Chercheurs

Chimie / CHAUVIN, YVES

Position

Honorary research director at the Institut Français du Pétrole, Rueil-Malmaison, France (Retired in 1995).

Part-time lab at Lyon School of Chemistry Physics and Electronics

Thèmes de recherche

Organic chemistry

After numerous tests in the early 1970s, he explained in detail what causes metathesis, a chemical reaction used in biotechnology, food industries, and advanced plastic materials. In metathesis reactions, special catalyst molecules cause double bonds between carbon atoms to be broken and recreated in patterns that cause atom groups to change places. From this foundation laid by Chauvin, American scientists Robert H. Grubbs and Richard R. Schrock were able to develop metal-compound catalysts for metathesis, which has led to more efficient production, and a major reduction in potentially hazardous waste products.

Prix et récompenses

2005 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry \"for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis\"

Member of the French Academy of Sciences

1986 Charles Bihoreau Prize (Association française des techniciens du pétrole)
1990 Clavel-Lespiau Prize (French Academy of Sciences)
1994 Karl Engler Medal (German Scientific Society for Coal and Petroleum Research)
2005 Grand Officier de l\'Ordre National du Mérite
2006 Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the French Society of Chemistry

Publications

Aspects of Homogeneous Catalysis
(In R. Hugo Ed.) (1971)

Progress in Polymer Science
Pergamon (1977)

Industrial Applications of Homogenous Catalysis
(In D. Reidel Ed.)
Kluwer Academic Publishers (1988)