Giulio Natta

Italian chemist (1903–1979)

Natta, who was born at Imperia in Italy, was educated at the Milan Polytechnic Institute where he obtained his doctorate in chemical engineering in 1924. He was professor at the University of Pavia (1933–35), the University of Rome (1935–37), and the University of Turin (1937–38). Natta returned to Milan in 1939 as professor of industrial chemistry. In 1963 he became the first Italian to be awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry, which he shared with Karl Ziegler for their development of Ziegler–Natta catalysts.

Natta's early work was on x-ray crystallography and on catalysis. In 1938 he began to organize research in Italy for the production of synthetic rubbers – work that led him on to his discoveries in polymer chemistry. Ziegler in 1953 had introduced catalysts for polymerizing ethene (ethylene) to polyethene (polythene) – these catalysts gave straight-chain polymers producing a superior form of polyethene. Natta applied these catalysts (and later improved catalysts) to propene (CH₃CHCH₂) to form polypropene. In 1954 he showed that polymers could be formed with regular structures with respect to the arrangement of the side groups (CH₃–) along the chain. These so-called stereospecific polymers had useful physical properties (strength, heat resistance, etc.). Natta extended the technique to the polymerization of other molecules.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: Italian chemist noted for work on polymers (1903-1979)
  Synonym: Natta

Giulio Natta
Giulio Natta
Born	26 February 1903(1903-02-26) Imperia, Italy
Died	2 May 1979 (aged 76) Bergamo, Italy
Nationality	Italy
Fields	Organic chemistry
Institutions	Pavia University University of Rome La Sapienza Politecnico di Torino
Alma mater	Politecnico di Milano
Known for	Ziegler-Natta catalyst
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1963)

Giulio Natta (26 February 1903 - 2 May 1979) was an Italian chemist and Nobel laureate. He who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963 with Karl Ziegler for work on high polymers.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early years 1.2 Career 1.3 Personal life 2 References 3 External links

Biography

Early years

Natta was born in Imperia, Italy. He earned his degree in chemical engineering from the Politecnico di Milano university in Milan in 1924. In 1927 he passed the exams for becoming a professor there. In 1933 he became a full professor and the director of the Institute of General Chemistry of Pavia University, where he stayed until 1935. In that year he was appointed full professor in physical chemistry at the University of Rome.

Career

From 1936 to 1938 he moved as a full professor and director of the Institute of Industrial Chemistry at the Polytechnic Institute of Turin. In 1938 he took over as the head of the Department of chemical engineering at the Politecnico di Milano university, in a somewhat controversial manner, when his predecessor Mario Giacomo Levi was forced to step down because of racial laws against Jews being introduced in Fascist Italy.

Natta's work at Politecnico di Milano led to the improvement of earlier work by Ziegler and to the development of the Ziegler-Natta catalyst. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963 with Karl Ziegler for their research in high polymers.

Personal life

Natta was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1956. By 1963, his condition had progressed to the point that he required the assistance of his son and four colleagues to present his speech at the Nobel ceremonies in Stockholm. Prof. Natta died in Bergamo, Italy at age 76.

References

• C.E.H. Bawn (1979). "Giulio Natta, 1903—1979". Nature 280: 707. doi:10.1038/280707a0. 

External links

• Giulio biography at the Nobel Foundation
• Giulio Natta Nobel lecture

v • d • e Nobel Laureates in Chemistry Edwin McMillan / Glenn T. Seaborg (1951) · Archer Martin / Richard Synge (1952) · Hermann Staudinger (1953) · Linus Pauling (1954) · Vincent du Vigneaud (1955) · Cyril Hinshelwood / Nikolay Semyonov (1956) · Alexander Todd (1957) · Frederick Sanger (1958) · Jaroslav Heyrovský (1959) · Willard Libby (1960) · Melvin Calvin (1961) · Max Perutz / John Kendrew (1962) · Karl Ziegler / Giulio Natta (1963) · Dorothy Hodgkin (1964) · Robert Woodward (1965) · Robert S. Mulliken (1966) · Manfred Eigen / Ronald Norrish / George Porter (1967) · Lars Onsager (1968) · Derek Barton / Odd Hassel (1969) · Luis Federico Leloir (1970) · Gerhard Herzberg (1971) · Christian B. Anfinsen / Stanford Moore / William Stein (1972) · E.O.Fischer / Geoffrey Wilkinson (1973) · Paul Flory (1974) · John Cornforth / Vladimir Prelog (1975) Complete roster · 1901–1925 · 1926–1950 · 1951–1975 · 1976–2000 · 2001–present

Persondata
NAME	Natta, Giulio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Italian chemist, who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963
DATE OF BIRTH	February 26, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH	Imperia, Italy
DATE OF DEATH	1979-5-2
PLACE OF DEATH	Bergamo, Italy

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