Negishi’s reagent

The 2010 Nobel prize in chemistry was given in one-third share to Ei-ichi Negishi (alongside Akira Suzuki and Richard Heck) for ‘palladium-catalysed cross couplings in organic synthesis’. In time, the award rather overshadows the wider achievements of its recipients. All those seeking palladium catalysis – look away now.

Born in 1935, Negishi’s early childhood was spent in China and Korea before his family returned to Japan shortly after the second world war. Ei-ichi was 10 years old and quickly settled into his schooling in the stable surroundings provided by his hard-working parents. He became disciplined and motivated, and secured entry to the University of Tokyo aged 17. Yet this success proved a disappointment. Specialising in industrial chemistry, Negishi did not find his studies stimulating. In his Nobel lecture more than half a century later, he would report that ‘only in a relatively small number of classes did we learn some fundamentally important chemistry [and] most of these classes were, in my opinion, rather poorly taught’.¹ This dissatisfaction was compounded after the award of his Bachelor’s degree. Employed in synthetic polymer research with Teijin near Hiroshima, (no doubt the hoped-for outcome for most graduates) the young man found his interest was piqued, but his knowledge of organic chemistry was insufficient. The Japanese educational programme for scientists at that time met the needs of industrial progress for the nation – but not the lively intellect of Ei-ichi Negishi. He would need a plan… a Fulbright scholarship.