Robert Robinson (scientist)

Sir Robert Robinson, (13 September 1886 – 8 February 1975), won the 1947 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on plant dyestuffs (anthocyanins) and alkaloids. He was the Waynflete Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University from 1930 and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Robinson Close in the Science Area at Oxford is named after him, as is the Robert Robinson Laboratory at the University of Liverpool.

Work
His synthesis of tropinone, a precursor of cocaine, in 1917 was not only a big step in alkaloid chemistry but also showed that tandem reactions in a one-pot synthesis are capable of forming bicyclic molecules.