Life of Magic Chemistry

GEORGE A. OLAH, PhD, was awarded the undivided 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He is the Founding Director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute and a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.Thomas Mathew, PhD, is a Senior Scientist and long-time close associate of Professor George A. Olah at the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute.

• Preface ixChapter 1 Introduction 1Chapter 2 Perspectives on Science 4Chapter 3 Chemistry: The Multifaceted Central Science 21Chapter 4 Growing Up in Hungary and Turning to Chemistry 38Chapter 5 Early Research and Teaching: Departing the Shadow of Emil Fischer 51Chapter 6 Move to North America: Industrial Experience While Pursuing the Elusive Cations of Carbon 64Chapter 7 Return to Academia—The Cleveland Years: Carbocations, Magic Acid, and Superacid Chemistry 84Chapter 8 Moving to Los Angeles: Hydrocarbon Research and Building the Loker Institute 108Chapter 9 The Nonclassical Ion Controversy and Its Significance 137Chapter 10 From Kekul´e’s Four-Valent Carbon to Five- and Higher Coordinate Hypercarbon Chemistry 154Chapter 11 The Nobel Prize: Learning to Live with It and Not Rest on Laurels 170Chapter 12 Research in Post-Nobel Years: From Superacids to Superelectrophiles 189Chapter 13 Renewable Carbon Chemistry: Anthropogenic Chemical Cycle with CO2 Capture and Recycling to Methanol 206Chapter 14 Rendering Methanol, A Renewable Carbon Source and Fuel: Direct and Regenerative Methanol Fuel Cell 225Chapter 15 The Concept and Development of the Methanol Economy 242Chapter 16 Gone My Way 254Chapter 17 Concluding Remarks 294Appendix My Previous Books for References and Additional Reading 297Curriculum Vitae of George Andrew Olah 300Index 306

A "well-written book","Olah�s story is made very human by its conversational tone and by his warm personality."(Isis 01/12/2016)