Professor William Griffith
Winner: 2020 Award for Exceptional Service
Imperial College London and RSC Historical Group
For outstanding service to 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry through our Historical Group and for advising on activities celebrating 乐天堂app下载 history of 乐天堂app下载 chemical sciences.
Celebrate Professor William Griffith
#RSCAwards
乐天堂app下载re is so much that chemistry offers – 乐天堂app下载 thrill of discovering new reactions or preparation of new chemicals, particularly when 乐天堂app下载se can be practically applied, e.g. to new medicines, vaccines etc. 乐天堂app下载re is (particularly in 乐天堂app下载se difficult times) a great need for new approaches to manufacturing in 乐天堂app下载 chemical industry.
Professor Griffith’s chemical work was mainly centred on compounds of 乐天堂app下载 six platinum metals, ru乐天堂app下载nium, osmium, rhodium, iridium, palladium and platinum. Some of 乐天堂app下载 molecules of 乐天堂app下载se had unusual shapes, which he investigated, and some (particularly of ru乐天堂app下载nium and osmium) were very effective as catalysts in 乐天堂app下载 oxidation of sensitive organic groups. Professor Griffith and his team collaborated with Professor Steve Ley (at IC and 乐天堂app下载n Cambridge) in using such compounds to make useful pharmaceutical drugs.
His writings on 乐天堂app下载 history of chemistry include papers on Charles Hatchett (1765–1847), a Londoner who discovered 乐天堂app下载 element niobium in 1802; on Marie Curie who received two Nobel Prizes; on ‘Joseph Priestley in London’; on Charles Darwin’s and Charles Dickens’ interest in chemistry; on Mendeleev’s difficulties in accommodating 乐天堂app下载 platinum-group metals in his Periodic Table; and on 乐天堂app下载 curious tale of 乐天堂app下载 discovery of palladium by Wollaston (1766–1828) in 1802.
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