Robert R. Williams

Robert Runnels Williams
Robert Runnels Williams
Born	February 16, 1886; Nellore, Madras Presidency, British India; (now Nellore, Andhra Pradesh)
Died	October 2, 1965 (aged 79); Summit, New Jersey
Nationality	American
Citizenship	American
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Known for	Synthesis of thiamine
Awards	Willard Gibbs Award (1938); Elliott Cresson Medal (1940); Perkin Medal (1947)
	Scientific career
Fields	Chemistry
Institutions	Bell Telephone Laboratories

Robert Runnels Williams (February 16, 1886 – October 2, 1965) was an American chemist, known for being the first to chemically fully characterize and then synthesize thiamine (vitamin B₁).[1] He first isolated thiamine in 1933, and synthesized vitamin B₁ in 1935, reporting this in 1936. Williams also provided the modern name "thiamine" from the molecule's sulfur atom, and it being a vitamin (a class ultimately named for the earlier-known amine of thiamine itself).

Among his awards were the Elliott Cresson Medal in 1940 and the Perkin Medal in 1947. His brother was Roger J. Williams, another important chemist at the time and discoverer of Vitamin B5.

Life

He was born in Nellore, India to Baptist missionaries. He moved to the United States when he was ten. In the early 1900s, Williams studied at Ottawa University and eventually procured a master's degree at the University of Chicago in 1908. He then spent some time teaching in the Philippines. After returning to the United States, he worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1915, until he retired in 1945.[2]

A resident of Summit, New Jersey, Williams died there at the age of 79 on October 2, 1965.[3]

Work

1933-4 - developed a way of isolating 1/3 an ounce of thiamine from a ton of rice polishings.
1935 - Worked out its molecular structure and named it "thiamine" from its sulfur atom
1935 - Synthesized thiamine (vitamin B₁), reporting the work in 1936.

References

Williams, R.R. and Cline, J.K. (1936). Synthesis of vitamin B1. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 58: 1504-1505.
Asimov, Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 2nd revised edition
Staff. "ELIZABETH HOWELL ENGAGED TO MARRY; Ex-Student at Hewlett School to Be Bride of Fergus Reid Buckley, Who Is at Yale Abrams--Rubin Williams--Wiederspahn", The New York Times, January 20, 1951. Accessed February 19, 2011.

External links

Invent Now Hall of Fame profile

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[1] Williams, R.R. and Cline, J.K. (1936). Synthesis of vitamin B1. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 58: 1504-1505.

[2] Asimov, Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 2nd revised edition

[3] Staff. "ELIZABETH HOWELL ENGAGED TO MARRY; Ex-Student at Hewlett School to Be Bride of Fergus Reid Buckley, Who Is at Yale Abrams--Rubin Williams--Wiederspahn", The New York Times, January 20, 1951. Accessed February 19, 2011.