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Sir Christopher Kelk Ingold (28 October 1893 – 8 December 1970) was a British
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 ...
based in Leeds and London. His groundbreaking work in the 1920s and 1930s on reaction mechanisms and the electronic structure of organic compounds was responsible for the introduction into mainstream chemistry of concepts such as nucleophile,
electrophile In chemistry, an electrophile is a chemical species that forms bonds with nucleophiles by accepting an electron pair. Because electrophiles accept electrons, they are Lewis acids. Most electrophiles are positively charged, have an atom that carri ...
, inductive and
resonance effect In chemistry, resonance, also called mesomerism, is a way of describing bonding in certain molecules or polyatomic ions by the combination of several contributing structures (or ''forms'', also variously known as ''resonance structures'' or ' ...
s, and such descriptors as SN1, SN2, E1, and E2. He also was a co-author of the
Cahn–Ingold–Prelog priority rules In organic chemistry, the Cahn–Ingold–Prelog (CIP) sequence rules (also the CIP priority convention; named for R.S. Cahn, C.K. Ingold, and Vladimir Prelog) are a standard process to completely and unequivocally name a stereoisomer of a ...
. Ingold is regarded as one of the chief pioneers of
physical organic chemistry Physical organic chemistry, a term coined by Louis Hammett in 1940, refers to a discipline of organic chemistry that focuses on the relationship between chemical structures and reactivity, in particular, applying experimental tools of physical c ...
.


Early life and education

Born in London to a silk merchant who died of tuberculosis when Ingold was five years old, Ingold began his scientific studies at Hartley University College at Southampton (now
Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
) taking an external BSc in 1913 with the University of London. He then joined the laboratory of
Jocelyn Field Thorpe Sir Jocelyn Field Thorpe FRS (1 December 1872 – 10 June 1940) was a British chemist who made major contributions to organic chemistry, including the Thorpe-Ingold effect and three named reactions. Early life and education Thorpe was b ...
at Imperial College, London, with a brief hiatus from 1918-1920 during which he conducted research into
chemical warfare Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym ...
and the manufacture of
poison gas Many gases have toxic properties, which are often assessed using the LC50 (median lethal dose) measure. In the United States, many of these gases have been assigned an NFPA 704 health rating of 4 (may be fatal) or 3 (may cause serious or perma ...
with Cassel Chemical at Glasgow. Ingold received an
MSc MSC may refer to: Computers * Message Sequence Chart * Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory * MIDI Show Control * MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor) * USB mass storage device class (USB MS ...
from the University of London and returned to Imperial College in 1920 to work with Thorpe. He was awarded a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...
in 1918 and a
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 C ...
in 1921.


Academic career

In 1924 Ingold moved to the University of Leeds where he spent six years as
Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
of Organic Chemistry. He returned to London in 1930, and served for 24 years as head of the chemistry department at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...
, from 1937 until his retirement in 1961. During his study of
alkyl halide The haloalkanes (also known as halogenoalkanes or alkyl halides) are alkanes containing one or more halogen substituents. They are a subset of the general class of halocarbons, although the distinction is not often made. Haloalkanes are widely us ...
s, Ingold found evidence for two possible reaction mechanisms for
nucleophilic substitution In chemistry, a nucleophilic substitution is a class of chemical reactions in which an electron-rich chemical species (known as a nucleophile) replaces a functional group within another electron-deficient molecule (known as the electrophile). Th ...
reactions. He found that tertiary alkyl halides underwent a two-step mechanism (SN1) while primary and secondary alkyl halides underwent a one-step mechanism (SN2). This conclusion was based on the finding that reactions of tertiary alkyl halides with nucleophiles were dependent on the concentration of the alkyl halide only. Meanwhile, he discovered that primary and secondary alkyl halides, when reacting with nucleophiles, depend on both the concentration of the alkyl halide and the concentration of the nucleophile. Starting around 1926, Ingold and Robert Robinson carried out a heated debate on the electronic theoretical approaches to organic reaction mechanisms. See, for example, the summary by Saltzman. Ingold authored and co-authored 443 papers.


Honours

In 1920, Ingold was awarded the
British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to r ...
(BEM) for his wartime research involving "great courage in carrying out work in a poisonous atmosphere, and risking his life on several occasions in preventing serious accidents," though he subsequently never discussed the award or this period in his life. Ingold was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1924. He received the Longstaff Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1951, the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1952, and was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
in 1958. The chemistry department of University College London is now housed in the Sir Christopher Ingold building, opened in 1969.


Personal life

Ingold married Dr. Hilda Usherwood in 1923. She was a fellow chemist with whom he collaborated. They had two daughters and a son, the chemist
Keith Ingold Keith Usherwood Ingold, (born 31 May 1929) is a British chemist. He was born to Sir Christopher Ingold and Dr. Hilda Usherwood, and studied for a BSc in Chemistry at the University of London, completing his degree in 1949. He continued his h ...
.


Death

Ingold died in London in 1970, aged 77.


References


Further reading

Dr. Malmberg's class: K.P. *
Review of Leffek's book
by
John D. Roberts John Dombrowski Roberts (June 8, 1918 – October 29, 2016) was an American chemist. He made contributions to the integration of physical chemistry, spectroscopy, and organic chemistry for the understanding of chemical reaction rates. Another ...
*


External links


Biography at Michigan State University
an

at University College London. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingold, Christopher Kelk British chemists Organic chemists Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of University College London Knights Bachelor Recipients of the British Empire Medal Royal Medal winners Fellows of the Royal Society 1893 births 1970 deaths Faraday Lecturers Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of Imperial College London Stereochemists People from Edgware