Gilbert Stork, Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at Columbia University, New York, USA, passed away end of October 2017.

Gilbert Stork’s research focussed on the total synthesis of natural products. In his long career, Stork has accomplished the total syntheses of cincholoipon, cantharidin, and reserpine, among other targets. He has also contributed to the development of synthetic methodology, including the Stork enamine reaction.

Gilbert Stork, born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1921, gained his B.S. from University of Florida, USA, in 1942, and his Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA, in 1945. In 1946, he became Instructor at Harvard University, and in 1948 Assistant Professor at the same university. In 1953, he became Associate and 1955 Professor at Columbia University, USA. From 1967 to 1993, Storck was Eugene Higgins Professor there.

Among many honors, Gilbert Storck received the ACS Award in Pure Chemistry in 1957, the NAS Award in Chemical Sciences in 1982, the National Medal of Science in 1982, the Wolf Prize in 1996, and the Ryoji Noyori Prize in 2003.

Jeffrey I. Seeman, University of Richmond, USA, has assembled a series of quotes and pictures that give snapshots about Stork’s life and illustrate his personal qualities in an article published in Angewandte Chemie.

Selected Publications

• Synthetic Study toward Total Synthesis of (±)-Germine: Synthesis of (±)-4-Methylenegermine,
  Gilbert Stork, Ayako Yamashita , Robert M. Hanson, Ly Phan, Eifion Phillips, Daniel Dubé, Pieter H. Bos, Andrew J. Clark, Maxwell Gough, Mark L. Greenlee, Yimin Jiang, Keith Jones , Masato Kitamura , John Leonard, Tongzhu Liu, Philip J. Parsons, Aranapakam M. Venkatesan,
  Org. Lett. 2017, 19(19), 5150–5153.
  https.//doi.org/10.1021/acs.orglett.7b02434
• The First Stereoselective Total Synthesis of Quinine,
  Gilbert Stork, Deqiang Niu, A. Fujimoto, Emil R. Koft, James M. Balkovec, James R. Tata, Gregory R. Dake,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123(14), 3239–3242
  https://doi.org/10.1021/ja004325r
• The Total Synthesis of a Natural Cardenolide:  (+)-Digitoxigenin,
  Gilbert Stork, Fred West, Hee Yoon Lee, Richard C. A. Isaacs, Shino Manabe‖,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118(43), 10660–10661.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/ja962163m
• Total syntheses of (-)-histrionicotoxin and (-)-histrionicotoxin 235A,
  Gilbert Stork, Kang Zhao,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1990, 112(15), 5875–5876.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/ja00171a035
• A simple method of dethioacetalization,
  Gilbert Stork, Kang Zhao,
  Tetrahedron Lett. 1989, 30(3), 287–290.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4039(00)95181-5
• α-Alkylation and Arylation of α,β-Unsaturated Ketones,
  Gilbert Stork, A. A. Ponaras,
  J. Org. Chem. 1976, 41, 2937–2939
  https://doi.org/10.1021/jo00879a036
• The Stereochemistry of the SN2′ Reaction,
  Gilbert Stork, William N. White,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1953, 75(16), 4119–4120
  https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01112a547
• The Preparation of β-Tetralone by the Catalytic Reduction of β-Naphthol,
  Gilbert Stork, E. Leon Foreman,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1946, 68(11), 2172–2174.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01215a017
• The Synthesis of 3,4-Diaminocarbethoxyfurna,
  Gilbert Stork,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1945, 67(5), 884–884.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01221a511