University of Manchester
Who did Robert Robinson (chemist) work for from 1922 to 1928?
Robert Robinson ( chemist ) Sir Robert Robinson ( 13 September 1886 – 8 February 1975 ) was a British organic chemist and Nobel laureate recognised in 1947 for his research on plant dyestuffs ( anthocyanins ) and alkaloids . In 1947 , he also received the Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm . Biography . Early life . He was born at Rufford House Farm , near Chesterfield , Derbyshire the son of James Bradbury Robinson , a maker of surgical dressings , and his wife , Jane Davenport . Robinson went to school at the Chesterfield Grammar School and the private Fulneck School . He then studied Chemistry at the University of Manchester , graduating BSc in 1905 . In 1907 he was awarded an 1851 Research Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 to continue his research at the University of Manchester . He was appointed as the first Professor of Pure and Applied Organic Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney in 1912 . He was briefly at St Andrews University ( 1920–22 ) and then was offered the Chair of Organic Chemistry at Manchester University . In 1928 he moved from there to be a professor at University College London where he stayed only two years . 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 , as is the Robert Robinson Laboratory at the University of Liverpool , the Sir Robert Robinson Laboratory of Organic Chemistry at the University of Manchester and the Robinson and Cornforth Laboratories at the University of Sydney . Robinson was a strong amateur chess player . He represented Oxford University in a friendly match with a team from Bletchley Park in December 1944 ; in which he lost his game to pioneering computer scientist I . J . Good . He was president of the British Chess Federation from 1950–53 , and with Raymond Edwards he co-authored the book The Art and Science of Chess ( Batsford , 1972 ) . Research . His synthesis of tropinone ( a precursor for atropine & benztropine ) 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 . He invented the symbol for benzene having a circle in the middle whilst working at St Andrews University in 1923 . He is known for inventing the use of the curly arrow to represent electron movement , and he is also known for discovering 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 orig synthesis of diethylstilboestrol . In 1957 Robinson founded the journal Tetrahedron with fifty other editors for Pergamon Press . Publications . - The Structural Relationship of Natural Products ( 1955 ) Family . He 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 ) . External links . - including the Nobel Lecture on December 12 , 1947 Some Polycyclic Natural Products - ABC Online Forum