Birch, Arthur

Bile acids, steroids from, 188 Biperidin, 47 Birch, Arthur J., 163 Birch reduction, 163, 167, 170 Bishydroxycoumarin, 331 Bismethylenedioxy group, 193 Blocking agents, of B-sympathet-ic receptors, 65, 117... 

Bachmann, W. E., 1, 2 Baer, Donald R., 11 Banh, Luca, 65 Baudoux, J6r6me, 69 Baxter, Ellen W., 59 Beauchemin, Andr6, 58 Behr, Lyell C., 6 Behrman, E. J., 35 Beigmann, Ernst D., 10 Berliner, Erast, 5 Biellmann, Jean-Fran ois, 27 Birch, Arthur J., 24 Blatchly, J. M., 19 Blau, A. H., 1 Blicke, F. R, 1 Block, Eric, 30 Bloom, Steven R, 39 Bloomfield, Jordan J., 15, 23 Bonafoux, Dominique, 56... 

Metal-ammonia-alcohol reductions of aromatic rings are known as Birch reductions, after the Australian chemist Arthur J Birch who demonstrated their usefulness begin nmg m the 1940s... 

I. Birch, A. J. J. Chem. Soc. 1944, 430. Arthur Birch (1915—1995), an Australian, developed the Birch reduction at Oxford University dnring WWIl in Robert Robinson s laboratory. The Birch reduction was instrumental to the discovery of the birth control pill and many other drugs. 

Gone are the days when a chemist could smoke a cigarette in the laboratory. Arthur J. Birch was photographed smoking a cigar while demonstrating an ether extraction, which is unthinkable today. 

The Birch reduction is the organic reduction of aromatic rings by sodium in liquid ammonia invented by Arthur Birch. The reaction product is a 1,4-cyclohexadiene. The metal can also be lithium or potassium and the hydrogen atoms are supplied by an alcohol such as ethanol or tertbutanol. Sodium in liquid ammonia gives an intense blue color. 

Albert Eschenmoser 1983—Elias J. Corey 1985—Gilbert Stork 1987—Arthur J. Birch 1989—Michael J. S. Dewar (d.) 1991—MUiam S. Johnson (d.) 1993—Ryoji Noyori 1993—K. Barry Sharpless... 

Homogeneous Hydrogenation Catalysts in Organic Solvents Arthur J. Birch and David H. Williamson... 

Camphor and <7-limonene are allomones in that the trees which produce them are protected from insect attack by their presence. For instance, Arthur Birch, one of the great terpene chemists of the twentieth century, reported finding d-limonene in the latex exuded by trees of the species Araucaria bidwilli.1 2 These trees are protected from termite attack because the d-limonene they produce is an alarm pheromone for termites that live in the same area. Similarly, antifeedants could be considered to be allomones since the signal generator, the plant, receives the benefit of not being eaten. Myrcene is a kairomone, in that it is produced by the ponderosa pine and its presence attracts the females of the bark beetle, Dendroctonous brevicomis. Geraniol is found in the scent of many flowers such as the rose. Its presence attracts insects to the flower and it can be classified as a synomone since the attracted insect finds nectar and the plant obtains a pollinator. 

Nortestosterone and 19-norprogesterone were considerably easier to obtain as soon as Arthur John Birch (1915-1995) had discovered the reduction of aromatics. [36] While the reactivity of deprotonated oestrone is too low for a direct Birch reduction, the methyl ethers were used in particular, because electron donors lower the reaction rate. The donor substituent is always attached at the remaining double bond, and the product is, on account of the principle of least motion, a 1,4-cyclohexadiene, in this case the 2,A -doubly unsaturated steroid skeleton. The second conceivable isomer, with double bonds at the 3,6-positions, is for steric reasons thermodynamically less favoured (Bredt s Rule). [37]... 

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