Fifty years since the ferrocene furore
By 
Mike Sutton2023-09-27T12:50:00
Only two of the discoverers of the sandwich compounds that revolutionised organometallic chemistry received the Nobel prize, leaving one very big name feeling left out. Mike Sutton traces the controversy
The 1973 chemistry Nobel prize went to Geoffrey Wilkinson and Ernst Fischer for their work on ‘on the chemistry of the organometallic, so called sandwich compounds’. For over 20 years, they (and the teams they headed) had investigated many intriguing new substances, but it was the accidental discovery of one remarkable compound, ferrocene, which set them both on the road to Stockholm. The 1965 chemistry laureate Robert Woodward – who also played a part in identifying that compound – was not invited to share the award, and he complained to the Nobel committee that their decision was unfair. Opinions about the validity of his protest vary.