | Columbia University Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the... |
| Jean Fréchet Jean Frechet Professor Jean M.J. Fréchet is the Henry Rapoport Chair of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley... |
2000 | University of California, Berkeley University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA... |
| Dale Boger | 2001 | Scripps Research Institute |
| Andrew Hamilton | 2002 | Yale University Yale University Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States... |
| Barbara Imperiali | 2003 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| François Diederich François Diederich Professor François Diederich is a Luxembourgian chemist specialising in organic chemistry. He obtained both his diploma and PhD from the University of Heidelberg in 1977 and 1979, respectively. After postdoctoral studies with Prof... |
2004 | Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) ETH Zurich The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland.... |
| Erick M. Carreira | 2005 | Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) |
| Klaus Müllen | 2006 | Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research |
| Ben L. Feringa | 2007 | University of Groningen, The Netherlands |
| Christopher Walsh | 2008 | Harvard Medical School |
| Stephen L. Buchwald | 2009 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Publications
Myron L. Bender published five books and over 230 research papers over his lifetime. He published at least 32 peer-reviewed papers while at Northwestern. The 5 most highly cited are:- Dsouza, VT; Bender, ML. 1987. Miniature Organic-Models Of Enzymes. Accounts of Chemical ResearchAccounts of Chemical ResearchAccounts of Chemical Research is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published since 1968 by the American Chemical Society. ACR is currently indexed/abstracted in: Chemical Abstracts Service , British Library, CABI, EBSCOhost, Proquest, PubMed, SCOPUS, SwetsWise and Web of Science.The current...
20 (4): 146-152. Time cited:216 - Komiyama, M; Bender, ML. 1978. Thermodynamic Studies Of Cyclodextrin-Accelerated Cleavage Of Phenyl Esters. Journal of the American Chemical Society 100 (14): 4576-4579. Time cited:93
- Komiyama, M; Bender, ML. 1978. Importance Of Apolar Binding In Complex-Formation Of Cyclodextrins With Adamantanecarboxylate. Journal of the American Chemical Society 100 (7): 2259-2260. Times cited: 80
- Kitaura, Y; Bender, ML. 1975. Ester Hydrolyses Catalyzed By Modified Cyclodextrins. Bioorganic ChemistryBioorganic chemistryBioorganic chemistry is a rapidly growing scientific discipline that combines organic chemistry and biochemistry. While biochemistry aims at understanding biological processes using chemistry, bioorganic chemistry attempts to expand organic-chemical researches toward biology...
4 (3): 237-249. Times cited: 63 - Iwakura, Y; Uno, K; Toda, F; Onozuka, S; Hattori, K; Bender, ML. 1975. Stereochemically Correct Catalytic Site On Cyclodextrin Resulting In A Better Enzyme Model. Journal of the American Chemical SocietyJournal of the American Chemical SocietyThe Journal of the American Chemical Society is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the Journal of Analytical and Applied Chemistry and the American Chemical Journal...
97 (15): 4432-4434. Times cited: 53
Issn: 0002-7863