Nobel Prize in Chemistry Eiichi Negishi dies

Japanese Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 2010, Eiichi Negishi, died at the age of 85 in the US state of Indiana, where he had been residing for some time. This was communicated by Purdue University, explaining that the death occurred last Sunday, but without indicating the causes of death.

    Born in 1935 in Manchuria, the then Japanese-occupied province of China, he studied at the prestigious University of Tokyo before specializing at the University of Pennsylvania, then moved to Purdue in 1979, becoming the holder of the chair of Chemistry, a position he has kept. until 1999.

    Together with the American researcher Richard Heck of the University of Delaware, and the Japanese Akira Suzuki of Hokkaido University, he was awarded the coveted recognition of the Swedish Academy for his studies on palladium as a catalyst in chemical processes and the development of a targeted method to create complex chemicals. A technique that is still widely used today for the production of pharmaceuticals, agriculture and electronics. Negishi's wife Sumire died in an accident in 2018 after 50 years of marriage. According to reports from Purdue University, Negishi's family does not intend to carry out a funeral ceremony in the United States, but will return the body to Japan at a date still being defined.