Editorial

 

This issue of the Journal of the Mexican Chemical Society includes scientific articles dedicated to Professor Pedro Joseph Nathan, as a tribute to his sixty fifth anniversary.

Pedro Joseph Nathan, Professor of Chemistry at CINVESTAV, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México (Center of Research and Advanced Studies, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico), is internationally recognized for his outstanding research in organic chemistry. He has made important contributions to the isolation, structure, chemical reactivity and synthesis of natural products, and has shown a remarkable keen insight in applying nuclear magnetic resonance to solve structural and mechanistic problems.

His series of experiments on molecular rearrangements of natural and synthetic products, elegantly designed, very well thought-out, and brilliantly executed, has led to the elucidation of many complex reaction mechanisms.

Professor Joseph Nathan received two bachelor's degrees from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México: Chemist in 1963 and Chemical Engineer in 1964. He received a Ph. D. from the same University in 1966 in Organic Chemistry, working under the guidance of Jesús Romo Armería (19251977) [1] at the Instituto de Química, UNAM. That year he became one of the founders of CINVESTAV, where he is Emeritus Professor since 1996.

Professor Joseph Nathan has mentored more than sixty B. Sc., M. Sc. and Ph. D. students, many of them today are themselves Professors in Mexican universities or have industrial positions; is author of several books, many technical reports and of nearly three hundred and sixty peer reviewed scientific articles [2]. More than twenty contributions have been published in this journal [3], including historical aspects [4]. His books, particularly those on NMR [5,6] have been widely praised. His high quality and high productivity in research publications for over four decades is most impressive and continues to date.

He has been invited hundreds of times as lecturer both in regional, national and international chemical symposia and congresses, as well as in many universities and institutions of higher education both in Mexico and abroad.

Joseph Nathan has established relevant scientific collaborations with national and foreign groups, mainly from Latin America, receiving academic guests, supervising postdoctoral projects, and acting as a bridge between groups of researchers. Due to his remarkable discipline, systematic work and deep scientific knowledge, he was able to integrate groups to work complementarily, as demanded in modern research, having a strong influence in the development of chemical research in Mexico.

Pedro Joseph Nathan joined the Editorial Boards of Rev. Soc. Quím. Méx. (now J. Mex. Chem. Soc., 1989), Spectroscopy (1990), Rev. Latinoam. Quím. (1999), Planta Medica (2000-2004) and Magn. Res. Chem. (2001). He has had vast experience within different Academic Committees and Councils. To cite some examples, he has served on the National Council of Science and Technology, on the Mexican Academy of Sciences, on the Mexican Chemical Society, and on the Advisor Scientific Board of the Mexican Government.

Among many awards and honors he has received over his career are the National Prize of Pharmaceutical Sciences (1974), the Research Award of the Mexican Academy of Sciences (1978), the Award of National Investigator of the National System of Scientific Research in the highest level in 1984, and since 2001 he is National Emeritus Investigator; the National Prize of Chemistry awarded by Mexican Chemical Society (1986), the National Award of Science and Arts in physico-mathematical and natural sciences conferred by the Mexican Government (1991), the Mario Molina Prize (1999), and the Ernesto Ríos del Castillo Prize (2003) awarded by the National College of Chemical Engineers and Chemists.

Martha S. Morales-Ríos, Carlos M. Cerda-García-Rojas, Alejandro Fernández Barrero and César A. N. Catalán have written brief summaries of Joseph Nathan's accomplishments and some biographical notes for this issue.

The members of the Mexican Chemical Society, colleagues, students, collaborators and friends acknowledge his important role in the development of the chemical sciences, particularly in our country and wish him the best for the years to come.

 

References

1. Pedro Joseph-Nathan, imagen y obra escogida. Colección México y la UNAM 20. Dirección General de Publicaciones, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. México 1984.         [ Links ]

2. http://www.nathan.cinvestav.mx/recursos_humanos/pedro_joseph_nathan/

3. See, for example: (a) Manjarrez, A.; Foster, L.; Joseph-Nathan, P. Diagramas de equilibrio II. Espectroscopia de resonancia magnética nuclear para el estudio del equilibrio del sistema p-dioxano-agua. Rev. Soc. Quím. Méx. 1967, 11, 171-174.         [ Links ] (b) Joseph Nathan, P.; Manjarrez, A. Evaluación de mezclas de geranial y neral por resonancia magnética nuclear Rev. Soc. Quím. Méx. 1967, 11, 116-117.         [ Links ] (c) Morales-Ríos, M. S.; Santos-Sánchez, N. F.; Joseph-Nathan, P. Hindered rotation in N-carbomethoxylated indole derivatives. Rev. Soc. Quím. Méx. 2001, 45, 172-176.         [ Links ]

4. Joseph-Nathan, P. En homenaje al Dr. Jesús Romo Armería. Rev. Soc. Quím. Méx. 1977, 21, 127; 281-299.         [ Links ]

5. Joseph-Nathan, P.; Díaz, E. Introducción a la Resonancia Magnética Nuclear. Editorial Limusa-Wiley, México. 1980.         [ Links ]

6. Joseph-Nathan, P. Resonancia Magnética Nuclear de Hidrógeno-1 y de Carbono-13, Secretaría General de la OEA, Washington, 1982.         [ Links ]

 

Guillermo Delgado