Sir Robert Robinson OM, PRS (13 September 1886 – 8 February 1975) was an English chemist and Nobel laureate recognised in 1947 for his research on plant dyestuffs (anthocyanins) and alkaloids.
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Robinson went to school at the Chesterfield Grammar School, the private Fulneck School and the University of Manchester. He was the Waynflete Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University from 1930 and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Robinson Close in the Science Area at Oxford is named after him[1], as is the Robert Robinson Laboratory at the University of Liverpool.
[edit] Research
His synthesis of tropinone, a precursor of cocaine, in 1917 was not only a big step in alkaloid chemistry but also showed that tandem reactions in a one-pot synthesis are capable of forming bicyclic molecules.[2] [3]
He is also known for discovering the molecular structures of morphine and penicillin.
[edit] References
- ^ "Science Area". www.ox.ac.uk. http://www.ox.ac.uk/visitors_friends/maps_and_directions/science_area.html. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- ^ R. Robinson (1917). "A synthesis of tropinone". Journal of the Chemical Society, Transaction 111: 762–768. doi:10.1039/CT9171100762.
- ^ Arthur John Birch (1993). "Investigating a Scientific Legend: The Tropinone Synthesis of Sir Robert Robinson, F.R.S". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 47 (2): 277–296. doi:10.1098/rsnr.1993.0034. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0035-9149%28199307%2947%3A2%3C277%3AIASLTT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X.
[edit] External links
- Nobel Lecture Some Polycyclic Natural Products from Nobelprize.org website
- Biography Biography from Nobelprize.org website
