Photochemical &Photobiological SciencesAn international journalwww.rsc.org/pps

ISSN 1474-905X

Themed Bar text in here xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxThemed issue: Dedicated to the memory of Professor Nicholas J. Turro

Volume 13 Number 2 February 2014 Pages 125–466

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Photochemical &Photobiological Sciences

EDITORIAL

Cite this: Photochem. Photobiol. Sci.,2014, 13, 138

DOI: 10.1039/c4pp00008k

www.rsc.org/pps

The Turro legacy

This issue of PPS is dedicated to thememory of Nicholas J. Turro, Professorof Chemistry at Columbia University,whose life was taken away by cancer onNovember 24, 2012. A memorial serviceattended by dozens of his colleagues,students, and admirers was held atColumbia University on May 11, 2013.

The articles in this issue reflect boththe geographic diversity of scientistseither directly or indirectly associatedwith Nick’s laboratory and the breadthof scientific interests that emanatedfrom his laboratory. The Turro labattracted large numbers of young scho-lars seeking training in photochemistry.Approximately 80 Ph.D. students, 150postdocs, and 200 undergraduates, aswell as numerous visiting faculty andshort term visiting scholars spent timein the Turro laboratories. His reputationattracted students and postdocs from allover the world (Asia: 68; Europe: 47;Americas: 110).

Nick Turro was a towering figure inthe field of organic photochemistry fornearly five decades1 and his influencepromises to live on for many decades tocome. Following his Ph.D. with GeorgeHammond at Cal. Tech. and a one-yearpostdoc with P. D. Bartlett at Harvard,Nick burst on to the international scenein 1965, a year after his appointment asinstructor at Columbia, with the publi-cation of his book Molecular Photochemi-stry. Promoted to full professor in 5years and elected to the NationalAcademy at age 41, his rise to promi-nence in the chemical field was meteo-ric. He was the recipient of numerousawards including the Arthur C. Cope

Award from the Organic Division of theAmerican Chemical Society and thePorter Medal from the combined inter-national photochemical societies, thehighest awards presented by eithergroup. He was selected to receive theinaugural Hammond Award from theInter-American Photochemical Societyshortly before his death.

The output of scholarship from theTurro laboratory was prodigious – nearly1000 scientific articles, plus numerousreviews and two totally revised versionsof his book. The most recent of these,coauthored with V. Ramamurthy andJ. C. Scaiano, is destined to be the essen-tial text and reference for the nextgeneration of photochemists. A hallmarkof Nick’s scholarship was the frequentexcursions into unexplored territory,usually with unexpected and rewardingresults. Starting with cyclopropanonechemistry and continuing throughsupramolecular chemistry, even anabbreviated catalogue would be longerthan any of the contributions to thisissue of the journal. Fortunately, Nickauthored highly readable summariesof his scientific excursions. Theseinclude 13 articles in Accounts of Chemi-cal Research and 3 in Chemical Reviews.Autobiographical articles include a Pers-pective written for the Journal of OrganicChemistry in 20112 and a more personalhistory published in the Inter-AmericanPhotochemical Society Newsletter in1998.3

In addition to the scientific record,Nick has provided us with a detaileddescription of the scientific method as itapplied to his thinking about chemistry.

Particularly revealing is an 1986 articlein Angewandte Chemie in which Nickdescribes how he assimilated Piaget’sideas about intellectual development,Kuhn’s ideas about effective paradigms,and Thom’s ideas about the role of visu-alization along with Mislow’s theoriesof organic stereochemistry into amodern view of organic chemistry.4

Nowhere is Nick’s love for the topologi-cal model more evident than in thedevelopment with Salem and Dauben ofSalem’s rules for photochemical reac-tions, diagrams for which dominate thesecond edition of his text, Modern Mole-cular Photochemistry. He pestered hisphysical and theoretical colleagues forsimple models that he favored, such asKasha’s rule, el-Sayed’s rule, or theWoodward–Hoffman rules and latersought the services of a “spin doctor” tohelp understand the complexities ofradical pair behavior.

A brief passage from his 2011 Journalof Organic Chemistry article points to theorigin of his passion for teaching in hisown experience as a local boy attendinga great New England liberal arts college,Wesleyan University. Asked by one of hischemistry teachers to think about whatit takes to be a good teacher, Nick evi-dently found and remembered the rightanswer. Nick was as proud of his accom-plishments and awards for exceptionalteaching at the undergraduate level ashe was of his research accomplishmentsand his training of research scientists.

No remembrance of Nick Turro wouldbe complete without mention of hisdevotion to Sandy, his wife of 52 years,and his two daughters and their

138 | Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2014, 13, 138–140 This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry and Owner Societies 2014

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families. Nick and Sandy treated all ofthe Turro group members as membersof their extended family and greatlyenjoyed the group reunions, which wereheld at the National ACS Meeting inBoston on the occasion of his 60th birth-day and at Columbia on the occasion ofhis 70th birthday.

We are confident that the Turrolegacy will live on through his students,associates, colleagues and the futuregenerations that would be trained bythose who were lucky enough to havebeen associated with him. Rarely doesone come across an embodiment of anoutstanding researcher, an excellentteacher, a motivating lecturer and a gen-uinely friendly and caring human beingthat Nick was. He will be rememberedfor his warmth in human interactions,depth and breadth in scientific researchand dedication to teaching. Nick’spassing is an enormous loss to scienceand all who knew him are sure to feelthat they have lost a part of themselves.The collection of articles presented inthis issue we believe is a fitting tribute toan exceptional scientist and a fine exem-plar of an unparalleled human being.

We end this editorial with brief com-ments provided by several of Nick’sstudents and postdocs, reflecting hispersonality and some photographs fromdifferent periods. Finally, we thank Prof.Frans de Schryver for encouraging thepreparation of this memorial issue.

Christopher Dalton (Ph.D., 1967;Bowling Green State University, USA):“I was one of the five graduate studentswho joined Nick Turro’s research groupin 1965, his second year at Columbia. Itwas an exceptionally exciting environ-ment to come of age as a photochemist.We experienced Nick’s contagiousenthusiasm for science not only duringhis daily tours of the lab and highlyinteractive group meetings but alsowhen we discovered notes, left overnighton our desks (“Why don’t you….”). Thereasoning and analytical skills I learnedfrom Nick proved highly transferable tomy eventual university administrativecareer.”

Bernhard Kräutler (Postdoc., 1978; Uni-versity of Innsbruck, Austria) : “Getting toknow Nick and his exemplary way of

thinking about scientific problems, andhow to tackle and solve them in a crea-tive way, had a truly impressive effect. Itwas wonderful to explore the naturalsciences with him from magnetic effects(as a postdoc) all the way to blue glowingbananas (as Professor of OrganicChemistry).”

Wen-Sheng Chung (Ph.D., 1990;National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan):“Nick was extremely organized withregards to literature and publications.Watching him visit the library everySaturday and annotate on related papersleft a lasting influence on me. Monthlygroup ‘Individual Research Review’, pre-sentations, and reports helped the groupmembers develop into mature scientists.Nick’s enthusiasm, energetics, and lovefor science and sports made our study atColumbia University fruitful, joyful andmemorable.”

Sivaguru Jayaraman (Postdoc.,2000–03; North Dakota State University,USA): “When I think of Turro, I think ofa researcher with an aptitude to solvecomplex research problems with ease,novelty and depth. He was a teacher whobelieved in his students and helpedthem to excel in their studies by makingthem visualize concepts that are oftendifficult in chemistry. He was an easilyapproachable mentor, friend and col-league, be it for advice or for guidance.In short, he personified the word“teacher-scholar”.”

Judy Chen (Ph.D., 2012; AmericanChemical Society, USA): “Boss has taughtby example the way of life beyondscience that lives on in the lives he’stouched. It’s about attitude; don’tbecome frustrated but rise to the chal-lenge! No matter the goals, it’s theprocess that is important. Never passjudgment until you know the wholestory, with science and especially eachother.”

Steffen Jockusch (Res. Associate, 1994–current; Columbia University, USA): “TheBoss, as he was affectionately called byhis research group, was a great mentorto his students. Over the 18 years Iworked in his research group I witnessedhow he shaped new arriving graduatestudents and postdocs into professionalscientists when they left. His enthusiasm

and unquenchable energy for sciencewas a true inspiration. He never seemedto run out of ideas for experiments totackle in new research projects, and wasalways pushing for the reading of thescientific literature before startingexperiments.”

Nicholas J. Turro in the 1960s.

Nicholas J. Turro in the 2010s.

Nicholas J. Turro with GeorgeS. Hammond and Sandra M. Turro (dateunknown).

Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences Editorial

This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry and Owner Societies 2014 Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2014, 13, 138–140 | 139

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Nicholas J. Turro with the Chairs ofGordon Conference in Organic Photo-chemistry (1989).

The Turro group in the mid-1970s.

The Turro group in 2011.

Frederick D. Lewis, Northwestern Uni-versity, USA

V. Ramamurthy, University of Miami,USA

Yoshihisa Inoue, Osaka University,Japan

Jochen Mattay, Bielefeld University,Germany

Guest editors

References

1 Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2008, 7,1441–1443; A special issue dedicatedto Nicholas J. Turro on the occasion ofhis 70th birthday, for details aboutscientific accomplishments of Turrosee the editorial.

2 N. J. Turro, J. Org. Chem., 2011, 76,9863–9890.

3 N. J. Turro, Inter-American Photochemi-cal Society Newsletter, 1998, 21(2),56–77.

4 N. J. Turro, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed.,1986, 25, 882–901.

Editorial Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences

140 | Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2014, 13, 138–140 This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry and Owner Societies 2014

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