Pedersen, Charles John

Pedersen, Charles John, 1904–89, American chemist, b. Busan, Korea, M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1927. After finishing his studies, Pedersen began work as a research chemist for the DuPont Company. In the 1960s, he did groundbreaking work in the creation of artificial compounds. His work was later expanded upon by Jean-Marie Lehn and Donald Cram, who synthesized enzymes. For their syntheses of molecules that mimic important biological processes, the trio shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Biochemistry: Biographies