Editing William Lipscomb

{{short description|American chemist (1919–2011)}}
{{other people}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = William N. Lipscomb Jr.
| birth_name        = William Nunn Lipscomb Jr.
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1919|12|9|mf=y}}<ref name="Nobel"/>
| birth_place       = [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], U.S.<ref name="Nobel"/>
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2011|4|14|1919|12|9|mf=y}}<ref name="Nobel"/>
| death_place       = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.<ref name="Nobel"/>
| image             = William n lipscomb jr.jpg
| fields            = [[Nuclear magnetic resonance]]<br />[[Theoretical chemistry]]<br />[[boron|Boron chemistry]]<br />[[Biochemistry]]
| workplaces        = [[University of Minnesota]]<br />[[Harvard University]]
| education         = [[University of Kentucky]] ([[B. S.|BS]])<br />[[California Institute of Technology]] ([[PhD]])
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Linus Pauling]]
| thesis_title      = Part 1: Electron diffraction investigations of vanadium tetrachloride, dimethylketene dimer, tetrachloroethylene, and trichloroethylene<br />Part 2: The Crystal Structure of Methylammonium Chloride
| thesis_url        = https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-10142002-160250
| thesis_year       = 1946
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = {{plainlist | 
* [[Richard E. Dickerson]]
* [[Roald Hoffmann]]
* [[Russell M. Pitzer]]
* [[Thomas A. Steitz]]
* [[Donald Voet]]
* [[Don Craig Wiley|Don C. Wiley]]
* [[Irene Pepperberg]]
* [[Douglas C. Rees]]
}}
| notable_students  = [[Martha L. Ludwig]]<br />[[Michael Rossmann]]<br />[[Raymond C. Stevens]]
| known_for         = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = [[Peter Debye Award]] (1973)<br />[[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (1976)
| signature         = 
| footnotes         = 
| spouse            = {{plainlist|
*{{marriage|Mary Adele Sargent|1944|1983|end=divorce}}
*{{marriage|Jean Evans|1983}}
}}
| children          = 4
}}
'''William Nunn Lipscomb Jr.''' (December 9, 1919{{spaced ndash}}April 14, 2011)<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/16/us/16lipscomb.html?partner=rss&emc=rss | work=The New York Times | first=Glenn | last=Rifkin | title=William Lipscomb, Nobel Winner in Chemistry, Dies at 91 | date=2011-04-15}}</ref> was a Nobel Prize-winning [[People of the United States|American]] [[Inorganic chemistry|inorganic]] and [[Organic chemistry|organic]] chemist working in [[nuclear magnetic resonance]], [[theoretical chemistry]], [[boron|boron chemistry]], and [[biochemistry]].

==Biography==

===Overview===

Lipscomb was born in [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], to a physician father and housewife mother. Both his grandfather and great-grandfather had been physicians.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grimes |first=Russell |date=18 May 2011 |title=William Nunn Lipscomb Jr (1919–2011) |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/473286a#auth-Russell_N_-Grimes-Aff1 |journal=Nature|volume=473 |issue=7347 |page=286 |doi=10.1038/473286a |pmid=21593854 |bibcode=2011Natur.473..286G }}</ref> His family moved to [[Lexington, Kentucky]] in 1920,<ref name="Nobel">{{Nobelprize|accessdate=2020-05-30}}</ref> and he lived there until he received his [[Bachelor of Science]] [[academic degree|degree]] in chemistry at the [[University of Kentucky]] in 1941. He went on to earn his [[Doctor of Philosophy]] degree in chemistry from the [[California Institute of Technology|California Institute of Technology (Caltech)]] in 1946.

From 1946 to 1959 he taught at the [[University of Minnesota]]. From 1959 to 1990 he was a professor of [[chemistry]] at [[Harvard University]], where he was a [[professor emeritus]] since 1990.

Lipscomb was married to the former Mary Adele Sargent from 1944 to 1983.<ref>{{cite web|author=LorraineGilmer02 |url=http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.sargent/1429/mb.ashx |title=obit fyi – Mary Adele Sargent Lipscomb, 1923 Ca. – 2007 NC – Sargent – Family History & Genealogy Message Board – Ancestry.com |publisher=Boards.ancestry.com |date=2007-09-27 |access-date=2012-02-01}}</ref> They had three children, one of whom lived only a few hours.
He married Jean Evans in 1983.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-william-lipscomb-20110416-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519091851/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/16/local/la-me-william-lipscomb-20110416 |url-status=live |archive-date=May 19, 2011 |title=OBITUARY: William N. Lipscomb dies at 91; won Nobel Prize in chemistry – Los Angeles Times |publisher=Articles.latimes.com |date=2011-04-16 |access-date=2012-02-01 |first=Thomas H. |last=Maugh II}}</ref> They had one adopted daughter.

Lipscomb resided in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] until his death in 2011 from [[pneumonia]].<ref name="Kauffman">{{cite journal
  | last =Kauffman
  | first =George B.
  |author2=Jean-Pierre Adloff
   | title =William Nunn Lipscomb Jr. (1919–2011), Nobel Laureate and Borane Chemistry Pioneer: An Obituary–Tribute
  | journal =The Chemical Educator
  | volume =16
  | pages =195–201
  | date = 19 July 2011
  | url = http://www.nesacs.org/Noticeboard/2011/LIPSCOMB_CHEM_EDUCATOR(JUL2011).pdf
  | access-date = 16 August 2011 }}</ref>

===Early years===

"My early home environment ... stressed personal responsibility and self reliance. Independence was encouraged especially in the early years when my mother taught music and when my father's medical practice occupied most of his time."

In grade school Lipscomb collected animals, insects, pets, rocks, and minerals.

Interest in astronomy led him to visitor nights at the Observatory of the University of Kentucky, where Prof. H. H. Downing gave him a copy of [[Robert Horace Baker|Baker's]] ''Astronomy.''
Lipscomb credits gaining many intuitive physics concepts from this book and from his conversations with Downing, who became Lipscomb's lifelong friend.

The young Lipscomb participated in other projects, such as [[morse code|Morse-coded]] messages over wires and [[crystal radio]] sets, with five nearby friends who became physicists, physicians, and an engineer.

Aged 12, Lipscomb was given a small Gilbert [[chemistry set]]. He expanded it by ordering apparatus and chemicals from suppliers and by using his father's privilege as a physician to purchase chemicals at the local drugstore at a discount. Lipscomb made his own fireworks and entertained visitors with color changes, odors, and explosions. His mother questioned his home chemistry hobby only once, when he attempted to isolate a large amount of [[urea]] from [[urine]].

Lipscomb credits perusing the large medical texts in his physician father's library and the influence of [[Linus Pauling]] years later to his undertaking biochemical studies in his later years.  Had Lipscomb become a physician like his father, he would have been the fourth physician in a row along the Lipscomb male line.

The source for this subsection, except as noted, is Lipscomb's autobiographical sketch.<ref name=InHonorOfWnlStructuresAndMechanisms2002/>

===Education===
Lipscomb's high-school chemistry teacher, Frederick Jones, gave Lipscomb his college books on [[organic chemistry|organic]], [[analytical chemistry|analytical]], and [[general chemistry]], and asked only that Lipscomb take the examinations.
During the class lectures, Lipscomb in the back of the classroom did research that he thought was original (but he later found was not): the preparation of [[hydrogen]] from [[sodium formate]] (or [[sodium oxalate]]) and [[sodium hydroxide]].<ref name="HS_Science_Research">{{cite web|url=http://wlipscomb.tripod.com/publications_pubs_high-school.html |title=HighSchool – Publications – Lipscomb |publisher=Wlipscomb.tripod.com |date=1937-02-25 |access-date=2012-02-01}}</ref>
He took care to include gas analyses and to search for probable [[side reaction]]s.

Lipscomb later had a high-school physics course and took first prize in the state contest on that subject.  He also became very interested in [[special relativity]].

Lipscomb attended [[University of Kentucky]] on a music scholarship. Prof. Robert H. Baker suggested that Lipscomb research the direct preparation of derivatives of [[Alcohol (chemistry)|alcohol]]s from dilute [[aqueous solution]] without first separating the alcohol and water, which led to Lipscomb's first publication.<ref name=Lipscomb1942Alcohols/>

For graduate school Lipscomb chose Caltech, which offered him a teaching assistantship in Physics at $20/month.  He turned down more money from [[Northwestern University]], which offered  a research assistantship at $150/month. [[Columbia University]] rejected Lipscomb's application in a letter written by Nobel prizewinner Prof. [[Harold Urey]].

At Caltech Lipscomb intended to study theoretical [[quantum mechanics]] with Prof. [[William Vermillion Houston|W. V. Houston]] in the physics department, but after one semester switched to the chemistry department under the
influence of Prof. Linus Pauling.  World War II work divided Lipscomb's time in graduate school beyond his other thesis work, as he partly analyzed smoke particle size, but mostly worked with [[nitroglycerin]]–[[nitrocellulose]] propellants, which involved handling vials of pure nitroglycerin on many occasions.
Brief audio clips by Lipscomb about his war work may be found from the [[#External links|External Links]] section at the bottom of this page, past the References.

The source for this subsection, except as noted, is Lipscomb's autobiographical sketch.<ref name=InHonorOfWnlStructuresAndMechanisms2002/>

<!--===Later years===

The Colonel is how Lipscomb's students referred to him, directly addressing him as Colonel.  "His first doctoral student, Murray Vernon King, pinned the label on him, and it was quickly adopted by other students, who wanted to use an appellation that showed informal respect.  ... Lipscomb's Kentucky origins as the rationale for the designation."<ref name=Katz2000/>
Some years later in 1973 Lipscomb was made a member of the [[Kentucky colonel|Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels]].<ref name=Hargittai2003/>

Lipscomb, along with several other Nobel laureates, was a regular presenter at the annual [[Ig Nobel Prize|Ig Nobel]] Awards Ceremony, last doing so (in a wheelchair) on September 30, 2010.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIKnFZhCr2k ''The 20th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, September 30, 2010.'']</ref>-->

==Scientific studies==

Lipscomb worked in three main areas, nuclear magnetic resonance and the chemical shift, boron chemistry and the nature of the chemical bond, and large biochemical molecules.  These areas overlap in time and share some scientific techniques.
In at least the first two of these areas Lipscomb gave himself a big challenge likely to fail,
and then plotted a course of intermediate goals.

===Nuclear magnetic resonance and the chemical shift===
[[File:Lipscomb-NMR-hexaborene-B6H10.png|thumb|right|NMR spectrum of hexaborane B<sub>6</sub>H<sub>10</sub> showing the interpretation of a spectrum to deduce the molecular structure. (click to read details)]]

In this area Lipscomb proposed that:
"... progress in structure determination, for new polyborane species and for substituted [[borane]]s and [[carborane]]s, would be greatly accelerated if the [boron-11] [[nuclear magnetic resonance]] spectra, rather than [[X-ray diffraction]], could be used."<ref name=Lipscomb1977/>
This goal was partially achieved, although X-ray diffraction is still necessary to determine many such atomic structures. The diagram at right shows a typical nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of a borane molecule.

Lipscomb investigated, "... the carboranes, C<sub>2</sub>B<sub>10</sub>H<sub>12</sub>, and the sites of electrophilic attack on these compounds<ref name=Potenza1966Electrophilic/> using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This work led to [Lipscomb's publication of a comprehensive] theory of chemical shifts.<ref name=Lipscomb1966Shift/> The calculations provided the first accurate values for the constants that describe the behavior of several types of molecules in magnetic or electric fields."<ref name=HutchinsonDictionary2011/>

Much of this work is summarized in a book by Gareth Eaton and William Lipscomb, ''NMR Studies of Boron Hydrides and Related Compounds'',<ref name=Eaton1969/> one of Lipscomb's two books.

===Boron chemistry and the nature of the chemical bond===

In this area Lipscomb originally intended a more ambitious project: "My original intention in the late 1940s was to spend a few years understanding the [[borane]]s, and then to discover a systematic [[Valence (chemistry)|valence]] description of the vast numbers of electron deficient [[intermetallics|intermetallic]] compounds. I have made little progress toward this latter objective. Instead, the field of [[boron]] chemistry has grown enormously, and a systematic understanding of some of its complexities has now begun."<ref name=Lipscomb1977PrixNobel/>
Examples of these intermetallic compounds are KHg<sub>13</sub> and Cu<sub>5</sub>Zn<sub>7</sub>.  Of perhaps 24,000 of such compounds the structures of only 4,000 are known (in 2005) and we cannot predict structures for the others, because we do not sufficiently understand the nature of the chemical bond.
This study was not successful, in part because the calculation time required for intermetallic compounds was out of reach in the 1960s, but intermediate goals involving boron bonding were achieved, sufficient to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

[[File:lipscomb diborane b2h6 atomic diagram.png|thumb|right|Atomic diagram of [[diborane]] (B<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>).]]
[[File:Diborane 02.svg|thumb|right|Bonding diagram of [[diborane]] (B<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>) showing with curved lines a pair of [[three-center two-electron bond]]s, each of which consists of a pair of electrons bonding three atoms, two boron atoms and a hydrogen atom in the middle.]]

The three-center two-electron bond is illustrated in [[diborane]] (diagrams at right).
In an ordinary covalent bond a pair of electrons bonds two atoms together, one at either end of the bond, the diboare B-H bonds for example at the left and right in the illustrations.
In three-center two-electron bond a pair of electrons bonds three atoms (a boron atom at either end and a hydrogen atom in the middle), the diborane B-H-B bonds for example at the top and bottom of the illustrations.

Lipscomb's group did not propose or discover the three-center two-electron bond,
nor did they develop formulas that give the proposed mechanism.
In 1943, [[H. Christopher Longuet-Higgins|Longuet-Higgins]], while still an undergraduate at Oxford, was the first to explain
the structure and bonding of the boron hydrides. The paper reporting the work, written with his tutor R. P. Bell,
<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Longuet-Higgins | first1 = H. C. | last2 = Bell            | first2 = R. P. | author-link = H. Christopher Longuet-Higgins | title   = 64. The Structure of the Boron Hydrides | journal = Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed) | year    = 1943 | volume  = 1943 | pages   = 250–255 | doi     = 10.1039/JR9430000250 }}</ref> also reviews the history of the subject beginning with the work of Dilthey.
<ref name=Dilthey1921/> Shortly after, in 1947 and 1948, experimental spectroscopic work was performed by Price<ref name=Price1947/><ref name=Price1948/>
that confirmed Longuet-Higgins' structure for diborane. The structure was re-confirmed by electron diffraction measurement in 1951 by K. Hedberg and V. Schomaker, with the confirmation of the structure shown in the schemes on this page.<ref>{{ cite journal |author1=Hedberg, K. |author2=Schomaker, V. | title = A Reinvestigation of the Structures of Diborane and Ethane by Electron Diffraction | journal = [[Journal of the American Chemical Society]] | year = 1951 | volume = 73 | issue = 4 | pages = 1482–1487 | doi = 10.1021/ja01148a022 }}</ref> Lipscomb and his graduate students further determined the [[molecular structure]] of [[borane]]s (compounds of boron and hydrogen) using [[X-ray crystallography]] in the 1950s and developed theories to explain their [[chemical bond|bond]]s. Later he applied the same methods to related problems, including the structure of [[carborane]]s (compounds of carbon, boron, and hydrogen). [[H. Christopher Longuet-Higgins|Longuet-Higgins]]
and Roberts<ref name=Longuet-Higgins1954/><ref name=Longuet-Higgins1955/>
discussed the electronic structure of an icosahedron of boron atoms and of the borides MB<sub>6</sub>. The mechanism of the three-center two-electron bond was also discussed in a later paper by Longuet-Higgins,<ref>{{cite journal | author1 = H. C. Longuet-Higgins | title = title unknown | journal =  J. Roy. Inst. Chem.| year = 1953 | volume = 77 | page = 197}}</ref> and an essentially equivalent mechanism was proposed by Eberhardt, Crawford, and Lipscomb.<ref name=Eberhardt1954ThreeCenter/>
Lipscomb's group also achieved an understanding of it through electron orbital calculations using formulas by Edmiston and Ruedenberg and by Boys.<ref name=Kleir1974Rudenberg/>

The Eberhardt, Crawford, and Lipscomb paper<ref name=Eberhardt1954ThreeCenter/> discussed above  also devised the "[[styx rule]]" method to catalog certain kinds of boron-hydride bonding configurations.

[[File:lipscomb diamond-square-diamond-horizontal.png|thumb|left|Diamond-square-diamond (DSD) rearrangement. At each vertex is a boron atom and (not shown) a hydrogen atom. A bond joining two triangular faces breaks to form a square, and then a new bond forms across opposite vertices of the square.]]

Wandering atoms was a puzzle solved by Lipscomb<ref name=Lipscomb1966DSD/> in one of his few papers with no co-authors.
Compounds of boron and hydrogen tend to form closed cage structures.
Sometimes the atoms at the vertices of these cages move substantial distances with respect to each other.
The diamond-square-diamond mechanism (diagram at left) was suggested by Lipscomb to explain this rearrangement of vertices.
Following along in the diagram at left for example in the faces shaded in blue,
a pair of triangular faces has a left-right diamond shape.
First, the bond common to these adjacent triangles breaks, forming a square,
and then the square collapses back to an up-down diamond shape
by bonding the atoms that were not bonded before.
Other researchers have discovered more about these rearrangements.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hutton|first=Brian W. |author2=MacIntosh, Fraser |author3=Ellis, David |author4=Herisse, Fabien |author5=Macgregor, Stuart A. |author6=McKay, David |author7=Petrie-Armstrong, Victoria |author8=Rosair, Georgina M. |author9=Perekalin, Dmitry S. |author10=Tricas, Hugo |author11=Welch, Alan J. |title=Unprecedented steric deformation of ortho-carborane|journal=Chemical Communications |date=2008|issue=42|pages=5345–5347|doi=10.1039/B810702E|pmid=18985205 |url=http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2008/CC/b810702e}}</ref>
<ref name=Hosmane1996DSD/>

[[File:Lipscomb b10-h16-horizontal.png|thumb|right|B<sub>10</sub>H<sub>16</sub> showing in the middle a bond directly between two boron atoms without terminal hydrogens, a feature not previously seen in other boron hydrides.]]

The B<sub>10</sub>H<sub>16</sub> structure (diagram at right) determined by Grimes, Wang, Lewin, and Lipscomb found a bond directly between two boron atoms without terminal hydrogens, a feature not previously seen in other boron hydrides.<ref name=Grimes1961/>

Lipscomb's group developed calculation methods, both empirical<ref name=Eaton1969/> and from quantum mechanical theory.<ref name=Pitzer1962/><ref name=Stevens1963/>
Calculations by these methods produced accurate [[Hartree–Fock method|Hartree–Fock self-consistent field (SCF)]] [[molecular orbital]]s and were used to study boranes and carboranes.

[[File:Lilpscomb-ethane-barrier.png|thumb|left|Ethane barrier to rotation about the carbon-carbon bond, first accurately calculated by Pitzer and Lipscomb.]]

The [[ethane]] barrier to rotation (diagram at left) was first calculated accurately by [[Russell M. Pitzer|Pitzer]] and Lipscomb<ref name=Pitzer1963Ethane/> using the [[Hartree–Fock method|Hartree–Fock (SCF)]] method.

Lipscomb's calculations continued to a detailed examination of partial bonding through "... theoretical studies of multicentered chemical bonds including both delocalized and [[localized molecular orbitals]]."<ref name=Lipscomb1977/>
This included "... proposed molecular orbital descriptions in which the bonding electrons are delocalized over the whole molecule."<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1036/1097-8542.109100| title = Carborane |journal=AccessScience |last=Getman |first=Thomas D. |year=2014}}</ref>

"Lipscomb and his coworkers developed the idea of transferability of atomic properties, by which approximate theories for complex molecules are developed from more exact calculations for simpler but chemically related molecules,..."<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

Subsequent [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Prize]] winner [[Roald Hoffmann]] was a doctoral student
<ref name=Hoffmann1962TheoryIII/>
<ref name=Hoffmann1962TheoryI/>
<ref name=Hoffmann1962LCAO/>
<ref name=Hoffmann1962Sequential/>
<ref name=Hoffmann1963Carboranes/>
in Lipscomb's laboratory.
Under Lipscomb's direction the [[Extended Hückel method]] of molecular orbital calculation was developed by Lawrence Lohr<ref name=Lipscomb1977PrixNobel/> and by Roald Hoffmann.<ref name=Hoffmann1962TheoryI/><ref name=Lipscomb1963/>  This method was later extended by Hoffman.<ref name=Hoffmann1963/>
In Lipscomb's laboratory this method was reconciled with [[Hartree–Fock method|self-consistent field (SCF)]] theory by Newton<ref name=Newton1966/> and by Boer.<ref name=Boer1966/>

Noted boron chemist [[M. Frederick Hawthorne]] conducted early<ref name=LipscombHawthorne1959/><ref name=PitochelliHawthorne1962/> and continuing<ref name=LipscombHawthorne1972/><ref name=PaxtonHawthorne1974/> research with Lipscomb.

Much of this work is summarized in a book by Lipscomb, ''Boron Hydrides'',<ref name=Lipscomb1963/> one of Lipscomb's two books.

The 1976 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] was awarded to Lipscomb "for his studies on the structure of boranes illuminating problems of chemical bonding".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1976/ |title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1976 |publisher=Nobelprize.org |access-date=2012-02-01}}</ref>
In a way this continued work on the nature of the chemical bond by his doctoral advisor at the California Institute of Technology, [[Linus Pauling]], who was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1954/ |title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1954 |publisher=Nobelprize.org |access-date=2012-02-01}}</ref>

The source for about half of this section is Lipscomb's Nobel Lecture.<ref name=Lipscomb1977/><ref name=Lipscomb1977PrixNobel/>

===Large biological molecule structure and function===

Lipscomb's later research focused on the atomic structure of [[protein]]s, particularly how [[enzymes]] work.
His group used x-ray diffraction to solve the three-dimensional structure of these proteins to atomic resolution, and then to analyze the atomic detail of how the molecules work.

The images below are of Lipscomb's structures from the Protein Data Bank<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rcsb.org/ |title=rcsb.org |publisher=rcsb.org |access-date=2012-02-01}}</ref> displayed in simplified form with atomic detail suppressed.  Proteins are chains of amino acids, and the continuous ribbon shows the trace of the chain with, for example, several amino acids for each turn of a helix.

[[File:Carboxypeptidase-a-pdb-5CPA.png|thumb|upright|left|alt=carboxypeptidase A|[[carboxypeptidase A]]]]

[[Carboxypeptidase A]]<ref name=Lipscomb1968CPA/> (left) was the first protein structure from Lipscomb's group.  Carboxypeptidase A is a digestive enzyme, a protein that digests other proteins.  It is made in the pancreas and transported in inactive form to the intestines where it is activated.  Carboxypeptidase A digests by chopping off certain amino acids one-by-one from one end of a protein.
The size of this structure was ambitious.  Carboxypeptidase A was a much larger molecule than anything solved previously.

[[File:Apartate-carbamoyltransferase-pdb-2ATC.png|thumb|upright|right|alt=apartate carbamoyltransferase|[[aspartate carbamoyltransferase]]]]

[[Aspartate carbamoyltransferase]].<ref name=Honzatko1983atcase/>  (right) was the second protein structure from Lipscomb's group.
For a copy of [[DNA]] to be made, a duplicate set of its [[nucleotide]]s is required. Aspartate carbamoyltransferase performs a step in building the [[pyrimidine]] nucleotides ([[cytosine]] and [[thymidine]]).  Aspartate carbamoyltransferase also ensures that just the right amount of pyrimidine nucleotides is available, as activator and inhibitor molecules attach to aspartate carbamoyltransferase to speed it up and to slow it down.
Aspartate carbamoyltransferase is a complex of twelve molecules.
Six large catalytic molecules in the interior do the work, and six small regulatory molecules on the outside control how fast the catalytic units work.
The size of this structure was ambitious.  Aspartate carbamoyltransferase was a much larger molecule than anything solved previously.

[[File:Leucine-aminopeptidase-pdb-1LAP..png|thumb|upright|left|alt=leucine aminopeptidase|[[Leucyl aminopeptidase|Leucine aminopeptidase]]]]

[[Leucyl aminopeptidase|Leucine aminopeptidase]],<ref name=Burley1992Bestatin/> (left) a little like carboxypeptidase A, chops off certain amino acids one-by-one from one end of a protein or [[peptide]].

[[File:HaeIII-methyltransferase-dna-pdb-1DCT.png|thumb|upright|right|alt=HaeIII methyltransferase|HaeIII [[methyltransferase]] convalently complexed to DNA]]

HaeIII [[methyltransferase]]<ref name=Reinisch1995methyltransferase/> (right)
binds to DNA where it [[Methylation|methylates]] (adds a methy group to)
it.

[[File:Human-interferon-beta-pdb-1AU1.png|thumb|upright|left|alt=human interferon beta|human [[interferon]] beta]]

Human [[interferon]] beta<ref name=Karpusas1997Interferon/> (left)
is released by [[lymphocyte]]s in response to [[pathogen]]s to trigger the [[immune system]].

[[File:Chorismate-mutase-pdb-2CHS.png|thumb|upright|right|alt=chorismate mutase|[[chorismate mutase]]]]

[[Chorismate mutase]]<ref name=Strater1997chorismate/> (right)
[[catalysis|catalyzes]] (speeds up) the production of the amino acids [[phenylalanine]] and [[tyrosine]].

[[File:Fructose-1.6-bisphosphatase-pdb-3FBP.png|thumb|upright|left|alt=fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase|[[Fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase|fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase]]]]

[[Fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase|Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase]]<ref name=Ke1989Fructose/> (left)
and its inhibitor MB06322 (CS-917)<ref name=Erion2005Dibetes/>
were studied by Lipscomb's group in a collaboration, which included Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc., acquired by [[Ligand Pharmaceuticals]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ligand.com/ |title=ligand.com |publisher=ligand.com |access-date=2012-02-01}}</ref> in 2010, exploring the possibility of finding a treatment for [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]], as the MB06322 inhibitor slows the production of sugar by fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase.

{{Clear}}
Lipscomb's group also contributed to an understanding of
[[concanavalin A]]<ref name=Quiocho1971ConA/> (low resolution structure),
[[glucagon]],<ref name=Haugen1969Glucagon/> and
[[carbonic anhydrase]]<ref name=Liang1991Carbonic/> (theoretical studies).

Subsequent [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Prize]] winner [[Thomas A. Steitz]]
was a doctoral student in Lipscomb's laboratory.
Under Lipscomb's direction, after the training task of determining the structure of the small molecule methyl ethylene phosphate,<ref name=Steitz1965MEPhosphate/> Steitz made contributions to determining the atomic structures of [[carboxypeptidase A]]
<ref name=Lipscomb1968CPA/>
<ref name=Hartsuck1965CPA/>
<ref name=Lipscomb1965CPA/>
<ref name=Ludwig1966CPA/>
<ref name=Ludwig1967CPA/>
<ref name=Reeke1967CPA/>
<ref name=Lipscomb1967CPA/>
<ref name=Copolla1968CPA/>
and [[aspartate carbamoyltransferase]].
<ref name=Steitz1967ACTase/>
Steitz was awarded the 2009 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] for determining the even larger structure of the large [[50S]] ribosomal subunit, leading to an understanding of possible medical treatments.

Subsequent [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Prize]] winner [[Ada Yonath]], who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with [[Thomas A. Steitz]] and [[Venkatraman Ramakrishnan]], spent some time in Lipscomb's lab where both she and Steitz were inspired to pursue later their own very large structures.<ref name=CEN_Nov_2009/>  This was while she was a postdoctoral student at MIT in 1970.

===Other results===
[[File:Lipscombite sample.jpg|thumb|right|[[Lipscombite]]: Mineral, small green crystals on quartz, [[Harvard Museum of Natural History]], gift of W. N. Lipscomb Jr., 1996]]

The mineral [[lipscombite]] (picture at right) was named after Professor Lipscomb by the mineralogist John Gruner who first made it artificially.

Low-temperature x-ray diffraction was pioneered in Lipscomb's laboratory<ref name=Abrahams1950/><ref name=King1950LowTemperature/><ref name=Milberg1951LowTemperature/> at about the same time as parallel work in [[Isadore Fankuchen]]'s laboratory<ref name=Kaufman1949/> at the then [[Polytechnic Institute of New York University|Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn]].
Lipscomb began by studying compounds of nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, and other substances that are solid only below liquid nitrogen temperatures, but other advantages eventually made low-temperatures a normal procedure.
Keeping the crystal cold during data collection produces a less-blurry 3-D electron-density map because the atoms have less thermal motion.  Crystals may yield good data in the x-ray beam longer because x-ray damage may be reduced during data collection and because the solvent may evaporate more slowly, which for example may be important for large biochemical molecules whose crystals often have a high percentage of water.

Other important compounds were studied by Lipscomb and his students.
Among these are
[[hydrazine]],<ref name=Collin1951Hydrazine/>
[[nitric oxide]],<ref name=Dulmage1951Nitric/>
[[metal dithiolene complex|metal-dithiolene complexes]],<ref name=Enemark1965MetalDi/>
methyl ethylene phosphate,<ref name=Steitz1965MEPhosphate/>
mercury [[amide]]s,<ref name=Lipscomb1957Mercury/>
(NO)<sub>2</sub>,<ref name=Lipscomb1971NO2/>
crystalline [[hydrogen fluoride]],<ref name=Atoji1954HF/>
[[Roussin's black salt]],<ref name=Johansson1958Roussin/>
(PCF<sub>3</sub>)<sub>5</sub>,<ref name=Spencer1961PCF/>
complexes of [[Cyclooctatetraene|cyclo-octatetraene]] with [[(Benzylideneacetone)iron tricarbonyl|iron tricarbonyl]],<ref name=Dickens1962Octatetraene/>
and [[Vincristine|leurocristine (Vincristine)]],<ref name=Moncrief1965Vincristine/> which is used in several cancer therapies.

==Positions, awards and honors==
* [[Guggenheim Fellow]], 1954<ref name=Guggenheim>{{cite web|title=All Fellows: L|url=http://www.gf.org/fellows/all?index=l&page=13|work=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation|access-date=15 April 2011}}</ref>
* Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1960.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter L|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterL.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=15 April 2011}}</ref>
* Member of United States [[National Academy of Sciences]]
*Member of the Faculty Advisory Board of MIT-Harvard Research Journal
* Foreign Member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (1976)<ref name=KNAW>{{cite web|title=W.N. Lipscomb|url=http://www.knaw.nl/Pages/DEF/26/910.bGFuZz1OTA.html|work=Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen|access-date=15 April 2011|language=nl|archive-date=7 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807075257/http://www.knaw.nl/Pages/DEF/26/910.bGFuZz1OTA.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (1976)

Five books and published symposia are dedicated to Lipscomb.<ref name=InHonorOfWnlStructuresAndMechanisms2002/><ref name=InHonorOfWnlLegacy2012/><ref name=InHonorOfWnlBoronScience2011/><ref name=InHonorOfWnlIntlJofQcSymp1991/><ref name=InHonorOfWnlElectronDeficient1989/>

A complete list of Lipscomb's awards and honors is in his Curriculum Vitae.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wlipscomb.tripod.com/publications_biog_cv.html |title=CV – Biog – Publications – Lipscomb |publisher=Wlipscomb.tripod.com |access-date=2012-02-01}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref  name=Lipscomb1942Alcohols>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipscomb | first1 = W. N. | last2 = Baker | first2 = R. H. | year = 1942 | title = The Identification of Alcohols in Aqueous Solution | url = http://www.uky.edu/Kaleidoscope/fall2005/page7.html | journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc. | volume = 64 | pages = 179–180 | doi=10.1021/ja01253a505}}</ref>

<ref name=Potenza1966Electrophilic>{{cite journal | last1 = Potenza | first1 = J. A. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | last3 = Vickers | first3 = G. D. | last4 = Schroeder | first4 = H. | year = 1966 | title = Order of Electrophilic Substitution in 1,2 Dicarbaclovododecaborane(12) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Assignment | journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc. | volume = 88 | issue = 3| pages = 628–629 | doi=10.1021/ja00955a059}}</ref>

<ref name=HutchinsonDictionary2011>
Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Lipscomb, William Nunn (1919-) (5 paragraphs) © RM, 2011, all rights reserved, as published under license in [http://www.accessscience.com AccessScience, The McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology Online], © The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2000–2008. Helicon Publishing is a division of RM.  To see this biography (1) Go to [http://accessscience.com/ accessscience.com] (2) Search for Lipscomb (3) at right Click on "Lipscomb, William Nunn (1919- ). (4) If no institutional access is available, then at right click on Purchase Now (price in 2011 is about $30 US including tax for 24 hours). (5) Log in (6) Repeat steps 2 and 3.to see Lipscomb's biography.</ref>

<ref name=Eaton1969>Eaton GR, Lipscomb, WN. 1969. ''NMR Studies of Boron Hydrides and Related Compounds''. W. A. Benjamin, Inc.</ref>

<ref name=Eberhardt1954ThreeCenter>{{cite journal | last1 = Eberhardt | first1 = W. H. | last2 = Crawford | first2 = B. | last3 = Lipscomb | first3 = W. N. | year = 1954 | title = The Valence Structure of the Boron Hydrides | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 22 | issue = 6| page = 989 | doi=10.1063/1.1740320| bibcode = 1954JChPh..22..989E }}</ref>

<ref name=Hoffmann1962TheoryIII>{{cite journal | last1 = Hoffmann | first1 = R | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = WN | year = 1962 | title = Theory of Polyhedral Molecules. III. Population Analyses and Reactivities for the Carboranes | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 36 | issue = 12| page = 3489 | doi=10.1063/1.1732484| bibcode = 1962JChPh..36.3489H }}</ref>

<ref name=Hoffmann1962TheoryI>{{cite journal | last1 = Hoffmann | first1 = R | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = WN | year = 1962 | title = Theory of Polyhedral Molecules. I. Physical Factorizations of the Secular Equation | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 36 | issue = 8| page = 2179 | doi=10.1063/1.1732849| bibcode = 1962JChPh..36.2179H }}</ref>

<ref name=Hoffmann1962LCAO>{{cite journal | last1 = Hoffmann | first1 = R | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = WN | year = 1962 | title = The Boron Hydrides; LCAO-MO and Resonance Studies | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 37 | issue = 12| page = 2872 | doi=10.1063/1.1733113| bibcode = 1962JChPh..37.2872H }}</ref>

<ref name=Boer1966>{{cite journal | last1 = Boer | first1 = FP | last2 = Newton | first2 = MD | last3 = Lipscomb | first3 = WN. | year = 1966 | title = Molecular Orbitals for Boron Hydrides Parameterized from SCF Model Calculations | journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc. | volume = 88 | issue = 11| pages = 2361–2366 | doi=10.1021/ja00963a002}}</ref>

<ref name=Burley1992Bestatin>{{cite journal | last1 = Burley | first1 = S. K. | last2 = David | first2 = P. R. | last3 = Sweet | first3 = R. M. | last4 = Taylor | first4 = A. | last5 = Lipscomb | first5 = W. N. | year = 1992 | title = Structure Determination and Refinement of Bovine Lens Leucine Aminopeptidase and its Complex with Bestatin | journal = J. Mol. Biol. | volume = 224 | issue = 1| pages = 113–140 | doi=10.1016/0022-2836(92)90580-d| pmid = 1548695 }}</ref>

<ref name=Haugen1969Glucagon>{{cite journal | last1 = Haugen | first1 = W. P. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | year =1969 | title = The Crystal and Molecular Structure of the Hormone Glucagon | journal = Acta Crystallogr. A  | volume = 25 | issue =S185 }}</ref>

<ref name=Hartsuck1965CPA>{{cite journal | last1 = Hartsuck | first1 = JA | last2 = Ludwig | first2 = ML | last3 = Muirhead | first3 = H | last4 = Steitz | first4 = TA | last5 = Lipscomb | first5 = WN. | year = 1965| title = Carbyxypeptidase A, II, The Three-dimensional Electron Density Map at 6 A Resolution | doi = 10.1073/pnas.53.2.396 | pmid = 16591261 | journal =  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA | volume = 53 | issue = 2| pages = 396–403 | bibcode = 1965PNAS...53..396H | pmc=219526| doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Copolla1968CPA>Coppola, J. C., Hartsuck, J. A., Ludwig, M. L., Muirhead, H., Searl, J., Steitz, T. A. and Lipscomb, W. N., "The Low Resolution Structure of Carboxypeptidase A", ''Acta Crystallogr.'' 21, A160 (1966).</ref>

<ref name=CEN_Nov_2009>{{cite journal | last1 = Yarnell | first1 = A | year = 2009 | title = Lipscomb Feted in Honor of his 90th Birthday | journal = Chemical and Engineering News | volume = 87 | issue = 48 | page = 35 | doi = 10.1021/cen-v087n048.p035a | doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Abrahams1950>{{cite journal | last1 = Abrahams | first1 = SC | last2 = Collin | first2 = RL | last3 = Lipscomb | first3 = WN | last4 = Reed | first4 = TB. | year = 1950 | title = Further Techniques in Single-Crystal X-ray Diffraction Studies at Low Temperatures | journal = Rev. Sci. Instrum. | volume = 21 | issue = 4| pages = 396–397 | doi=10.1063/1.1745593| bibcode = 1950RScI...21..396A }}</ref>

<ref name=Hoffmann1962Sequential>{{cite journal | last1 = Hoffmann | first1 = R | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = WN | year = 1962 | title = Sequential Substitution Reactions on B<sub>10</sub>H<sub>10</sub>-2 and B<sub>12</sub>H<sub>12</sub>-2 | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 37 | issue = 3| page = 520 | doi = 10.1063/1.1701367 | bibcode = 1962JChPh..37..520H | s2cid = 95702477 }}</ref>

<ref name=Hoffmann1963Carboranes>{{cite journal | last1 = Hoffmann | first1 = R | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = WN | year = 1963 | title = Intramolecular Isomerization and Transformations in Carboranes and Substituted Boron Hydrides | journal = Inorg. Chem. | volume = 2 | pages = 231–232 | doi=10.1021/ic50005a066}}</ref>

<ref name=Hoffmann1963>{{cite journal | last1 = Hoffmann | first1 = R. | year = 1963 | title = An Extended Hückel Theory. I. Hydrocarbons | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 39 | issue = 6| pages = 1397–1412 | doi=10.1063/1.1734456| bibcode = 1963JChPh..39.1397H }}</ref>

<ref name=Hosmane1996DSD>{{cite journal | last1 = Hosmane | first1 = N.S. | last2 = Zhang | first2 = H. | last3 = Maguire | first3 = J.A. | last4 = Wang | first4 = Y. | last5 = Colacot | first5 = T.J. | last6 = Gray | first6 = T.G. | title = The First Carborane with a Distorted Cuboctahedral Structure| journal = Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. | volume = 35 | issue = 9| pages = 1000–1002 | doi=10.1002/anie.199610001| year = 1996 }}</ref>

<ref name=Honzatko1983atcase>{{cite journal | last1 = Honzatko | first1 = R. B. | last2 = Crawford | first2 = J. L. | last3 = Monaco | first3 = H. L. | last4 = Ladner | first4 = J. E. | last5 = Edwards | first5 = B. F. P. | last6 = Evans | first6 = D. R. | last7 = Warren | first7 = S. G. | last8 = Wiley | first8 = D. C. | last9 = Ladner | first9 = R. C. | display-authors = 8 | year = 1983 | title = Crystal and molecular structures of native and CTP-liganded aspartate carbamoyltransferase from Escherichia coli | journal = J. Mol. Biol. | volume = 160 | issue = 2| pages = 219–263 | doi=10.1016/0022-2836(82)90175-9 | pmid=6757446}}</ref>

<ref name=Ke1989Fructose>{{cite journal | last1 = Ke | first1 = H. | last2 = Thorpe | first2 = C. M. | last3 = Seaton | first3 = B. A. | last4 = Lipscomb | first4 = W. N. | last5 = Marcus | first5 = F. | year = 1989 | title = Structure Refinement of Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and its Fructose-2,6-bisphosphate Complex at 2.8 A Resolution | journal = J. Mol. Biol. | volume = 212 | issue = 3| pages = 513–539 | doi=10.1016/0022-2836(90)90329-k| pmid = 2157849 }}</ref>

<ref name=Kaufman1949>{{cite journal | last1 = Kaufman | first1 = HS | last2 = Fankuchen | first2 = I. | year = 1949 | title = A Low Temperature Single Crystal X-ray Diffraction Technique | journal = Rev. Sci. Instrum. | volume = 20 | issue = 10| pages = 733–734 | doi=10.1063/1.1741367| pmid = 15391618 | bibcode = 1949RScI...20..733K }}</ref>

<ref name=Kleir1974Rudenberg>{{cite journal | last1 = Kleier | first1 = D. A. | last2 = Hall | first2 = J. H. Jr. | last3 = Halgren | first3 = T. A. | last4 = Lipscomb | first4 = W. N. | year = 1974 | title = Localized Molecular Orbitals for Polyatomic Molecules. I. A Comparison of the Edmiston-Ruedenberg and the Boys Localization Methods | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 61 | issue = 10| page = 3905 | doi=10.1063/1.1681683| bibcode = 1974JChPh..61.3905K }}</ref>

<ref name=King1950LowTemperature>{{cite journal | last1 = King | first1 = M. V. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | year = 1950 | title = The Low Temperature Modification of n-Propylammonium Chloride | journal = Acta Crystallogr | volume = 3 | issue = 3| pages = 227–230 | doi=10.1107/s0365110x50000562| doi-access = free | bibcode = 1950AcCry...3..227K }}</ref>

<ref name=Reinisch1995methyltransferase>{{cite journal | last1 = Reinisch | first1 = K. M. | last2 = Chen | first2 = L. | last3 = Verdine | first3 = G. L. | last4 = Lipscomb | first4 = W. N. | year = 1995 | title = The crystal structure of the Hae III methyltransferase covalently complexed to DNA: An extrahelical cytosine and rearranged base pairing | journal = Cell | volume = 82 | issue = 1| pages = 143–153 | doi=10.1016/0092-8674(95)90060-8| pmid = 7606780 | s2cid = 14417486 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Liang1991Carbonic>Liang, J .-Y ., & Lipscomb, W. N., "Substrate and Inhibitor Binding to Human Carbonic Anhydrase II: a Theoretical Study", ''International Workshop on Carbonic Anhydrase'' (Spoleto, Italy VCH Verlagsgesellschaft, 1991) pp. 50-64.</ref>

<ref name=Karpusas1997Interferon>{{cite journal | last1 = Karpusas | first1 = M. | last2 = Nolte | first2 = M. | last3 = Benton | first3 = C. B. | last4 = Meier | first4 = W. | last5 = Lipscomb | first5 = W. N. | year = 1997 | title = The crystal structure of human interferon beta at 2.2-A resolution | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA | volume = 94 | issue = 22| pages = 11813–11818 | pmid = 9342320 | pmc = 23607 |doi=10.1073/pnas.94.22.11813 | bibcode = 1997PNAS...9411813K | doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Erion2005Dibetes>{{cite journal | pmid = 15911772 | pmc=1138262 | doi=10.1073/pnas.0502983102 | volume=102 | issue=22 | title=MB06322 (CS-917): A potent and selective inhibitor of fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase for controlling gluconeogenesis in type 2 diabetes | date=May 2005 | journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci USA | pages=7970–5| last1=Erion | first1=M. D. | last2=Van Poelje | first2=P. D. | last3=Dang | first3=Q | last4=Kasibhatla | first4=S. R. | last5=Potter | first5=S. C. | last6=Reddy | first6=M. R. | last7=Reddy | first7=K. R. | last8=Jiang | first8=T | last9=Lipscomb | first9=W. N. | bibcode=2005PNAS..102.7970E | doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name=Lipscomb1966Shift>Lipscomb WN, The chemical shift and other second-order magnetic and electric properties of small molecules.  ''Advances in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance''.  Edited by J. Waugh, Vol. 2 (Academic Press, 1966), pp. 137-176</ref>

<ref name=Lipscomb1963>Lipscomb WN. ''Boron Hydrides'', W. A. Benjamin Inc., New York, 1963 (Calculation methods are in Chapter 3).</ref>

<ref name=Lipscomb1966DSD>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipscomb | first1 = W. N. | year = 1966 | title = Framework Rearrangement in Boranes and Carboranes | journal = Science | volume = 153 | issue = 3734| pages = 373–378 | doi=10.1126/science.153.3734.373| pmid = 17839704 | bibcode = 1966Sci...153..373L }}</ref>

<ref name=Lipscomb1965CPA>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipscomb | first1 = W. N. | last2 = Coppola | first2 = J. C. | last3 = Hartsuck | first3 = J. A. | last4 = Ludwig | first4 = M. L. | last5 = Muirhead | first5 = H. | last6 = Searl | first6 = J. | last7 = Steitz | first7 = T. A. | year = 1966 | title = The Structure of Carboxypeptidase A. III. Molecular Structure at 6 A Resolution | doi = 10.1016/S0022-2836(66)80014-1 | journal = J. Mol. Biol. | volume = 19 | issue = 2| pages = 423–441 }}</ref>

<ref name=Lipscomb1968CPA>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipscomb | first1 = WN | last2 = Hartsuck | first2 = JA | last3 = Reeke | first3 = GN Jr | last4 = Quiocho | first4 = FA | last5 = Bethge | first5 = PH | last6 = Ludwig | first6 = ML | last7 = Steitz | first7 = TA | last8 = Muirhead | first8 = H | last9 = Coppola | first9 = JC| display-authors = 8 | title = The structure of carboxypeptidase A. VII. The 2.0-angstrom resolution studies of the enzyme and of its complex with glycyltyrosine, and mechanistic deductions | journal = Brookhaven Symp Biol |date=June 1968 | volume = 21 | issue = 1| pages = 24–90 | pmid = 5719196 }}</ref>

<ref name=Lipscomb1967CPA>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipscomb | first1 = W. N | last2 = Ludwig | first2 = M. L. | last3 = Hartsuck | first3 = J. A. | last4 = Steitz | first4 = T. A. | last5 = Muirhead | first5 = H. | last6 = Coppola | first6 = J. C. | last7 = Reeke | first7 = G. N. | last8 = Quiocho | first8 = F. A. | year = 1967 | title = Molecular Structure of Carboxypeptidase A at 2.8 A Resolution and an Isomorphous Enzyme-Substrate Complex at 6 A Resolution | journal = Federation Proceedings | volume = 26 | page = 385 }}</ref>

<ref name=Lipscomb1977>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipscomb | first1 = WN | year = 1977 | title = The Boranes and Their Relatives | journal = Science | volume = 196 | issue = 4294| pages = 1047–1055 | bibcode = 1977Sci...196.1047L | doi = 10.1126/science.196.4294.1047 | pmid = 17778522 | s2cid = 46658615 }}</ref>

<ref name=Ludwig1966CPA>Ludwig, M. L., Coppola, J. C., Hartsuck, J. A., Muirhead, H., Searl, J., Steitz, T. A. and Lipscomb, W. N., "Molecular Structure of Carboxypeptidase A at 6 A Resolution", ''Federation Proceedings'' 25, Part I, 346 (1966).</ref>

<ref name=Lipscomb1977PrixNobel>Lipscomb WN. 1977. The Boranes and Their Relatives. in ''Les Prix Nobel en 1976''. Imprimerie Royal PA Norstedt & Soner, Stockholm. 110-131.[https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1976/lipscomb-lecture.html][https://www.scribd.com/doc/53875200/Lipscomb-Nobel-Lecture]  Quote in next to last paragraph, which is omitted in Science version of the paper.</ref>

<ref name=Grimes1961>{{cite journal | last1 = Grimes | first1 = R. | last2 = Wang | first2 = F. E. | last3 = Lewin | first3 = R. | last4 = Lipscomb | first4 = W. N. | year = 1961 | title = A New Type of Boron Hydride, B<sub>10</sub>H<sub>16</sub> | doi = 10.1073/pnas.47.7.996 | pmid = 16590861 | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA | volume = 47 | issue = 7| pages = 996–999 | bibcode = 1961PNAS...47..996G | pmc=221316| doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=LipscombHawthorne1959>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipscomb | first1 = W. N. | last2 = Pitochelli | first2 = A. R. | last3 = Hawthorne | first3 = M. F. | year = 1959 | title = Probable Structure of the B<sub>10</sub>H<sub>10</sub><sup>−2</sup> Ion | journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc. | volume = 81 | issue = 21| page = 5833 | doi = 10.1021/ja01530a073 }}</ref>

<ref name=LipscombHawthorne1972>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipscomb | first1 = W. N. | last2 = Wiersma | first2 = R. J. | last3 = Hawthorne | first3 = M. F. | year = 1972 | title = Structural Ambiguity of the B<sub>10</sub>H<sub>14</sub><sup>−2</sup> Ion | journal = Inorg. Chem. | volume = 11 | issue = 3| pages = 651–652 | doi = 10.1021/ic50109a052 }}</ref>

<ref name=Dilthey1921>{{cite journal | last1 = Dilthey | first1 = W. | year = 1921 | title = Uber die Konstitution des Wassers | journal =  Z. Angew. Chem.| volume = 34 | issue = 95| page = 596 | doi = 10.1002/ange.19210349509 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Price1947>{{cite journal | last1 = Price | first1 = W.C. | year = 1947 | title = The structure of diborane | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 15 | issue = 8| page = 614 | doi=10.1063/1.1746611| doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Price1948>{{cite journal | last1 = Price | first1 = W.C. | year = 1948 | title = The absorption spectrum of diborane | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 16 | issue = 9| page = 894 | doi=10.1063/1.1747028| bibcode = 1948JChPh..16..894P }}</ref>

<ref name=Longuet-Higgins1954>{{cite journal | last1 = Longuet-Higgins | first1 = H. C. | last2 = Roberts | first2 = M. de V. | year = 1954 | title = The electronic structure of the borides MB<sub>6</sub> | journal = Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A | volume = 224 | issue = 1158 | pages = 336–347 | doi = 10.1098/rspa.1954.0162| bibcode = 1954RSPSA.224..336L | s2cid = 137957004 }}</ref>

<ref name=Longuet-Higgins1955>{{cite journal | last1 = Longuet-Higgins | first1 = H. C. | last2 = Roberts | first2 = M. de V. | year = 1955 | title = The electronic structure of an icosahedron of boron atoms | journal = Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A | volume = 230 | issue = 1180 | pages = 110–119 | doi = 10.1098/rspa.1955.0115| bibcode = 1955RSPSA.230..110L | s2cid = 98533477 }}</ref>
     
<ref name=Ludwig1967CPA>{{cite journal | last1 = Ludwig | first1 = ML | last2 = Hartsuck | first2 = JA | last3 = Steitz | first3 = TA | last4 = Muirhead | first4 = H | last5 = Coppola | first5 = JC | last6 = Reeke | first6 = GN | last7 = Lipscomb | first7 = WN. | title = The Structure of Carboxypeptidase A, IV. Prelimitary Results at 2.8 A Resolution, and a Substrate Complex at 6 A Resolution. | journal = Proc Natl Acad Sci USA | year = 1967 | volume = 57 | issue = 3| pages = 511–514 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.57.3.511 | doi-access = free | pmc = 335537 }}</ref>

<ref name=Newton1966>{{cite journal | last1 = Newton | first1 = MD | last2 = Boer | first2 = FP | last3 = Lipscomb | first3 = WN | year = 1966 | title = Molecular Orbital Theory for Large Molecules. Approximation of the SCF LCAO Hamiltonian Matrix | journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc. | volume = 88 | issue = 2353–2360| page = 245 | doi = 10.1021/ja00963a001 }}</ref>

<ref name=Milberg1951LowTemperature>{{cite journal | last1 = Milberg | first1 = M. E. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | year = 1951 | title = The Crystal Structure of 1,2-Dichloroethane at -50°C | journal = Acta Crystallogr | volume = 4 | issue = 4| pages = 369–373 | doi=10.1107/s0365110x51001148| bibcode = 1951AcCry...4..369M }}</ref>

<ref name=PaxtonHawthorne1974>{{cite journal | last1 = Paxson | first1 = T. E. | last2 = Hawthorne | first2 = M. F. | last3 = Brown | first3 = L. D. | last4 = Lipscomb | first4 = W. N. | year = 1974 | title = Observations Regarding Cu-H-B Interactions in Cu<sub>2</sub>B<sub>10</sub>H<sub>10</sub> | journal = Inorg. Chem. | volume = 13 | issue = 11| pages = 2772–2774 | doi = 10.1021/ic50141a048 }}</ref>

<ref name=PitochelliHawthorne1962>{{cite journal | last1 = Pitochelli | first1 = A. R. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | last3 = Hawthorne | first3 = M. F. | year = 1962 | title = Isomers of B<sub>20</sub>H<sub>18</sub><sup>−2</sup> | journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc. | volume = 84 | issue = 15| pages = 3026–3027 | doi=10.1021/ja00874a042}}</ref>

<ref name=Pitzer1962>{{cite journal | last1 = Pitzer | first1 = R. M. | last2 = Kern | first2 = C. W. | last3 = Lipscomb | first3 = W. N. | year = 1962 | title = Evaluation of Molecular Integrals by Solid Spherical Harmonic Expansions | journal = J. Chem. Phys.  | volume = 37 | issue = 2| page = 267 | doi=10.1063/1.1701315| bibcode = 1962JChPh..37..267P }}</ref>

<ref name=Pitzer1963Ethane>{{cite journal | last1 = Pitzer | first1 = RM | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = WN | year = 1963 | title = Calculation of the Barrier to Internal Rotation in Ethane | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 39 | issue = 8| pages = 1995–2004 | doi=10.1063/1.1734572| bibcode = 1963JChPh..39.1995P }}</ref>

<ref name=Quiocho1971ConA>{{cite journal | last1 = Quiocho | first1 = F. A. | last2 = Reeke | first2 = G. N. | last3 = Becker | first3 = J. W. | last4 = Lipscomb | first4 = W. N. | last5 = Edelman | first5 = G. M. | year = 1971 | title = Structure of Concanavalin A at 4 A Resolution | doi = 10.1073/pnas.68.8.1853 | pmid = 5288772 | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA | volume = 68 | issue = 8| pages = 1853–1857 | bibcode = 1971PNAS...68.1853Q | pmc=389307| doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Reeke1967CPA>{{cite journal | last1 = Reeke | first1 = GN | last2 = Hartsuck | first2 = JA | last3 = Ludwig | first3 = ML | last4 = Quiocho | first4 = FA | last5 = Steitz | first5 = TA | last6 = Lipscomb | first6 = WN. | title = The structure of carboxypeptidase A. VI. Some Results at 2.0-A Resolution, and the Complex with Glycyl-Tyrosine at 2.8-A Resolution.  | journal = Proc Natl Acad Sci USA | volume = 58 | issue = 6| pages = 2220–2226 | doi=10.1073/pnas.58.6.2220| pmid = 16591584 | year = 1967 | bibcode = 1967PNAS...58.2220R | pmc = 223823 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Steitz1965MEPhosphate>{{cite journal | last1 = Steitz | first1 = T. A. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | year = 1965 | title = Molecular Structure of Methyl Ethylene Phosphate | journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc. | volume = 87 | issue = 11| pages = 2488–2489 | doi=10.1021/ja01089a031}}</ref>

<ref name=Steitz1967ACTase>{{cite journal | last1 = Steitz | first1 = TA | last2 = Wiley | first2 = DC | last3 = Lipscomb |date=November 1967 | title =  The structure of aspartate transcarbamylase, I. A molecular twofold axis in the complex with cytidine triphosphate| journal = Proc Natl Acad Sci USA  | volume = 58 | issue = 5| pages = 1859–1861 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.58.5.1859 | pmid = 5237487 | pmc = 223875 | bibcode = 1967PNAS...58.1859S | doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Stevens1963>{{cite journal | last1 = Stevens | first1 = RM | last2 = Pitzer | first2 = RM | last3 = Lipscomb | first3 = WN. | year = 1963 | title = Perturbed Hartree–Fock Calculations. I. Magnetic Susceptibility and Shielding in the LiH Molecule | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 38 | issue = 2| pages = 550–560 | doi=10.1063/1.1733693| bibcode = 1963JChPh..38..550S }}</ref>

<ref name=Strater1997chorismate>{{cite journal | last1 = Strater | first1 = N. | last2 = Schnappauf | first2 = G. | last3 = Braus | first3 = G. | last4 = Lipscomb | first4 = W.N. | year = 1997 | title = Mechanisms of catalysis and allosteric regulation of yeast chorismate mutase from crystal structures | journal = Structure | volume = 5 | issue = 11| pages = 1437–1452 | doi=10.1016/s0969-2126(97)00294-3| pmid = 9384560 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Collin1951Hydrazine>{{cite journal | last1 = Collin | first1 = R. L. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | year = 1951 | title = The Crystal Structure of Hydrazine | journal = Acta Crystallogr | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | pages = 10–14 | doi=10.1107/s0365110x51000027| doi-access = free | bibcode = 1951AcCry...4...10C }}</ref>

<ref name=Dulmage1951Nitric>{{cite journal | last1 = Dulmage | first1 = W. J. | last2 = Meyers | first2 = E. A. | last3 = Lipscomb | first3 = W. N. | year = 1951 | title = The Molecular and Crystal Structure of Nitric Oxide Dimer | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 19 | issue = 11| page = 1432 | doi=10.1063/1.1748094| bibcode = 1951JChPh..19.1432D }}</ref>

<ref name=Enemark1965MetalDi>{{cite journal | last1 = Enemark | first1 = J. H. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | year = 1965 | title = Molecular Structure of the Dimer of Bis(cis-1,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)-ethylene-1,2-dithiolate)cobalt | journal = Inorg. Chem. | volume = 4 | issue = 12| pages = 1729–1734 | doi=10.1021/ic50034a012}}</ref>

<ref name=Lipscomb1957Mercury>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipscomb | first1 = W. N. | year = 1957 | title = Recent Studies in the Structural Inorganic Chemistry of Mercury", Mercury and Its Compounds | journal = Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences | volume = 65 | issue = 5| pages = 427–435 | doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.1956.tb36648.x| bibcode = 1956NYASA..65..427L | s2cid = 84983851 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name=Lipscomb1971NO2>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipscomb | first1 = W. N. | year = 1971 | title = Structure of (NO)<sub>2</sub> in the Molecular Crystal | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 54 | issue = 8| pages = 3659–3660 | doi = 10.1063/1.1675406 }}</ref>

<ref name=Atoji1954HF>{{cite journal | last1 = Atoji | first1 = M. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | year = 1954 | title = The Crystal Structure of Hydrogen Fluoride | journal = Acta Crystallogr | volume = 7 | issue = 2| pages = 173–175 | doi=10.1107/s0365110x54000497| bibcode = 1954AcCry...7..173A }}</ref>

<ref name=Johansson1958Roussin>{{cite journal | last1 = Johansson | first1 = G. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | year = 1958 | title = The Structure of Roussin's Black Salt, C<sub>s</sub>Fe<sub>4</sub>S<sub>3</sub>(NO)<sub>7</sub>.H<sub>2</sub>O | journal = Acta Crystallogr | volume = 11 | issue = 9| page = 594 | doi = 10.1107/S0365110X58001596 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 1958AcCry..11..594J }}</ref>

<ref name=Spencer1961PCF>{{cite journal | last1 = Spencer | first1 = C. J. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W | year = 1961 | title = The Molecular and Crystal Structure of (PCF<sub>3</sub>)<sub>5</sub> | journal = Acta Crystallogr | volume = 14 | issue = 3| pages = 250–256 | doi=10.1107/s0365110x61000826| doi-access = free | bibcode = 1961AcCry..14..250S }}</ref>

<ref name=Dickens1962Octatetraene>{{cite journal | last1 = Dickens | first1 = B. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | year = 1962 | title = Molecular and Valence Structures of Complexes of Cyclo-Octatetraene with Iron Tricarbonyl | journal = J. Chem. Phys. | volume = 37 | issue = 9| pages = 2084–2093 | doi=10.1063/1.1733429| bibcode = 1962JChPh..37.2084D }}</ref>

<ref name=Moncrief1965Vincristine>{{cite journal | last1 = Moncrief | first1 = J. W. | last2 = Lipscomb | first2 = W. N. | year = 1965 | title = Structures of Leurocristine (Vincristine) and Vincaleukoblastine. X-ray Analysis of Leurocristine Methiodide | journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc. | volume = 87 | issue = 21| pages = 4963–4964 | doi=10.1021/ja00949a056| pmid = 5844471 }}</ref>

<ref name=InHonorOfWnlElectronDeficient1989>''Electron Deficient Boron and Carbon Clusters'', Eds: G.A. Olah, K. Wade, and R.E. Williams.  An outgrowth of the January 1989 research symposium at the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute on Electron Deficient Clusters.  Wiley – Interscience, New York, 1989. (Dedication to "The Colonel" by [[F. Albert Cotton]], 3 pp.)</ref>

<ref name=InHonorOfWnlStructuresAndMechanisms2002>''Structures and Mechanisms: From Ashes to Enzymes'' (Acs Symposium Series) Gareth R. Eaton (Editor), Don C. Wiley (Editor), Oleg Jardetzky (Editor), .American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 2002 ("Process of Discovery (1977); An Autobiographical Sketch" by William Lipscomb, 14 pp. (Lipscombite: p. xvii), and Chapter 1: "The Landscape and the Horizon.  An Introduction to the Science of William N. Lipscomb", by Gareth Eaton, 16 pp.) These chapters are online at [http://pubs.acs.org/isbn/9780841237360 pubs.acs.org]. Click PDF symbols at right.</ref>

<ref name=InHonorOfWnlIntlJofQcSymp1991>''Proceedings of the International Symposium on Quantum Chemistry, Solid-State Theory and Molecular Dynamics'', International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, Quantum Chemistry Symposium No. 25, St. Augustine, Florida, March 9–16 (1991).  Ed. P.O. Lowdin, Special Eds. N.Y. Orhn, J.R. Sabin, and M.C. Zemer.  Published by John Wiley and Sons. 1991.</ref>

<ref name=InHonorOfWnlLegacy2012>''The Selected Papers of William N Lipscomb Jr.: A Legacy in Structure–Function Relationships.''  Jainpeng Ma (Editor), Imperial College Press. 400 pp. approx. Winter 2012. [http://www.icpress.co.uk/lifesci/p825.html (I. C. Press)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415052401/http://www.icpress.co.uk/lifesci/p825.html |date=2012-04-15 }} [https://www.amazon.com/Selected-Papers-William-Lipscomb-Structure-Function/dp/1848168403 (Amazon)]</ref>

<ref name=InHonorOfWnlBoronScience2011>''Boron Science: New Technologies and Applications.'' Narayan Hosmane (Editor), CRC Press, 878 pp. Sept, 26, 2011. ([http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439826621;jsessionid=ztGW4VOS0HRC2d8VxfVhLQ** CRC Press] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015211022/http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439826621;jsessionid=ztGW4VOS0HRC2d8VxfVhLQ** |date=2012-10-15 }}) [https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Boron+Science%3A+New+Technologies+and+Applications&x=15&y=22 (Amazon)]</ref>

}}

==External links==
*[http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/events/1995paulingconference/video-s3-4-lipscomb.html "Reflections"] on Linus Pauling: Video of a talk by Lipscomb.  See especially the "Linus and Me" section.
*[http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/coll/pauling/war/audio/hager2.002.6.html World War 2 research] in brief audio clips by Lipscomb, which include his attempt to save the life of Elizabeth Swingle.  [http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/coll/pauling/war/corr/corr111.1-lp-eastmankodak-19431001-transcript.html Technical description] of the Swingle accident.
*[http://wlipscomb.tripod.com/ Scientific Character of W. Lipscomb] Curriculum Vitae, publication list, science humor, Nobel Prize scrapbook, scientific aggression, family stories, portraits, eulogy.
* {{Nobelprize}}
* [http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/lipscomb-william.pdf Douglas C. Rees, "William N. Lipscomb", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2019)]

{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1976–2000}}
{{1976 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipscomb, William}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:American chemists]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:American theoretical chemists]]
[[Category:American inorganic chemists]]
[[Category:Members of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]]
[[Category:Scientists from Cleveland]]
[[Category:People from Lexington, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Sayre School alumni]]
[[Category:University of Kentucky alumni]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota faculty]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Crystallographic Association]]