Archer Martin
Archer Martin | |
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Born |
Archer John Porter Martin 1 March 1910 London, England |
Died |
28 July 2002 92) Llangarron, Wales | (aged
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | Peterhouse, Cambridge |
Known for | Gas chromatography |
Awards |
Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1952) John Price Wetherill Medal (1959) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Chemistry |
Institutions | University of Sussex, University of Houston, Texas |
Archer John Porter Martin CBE FRS (1 March 1910 – 28 July 2002) was a British chemist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of partition chromatography with Richard Synge.
Early life
Martin's father was a GP. Martin was educated at Bedford School, and the University of Cambridge.
Career
Working first in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory, he moved to the Dunn Nutritional Laboratory, and in 1938 moved to Wool Industries Research Institution in Leeds. He was head of the biochemistry division of Boots Pure Drug Company from 1946 to 1948, when he joined the Medical Research Council. There, he was appointed head of the physical chemistry division of the National Institute for Medical Research in 1952, and was chemical consultant from 1956 to 1959.
He specialised in biochemistry, in some aspects of vitamins E and B2, and in techniques that laid the foundation for several new types of chromatography.[1] He developed partition chromatography whilst working on the separation of amino acids,[2] and later developed gas-liquid chromatography.[3] Amongst many honours, he received his Nobel Prize in 1952.[4]
He published far fewer papers than the typical Nobel winners—only 70 in all—but his ninth paper won the Nobel. The University of Houston dropped him from its chemistry faculty in 1979 (when he was 69 years old) because he was not publishing enough.[5]
Awards
Archer Martin shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of partition chromatography with Richard Synge.[6][7]
Archer Martin’s 1954 paper with A. T. James, “Gas-Liquid Chromatography: A Technique for the Analysis and Identification of Volatile Materials” reported the discovery of gas-liquid chromatography. This publication was honored by a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award from the Division of History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society presented in 2016 to the Francis Crick Institute.[8][9] The research was actually performed at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, which became the Francis Crick Institute in 2015.[10]
Martin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1950, and made a CBE in 1960.[11][12]
Personal life
In 1943 he married Judith Bagenal (1918-2006), and together they had two sons and three daughters.[11] In the last years of his life he suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
References
- ↑ Martin, A J P (1950). "Partition Chromatography". Annual Review of Biochemistry. 19 (1): 517–542. doi:10.1146/annurev.bi.19.070150.002505. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
- ↑ Martin, A J P; Synge, R L M (1941). "A new form of chromatogram employing two liquid phases A theory of chromatography. 2. Application to the micro-determination of the higher monoamino-acids in proteins". Biochemical Journal. 35 (12): 1358–1368.
- ↑ Ettre, C. (2001). "Milestones in Chromatography: The Birth of Partition Chromatography" (PDF). LCGC. 19 (5): 506–512. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
- ↑ Nobel Media. "Archer J.P. Martin - Facts". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
- ↑ See Obituary,New York Times Aug. 6, 2002
- ↑ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1952 Archer J.P. Martin, Richard L.M. Synge". nobelprize.org. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ↑ O'Connor, Anahad (August 6, 2002). "Archer Martin, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ↑ "Citations for Chemical Breakthrough Awards 2017 Awardees". Division of the History of Chemistry. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ↑ JAMES, AT; MARTIN, AJ (1954). "Gas-liquid chromatography; a technique for the analysis and identification of volatile materials". British Medical Bulletin. 10 (3): 170–6. PMID 13199288. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ↑ "Mill Hill History". The Francis Crick Institute. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- 1 2 Wright, Pearce (5 August 2002). "Obituary: Archer Martin". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ↑ Lovelock, J. (2004). "Archer John Porter Martin CBE. 1 March 1910 -- 28 July 2002: Elected F.R.S. 1950". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 50: 157–170. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2004.0012. PMID 15754473.
External links
- Martin's Nobel Foundation biography
- Martin's Nobel lecture: The Development of Partition Chromatography