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Suggested Reading
Robert Burns Woodward: Architect and Artist in the World of Molecules, Ed. O T Benfey and P J T Morris, Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia, 2001.
N Anand, J S Bindra and S Ranganathan, Art in organic synthesis (second edition), Wiley Interscience, 1988.
R B Woodward, The total synthesis of vitamin B12, Pure.Appl.Chem., Vol.33, p.145, 1973.
R B Woodward, Recent advances in the chemistry of natural products, Pure. Appl. Chem., Vol.25, p.283, 1971.
R B Woodward, Recent advances in the chemistry of natural products, Pure. Appl Chem., Vol.17, p.519, 1968.
R B Woodward, Aromaticity, Special Publication No.21 of the Chemical Soceity Burlington House, London, 1967; Chem.Eng.News, Vol.43, p.38, Dec.6, 1965.
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Setty Mallikarjuna Babu received his PhD degree from Osmania University, Hyderabad in 2009 under the guidance of S Ranganathan. His dissertation comprised of novel strategies for solubilization of silica where he developed methodologies for the formation of silicic acid embedded in hydrogen-bonded networks at the water-silica interface. These benchmark efforts led to methodologies for significant improvement in the health of rice plants. At present he is a Senior Research Associate attached to the Centre for Semeo Chemicals at IICT, Hyderabad.
Subramania Ranganathan received his PhD degree from the Ohio State University, Columbus, USA in 1962. During 1962–1964 he worked in the research group of Woodward on the synthesis of Vitamin B12; from 1964–1966 he was a member of the Woodward Research Institute and worked on the total synthesis of Cephalosporin C, which constituted Professor Woodward’s Nobel Lecture. From 1966–1994 he was a Professor at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. From 1994–1999 he was senior scientist of Indian National Science Academy at RRL, Trivandrum and IICT, Hyderabad. Since 1998 he is a distinguished scientist at IICT, Hyderabad and is an honorary professor at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. He has worked on XV different areas, ranging from organic to bioorganic to inorganic and bio-inorganic chemistry resulting in about 250 publications and 10 books.
We are most grateful to Prof D Balasubramanian, Director of Research, L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad for carefully examining the total synthesis of Vitamin B12 and using his fertile mind to highlight the creativity associated with this adventure.
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Babu, S.M., Ranganathan, S. The spirit of adventure and the art of creation. Reson 19, 593–623 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-014-0063-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-014-0063-5