Kresge, Jerry

This article is dedicated to Jerry Kresge, one of the pioneers in isotope effects and a leader in the field of physical organic chemistry. The writing of this chapter was supported by NSF Grant CHE07-42801. 

The author gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the SFR project of Rikkyo University. The author thanks Prof. Jerry Kresge, to whom this chapter is dedicated, for his pioneering work in the field of physical organic chemistry. 

In 1978, we observed that flash photolysis of butyrophenone produced acetophenone enol as a transient intermediate, which allowed us to determine the acidity constant KE of the enol from the pH-rate profile (section pH Rate Profiles ) of its decay in aqueous base.4 That work was a sideline of studies aimed at the characterization of biradical intermediates in Norrish Type II reactions and we had no intentions to pursue it any further. Enter Jerry Kresge, who had previously determined the ketonization kinetics of several enols using fast thermal methods for their generation. He immediately realized the potential of the photochemical approach to study keto enol equilibria and quickly convinced us that this technique should be further exploited. We were more than happy to follow suit and to cooperate with this distinguished, inspiring, and enthusing chemist and his cherished wife Yvonne Chiang, who sadly passed away in 2008. Over the years, this collaboration developed into an intimate friendship of our families. This chapter is an account of what has been achieved. Several reviews in this area appeared in the years up to 1998.5 10... 

This review is dedicated to Jerry Kresge, our long-time colleague, whose ideas on the limits of proton transfer provide the basis for the extension to decarboxylation. 

Mechanisms of enamine hydrolysis James R. Keeffe and A. Jerry Kresge 1049... 

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