John D. Roberts (1918-2016)

Abstract

John D. (Jack) Roberts, Institute Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology died on October 29, 2016, at the age of 98. Roberts was one of the of the iconic figures in physical organic chemistry of the 20th century. His achievements included proving the occurrence of benzynes and nonclassical carbocations as reaction intermediates, and he was instrumental in establishing NMR spectroscopy as a standard analytical technique in organic chemistry.