chemistry

Keith Fagnou

Keith Fagnou is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Keith Fagnou rather than just read about it. In short: Keith Fagnou (June 27, 1971 – November 11, 2009) was a Canadian organic chemist and studied education and was a professor of chemistry at University of Saskatchewan and associate professor of organic chemistry at the University of Ottawa. His research focused on developing new reactions that avoid unnecessary activation of substrates and that can instead directly functionalize C–H bonds of simple molecules and intro…

Key takeaways

Keith Fagnou belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Keith Fagnou to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Keith Fagnou from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Keith Fagnou (June 27, 1971 – November 11, 2009) was a Canadian organic chemist and studied education and was a professor of chemistry at University of Saskatchewan and associate professor of organic chemistry at the University of Ottawa. His research focused on developing new reactions that avoid unnecessary activation of substrates and that can instead directly functionalize C–H bonds of simple molecules and introduce C–C bonds.

Biography Dr. Keith Fagnou was born on June 27, 1971, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Fagnou, a former naval reserve officer, pursued studies at the University of Saskatchewan and received a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) in 1995. After teaching at the high school level for a short period, he continued his studies in chemistry at the University of Toronto in 1998 under the supervision of Mark Lautens. In 2000 he received his M.Sc. degree, and in 2002 his Ph.D. Professor Lautens said that Keith "was exceptionally bright and exceptionally down-to-earth and was the most productive person, in the history of his research group." After his PhD, he joined the faculty at the University of Ottawa as an assistant professor and in 2007 was promoted to associate professor with tenure and awarded a University of Ottawa Research Chair in the Development of Novel Catalytic Transformations. While at the University of Ottawa, he established a research program primarily devoted to the development of novel "direct arylation" reactions which allow for the rapid synthesis of important building blocks in medicinal chemistry. Of note, the development of direct arylation of benzene and pyridine N-oxide. Members of his research group are sometimes referred to as "The Fagnou Factory". His contributions in the field were rewarded with numerous awards and have been included in reviews published on the subject. Dr. Keith Fagnou died of complications resulting from a H1N1 influenza infection on November 11, 2009, at the age of 38. The University of Ottawa established the "Keith Fagnou Scholarship in Science" in his memory. The members of his research group also organized a symposium (KFOS) in his honour which was held May 5–7, 2010. The Pacifichem chemistry conference also held a memorial symposium titled "C-H Functionalization, Memorial Symposium for Professor Keith Fagnou". In 2011, Keith was recognized as the #77 chemist in the world over the period 2000-2010 on the basis of citations per paper, according to Thomson-Reuters' Sciencewatch.com.

Awards Rutherford Memorial Medal (2009) OMCOS Award (2009) Sloan Research Fellowship (2008) Merck Process Award (2008) Eli Lilly Grantee (2007–2009) NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement Award (2007–2009) Amgen Young Investigator's Award (2007) Astra Zeneca Award for Chemistry (2007) University of Ottawa Research Chair in Novel Catalytic Transformations (2007–2012) Merck Process Research Award (2007) University of Ottawa Young Researcher of the Year (2006) Ichikizaki Travel Grant Award (2006) Boehringer Ingelheim Young Investigator Award in Organic Chemistry (2005) Cottrell Scholar Award (2005) Ichikizaki Travel Grant Award (2005) Premier's Research Excellence Award (2003) John C. Polanyi Award in Chemistry (2003)

References

External links Fagnou Research Group Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine H1N1 suspected in death of U of O professor Archived 2009-11-14 at the Wayback Machine

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Keith Fagnou

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Keith Fagnou claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Keith Fagnou before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Keith Fagnou ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Keith Fagnou

In research: Keith Fagnou appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Keith Fagnou in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Keith Fagnou is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1971 births, 2009 deaths, 20th-century Canadian scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Keith Fagnou outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Keith Fagnou in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Keith Fagnou means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Keith Fagnou out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Keith Fagnou in simple terms?

Why does Keith Fagnou matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Keith Fagnou?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Keith Fagnou.