Harry Lister Riley

Harry Lister Riley (1899–1986) B.Sc., ARCS, DIC DS was a British chemist based in London and Newcastle, where he undertook research into coke and coal. His 1932 work on selenium dioxide as a postdoctoral student at Imperial College earned him attention, as well as the naming of the Riley oxidation. He was Professor Inorganic and Physical Chemistry at the Armstrong College, University of Durham. where he was head prefect from 1916 to 1917. He graduated from school with honours and was awarded a County Major Scholarship, after coming joint top for Yorkshire, along with a student from Keighley Girls’ Grammar School.

Research and career

Riley remained at Imperial College as a demonstrator and later lecturer from 1923 to 1932, where he continued to pursue research in inorganic chemistry. He began to study the role of selenium oxides as oxidants of organic compounds, pioneering a new chemical process involving selenium, known today as Riley oxidation. Whilst these studies occupied Riley for a relatively short period, his 1932 publication had perhaps the deepest impact among his more than four decades of his publications. it was systematic studies of this process by Riley and his coworkers with purified SeO2 that allowed synthetic chemists to create Riley retired in 1964, though he continued to publish periodic reports for the Society of Chemical Industry until circa 1969. Riley died on March 25, 1986.