Ronald Grigg made important contributions to the design and development of cascade processes (that is, multireaction ‘one-pot’ sequences), based on palladium-catalysed cyclisation reactions and 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions, and their applications in general organic synthesis. His early work made notable contributions to the synthesis and fundamental chemistry of natural porphyrins and polypyrrole macrocycles; some of this work has recently been developed by others for sensor systems. A major contribution has been to research the cascade processes involving amine–imine–azomethine ylide–cycloadduct, and oxime–nitrone–cycloadduct. Chiral versions of imine-based 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions developed by Ronald are now widely exploited by industry, especially in the area of combinatorial chemistry, and his invention of a new reagent for the detection of latent fingerprints, based on early azomethine ylide studies, won a UK government SMART award in 1989. His original innovative contributions in the areas of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions and palladium-catalysed cascade processes have made him widely regarded as one of the leading organic chemists in the field.
Professor Ronald Grigg FRS died on 10 January 2021.
Subject groups
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Chemistry
Chemistry, organic, Chemistry, biological, Chemistry, inorganic
