Background
Zuman, Petr was born on January 13, 1926, in Prague, Czechoslovakia (nowadays the Czech Republic). Son of Karel and Josefa (Freund) Zuman. came to the United States, 1970.
Zuman, Petr was born on January 13, 1926, in Prague, Czechoslovakia (nowadays the Czech Republic). Son of Karel and Josefa (Freund) Zuman. came to the United States, 1970.
Zuman enrolled at Charles University in Prague in 1945 and graduated in early 1948. After this he joined the research group of Jaroslav Heyrovský (Nobel prize in chemistry 1959) and was awarded a Doctor rerum naturalium (equivalent to a Doctor of Philosophy) in 1950. In 1960, Petr was awarded the Doctor of Science degree by the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.
Born and raised in Prague, the Second World War severely impacted Zuman and his family while he was a teenager. In 1943–1944, Zuman worked in a Prague laboratory for the Research Institute of the Sugar Industry. Enjoying the work he wrote three papers on the alkaline cleavage of sucrose.
However in June 1944 Zuman was himself sent to a concentration camp.
He was liberated from the camp on May 6, 1945 and then returned to Prague. He was one of the first researchers in the newly created Central Polarographic Institute in Prague and within a few years he was appointed Head of the Organic Polarography Division.
In 1970 he accepted a position in the Chemistry Department at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, where he remained until his retirement. Post-retirement Zuman has been an Emeritus Professor at Clarkson University and continues to contribute to the chemistry department.
Special Field: Organic electroanalytical chemistry, organic reaction mechanisms.
Research Interests - Electrochemistry
Mechanisms of some organic reactions are investigated using polarographic, voltammetric and kinetic measurements. Examples of recently studied reactions are: Acid-base, hydration-dehydration and tautomeric equilibria involving 1,3,5- and 1,2,4-triazines, selenous acid and mytomicin C, reactions of bile acids, cholesterol, and other sterols in strongly acidic media, additions of nucleophiles, such as glutathione, to nitrosobenzene, et cetera Most of these studies involve biologically important compounds and their investigations are essential both for development of analytical methods and for their contribution to a better understanding of biological activity.
Another active area are studies of electroreduction and electrooxidation of some organic compounds, such as aromatic nitrocompounds, various pesticides including maleic hydrazide, 1,3,5- and 1,2,4-triazines, selenous acid, mitomycin C, phenols, et cetera
Structure-reactivity relationships are investigated, for example the transfer of electronic effects through an North-North single bond, ring formation of some 2-amino-1,4-benzoquinones, or interactions between two reducible groups in a molecule. Polarographic reduction of pesticides has been used to study their adsorption on lignin, to determine their bioavailability in applications in forest nurseries.
Studies of alkaline cleavage of lignin at room temperature will form a basis for the use of lignin (which is a renewable raw material) for future industrial applications. He has been a prolific author with well over 400+ papers and 15 books published, many considered classics in electrochemical analysis.
He had many master and Doctor of Philosophy students including James Rusling, William James Bover, Melek Sirin Baymak, Hayati Celik, Nuha Salem and many more.
He is fluent in five languages - Czechoslovakian, German, English, Polish and Serbo-Croat.
Following the 1967 political upheaval in Czechoslovakia, Zuman obtained a three-and-one-half-year appointment as a research fellow at the University of Birmingham in England. Petr has been a member of the editorial board of the Microchemical Journal, has published on a regular basis, and has critically reviewed many manuscripts and books
International referee Federation International Basketball Association, 1950-1969. Fellow Royal Society Chemistry, Canada Institute Chemistry. Member American Chemical Society (chairman 1974, 76), Electrochemical Society (chairman 1985-1988), International Society.Electrochem.
(vice-chairman 1972-1974), Sigma Xi.
Married Radmila Dobiasova, March 17, 1951;children: Jan, Daniela.