Robert Robinson

Research His synthesis of tropinone (a precursor for atropine & benzatropine) 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.

Robinson created the symbol for benzene with a circle in the middle whilst working at St Andrews University in 1923. He was the first to use curly arrows to represent electron movement. He also discovered the molecular structures of morphine and penicillin. Robinson annulation has had application in the total synthesis of steroids.

Alongside Edward Charles Dodds, Robinson had also been involved in the original synthesis of diethylstilboestrol.

In 1946 he determined the structure of strychnine.

In 1957 Robinson founded the journal Tetrahedron with fifty other editors for Pergamon Press.

Publications

The Structural Relationship of Natural Products (1955)

Family Robinson married twice. In 1912 he married Gertrude Maud Walsh. Following her death in 1954, in 1957 he married a widow, Mrs Stern Sylvia Hillstrom (née Hershey).