Skip to main content
Science Progress logoLink to Science Progress
. 2015 Sep 1;98(3):219–229. doi: 10.3184/003685015X14364588807198

Sir John Cornforth Ac Cbe Frs: His Synthetic Work

Rupert Purchase, James R Hanson
PMCID: PMC10365412  PMID: 26601337

Abstract

Sir John Cornforth's work on the synthesis of cholesterol and penicillamine, on the chemistry of oxazoles, the stereochemistry of the synthesis of alkenes, the synthesis of abscisic acid and of dibenzophospholes as mimics of enzyme action, is reviewed.

Keywords: cholesterol, penicillamine, oxazoles, the Cornforth rearrangement, alkene synthesis, abscisic acid, dibenzophospholes, mimics of enzyme action

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.1 MB).

9. References

  • 1.Cornforth Sir J.W. (1993) Aust. J. Chem., 46, 157–170. [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Cardwell H.M.E., Cornforth J.W., Duff S.R., Holtermann H., and Robinson R. (1951) Chem. Ind. (London), 389–390. [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Cornforth J.W., Cornforth R.H., and Robinson R. (1942) J. Chem. Soc., 682–684. [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Cornforth J.W., and Robinson R. (1942) J. Chem. Soc., 684–689. [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Cornforth J.W., Cornforth R.H., and Robinson R. (1942) J. Chem. Soc., 689–691. [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Cornforth J.W. (1955) Prog. Org. Chem., 3, 1–43. [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Cornforth J.W., and Robinson R. (1946) J. Chem. Soc., 676–679. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Cornforth J.W., and Robinson R. (1947) Nature (London), 160, 737. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Cornforth J.W., and Robinson R. (1949) J. Chem. Soc., 1855–1865. [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Woodward R.B., Sondheimer F., Taub D., Heusler K., and Mohamore W. (1951) J. Am. Chem. Soc., 73, 2403. [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Cardwell H.M.E., Cornforth J.W., Duff S.R., Holtermann H., and Robinson R. (1953) J. Chem. Soc., 361–365. [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Du Feu E.C., McQuillin F.J., and Robinson R. (1937) J. Chem. Soc., 53–58. [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Birch A.J. In: Golding B.T. (ed.) John Warcup Cornforth, selected research papers with commentaries, p. 15. Pergamon Press, Elsevier, 1992. [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Cornforth J.W., and Cornforth R.H. (1948) J. Chem. Soc., 93–97. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.Clarke H.T., Johnson J.R., and Robinson R. (eds) The chemistry of penicillin. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1949. [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Abraham E.P. (1987) Nat. Prod. Rep., 4, 41–46. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Abraham E.P., Baker W., Chain E., and Robinson R. (1943) CPS Report, PEN. 91, 14 August. [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Abraham E.P., Chain E., Baker W., Cornforth J.W., Cornforth R.H., and Robinson R. (1943) CPS Report, PEN. 100, 4 October. [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Purchase R. (2013) Sci. Prog., 96, 1–18.23738434 [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Purchase R. (2013) Sci. Prog., 96, 213–223. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Abraham E.P., Baker W., Chain E., and Robinson R. (1943) CPS Report, PEN. 103, 22 October. [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Crowfoot D., Bunn C.W., Rodgers-Low B.W., and Turner J. (1949) In: Clarke H.T., Johnson J.R., and Robinson R. (eds) The chemistry of penicillin, pp. 310–367. Princeton University Press, New Jersey. [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Cornforth J.W., Cornforth R.H., Abraham E.P., Baker W., Chain E., and Robinson R. (1944) CPS Report PEN 58, 1 May. [Google Scholar]
  • 24.Cornforth J.W., Cornforth R.H., Abraham E.P., Baker W., Chain E., and Robinson R. (1945) CPS Report PEN 492 11 May. [Google Scholar]
  • 25.Cornforth J.W. (1957) In: Elderfield R.C. (ed.), Heterocyclic compounds, Vol. 5, pp. 298–417. John Wiley and Sons, New York. [Google Scholar]
  • 26.Dewar M.J.S. (1949) The electronic theory of organic chemistry, p. 87. Clarendon Press, Oxford. [Google Scholar]
  • 27.Cornforth J.W., and Cornforth R.H. (1947) J. Chem. Soc., 96–102. [Google Scholar]
  • 28.Cornforth J.W., and Huang H.T. (1948) J. Chem. Soc., 1960–1964. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 29.Cornforth J.W., and Huang H.T. (1948) J. Chem. Soc., 1969–1971. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 30.Cornforth J.W., and Huang H.T. (1948) J. Chem. Soc., 1964–1969. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 31.Cornforth J.W., Fawaz E., Goldsworthy L.J., and Robinson R. (1949) J. Chem. Soc., 1548–1553. [Google Scholar]
  • 32.Cornforth J.W., and Cornforth R.H. (1953) J. Chem. Soc., 93–98. [Google Scholar]
  • 33.Cornforth J.W., and Cornforth R.H. (1949) J. Chem. Soc., 1028–1030. [Google Scholar]
  • 34.Cornforth J.W., and Cookson E. (1951) J. Chem. Soc., 1085–1088. [Google Scholar]
  • 35.Cornforth Sir John, and Du M.H. (1990) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1459–1462. [Google Scholar]
  • 36.Cornforth Sir John, and Du M.H. (1991) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 2183–2187. [Google Scholar]
  • 37.Cornforth J.W., Hart P.D.A., Rees R.J.W., and Stock J.A. (1951) Nature (Lond.), 168, 150. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 38.Cornforth J.W., Hart P.D.A., Nicholls G.A., Rees R.J.W., and Stock J.A. (1955) Brit. J. Pharmacol., 10, 73–86. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 39.Cornforth J.W., Cornforth R.W., Dagliesh C.E., and Neuberger A. (1951) Biochem. J., 48, 591–597. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 40.Cornforth J.W., Firth M.E., and Gottschalk A. (1958) Biochem. J., 68, 57–61. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 41.Callow R.K., Cornforth J.W., and Spensley P.C. (1951) Chem. Ind. (Lond.), 699. [Google Scholar]
  • 42.Cornforth J.W., Osbond J.W., and Phillipps G.H. (1954) J. Chem. Soc., 907–912. [Google Scholar]
  • 43.Cornforth J.W., Youhotsky I., and Popják G.J. (1954) Nature (Lond.), 173, 536–538. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 44.Cornforth J.W., Cornforth R.H., and Mathew K.K. (1959) J. Chem. Soc., 112–117. [Google Scholar]
  • 45.O'Brien A.G., (2011) Tetrahedron, 67, 9639–9667. [Google Scholar]
  • 46.Cornforth J.W., Cornforth R.H., and Mathew K.K. (1959) J. Chem. Soc., 2539–2547. [Google Scholar]
  • 47.Cornforth J.W., and Green D.T. (1970) J. Chem. Soc. (C), 846–849. [Google Scholar]
  • 48.Milborrow B.V. (2001) J. Exp. Bot., 52, 1145–1164. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 49.Cornforth J.W., Milborrow B.V., and Ryback G. (1966) Tetrahedron, Suppl. B, Part II, 603–610. [Google Scholar]
  • 50.Cornforth J.W., Draber W., Milborrow B.V., and Ryback G. (1967) Chem. Commun., 114. [Google Scholar]
  • 51.Cornforth J.W., Milborrow B.V., and Ryback G. (1965) Nature (Lond.), 206, 715.5832856 [Google Scholar]
  • 52.Cornforth J.W., Mallaby R., and Ryback G. (1968) J. Chem. Soc. (C), 1565–1568. [Google Scholar]
  • 53.Cornforth Sir John, Hawes J.E., and Mallaby R. (1992) Aust. J. Chem., 45, 179–185. [Google Scholar]
  • 54.Cornforth Sir John (1978) Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. B., 203, 101–117. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 55.Cornforth Sir John, Cornforth Lady R.H., and Gray T. (1982) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 2289–2297. [Google Scholar]
  • 56.Cornforth Sir John, Sierakowski A.F., and Wallace T.W. (1979) J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 294–295. [Google Scholar]
  • 57.Cornforth Sir John, Sierakowski A.F., and Wallace T.W. (1982) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 2299–2315. [Google Scholar]
  • 58.Cornforth Sir John, Ridley D.D., Sierakowski A.F., Uguen D., Wallace T.W., and Hitchcock P.B. (1982) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 2317–2331. [Google Scholar]
  • 59.Cornforth Sir John, Ridley D.D., Sierakowski A.F., Uguen D., and Wallace T.W. (1982) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 2333–2339. [Google Scholar]
  • 60.Buttrus N.H., Cornforth Sir John, Hitchcock P.B., Kumar A., and Stuart A.S. (1987) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 851–857. [Google Scholar]
  • 61.Cornforth Sir John, Kumar A., and Stuart A.S. (1987) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 859–866. [Google Scholar]
  • 62.Cornforth Sir John, and Robertson A.D. (1987) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 867–870. [Google Scholar]
  • 63.Cornforth Sir John, Huguenin L.M., and Wilson J.R.H. (1987) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 871–875. [Google Scholar]
  • 64.Cornforth Sir John (1996) J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 2889–2893. [Google Scholar]

Articles from Science Progress are provided here courtesy of SAGE Publications

RESOURCES