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{{Short description|American organic chemist}}
{{other people}}
{{More footnotes|date=April 2011}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Roger Adams
| image             = Roger Adams chemist.jpg
| image_size        = 240px
| caption           = Roger Adams
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1889|1|2}}
| birth_place       = [[Boston, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| residence         = 
| nationality       = [[United States|American]]
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1971|7|6|1889|1|2}}
| death_place       = [[Urbana, Illinois]], U.S.
| field             = Organic chemistry
| work_institution  = [[University of Berlin]],<br />[[Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry]],<br /> [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]]
| alma_mater        = [[Harvard University]]
| doctoral_advisors = [[H. A. Torrey]],<br /> [[Charles Loring Jackson]]
| doctoral_students = [[Ernest H. Volwiler]], [[Samuel M. McElvain]], [[Wallace Carothers]], [[William Edward Hanford]], [[Edward Marion Augustus Chandler]]
| known_for         = [[Adams' catalyst]], [[Hexahydrocannabinol]], [[Adamsite]]
| awards            = [[William H. Nichols Medal]] {{small|(1927)}}<br />[[Elliott Cresson Medal]] {{small|(1944)}}<br />[[Davy Medal]] {{small|(1945)}}<br />[[Priestley Medal]] {{small|(1946)}}<br />[[Perkin Medal]] {{small|(1954)}}<br />[[American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal]] {{small|(1964)}}
| religion          = 
| footnotes         = 
}}

'''Roger Adams''' (January 2, 1889 – July 6, 1971) was an American [[organic chemistry|organic chemist]] who developed the [[eponym]]ous [[Adams' catalyst]], and helped determine the composition of natural substances such as complex [[vegetable oil]]s and plant [[alkaloid]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tarbell |first1=D. Stanley |last2=Tarbell |first2=Ann Tracy |title=Biographical Memoirs: Roger Adams January 2, 1889-July 6, 1971 |date=December 1, 1982 |publisher=National Academy Of Sciences, National Academies Press |isbn=0-309-03287-3 |url=https://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/adams_roger.pdf |access-date=5 January 2024}}</ref> He isolated and identified [[cannabidiol|CBD]] in 1940. As head of the Chemistry department at the [[University of Illinois]] from 1926 to 1954, he influenced [[graduate school|graduate education]] in America, taught over 250 [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] students and [[postgraduate]] students, and served in military science during [[World War I]] and [[World War II]].

== Early life ==
Adams was born in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] to [[railroad]] official Austin W. Adams and Lydia Curtis,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1302000 |title=Adams, Roger |last=Tarbell |first=D. Stanley |website=American National Biography |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1302000 |access-date=August 22, 2022}}</ref> and grew up in a prosperous neighborhood in [[South Boston]], the last child in a gifted family that included Adams's three older sisters (two went to [[Radcliffe College]] and one to [[Smith College]]). Adams was part of the prominent [[Adams family]], and was descended from [[John Adams]]'s grandfather.

Adams attending [[Boston Latin School]] and [[Cambridge Rindge and Latin|Cambridge Latin High School]] (now called Cambridge Rindge and Latin). In 1900, the family moved to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], which was closer to the two colleges.

Adams entered [[Harvard University]] in 1905 and completed the requirements for a [[bachelor's degree]] in three years. In his first year, he earned a John Harvard Honorary Scholarship by getting four As, and in his last year, he took advanced courses and began research in organic chemistry under H.A. Torrey. His years at Harvard were undistinguished, earning high grades in [[chemistry]] (his major) and [[mining]] (his minor). After graduation from Harvard in 1909, he worked towards his Ph.D. at Radcliffe College supported by a teaching assistantship. Torrey died unexpectedly in 1910, so Adams finished his Ph.D. under [[Charles Loring Jackson]], George Shannon Forbes, and Latham Clarke. In 1912 he was initiated as a brother of [[Alpha Chi Sigma]] at Omicron chapter at Harvard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alphachisigma.org/page.aspx?pid=268|title = Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity}}</ref> As an outstanding Ph.D. of 1912, Adams received a Parker Traveling Scholarship for 1912 and 1913, which he used to work at the laboratory of [[Hermann Emil Fischer|Emil Fischer]] and [[Otto Diels]] in [[Berlin]], Germany and that of [[Richard Willstätter]] in [[Dahlem (Berlin)|Dahlem]] outside of Berlin.

After returning from Europe in 1913, Adams returned to Harvard and worked as a [[research assistant]] for Charles L. Jackson for $800 a year. During the next three years, he taught organic chemistry at Harvard and Radcliffe, initiated the first elementary organic chemistry laboratory at Harvard and began his own research program. Several other prominent contemporaries of Adams at [[Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences|Harvard Graduate School]] were [[Elmer Keiser Bolton]], [[Farrington Daniels]], [[Frank C. Whitmore]], [[James B. Sumner]] and [[James Bryant Conant]].

== Academic career ==
In 1916, Adams accepted an offer of an assistant professorship from [[William A. Noyes]], head of the chemistry department at [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]]. He began a career at UIUC that would span 56 years.  Adams succeeded Noyes as department head in 1926, and remained in that position until 1954. During this time, Adams made several well-known discoveries.

Roger Adams and his students developed the so-called Adams' catalyst, which is one of the most readily-prepared and active [[catalysts]] for [[hydrogenation]] reactions. The catalyst can be prepared by fusing [[sodium nitrate]] with [[chloroplatinic acid]] or [[ammonium chloroplatinate]]. Adams's group also developed a low-pressure apparatus for using the catalyst, which had a profound effect in the synthesis and structural elucidation of [[organic chemistry|organic compounds]] as well as [[biochemistry|biochemical compounds]].

Working at the [[Noyes Laboratory]], Adams and his more than 250 graduate students made many significant discoveries:
* Synthesis of [[chloralkyl ester]]s by combining [[aldehyde]]s and [[acyl chloride]]s.
* That [[aliphatic]] [[acid anhydride]]s effectively form [[ketone]]s in the [[Friedel-Crafts reaction]].
* Determination of the structure of [[disalicylaldehyde]] and [[dehydroacetic acid]].
* A method of synthesizing [[polyhydroxyanthraquinone]]s with precisely-known stereochemistry using [[phthalides]].
* Determination of the structures of leprosy drugs [[chaulmoogric acid]] and [[hydnocarpic acid]] and the synthesis of their [[dihydro]] derivatives.
* Determination of the structure of [[gossypol]] for the cottonseed industry.
* Isolated and identified [[cannabidiol]] from ''[[Cannabis sativa]]'', showed its relationship to [[cannabinol]] and [[tetrahydrocannabinol]].<ref name="Adams">{{cite journal | vauthors = Adams R, Hunt M, Clark JH | title=Structure of cannabidiol, a product isolated from the marihuana extract of Minnesota wild hemp.| journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society | volume=62 | issue=1 | year=1940 | issn=0002-7863 | doi=10.1021/ja01858a058 | pages=196–200}}</ref>
* Synthesized cannabinol and [[tetrahydrocannabinol]] analogs.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja01255a061 | doi=10.1021/ja01255a061 | title=Tetrahydrocannabinol Homologs and Analogs with Marihuana Activity. XIII<sup>1</sup> | date=1942 | last1=Adams | first1=Roger | last2=Loewe | first2=S. | last3=Smith | first3=C. M. | last4=McPhee | first4=W. D. | journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society | volume=64 | issue=3 | pages=694–697 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* Studies of ''[[Senecio]]'' and ''[[Crotalaria]]'' [[alkaloids]] that opened two fields of study:[[pyrrolizidine]] and [[large-ring diester]] chemistry.

At UIUC, Adams took charge of the [[Organic Chemical Manufactures]] ("prep labs") started by his predecessor [[C.G. Derick]] for the synthesis of organic compounds from [[Germany]] that were cut off by the [[Blockade of Germany (1914–1919)|Blockade of Germany]]. The lab was expanded and reorganized with the help of students, particularly [[Ernest H. Volwiler]] and [[Carl S. Marvel|C.S. (Speed) Marvel]]. Strict cost accounting procedures were implemented in the lab, so that it became a financial as well as scientific success. The tested procedures developed in the lab led to the annual publication of the journal ''[[Organic Syntheses]]'', which [[James Bryant Conant]] referred to as the "Adams Annual".

Adams vigorously researched methods of preparing [[Anesthesia|local anaesthetics]] with Oliver Kamm who was also on the faculty of UIUC and a consultant to [[Abbott Laboratories]] in a relationship that lasted into the 1960s. Ernest H. Volwiler, Adams's first Ph.D. student, joined Abbott as a chemist in 1918. In 1917, Adams was drawn into research for the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] into [[poison gas]]es at [[American University]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]; There he and [[James Bryant Conant|Conant]] headed research groups and [[E.P. Kohler]], an old faculty friend of Adams from Harvard, was in charge of the [[Offense Section]].

Adams's return to UIUC began a period (1918–1926) of intense research, with 45 Ph.D. students that resulted in 73 publications.

In July 1940, [[Vannevar Bush]] was working to mobilize American scientists in the World War II [[war effort]]. Bush wanted to bring Adams into the [[National Defense Research Committee]] that he was organizing for [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Many believed that Adams was the leading organic chemist in the United States, and Adams friend and former Harvard colleague [[James Bryant Conant]] was intent on Adams leading the effort to develop new [[explosive]]s and create synthetic chemicals. However, Bush's efforts were stalled in getting Adams a [[security clearance]]. The Army cleared Adams, but the [[United States Navy|Navy]] refused.

At this time the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] under the direction of [[J. Edgar Hoover]] was doing surveillance on "suspect American citizens" and had been keeping a file on Roger Adams. The FBI had informed Hoover that Adams was a leading member of an apparent [[Communism|Communist]] [[front group]] called the [[Lincoln's Birthday Committee for the Advancement of Science]]. The FBI also had information that Adams was a contributing member of a suspect Japanese propaganda magazine. Adams was also suspect in the eyes of the FBI because he was doing studies into the chemical mechanisms by which the plant ''[[Cannabis sativa]]'' ([[marijuana]]) affects the brain; these studies also directly led to first synthesizing of the  cannabinoid known as [[Hexahydrocannabinol]]. The plant had been effectively banned by the passage of the [[1937 Marijuana Tax Act]]. For the purposes of this research, Adams had obtained red oil extract of the plant legally from the [[United States Department of the Treasury]]. In 1939, this was the main focus of Adams's work. For these reasons, the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] said it would never approve [[security clearance]] for Adams.

Hoover saw that political pressure was building to give Adams security clearance and that the FBI might have its facts wrong, so eventually backed down, indicating that "Professor Adams" is a very common name and there may be some confusion. However, Hoover continued to be suspicious of the political loyalties of the scientists involved in the World War II mobilization because of their [[Internationalism (politics)|internationalist]] worldview.

In the end Roger Adams got his security clearance and took charge of a successful effort to manufacture [[synthetic rubber]] to replace natural rubber supplies from the [[Far East]] that had been cut off by the war. This was a continuation of the work done by [[E.K. Bolton]] (Adams's friend from Harvard) at [[DuPont]].

In Adams's case, the FBI had much of its information wrong. Adams was politically active, but not affiliated with any group called the Lincoln's Birthday Committee for the Advancement of Science. He ''was'' a member of the [[Lincoln's Birthday Committee for Democracy and Intellectual Freedom]] (LBCDIF), which was founded by the prominent [[anthropology|anthropologist]] [[Franz Boas]] to discredit [[Racial policy of Nazi Germany|Nazi racial policies]].

Because of Adams significant contribution to the field, in 1959, the Roger Adams Award was established as an ACS National Award to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of organic chemistry. The award is given every other year where the award address is provided at the National Organic Chemistry Symposium, which is organized by the ACS Division of Organic Chemistry.<ref>{{Cite journal| last1 = Fenlon| first1 = Edward| last2 = Myers| first2 = Brian| title = Profiles in Chemistry: A Historical Perspective on the National Organic Symposium| journal = Journal of Organic Chemistry| volume = 78| issue = 12| pages = 5817–31| date = May 30, 2013| doi = 10.1021/jo302475j| pmid = 23721508}}</ref>

Roger Adams was inducted as a Laureate of [[The Lincoln Academy of Illinois]] and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 1967 in the area of Science.

== Awards and honors ==
* Elected Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (1926)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-09 |title=Roger Adams |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/roger-adams |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref>
* [[William H. Nichols Medal Award|William H. Nichols Medal]] (1927)
* Elected Member of the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] (1929)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roger Adams |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001492.html |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
* Elected Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] (1935)<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Roger+Adams&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
* [[Willard Gibbs Award]] (1936)
* [[Elliott Cresson Medal]] (1944)
* [[Ira Remsen Award]] (1946)<ref name="Maryland Section 2018">{{cite web | title=Ira Remsen Award | website=Maryland Section | date=14 November 2018 | url=https://maryland.sites.acs.org/remsenaward.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114143228/https://maryland.sites.acs.org/remsenaward.htm | archive-date=14 November 2018 | url-status=live | access-date=14 November 2018}}</ref>
* [[Priestley Medal]] of the [[American Chemical Society]] (1946)
* [[Perkin Medal]] (1954)<ref name="SCI Perkin Medal">{{cite web|title=SCI Perkin Medal|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/sci-perkin-medal|website=[[Science History Institute]] |date=31 May 2016| access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref>
* [[Charles Lathrop Parsons Award]] for public service, [[American Chemical Society]] (1958)<ref>{{Cite web|title = Charles Lathrop Parsons Award|url = http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/awards/national/bytopic/charles-lathrop-parsons-award.html|website = American Chemical Society|access-date = 2016-01-14}}</ref>
* [[Franklin Medal]] (1960)
* Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] (1961)<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>
* [[National Medal of Science]] ([[List of National Medal of Science winners#Behavioral and Social Science|1964]])
* [[American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal]] (1964)
* [[Alpha Chi Sigma]] Hall of Fame (1989)
* Roger Adams was inducted as a Laureate of [[The Lincoln Academy of Illinois]] and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 1967 in the area of Science.<ref>[http://thelincolnacademyofillinois.org/4632-2/#toggle-id-49 Roger Adams on the Lincoln Academy site, 1967]</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* ''The Essex Antiquarian'', published by The Essex antiquarian
* ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography: 1970–1990'', Charles Scribner's Sons; vol. 15, p1-3.
* Journal of Chemistry 1979, 56, 163–165.
* Journal of the American Chemical Society 1969, 91, a-d.
* ''Proceedings of the Welch Foundation Conference'' 1977, 20, 204–228.
* D. S. Tarbell, ''A. T. Roger Adams Scientist and Statesman'', American Chemical Society: 1981.
* {{cite journal
 | title = The Students of Ira Remsen and Roger Adams
 |author1=D. S. Tarbell |author2=Ann T. Tarbell |author3=R. M. Joyce | journal = Isis
 | volume = 71
 | issue = 4
 | year = 1980
 | pages = 620–626
 | doi = 10.1086/352596
| jstor=230504|s2cid=143742490 }}

==Further reading==
* ''American Philosophical Society Yearbook 1974'', pp.&nbsp;111–114.
* ''National Cyclopedia of American Biography: 1921–1984'', James T. White & Co., vol. G, p336-337.
* ''McGraw Hill Modern Men of Science'', McGraw-Hill (1966) vol. 1, p4-5
* ''The Hexagon 1979'', 70, 9-17.
* ''American Chemists and Chemical Engineers'', Miles, W. D., Ed., American Chemical Society (1976) p4-5.
* Ronald E. Doel, ''Roger Adams: Linking University Science with Policy on the World Stage'', Chapter 9 of ''No Boundaries'' ed. Lillian Hoddeson, University of Illinois Press (May 1, 2004) {{ISBN|0-252-02957-7}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091215123706/http://chemistry.illinois.edu/about/illini_chemists/Roger_Adams.html Roger Adams (University of Illinois)]
* [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/view.php?id=14452 Photograph of Roger Adams and other members of the NDRC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514043844/http://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/view.php?id=14452 |date=2011-05-14 }}
* [http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/adams_roger.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir]
* [https://www.organicdivision.org/professional-awards/adamsaward/ ACS Organic Division's webpage on the Roger Adams Award]
* {{Librivox author |id=11628}}

{{Presidents of the American Chemical Society}}
{{Presidents of the American Association for the Advancement of Science}}
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|behav-social}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Roger}}
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:American organic chemists]]
[[Category:20th-century American chemists]]
[[Category:Cannabis researchers]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]]
[[Category:People from South Boston]]
[[Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Cambridge Rindge and Latin School alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Recipients of Franklin Medal]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Association for the Advancement of Science]]