Robert Robinson (scientist)

Infobox Scientist
name = Robert Robinson

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image_size = 180px
birth_date = 13 September 1886
birth_place = Chesterfield, England
death_date = death date and age|1975|2|8|1886|9|13|df=y
death_place = Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England
nationality = United Kingdom
field = Chemistry
work_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
prizes = Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1947)

Sir Robert Robinson OM, PRS (13 September 1886 – 8 February 1975) was an English chemist and Nobel laureate recognised in 1947 his research on plant dyestuffs (anthocyanins) and alkaloids.

Biography

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 [http://www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/sciencearea.shtml] , as is the Robert Robinson Laboratory at the University of Liverpool.

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. [cite journal | author=R. Robinson | title=A synthesis of tropinone | journal=Journal of the Chemical Society, Transaction | year=1917 | volume=111 | pages=762–768 | doi=10.1039/CT9171100762] [cite journal | author=Arthur John Birch | title=Investigating a Scientific
| journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London | year=1993 | volume=47 | issue=2 | pages=277–296 | url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0035-9149%28199307%2947%3A2%3C277%3AIASLTT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X | doi=10.1098/rsnr.1993.0034]

He is also known for discovering the strcture of the molecules of Morphine and Penicillin.

References

*cite journal | author=Abraham E. P. | title=Sir Robert Robinson and the early history of penicillin | journal=Nat Prod Rep. | year=1987 | volume=4 | issue=1 | pages=41–46 | url= | doi=10.1039/np9870400041
*cite journal | author= Lord Todd; J. W. Cornforth | title=Robert Robinson 13 September 1886 - 8 February 1975 | journal= Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | year=1976 | volume=22 | issue= | pages=414–527 | url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4606%28197611%2922%3C414%3ARR1S1-%3E2.0.CO%3B2-N | doi=10.1098/rsbm.1976.0018.
*cite journal | author=M. D. Saltzman | title=The development of Sir Robert Robinson's contributions to theoretical organic chemistry | journal=Nat. Prod. Rep. | year=1987 | volume=4 | issue= | pages=53–60 | doi=10.1039/NP9870400053

External links

* [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1947/robinson-lecture.html Nobel Lecture] "Some Polycyclic Natural Products" from Nobelprize.org website
* [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1947/robinson-bio.html Biography] Biography from Nobelprize.org website