ALBERT ESCHENMOSER (1925--2023) the brilliant Swiss chemist quietly composed an autobiography
describing his six professional decades just "for the sake of its existence." Already as a PhD
student at ETH Zurich he discerned patterns in the biogenesis of terpenes. His passion for
synthesis of very complex molecules culminated in the world famous "competitive collaboration"
with R.B. Woodward's group resulting in two total syntheses of Vitamin B12. Albert Eschenmoser
asked questions like "How did life on Earth arise? Why did Nature choose the biomolecules we
know?" Clearly his vision went beyond synthesis - he pondered about fundamental issues
following his conviction: "Life: perfectly commonplace and an everlasting miracle at the same
time. Its emergence about four billion years ago ... is the most significant chemical property
of matter". This reflects Eschenmoser's unique stature among 20th century scientists. l-i-c.org
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