Sir Derek H.R. Barton

Sir Derek H.R. Barton (born September 8, 1918, Gravesend, Kent, England—died March 16, 1998, College Station, Texas, U.S.) was a joint recipient, with Odd Hassel of Norway, of the 1969 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on “conformational analysis,” the study of the three-dimensional geometric structure of complex molecules, now an essential part of organic chemistry.

Education and early career

The son and grandson of successful carpenters, Barton was able to attend a good private school. Rather than join his father’s wood business after graduation, he chose to pursue higher education. After one year at Gillingham Technical College, Barton entered Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, where he developed what became a lifelong interest in the chemistry of natural products. Barton earned both his baccalaureate and doctoral degrees from Imperial College, in 1940 and 1942, respectively. Upon completing his doctoral research, Barton spent much of the remainder of World War II investigating invisible inks for military intelligence purposes. After a year working for the chemical industry in Birmingham, he joined the faculty of Imperial College in 1945, first as an assistant lecturer and later as a research fellow. Although the college did not offer him a position in organic chemistry, he was able to teach physical and inorganic chemistry there for four years while conducting research in his field of choice, organic chemistry. Spending time in all of these areas of chemistry helped him better appreciate the value of these interrelated disciplines.

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Conformational analysis

In 1949 Barton took up a one-year visiting professorship at Harvard University that proved crucial to his intellectual and professional development. At that time he formed what became a lifelong friendship and collaboration with R.B. Woodward, and he began his seminal work on conformational analysis. Barton’s four-page “The Conformation of the Steroid Nucleus” (1950) immediately caught the attention of the scientific community, particularly organic chemists. The paper’s most immediate impact was seen in the way it provided a theoretical foundation for considerable experimental work in the field of steroid structure and synthesis. Barton’s work unified many of the diverse findings about the chemical and biological behaviour of steroids that had been uncovered during the first half of the 20th century, and it was for this work that Barton received the Nobel Prize in 1969. Returning to London in 1950, Barton took up a position at Birkbeck College, University of London. There he taught organic chemistry and pursued his research on the structure and synthesis of steroids. During this time he and Woodward completed their synthesis of lanosterol, a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of steroids.

After serving a brief period as a professor of chemistry at the University of Glasgow from 1955 to 1957, Barton returned to Imperial College where he remained for 20 years. At Imperial College he introduced a number of pedagogic innovations to complement his lectures, including seminars devoted to problem solving and a tutorial system. Barton, driven by the aesthetics of his work as well as by his own intellectual curiosity, highly valued doing useful things. The posing and solving of problems were special joys; particularly difficult problems and elegant, efficient solutions made the task all the more enjoyable. Barton was happiest when all these ideals coalesced into one project, as they did with his work on the synthesis of aldosterone, a steroid hormone that controls the balance of electrolytes in the body.

In 1958 Barton collaborated on aldosterone with the Schering Corporation at its Research Institute for Medicine and Chemistry in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He discovered what is now known as the Barton reaction, a photochemical process that provided an easier means of synthesizing aldosterone. The project was a tremendous success, and Barton maintained a consulting relationship with Schering for the next 40 years. Barton’s scientific work flourished, too, as he successfully expanded his research agenda in the chemistry of radicals and photochemistry. He made significant and lasting contributions in all the areas of chemistry he explored, and he was knighted in 1972.

Later career

Although Barton officially retired twice, his final two decades were quite active and productive. A year before retiring from Imperial College, he was appointed director of research at the Institute of Organic Chemistry’s National Centre for Scientific Research in Gif-sur-Yvette, France, a position he held from 1977 to 1985. Ever pursuing the useful and the elegant, Barton devoted much of his energy during these years, in both France and the United States, to the development of new synthetic methods through the use of free radicals. He later viewed this pursuit as his true mission as a chemist. After reaching the mandatory retirement age in France in 1986, he accepted a distinguished professorship at Texas A&M University, which he held until his death.

Although Barton is most often remembered for his Nobel Prize-winning work on conformational analysis, he made considerable contributions to the art and science of organic chemistry. An outgoing scientist, Barton regularly traveled, accepted many lectureships and visiting professorships, and often worked as an industrial consultant. He adamantly believed in the sharing of knowledge and the importance of exposing one’s ideas to critical review.