Jump to content

Lewis Hastings Sarett

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lewis Hastings Sarett
BornDecember 22, 1917
DiedNovember 29, 1999(1999-11-29) (aged 81)
OccupationOrganic chemist
Spouse(s)Mary Adams Barrie (m. March 1, 1944 - div.June 28, 1969)
Pamela Thorp
ChildrenMary Nicole and Katharine Wendy (1st wife)
Will H. and Renee M. (2nd wife)

Lewis Hastings Sarett (December 22, 1917 – November 29, 1999) was an American organic chemist. While serving as a research scientist at Merck & Co., Inc., synthesized cortisone.

Biography[edit]

He was born in Champaign, Illinois. His father was Lew Sarett, a renowned Jewish poet and professor[1] and an uncle of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.[2] He lived in Laona, Wisconsin, for a time and then attended high school in Highland Park, Illinois . He received a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University in 1939 (Phi Beta Kappa) and his doctorate from Princeton University.

He worked for Merck & Co. for 38 years retiring in 1982. He invented a Process of Treating Pregnene Compounds Cortisone, Patent Number 2,462,133.

Named after him is the Sarett Oxidation which is the oxidation of an alcohol to a ketone or an aldehyde using chromic oxide and pyridine. Primary alcohols will be oxidised to aldehydes and not carboxylic acids.

Writing career[edit]

He is also famous for writing the poem The Four Little Foxes to raise awareness about animal rights.[3]

Honors and awards[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Archives".
  2. ^ "Donald Rumsfeld on Rumsfeld's Rules | Milt Rosenberg".
  3. ^ "Four Little Foxes By Lew Sarrett: An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org". www.all-creatures.org. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  4. ^ "Chemical Pioneer Award". American Institute of Chemists. Retrieved November 30, 2015.

External links[edit]