Cram, Donald James

Cram, Donald James,

1919–2001, American chemist, b. Chester, Vt., Ph.D. Harvard, 1947. A professor at the Univ. of California at Los Angeles, Cram expanded on the work of Charles J. PedersenPedersen, Charles John,
1904–89, American chemist, b. Busan, Korea, M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1927. After finishing his studies, Pedersen began work as a research chemist for the DuPont Company.
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 by synthesizing three-dimensional molecules that could mimic the functioning of natural molecules. With Pedersen and Jean-Marie LehnLehn, Jean-Marie
, 1939–, French chemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Strasbourg, 1963. A professor at Louis Pasteur Univ. (1970–78) and the Collège de France (1979–), Lehn did ground-breaking research in the creation of artificial enzymes.
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, Cram was awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development and application of molecules with highly selective, structure specific interactions, i.e., molecules that can "recognize" each other and choose which other molecules they will form complexes with.