USC scientist won Nobel Prize in chemistry

George Olah, a University of Southern California chemist and Nobel laureate who found new ways to study previously imperceptible stages in hydrocarbonrelated chemical reactions, died Wednesday at his Beverly Hills home at age 89.

The Hungarian-born scientist’s research, which earned USC its first Nobel in 1994, fueled the advancement of cleaner-burning gasoline, improved oil refining and even led to the creation of new drugs.

“George Olah is one of the greatest chemists of the last century and this century,” said Surya Prakash, a USC organic chemist and Olah’s former graduate student who became his collaborator for about 43 years.

Olah, remembered as a giant in his field, studied carbocations: positively charged hydrocarbons that form during the intermediate steps of some chemical reactions but are so fleeting (lasting only nanoseconds, in some cases) that it was thought to be virtually impossible to study them.

The chemist realized he could use extremely harsh acids, called superacids, to stabilize the carbocations long enough to use spectroscopic methods to study their properties. The discovery led to a boom in the exploration of these elusive molecules. His work also led to new methods to convert “straight-chain” hydrocarbons into molecules with branched structures, which resulted in higher octane numbers and cleanerburning fuel.

Later, Olah developed the idea of a methanol economy as an alternative to one based on fossil fuels. The plan: to draw down carbon dioxide (a single-carbon gas) and turn it into methanol (a single-carbon alcohol), thus creating a renewable fuel and reducing greenhouse gas in the atmosphere at the same time.

His research paved the way for a new kind of methanol-based fuel cell that produced electricity with high efficiency. A renewable methanol plant in Iceland that converts carbon dioxide into the fuel is also named after him.

More recently, he became interested in methanol found in space, exploring in papers with Prakash whether the molecule could have been one of the key molecules involved in the origin of life.

Olah, who was born in Budapest on May 22, 1927, showed little interest in science in his youth: His studies were heavy on the humanities, including German, French and Latin.

Olah was remembered as a benevolent mentor, one always willing to share credit.

“He was a great mentor, very supportive of his students, very generous, and he always shared the credit, even the Nobel Prize,” Prakash said.

Olah is survived by his wife, Judith; sons George and Ronald and three grandchildren, Peter, Justin and Kaitlyn.

AP FILE George Olah was remembered as a benevolent mentor, one always willing to share credit.