Fred McLafferty

Fred Warren McLafferty (May 11, 1923 – December 26, 2021) was an American chemist known for his work in mass spectrometry. He was best known for the McLafferty rearrangement reaction that was observed with mass spectrometry.[2] With Roland Gohlke, he pioneered the technique of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.[3] He is also known for electron capture dissociation, a method of fragmenting gas phase ions.[4] In 1982, he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Fred McLafferty
Born
Fred Warren McLafferty

(1923-05-11)May 11, 1923
DiedDecember 26, 2021(2021-12-26) (aged 98)
NationalityUnited States
Alma materUniversity of Nebraska
Cornell University
Known forMass Spectrometry
AwardsACS Award in Chemical Instrumentation (1972 )

Fisher Award (1981)

Member of the National Academy of Sciences (1982 )
ACS Nichols Gold Medal (1984 )
Oesper Award (1985 )
Sir J.J. Thomson Gold Medal (1985 )
Field and Franklin Award (1989)
ASMS Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry Award (2003)
Lavoisier Medal (2004)[1]
Scientific career
FieldsChemist
InstitutionsPurdue University
Cornell University
Doctoral studentsI. Jonathan Amster

McLafferty died on December 26, 2021 in Ithaca, New York at the age of 98.[5]

References

  1. Seven Cornellians receive prestigious national and international honors. Cornell Chronicle (December 3, 2004). Retrieved 2014-08-28.
  2. F. W. McLafferty. Mass Spectrometric Analysis. Molecular Rearrangements. Analytical Chemistry 31 (1) (1959). p. 82–87. doi:10.1021/ac60145a015.
  3. Gohlke, Roland S.. Early gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry 4 (5) (1993). p. 367–371. doi:10.1016/1044-0305(93)85001-E.
  4. Zubarev, R. A.. Electron Capture Dissociation of Multiply Charged Protein Cations - a Nonergodic Process. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 120 (13) (1998). p. 3265–3266. doi:10.1021/ja973478k.
  5. Fred W. McLafferty