Edith Flanigen, chemist behind synthetic zeolites and emeralds, dies at 96

Edith Flanigen, an award-winning chemist whose work on synthetic molecular sieves and lab-grown emeralds advanced industrial refining, water treatment and other processes, died on Jan. 6 in Buffalo. She was 96, and her sister Jane Griffin confirmed the death; Ms. Flanigen moved to Buffalo after a stroke in 2021 after living for many years in White Plains, N.Y.

Ms. Flanigen began at Union Carbide in Tonawanda, N.Y., as a research chemist in 1952, was promoted to lead a research team in 1968 and became the company’s first woman corporate research fellow five years later. In 1982 she was named senior corporate research fellow, the company’s highest technical position, and she continued research at Union Carbide and the U.O.P.

joint venture until retiring in 1994, later working as a consultant until a few years ago. She was best known for developing synthetic molecular sieves, or zeolites, crystalline materials that separate and transform molecules and are used in breaking crude oil into fuels, treating wastewater and reducing vehicle emissions.

Ms. Flanigen also helped expand zeolite chemistry to include other elements and held patents involving titanium; the work on silicon-based zeolites was reported to have been used in cleanup of radioactive water after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant meltdown in 2011. A former colleague said that “when she walked into a room of senior management at Union Carbide, they would all stand up.” Ms.

Key Topics

Science, Edith Flanigen, Union Carbide, Zeolites, Synthetic Emeralds, Uop