Historie ÚOCHB
After World War II, when the activity of universities was renewed, a group of chemical enthusiasts was formed at the Faculty of Chemicotechnological Engineering of the Czech Technical University under the leadership of professor František Šorm. In 1951, the group moved to the building at Flemingovo square. The building was constructed between 1923 and 1929. Central Chemical Institute was formed. Agricultural research was replaced by the "aroma" of chemical experiments... Formally, the Institute was estabilished on January 1, 1953. Its name was changed to the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. The Institute has had many names in history:
The Institute was authorized to educate gratuade students and to award scientific titles of Candidate of Sciences (CSc., equivalent to Ph.D.) and Doctor of Sciences (DrSc.). The Institute also carried out the first ceremonial defenses in the country. The greatest credit for estabilishing and developing the Institute belongs to professor František Šorm who became the secretary general of the Academy of Sciences and later its chairman...
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 | František Šorm (February 28, 1913 - November 18, 1980), a Czech chemist known for synthesis of natural compounds, mainly terpenes and biologically active components of plants. Šorm, the founder of our Institute, studied at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Czech Technical University (later Institute of Chemical Technology, VŠCHT) absolving the studies in 1936. During the war Šorm worked in a chemical laboratory. After the war he returned to the university and in 1946 was named professor at the VŠCHT. In 1950 Šorm was named professor of organic chemistry at the Charles University in Prague. In 1952 Šorm became the director of the Institute. During 1962-69 he served as the second President of the Academy. In the field of bioorganic chemistry, F. Šorm advanced knowledge of sesquiterpenoids, with medium-ring molecules, and explained the structure of different isoprenoid compounds. He also initiated the study of natural peptides, especially neurohypophyseal hormones and their analogues, some of which were shown to be of major clinical importance. His school of protein chemistry established the primary structure of chymotrypsin and trypsin. While studying the aminoacid sequence in polypeptide chains, Šorm, for the first time, deduced a tentative genetic code. His studies of antimetabolites of nucleic acid constituents as potential cancerostatics or virostatics led to the synthesis and determination of the mechanism of several highly active compounds, for example, 5-azacytidine and 6-azauridine. Finally, he was active in the field of insect juvenile hormones. F. Šorm was the author or co-author over 1000 of papers and was highly cited. He also co-authored several chemistry textbooks. The IOCB now awards a medal named after František Šorm. A minor planet (3993 Šorm) was named after him in 1988. |
