Abstract
Professor Pedro Joseph-Nathan has been one of my best friends and one of the major supporters of Natural Product Communications. He has published more than 30 papers in the journal, and recently was awarded the 2022-Gerald Blunden award for his review article “Vibrational Circular Dichroism Absolute Configuration of Natural Products from 2015 to 2019”.
We (Prof. Joseph-Nathan and I) have exchanged messages several times during this year and his last message was on August 28, 2022, and so I was surprised to receive Dr Eleuterio Burgueño Tapia's message on September 5, about the sudden passing of Prof. Joseph-Nathan on September 4, 2022, just two weeks away from his 81st Birthday.
Prof. Joseph-Nathan was born in Mexico City on September 17, 1941. He simultaneously undertook Chemistry and Chemical Engineering undergraduate studies, from UNAM in Mexico City, where he continued with graduate work to obtain his doctorate in 1966. He became a faculty member of the Department of Chemistry, CINVESTAV-IPN in Mexico City in 1966, was promoted to Professor of Chemistry in 1972 and was Emeritus since 1996. He has co-authored over 525 research publications and was recognized by numerous Honorary Professor titles, as well as doctor Honoris causa awards by several universities, and, in 1991, he received the National Award of Sciences and Arts from the Government of Mexico. His achievements involving the creation of scientific infrastructure include the installation and use of the first pulse Fourier-transform nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer in Mexico (1975–1976), the first Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy spectrophotometer in Latin-America (1982–1983), the first supercon NMR in Latin-America (1985–1986), and the first vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectrophotometer located outside an economic developed nation (2008). His preferred amusement was the natural products field of Ibero-American species, including structural elucidation, chemical transformations, and the use of physical methods like NMR, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and VCD.
I came across his work during my PhD (1976-1980) when I found that he had authored the first publication related to carbon-13 NMR of Flavonoids in 1974. He was one of the most prominent supporters of Natural Product Communications having published more than 30 papers in the journal. We were fortunate to organize a special issue (Natural Product Communications,
With him, we have lost not only an inspiring dear friend but an eminent scientist and patient tutor for young researchers eager for knowledge. He will be remembered by the NPC family for his enormous support, as well as by the community of natural product researchers for his vision through his pioneering work.
