Merrifield R. Bruce

Merrifield, R. Bruce. (1921-2006). An American chemist who won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1984. Merrifield was cited for work on the use of a solid matrix as an aid to chemical synthesis of complex peptides and proteins. His synthesis techniques have been used in the development of solid matrix-bound inorganic and organic agents. He was awarded a doctorate from U.C.L.A. 

R. Bruce Merrifield development of methodology for chemical synthesis on a solid matrix... 

R. Bruce Merrifield Chemistry Solid-phase synthesis of peptides... 

Without a doubt, many of the above advantages were recognized in awarding the Nobel prize to Rockefeller University s Professor R. Bruce Merrifield for his seminal work on polymer-supported peptide synthesis.54... 

The method described in Section 28.6 works well for the synthesis of small peptides. It is extremely time-consuming to synthesize larger proteins by this strategy, however, because each step requires isolation and purification of the product. The synthesis of larger polypeptides is usually accomplished by using the solid phase technique originally developed by R. Bruce Merrifield of Roekefeller University. 

The synthesis of large peptide chains by sequential addition of one amino acid at a time is a long and arduous task. An immense simplification is possible, however, using the solid-phase method introduced by R. Bruce Merrifield at the Rockefeller Institute. In the Merrifield method, peptide synthesis is carried out on solid polymer beads of polystyrene, prepared so that one of every 100 or so benzene rings bears a chloromethyl (-CH2CI) group ... 

R. Bruce Merrifield was born in 1921 and received a B.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a professor of chemistry at Rockefeller University. Merrifield received the 1984 Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing automated solid-phase peptide synthesis. 

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