Eliel, 73, who was ACS president in 1992, says he has been overwhelmed by well-wishers since the announcement of the award was made in late May: "I've received letters from over 100 people--from professional friends, former students, people I've worked with in the past, even from people I've never met [but who have a] background similar to mine. It was all very heartwarming."
Over the last four decades, Eliel has been a prominent force in advancing the understanding of the three-dimensional shape of molecules and the role that their structure plays in chemical reactions, according to an ACS statement.
Eliel was cited by ACS for two major contributions to organic chemistry. Based on work by 1995 Priestley Medal recipient Derek H.R. Barton, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University, Eliel set out his ideas on chemical conformations--alternate three-dimensional shapes of the same molecule--in a 1953 paper published in Experientia ...
