Linus Pauling Background Born in Portland, Oregon, on February 28, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Linus Pauling

Background

• Born in Portland, Oregon, on February 28, 1901
• Son of a pharmacist
• Attended Oregon State College in 1917, receiving the degree of B.Sc.

in chemical engineering in 1922.

• In 1925 he was awarded the Ph.D. in chemistry by California Institute
• f Technology (CalTech)
• Married wife Ava Helen Miller on June 17, 1923
• Had three sons and a daughter
• Sons went on to become scientists and researchers
• Research focused on how the physical and chemical

properties of substances are related to the structure of the atoms of which they are composed

Career

• Interest in how chemical structure and properties related to atom’s

and their electrons began in graduate school

• This interest became the new field of “Quantum Chemistry”
• In 1926 he went to Europe to study under pioneers in the emerging

field of Quantum Chemistry

• Arnold Sommerfeld
• Niels Bohr
• Erwin Schrodinger

Career

• While in Europe, began to focus his interests in understanding the

electronic structure of the chemical bond

• The basis of his studies and calculations was focused on the
• rbitals involved in bonds and their energies
• In 1932 Pauling publishes what is considered to be his most important

paper which focuses on two key topics:

• The concept of the hybridization of atomic orbitals
• Analysis of the tetravalency of the carbon atom

Career

• In 1954 is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry:

"for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its implication to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances".

• In 1939 Pauling publishes his textbook The Nature of the Chemical Bond
• One of the most influential chemistry books ever published
• In the 30 years after its first edition was published, the book

was cited more than 16,000 times

Career

• Pauling’s study of the chemical bond focuses on three major areas:

1.) The concept of hybridized atomic orbitals

• atomic orbitals can combine in different schemes
• hybridization of orbitals explains how bonding occurs in both

simple and complex molecules 2.) The differentiation between ionic and covalent bonds

• in ionic bonds, electrons are transferred
• in covalent bonds, electrons are shared

3.) Bonding in the structures of aromatic hydrocarbons

• the concept of resonance: that the “true” structure of a

molecule can sometimes be thought of as a blend of multiple structures

• In 1962, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• The only person to be awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes
• One of only four individuals to have won more than one Nobel

Prize

• One of only two people to be awarded Nobel Prizes in

different fields, the other being Marie Curie

Interesting Facts

• Later in life was criticized as being “arguably the world's greatest

quack” for his beliefs that dietary supplements could cure diseases

• Namely, that Vitamin C could prevent colds
• Linus Pauling died on August 19, 1994 at 93

Works Cited

"Linus Pauling - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. Web. 17 Sep 2013. <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1954/pauling-bio.html> “Linus Pauling Online”. Oregon State University. Oregon State University. Web. 17 Sep 2013. <http://pauling.library.oregonstate.edu/> "Linus Pauling." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Sep 16 2013. <http://www.biography.com/people/linus-pauling-9435195>