Alan R. Battersby
Sir Alan Rushton Battersby FRS ((born 4 March 1925) is a British organic chemist known for his work on the genetic blueprint, structure, and synthetic pathway of Cyanocobalamin. This came in collaboration with a partner and also in relation to work on plant alkaloids. He won the Copley Medal in 2000 and has also won other awards such as Royal Medal in 1989.
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[edit] Birth and academic career
Battersby was born in the United Kingdom. He was Professor of Organic Chemistry at Cambridge University from 1988 - 1992 and is Fellow Emeritus of St Catherine's College, Cambridge.
[edit] Research
Battersby is known for his research on the biosynthesis of the 'pigments of life' haem, chlorophyll and vitamin B12, that are built on closely related tetrapyrrolic structural frameworks. He has demonstrated and elucidated the essential role played by two enzymes, deaminase and cosynthetase, in the construction of the tetrapyrrolic ring with its specific structural features.
In 1988, he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[1] He was awarded the Wolf Prize in Chemistry along with Duilio Arigoni of ETH Zurich in 1989 for "their fundamental contributions to the elucidation of the mechanism of enzymic reactions and of the biosynthesis of natural products, in particular the pigments of life".[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter B". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ The Wolf Prize in Chemistry
[edit] Further reading
- Milgrom, Lionel R. (1997). The Colours of Life: an Introduction to the Chemistry of Porphyrins and Related Compounds. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-855380-3. OCLC 35172533.
- University of Cambridge Office of Communications (2000-06-07). "Lifetime Achievement Award for Cambridge Chemist". News and Events. University of Cambridge. http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2000060701. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
[edit] External links
- Portraits of Sir Alan Battersby at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Copley Medal site
- The Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 1989 (detail)
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| Academic offices | ||
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| Preceded by Ralph Raphael |
Professor of Organic Chemistry, Cambridge University 1988 - 1992 |
Succeeded by Steven Ley |
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This article about a British chemist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1925 births
- Academics of the University of Cambridge
- British chemists
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Fellows of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
- Living people
- Members of the University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry
- Recipients of the Copley Medal
- Royal Medal winners
- Wolf Prize in Chemistry laureates
- British chemist stubs
