Charles Romley Alder Wright FCS, FRS (7 September 1844 – 25 June 1894) was an English lecturer in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at St Mary's Hospital

Medical School A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was a founder of the

Royal Institute of Chemistry The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation. Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland (ICGBI), its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its aim ...

. Alder Wright developed hundreds of new opiate compounds and was the first person to synthesize

diamorphine Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brown ...

(heroin), in 1874. He also discovered

aluminium antimonide Aluminium antimonide (AlSb) is a semiconductor of the group III-V family containing aluminium and antimony. The lattice constant is 0.61 nm. The indirect bandgap is approximately 1.6 electron volt, eV at 300 K, whereas the direct band gap is ...

. In addition to research papers on a wide variety of topics, Wright published several books, including one to interest young readers in ''The Threshold of Science: a Variety of Simple and Amusing Experiments''.

Biography

Charles Romley Alder Wright was born in

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

on 7 September 1844, to Romley Wright and Elizabeth Alder. From boyhood he suffered from a painful disease of the hip, which caused him to be lame. He received his early education from his father, a civil engineer. Alder Wright attended

Owens College, Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

from 1861 to 1865, graduating with his

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in 1865. As a student, Wright worked as an assistant to Henry Roscoe, doing early research on

vanadium Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer ( pas ...

. Wright's first published paper was on the "Action of Light on Sensitive Photographic Papers". It appeared in the ''

Journal of the Chemical Society The ''Journal of the Chemical Society'' was a scientific journal established by the Chemical Society in 1849 as the ''Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society''. The first editor was Edmund Ronalds. The journal underwent several renamings, splits ...

'' in February 1866. Wright was employed by the Weston works of the

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

Soap and Alkali Company during 1866-1867. He then moved to London where he worked with

Albert James Bernays Albert James Bernays (8 November 1823 – 5 January 1892) was a British chemist. He was the son of Dr. Adolphus Bernays (''d''. 22 December 1864), modern languages Professor at King's College, London. Life Bernays was educated at King's College S ...

at St. Thomas's Hospital; with

Augustus Matthiessen Augustus Matthiessen, FRS (2 January 1831, in London – 6 October 1870, in London), the son of a merchant, was a British chemist and physicist who obtained his PhD in Germany at the University of Gießen in 1852 with Johann Heinrich Buff. He ...

of St Mary's Hospital and

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...

; and with Sir

Lowthian Bell Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, 1st Baronet, FRS (18 February 1816 – 20 December 1904) was a Victorian ironmaster and Liberal Party politician from Washington, County Durham, in the north of England. He was described as being "as famous in his day ...

. He earned his

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

(Lond) in 1870. During this time he published on

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a ...

manufacturing, on

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

alkaloids Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar st ...

and the discovery of

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...

, and on

iron smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a c ...

. In 1871, Wright was appointed as a lecturer in chemistry and physics researcher at St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, England. He was a founding member of the

of Great Britain and Ireland. He served as its first treasurer from 1877 to 1884 and was instrumental in the establishment of the institute. In 1881, Wright was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). He also acted as an Examiner for the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

and the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

and the City and Guilds of London. The

Philadelphia College of Pharmacy Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

elected him as a corresponding member in 1893. Wright died from complications due to

diabetes mellitus Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

on 25 June 1894, at forty-nine years of age. He was described in one obituary as "an ardent and thorough investigator in the field of chemical and physical science." At the Annual General Meeting of March 27, 1895, President

Henry Edward Armstrong Henry Edward Armstrong FRS FRSE (Hon) (6 May 1848 – 13 July 1937) was a British chemist. Although Armstrong was active in many areas of scientific research, such as the chemistry of naphthalene derivatives, he is remembered today largely for h ...

of the

Chemical Society of London The Chemical Society was a scientific society formed in 1841 (then named the Chemical Society of London) by 77 scientists as a result of increased interest in scientific matters. Chemist Robert Warington was the driving force behind its creation. ...

lamented his loss:

Scientific contributions

Wright was extremely versatile, having initially considered and trained for a profession in engineering. This allowed him to make diverse contributions to the chemical field.

Diamorphine

In quest of a non-addictive alternative to

, Wright experimented with combining morphine with various acids. He boiled

anhydrous A substance is anhydrous if it contains no water. Many processes in chemistry can be impeded by the presence of water; therefore, it is important that water-free reagents and techniques are used. In practice, however, it is very difficult to achie ...

morphine

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

with

acetic anhydride Acetic anhydride, or ethanoic anhydride, is the chemical compound with the formula (CH3CO)2O. Commonly abbreviated Ac2O, it is the simplest isolable anhydride of a carboxylic acid and is widely used as a reagent in organic synthesis. It is a col ...

over a stove for several hours and produced a more potent, acetylated form of morphine, now called ''

(or diacetylmorphine)'', also known as heroin. After Wright's death,

Heinrich Dreser Heinrich Dreser (1 October 1860 – 21 December 1924) was a German chemist responsible for the aspirin and heroin projects at Bayer AG. He was also a key figure in creating the widely used modern drug codeine. Dreser was born in Darmstadt. ...

, a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of busi ...

Laboratories, continued to test heroin. Bayer marketed it as an

analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...

and 'sedative for coughs' in 1898. When its addictive potential was recognized, Bayer ceased its production in 1913.

AlSb, aluminium antimonide

In 1892, Wright was the first to report the existence of the

stoichiometric Stoichiometry refers to the relationship between the quantities of reactants and products before, during, and following chemical reactions. Stoichiometry is founded on the law of conservation of mass where the total mass of the reactants equal ...

intermetallic An intermetallic (also called an intermetallic compound, intermetallic alloy, ordered intermetallic alloy, and a long-range-ordered alloy) is a type of metallic alloy that forms an ordered solid-state compound between two or more metallic eleme ...

compound AlSb (

), which is now recognized as a

compound semiconductor Semiconductor materials are nominally small band gap insulators. The defining property of a semiconductor material is that it can be compromised by doping it with impurities that alter its electronic properties in a controllable way. Because of ...

with potential use in high-frequency, low-power consumption microelectronics applications, as well as gamma radiation detection.

Other contributions

In addition to his researches in organic chemistry, Wright published works on numerous topics including

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

, photographic and waterproof papers, canvas goods, insulating materials, disinfectants,

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

manganese dioxide Manganese dioxide is the inorganic compound with the formula . This blackish or brown solid occurs naturally as the mineral pyrolusite, which is the main ore of manganese and a component of manganese nodules. The principal use for is for dry-cell ...

, ternary alloys and chemical dynamics.

Bibliography

* Wright, C R A, ''Metals and their chief industrial applications. Being, with some considerable additions, the substance of a course of lectures delivered at the Royal institution of Great Britain in 1877.'' London, Macmillan and co., 1878. * Wright, C R A
''The Threshold of Science: a Variety of Simple and Amusing Experiments''
Charles Griffin, London 1891. * Wright, C R A
''Animal and Vegetable Fixed-oils, Fats, Butters and Waxes: Their Preparation and Properties''
Charles Griffin, London 1894. * Wright, C R A, ''J. Soc. Chem. Ind.'' 11, 492 (1892).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Charles Romley Alder English chemists Fellows of the Royal Society 1844 births 1894 deaths Physicians of St Mary's Hospital, London Fellows of the Chemical Society