Robert Robinson (scientist)

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Robert Robinson

Born 13 September 1886
Chesterfield, England
Died 8 February 1975 (aged 88)
Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England
Nationality United Kingdom
Fields Chemistry
Institutions University of Sydney
University of Liverpool
British Dyestuffs Corporation
University of Manchester
University of London
University of Oxford
Alma mater University of Manchester
Doctoral advisor William Henry Perkin, Jr.
Doctoral students Arthur John Birch
William Sage Rapson
Known for Tropinone synthesis
Notable awards Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1947)

Sir Robert Robinson OM, PRS (13 September 18868 February 1975) was an English chemist and Nobel laureate recognised in 1947 his research on plant dyestuffs (anthocyanins) and alkaloids.

Contents

[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.[1] [2]

Tropinone synthesis

He is also known for discovering the molecular structures of Morphine and Penicillin.

[edit] References

  1. ^ R. Robinson (1917). "A synthesis of tropinone". Journal of the Chemical Society, Transaction 111: 762–768. doi:10.1039/CT9171100762. 
  2. ^ 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. 

[edit] External links

  • Nobel Lecture Some Polycyclic Natural Products from Nobelprize.org website
  • Biography Biography from Nobelprize.org website


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