Herbert Charles Brown (1912-2004), American chemist. Brown is best known for being the co-discoverer of sodium borohydride and pioneered its use in organic chemistry. He developed a simple way of making diborane, and how to add it to unsaturated organic molecules to make organoboranes. This group of chemicals are invaluable in organic synthesis, using a reaction called hydroboration. Brown was awarded the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with the German chemist Georg Wittig.