Robert Robinson received the 1947 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids. He used classical analytical methods, breaking down complex biological molecules into identifiable components and resynthesising them to establish the structure. The molecules he worked on included those in strychnine, steroids, plant pigments and other dyestuffs, penicillin, and anti-malarial drugs.
Robinson, the son of a Chesterfield textile manufacturer, studied chemistry at Manchester with WH Perkin Jr. His career included professorial posts at Sydney, Liverpool, St Andrews and University College London, as well as military and industrial research. From 1922 to 1928 he was Professor of Organic Chemistry here before moving to Oxford in 1930, where Perkin had established a second leading department.
