T. R. Govindachari: Difference between revisions

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1915|7|30}}

| birth_place = Madras, [[Madras Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br>(now [[Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India)

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2001|12|28|1915|7|30}}

'''Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari''' [[Indian National Science Academy|FNA]], [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]] (1915–2001), popularly known as '''TRG''', was an Indian natural product chemist, academic, institution builder and the principal of [[Presidency College, Chennai]].<ref name="A Tribute to Prof. T. Govindachari">{{cite webjournal | url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/ark/5550190.0002.801?rgn=main;view=fulltext | title=A Tribute to Prof. T. Govindachari | publisher=Archive for Organic Chemistry | date=2005 | accessdatedoi=November10.3998/ark.5550190.0002.801 | access-date=5, November 2016| last1=Nagarajan | first1=K. | journal=Arkivoc | volume=2001 | issue=8 | pages=1–8 | doi-access=free | hdl=2027/spo.5550190.0002.801 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> He was known for his studies on the synthesis of isoquinolines and phenanthridines and his contributions in elucidating the structure of several plant constituents.<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/content/Detail.aspx?AID=274 | title=Brief Profile of the Awardee | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | accessdateaccess-date=October 5, October 2016}}</ref> He was an elected fellow of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]]<ref name="Fellow profile">{{cite web | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Govindachari,_Dr_Tuticorin_Raghavachari | title=Fellow profile | publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences | date=2016 | accessdateaccess-date=November 5, November 2016}}</ref> and the [[Indian National Science Academy]]<ref name="Deceased fellow">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail/N59-0293 |title=Deceased fellow |date=2016 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=5 November 5, 2016}}</ref> and was the nominator of [[Robert Burns Woodward]] who won the 1965 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]].<ref name="Nomination Database">{{cite web | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/archive/show.php?id=18957 | title=Nomination Database | publisher=Nobel Media AB | date=2014 | accessdateaccess-date=November 5, November 2016}}</ref> The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]], the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology]], one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1960, for his contributions to chemical sciences, making him the first recipient of the award in the chemical sciences category.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx | title=View Bhatnagar Awardees | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | accessdateaccess-date=October 5, October 2016}}</ref>

Govindachari was born on 30 July 1915 to [[T. G. Raghavachari|Tuticorin Raghavachari]] and his wife Rajalakshmi in [[Chennai]] (then known as Madras) in the south Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name="In memoriam – T. R. Govindachari (1915–2001)">{{cite journal | url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/jan252002/219.pdf | title=In memoriam – T. R. Govindachari (1915–2001) | author=K. Nagarajan | journal=Current Science | yeardate=January 2002 | volume=82 | issue=2}}</ref> Graduating from [[Presidency College, Chennai]] in chemistry, he continued at the institution for his master's degree for which he studied under B. B. Dey, his topic of research being [[isoquinolines]].<ref name="Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari - A Tribute">{{cite journal | url=http://www.arkat-usa.org/get-file/20453/ | title=Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari - A Tribute | author=Nagarajan | journal=ARKIVOC - Issue in honor of Prof. T. GovindachariArkivoc | year=2001 | volume=VIII | pages=1–8 | ISSNissn=1424-6376}}</ref> After completing his master's degree, he enrolled for PhD, again under D. D. Dey at the same institution, and secured the degree from [[Madras University]] while working as an assistant to his guide on a [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research|CSIR]]-funded project for the production of dye and drug intermediates by electrolytic processes. Obtaining a scholarship from the Government of Madras, he went to the US in 1946 and did his post-doctoral studies at the [[University of Illinois, Urbana]] under the guidance of [[Roger Adams]], best known for lending his name to [[Adams's catalyst]] which was prepared for the first time by him in association with V. Voorhees.<ref name="The Use of the Oxides of Platinum for the Catalytic Reduction of Organic Compounds">{{cite journal | author = Voorhees, V. |author2=[[Roger Adams|Adams, R.]] | title = The Use of the Oxides of Platinum for the Catalytic Reduction of Organic Compounds | journal = [[J. Am. Chem. Soc.]] | year = 1922 | doi = 10.1021/ja01427a021 | volume = 44 | issue = 6 | pages = 1397| url = https://zenodo.org/record/1428794 }}</ref> Govindachari's stay with Adams lasted three years during which time he assisted the US scientist in [[column chromatography]], collection of fractions and their examination for the latter's investigation of the structures of [[alkaloids]] found in the various species of [[Senecioneae]].

In 1949, Govindachari returned to India and in January the next year, he joined Presidency College as an additional professor at the department of chemistry.<ref name="In memoriam – T. R. Govindachari (1915–2001)" /> He would serveserved the institution for the next thirteen years during which period, he would becomebecame a professor in 1952 and the principal of the college in 1961. He superannuated from service in 1962, and after a year, he joined the Research Center of Ciba-Geigy in Mumbai in 1963 as its director. His association with the center continued till 1975 when he returned to Chennai to serve as a consultant to [[Central Leather Research Institute]] and after two years, [[Amrutanjan Healthcare|Amrutanjan]], a pharmaceutical company, assigned him the responsibility of setting up an R&D facility for them in Chennai. He headed the facility since its inception in 1977 till 1986 when the Science Foundation of [[Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation]] entrusted him the responsibility of establishing a research centre for them. He set up the ''Centre for Agrochemical Research'' in 1987 and held its directorship till his last.<ref name="Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari - A Tribute" />

Govindachari was married to Rajamani and the couple had three children, T. G. Rajagopalan, T. G. SounderrajanSundararajan and Anuradha JagannadhanJagannathan.<ref name="In memoriam – T. R. Govindachari (1915–2001)" /> He died on 28 December 2001, aged 86, at his home town of Chennai, survived by his children; his wife had predeceased him.<ref name="T.R. Govindachari passes away ">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/2002/01/01/stories/2002010101481300.htm | title=T.R. Govindachari passes away | publisherdate=31 December 2001 | work=[[The Hindu]] | access-date=December5 31,November 20012016}}{{dead link| accessdatedate=NovemberApril 5, 20162021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

It is reported that his involvement with the structural elucidation of [[alkaloids]] at Roger Adams' laboratory strengthened Govindachari's conviction to continue his researches along the same lines.<ref name="In memoriam – T. R. Govindachari (1915–2001)" /> Back in India, he continued working on alkaloids, [[terpenoids]] and oxygen [[Heterocyclic compound|heterocycles]] and worked on isoquinolines[[isoquinoline]]s, phenathridines[[phenathridine]]s, benzophenanthridines[[benzophenanthridine]]s, pridophenanthridinespyridophenanthridines, dibenzoquinolizines, terpenes[[terpene]]s, flavones[[flavone]]s, and furocoumarins[[furocoumarin]]s.<ref name="Deceased fellow" /> Tylophorine from ''Tylophora'' (now included in ''[[TylophoraVincetoxicum]]''), tiliacorine from ''[[Tiliacora]]'', Echitamineechitamine from ''[[Alstonia]]'', Ropsineropsine from ''[[Kopsia]]'', Gentianine[[gentianine]] from ''[[Gentiana]]'', karpaine from ''[[Carica]]'', and ancistroclaline from ''[[Ancistrocladus]]'' are some of the compounds structurally elucidated by him.<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners">{{cite web | url=http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | title=Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=1999 | accessdateaccess-date=October 5, October 2016 | pages=34}}</ref> He also worked on [[Azadirachta indica]] for isolating its constituents.<ref name="In memoriam – T. R. Govindachari (1915–2001)" />

At Presidency College, he mentored a number of research scholars which included [[Kuppuswamy Nagarajan]], N. S. Narasimhan, N. Arumugam, B. S. Thyagarajan, M. V. Lakshmikantham, K. W. Gopinath, S. Rajappa, N. Viswanathan and P. C. Parthasarathy who all went on to become notable chemists.<ref name="In memoriam – T. R. Govindachari (1915–2001)" /> During his tenure at Ciba-Geigy Research Center, the institution was reported to have examined over 10,000 plant extracts and compounds which resulted in the development of 5 drugs, including [[Nitroxazepine|Sintamil]] and Satranidazole, both already released into Indian market.<ref name="Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari - A Tribute" /> His investigations on [[Wedelia calendulacea]] returned the isolation of ''wedelolactone having a novel furocoumarin structure with a pterocarpan template'', which, though declared inactive during the initial tests at [[Abbott Laboratories]], later found out to have antihepatitic properties. This was subsequently confirmed by H. Wagner, a German phytochemist.<ref name="Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari - A Tribute" /> He established two research centres, the R&D facility for [[Amrutanjan Healthcare]] and Centre for Agrochemical Research for [[SPIC (Indian company)|SPIC]] Science Foundation and at the former, he contributed to the development of an extraction and purification process for [[Vinca alkaloids]].<ref name="He unveiled the mysteries of Neem">{{cite web | url=http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2020%20No%2012/otherstories.html | title=He unveiled the mysteries of Neem | publisher=Madras Musings | work=Vol XX No. 12 | date=October 2010 | accessdateaccess-date=November 5, November 2016}}</ref>

Govindachari has published his research findings in a book, ''Chemistry of Natural Products: V. 8'',<ref name="Chemistry of Natural Products: v. 8">{{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Natural-Products-IUPAC-Publications/dp/0408704373/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478351054&sr=1-1&refinements=p_27%3AT.R.+Govindachari | title=Chemistry of Natural Products: v. 8 | publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann | authoreditor=T. R. Govindachari (Editor) | yeardate=January 1973 | pages=184 | isbn=978-0408704373}}</ref> and over 340 articles.<ref name="Deceased fellow" />{{Refn|group=note|Please see ''Selected bibliography'' section}} His work has also been quoted in several text books, treatises and other works.{{Refn|group=note|Please see ''Citations'' section}} He was associated with science journals viz. Indian Journal of Chemistry, Medicinal and Aromatic plants Abstracts and The Wealth of India as a member of their editorial board.<ref name="Deceased fellow" /> He sat in the council of the [[Indian National Science Academy]] from 1966 to 1968 and in the bureau of [[International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry]] (IUPAC) from 1963 to 1970 and served as the founder trustee of the National Organic Symposium Trust, a science forum promoting organic chemistry in India, from 1983 to 1986.<ref name="Trustees">{{cite web | url=http://www.nost.in/trustees_old.html | title=Trustees | publisher=National Organic Symposium Trust | date=2016 | accessdateaccess-date=November 5, November 2016}}</ref> He was a member of the Pharmaceuticals and Drugs Committee of the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] and the research councils of [[National Chemical Laboratory]] and [[Central Drug Research Institute]]. He presided the Indian Chemical Society during 1971–72 and was a member of [[Royal Society of Chemistry]], the [[American Chemical Society]] and Swiss Chemical Society.<ref name="Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari - A Tribute" /> He was the nominator for [[Robert Burns Woodward]] who won the [[Nobel Prize for Chemistry]] in 1965.<ref name="Nomination Database" />

The [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] elected Govindachari as its fellow in 1951<ref name="Fellow profile" /> and the [[Indian National Science Academy]] followed suit in 1959.<ref name="Deceased fellow" /> When the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]] in 1960, he became the first recipient of the award in the chemical sciences category.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees" /> The Indian National Science Academy awarded him the Meghanad Saha Medal;<ref name="Meghnad Saha Medal">{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#abs | title=Meghnad Saha Medal | publisher=Indian National Science Academy | work=List of recipients | date=2016 | accessdateaccess-date=November 5, November 2016}}</ref> the Academy would honor him again in 1986 with the Golden Jubilee Commemoration Medal.<ref name="Golden Jubilee Commemoration Medal">{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#910 | title=Golden Jubilee Commemoration Medal | publisher=Indian National Science Academy | work=List of recipients | date=2016 | accessdateaccess-date=November 5, November 2016}}</ref> He received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the [[Chemical Research Society of India]] in 2000.<ref name="Lifetime Achievement Award">{{cite web | url=http://www.crsi.org.in/index.php/crsi-awards/year-1999-2008 | title=Lifetime Achievement Award | publisher=Chemical Research Society of India | date=2016 | accessdateaccess-date=November 5, November 2016}}</ref>

Govindachari delivered several award orations and the list includes Professor K. Venkataraman Endowment Lectureship of [[Bombay University]] (1965 and 1996), Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar Memorial Lectureship of [[Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science]] (1970), Sir S. Subramania Iyer Lectureship of [[Madras University]] (1970), H. K. Sen Memorial Lectureship (1970) and the plenary lecture in the inaugural meeting of the Natural Products Section of the [[International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry]].<ref name="A Tribute to Prof. T. Govindachari" /><ref name="Deceased fellow" /> ''Alkaloids: Chemical and Biological Perspectives'' journal dedicated the volume 15 of their 2001 edition to Govindachari<ref name="Dedicated to Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari (1915-)">{{cite journal | title=Dedicated to Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari (1915-) | journal=Alkaloids: Chemical and Biological Perspectives | year=2001 | volume=15 | pages=v | doi=10.1016/S0735-8210(01)80011-X| isbn=9780080440255 }}</ref> and ARKIVOC issued a [[Festschrift]] on him through their volume VIII in 2001.<ref name="ARKIVOC Volume 2001">{{cite web | url=http://www.arkat-usa.org/arkivoc-journal/browse-arkivoc/2001/8/ | title=ARKIVOC Volume 2001 | publisher=ARKAT USA | work=Festschrift | date=2001 | accessdateaccess-date=November 5, November 2016}}</ref>

* {{cite book | title=Chemistry of Natural Products: v. 8 | publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann | authoreditor=T. R. Govindachari (Editor) | yeardate=January 1973 | pages=184 | isbn=978-0408704373}}

* {{cite journal | title=Synthese von (±)-Predicentrin |author1=Ramamurthy Charubala |author2=Bantwal Ramachandra Pai |author3=Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari |author4=Narayana Viswanathan | journal=Chem. Ber. | year=1968 | volume=101 |issue=8 | pages=2665–68 | doi=10.1002/cber.19681010808|pmid=5683925 }}

* {{cite journal | title=Isolation of a new tetranortriterpenoid from the uncrushed green leaves of Azadirachta indica |author1=Govindachari, T. R. |author2=Malathi, R. |author3=Gopalakrishnan, Geetha |author4=Suresh, G. |author5=Rajan, S. S. | journal=Phytochemistry | year=1999 | volume=52 | issue=6 | pages=1117–19 | doi=10.1016/S0031-9422(99)00367-2|bibcode=1999PChem..52.1117G }}

* {{cite journal | title=Antifungal activity of some tetranortriterpenoids |author1=Govindachari, T. R. |author2=Suresh, G. |author3=Gopalakrishnan, Geetha |author4=Masilamani, S. |author5=Banumathi, B. | journal=Fitoterapia | year=2000 | volume=71 | issue=3 | pages=317–320 | doi=10.1016/S0367-326X(99)00155-0|pmid=10844171 }}

* {{cite journal | title=Insect antifeedant and growth regulating activities of quassinoids from Samadera indica |author1=Govindachari, T. R. |author2=Krishna Kumari, G. N. |author3=Gopalakrishnan, G. |author4=Suresh, G. |author5=Wesley, S. D. |author6=Sreelatha, T. | journal=Fitoterapia | year=2001 | volume=72 | issue=5 | pages=568–571 | doi=10.1016/S0367-326X(00)00342-7|pmid=11429258 }}

* {{cite journal | title=Structure of azadirachtin-I, 11 β-H epimer |author1=Malathi, R. |author2=Kabaleeswaran, V. |author3=Rajan, S. S. |author4=Gopalakrishnan, Geetha |author5=Govindachari, T. R. | journal=Journal of Chemical Crystallography | year=2003 | volume=33 | issue=4 | pages=229–232 | doi=10.1023/A:1023816807690|s2cid=91770797 }}

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* {{cite web | url=http://indian-scientists.padakshep.org/subjectareas/chemical-sciences/chem-bhatnagar-prize-winners/tuticorin-raghavachari-govindachari | title=Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari | publisher=The Indian Scientists | work=Scientist profile | date=2016 | accessdateaccess-date=November 5, November 2016}}

* {{cite journal | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227297743_TR_Govindachari's_Natural_Products_Chemistry227297743 | title=TR Govindachari's Natural Products Chemistry | author=K. Nagarajan | journal=Resonance | yeardate=June 2008 | volume=13 | issue=6 | pages=519–540 | doi=10.1007/s12045-008-0059-0| s2cid=122568710 }}

* {{cite web | url=http://ac.els-cdn.com/S073582100180011X/1-s2.0-S073582100180011X-main.pdf?_tid=c377faf8-a359-11e6-ae5b-00000aacb361&acdnat=1478351840_e13c6f40bc4f0324f531824c1f5f9035 | title=Tuticorin Raghavachari Govindachari | publisher=Alkaloids: Chemical and Biological Perspectives | work=Dedication | date=2001 | accessdateaccess-date=November 5, November 2016}}

[[Category:UniversityAcademic staff of MadrasPresidency College, facultyChennai]]

[[Category:University of Illinois at Urbana–ChampaignUrbana-Champaign alumni]]