Issue 61

28 April - 11 May 1998

Obituary

Sir Derek Barton 1918 - 1998, Nobel Laureate

Sir Derek Barton, distinguished professor of chemistry at Texas A&M [Agricultural and Mechanical] University and holder of the Dow Chair of Chemical Invention died on March 16 of heart failure. He was 79.

In a research career spanning over five decades, Barton’s contributions to organic chemistry included major discoveries which have profoundly altered our way of thinking about chemical structure and reactivity.

Sir Derek Barton 1918 - 1998

Born in Gravesend, Kent, Derek Henry Richard Barton graduated from Imperial College with a BSc and PhD in 1942 but returned after military intelligence work during World War II and a brief period in industry. During a sabbatical leave at Harvard in 1950 he wrote a paper on conformational analysis for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1969, shared with the Norwegian chemist, Odd Hassel.

In the UK he held chairs of chemistry at Birkbeck College and Glasgow University before returning again to Imperial in 1957, where he developed a remarkable synthesis of the steroid hormone, aldosterone by a photochemical reaction known as the Barton Reaction. In 1978 he retired from the College and became director of the Natural Products Institute at Gif-sur-Yvette in France.

In 1986 he joined Texas A&M University as distinguished professor of chemistry.

Author of more than 1,000 papers in chemical journals, Professor Barton held many successful patents and received numerous honours and awards. In 1972 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and received the Légion d’ Honneur (Chevalier 1972; Officier 1985) from France.

He is survived by his wife, Judy, his son, William, from his first marriage and three grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on 1 September at Imperial College.