Corey, Elias J.

Corey, Elias J.

(1928– ) molecular chemist; born in Methuen, Mass. He was affiliated with the University of Illinois (1951–59) and Harvard (1959). He was known for the technique called retrosynthetic analysis, whereby a chemist plans the molecule to be synthesized and studies its theoretical structure. The technique is used in synthesizing complex pharmaceuticals. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry (1990).