# Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureates from 1940 to 1959

Every Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate between 1940 and 1959, with the year and the Nobel Foundation's official citation. Which discovery do you think mattered most?

- 101 votes · 23 items
- Jul 13, 2023 · don_cuantico
- https://even.best/en/l/1221/nobel-prize-in-chemistry-laureates-from-1940-to-1959

## Top 23

1. **George de Hevesy** (12 · ▲12 ▼0) — 1943. For his work on the use of isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processes.
2. **John Howard Northrop** (9 · ▲9 ▼0) — 1946. For their preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form.
3. **Otto Hahn** (7 · ▲8 ▼1) — 1944. For his discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei.
4. **James Batcheller Sumner** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — 1946. For his discovery that enzymes can be crystallized.
5. **Wendell Meredith Stanley** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — 1946. For their preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form.
6. **Artturi Ilmari Virtanen** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — 1945. For his research and inventions in agricultural and nutrition chemistry, especially for his fodder preservation method.
7. **Sir Robert Robinson** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 1947. For his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids.
8. **William Francis Giauque** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 1949. For his contributions in the field of chemical thermodynamics, particularly concerning the behaviour of substances at extremely low temperatures.
9. **Otto Paul Hermann Diels** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 1950. For their discovery and development of the diene synthesis.
10. **Cyril Norman Hinshelwood** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 1956. For their researches into the mechanism of chemical reactions.
11. **Nikolay Nikolaevich Semenov** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 1956. For their researches into the mechanism of chemical reactions.
12. **Arne Wilhelm Kaurin Tiselius** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — 1948. For his research on electrophoresis and adsorption analysis, especially for his discoveries concerning the complex nature of the serum proteins.
13. **Linus Pauling** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — 1954. For his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances.
14. **Hermann Staudinger** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1953. For his discoveries in the field of macromolecular chemistry.
15. **Vincent du Vigneaud** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1955. For his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone.
16. **Frederick Sanger** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1958. For his work on the structure of proteins, especially that of insulin.
17. **Glenn Theodore Seaborg** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — 1951. For their discoveries in the chemistry of transuranium elements.
18. **Archer John Porter Martin** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — 1952. For their invention of partition chromatography.
19. **Kurt Alder** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1950. For their discovery and development of the diene synthesis.
20. **Edwin Mattison McMillan** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1951. For their discoveries in the chemistry of transuranium elements.
21. **Lord (Alexander R.) Todd** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1957. For his work on nucleotides and nucleotide co-enzymes.
22. **Richard Laurence Millington Synge** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 1952. For their invention of partition chromatography.
23. **Jaroslav Heyrovský** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 1959. For his discovery and development of the polarographic methods of analysis.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.