Dietmar Seyferth

Dietmar Seyferth (January 11, 1929 – June 6, 2020) was an emeritus professor of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He published widely on topics in organometallic chemistry and was the founding editor of the journal Organometallics.^[1]

Biography

Seyferth was born in 1929 in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany, and received his college education at the University of Buffalo. His PhD thesis dealt with main group chemistry under the mentorship of Eugene G. Rochow at Harvard.^[2] Seyferth spent his entire academic career at MIT, focusing initially on organophosphorus, organosilicon, and organomercury chemistry. He also contributed to organocobalt chemistry and organoiron chemistry, e.g. the popularization of Fe₂S₂(CO)₆.^[3] He died on Saturday, June 6, 2020, due to complications from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts.^[4]

Seyferth has been widely recognized, notably with the American Chemical Society Award in Organometallic Chemistry and election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

See also

• Seyferth–Gilbert homologation

References

1. Seyferth, Dietmar (2010). "Looking Back on Happy Years in Chemistry". Organometallics. 29 (21): 4648–4681. doi:10.1021/om100948g.
2. Gingold, K.; Rochow, E. G.; Seyferth, D.; Smith, Jr.; West, R. (1952). "Ionization of Organometallic Halides". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 74 (24): 6306. doi:10.1021/ja01144a532.
3. Seyferth, D.; Henderson, R. S.; Gallagher, M. K. (1980). "(m-Dithio)bis(tricarbonyliron) as an organic disulfide mimic: insertion of low-valent metal species into the sulfur-sulfur bond". J. Organomet. Chem. 193: C75. doi:10.1016/S0022-328X(00)90307-3.
4. Randall, Danielle (17 June 2020). "Dietmar Seyferth, professor emeritus of chemistry, dies at 91". MIT Chemistry. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 17 June 2020.