Yves Chauvin
French chemist (1930-2015) · France · Scientists · Died at 84
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Something wrong?He cracked the code on a chemical reaction that had baffled researchers for decades - metathesis, a molecular square dance that now underpins plastics, pharmaceuticals, and green chemistry worldwide.
A life in dates
Also in Deutsch
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About this person
Yves Chauvin was born on 10 October 1930 in France and built his career at the Institut français du pétrole, where he worked as a research chemist far from the spotlight of major universities. In the 1970s, he deciphered the mechanism behind olefin metathesis, explaining how carbon-carbon double bonds could be broken and reformed in new combinations - a puzzle that had eluded the field. His insight laid the groundwork for an entire branch of synthesis chemistry. The work earned him the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Robert H. Grubbs and Richard R. Schrock, and a seat in the French Academy of Sciences. He remained honorary research director at the institute until his death on 27 January 2015.
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