Emanuele Paternò, 9th Marquess of Sessa was an Italian chemist and politician and is credited with the discovery of the Paternò–Büchi reaction.

Emanuele Paternò di Sessa
Emanuele Paternò
Born(1847-12-12)12 December 1847
Died17 January 1935(1935-01-17) (aged 87)
Nationalityitalian
Alma materUniversity of Palermo
Known forPaternò–Büchi reaction
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry, Politics
InstitutionsUniversity of Palermo,
University of Torino,
University of Rome,
University of Marburg
Doctoral advisorStanislao Cannizzaro

Biography

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He was born in Palermo in 1847 as the Marquess of Sessa, in a branch of the House of Paternò. He studied at the University of Palermo with Stanislao Cannizzaro.

Scientific career

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In 1871 he became a lecturer at the University of Torino, but returned to Palermo the following year as Cannizzaro's successor. In 1892 he became a professor at the University of Rome. His main area of research was photochemistry, and discovered the Paternò–Büchi reaction in 1909.[1] The reaction was improved by George Büchi, its other namesake, in 1954.[2]

Political career

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Paternò was politically active. He served as the Mayor of Palermo (1890–1892), and in 1890 he was appointed by King Victor Emmanuel III a member of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy. He was later elected vice president (1904-1919) of the Italian upper house.

References

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  1. ^ E. Paterno; G. Chieffi (1909). Gazz. Chim. Ital. 39: 341. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ G. Büchi; Charles G. Inman; E. S. Lipinsky (1954). "Light-catalyzed Organic Reactions. I. The Reaction of Carbonyl Compounds with 2-Methyl-2-butene in the Presence of Ultraviolet Light". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 76 (17): 4327–4331. doi:10.1021/ja01646a024.