In this introductory lecture I will try to summarize Natta's contribution to chemistry and materials science. The research by his group, which earned him the Noble prize in 1963, provided unprecedented control over the synthesis of macromolecules with well-defined three-dimensional structures. I will emphasize how this structure is the key for the properties of these materials, or for that matter for any molecular object. More generally, I will put Natta's research in a historical context, by discussing the pervasive importance of molecular geometry in chemistry, from the 19th century up to the present day. Advances in molecular graphics, alongside those in experimental and computational methods, are allowing chemists, materials scientists and biologists to appreciate the structure and properties of ever more complex materials.

Molecular geometry and molecular graphics: Natta's polypropylene and beyond

Guido Raos
2019-01-01

Abstract

In this introductory lecture I will try to summarize Natta's contribution to chemistry and materials science. The research by his group, which earned him the Noble prize in 1963, provided unprecedented control over the synthesis of macromolecules with well-defined three-dimensional structures. I will emphasize how this structure is the key for the properties of these materials, or for that matter for any molecular object. More generally, I will put Natta's research in a historical context, by discussing the pervasive importance of molecular geometry in chemistry, from the 19th century up to the present day. Advances in molecular graphics, alongside those in experimental and computational methods, are allowing chemists, materials scientists and biologists to appreciate the structure and properties of ever more complex materials.
2019
ICGG 2018—Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Geometry and Graphics
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1073529
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