Herbert Charles Brown Encyclopedia Article

Herbert Charles Brown

The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.

(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.

The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.

The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.

All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.

Herbert Charles Brown

1912-

English-American chemist who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1979 for his work with the compounds of boron. He discovered a way to produce alcohols from compounds containing carbon-carbon double bonds. (Alcohols are a class of carbon-containing compounds important in science and industry.) Brown used diborane (B2H6) to catalyze, or speed up, the process, which is now called hydroboration-oxidation. Brown also discovered that sodium borohydride (NaBH4) could be used to catalyze other types of reactions that produce alcohols.