Thomas Tidwell reflects on the overlooked — but prescient — proposal by the British chemists Arthur Downes and Thomas Blunt for photochemical free-radical formation, decades before Moses Gomberg launched the field of radical chemistry by preparing triphenylmethyl, the first stable organic radical.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1903/press.html
Downes, A. & Blunt, T. P. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 26, 488–500 (1877).
Jaenicke, L. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 46, 6776–6782 (2007).
Faraday, M. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 111, 47–74 (1821).
Draper, J. W. Text-Book on Chemistry (Harper & Brothers, 1861).
Barker, G. F. Biogr. Mem. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 2, 349–388 (1886).
Cukierman, S. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1757, 876–885 (2006).
Downes, A. & Blunt, T. P. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 28, 199–212 (1878).
Downes, A. & Blunt, T. P. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 29, 219–221 (1879).
Downes, A. & Blunt, T. P. Nature 20, 521 (1879).
Lewis, G. N. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 38, 762–785 (1916).
Lewis, G. N. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 2, 586–592 (1916).
Hunt, J. P. & Taube, H. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 74, 5999–6002 (1952).
Tidwell, T. T. in Handbook of Radical Chemistry and Biology (eds Chatgilialoglu, C. & Studer, A.) Vol. 1, Ch. 1, (Wiley, 2012).
Mathews, J. H. & Curtis, H. A. J. Phys. Chem. 18, 166–178 (1914).
Hofer, T. et al. Biol. Chem. 386, 333–337 (2005).
Ihde, A. J. Pure Appl. Chem. 15, 1–13 (1967).
Hudson, J. The History of Chemistry 114–116 (Macmillan, 1992).
Kolbe, H. Liebigs Ann. Chem. 69, 257–294 (1849).
Frankland, E. Liebigs Ann. Chem. 71, 171–213 (1849).
Crum Brown, A. & Walker, J. Liebigs Ann. Chem. 261, 107–128 (1891).
Gomberg, M. Chem. Ber. 33, 3150–3163 (1900).
Gomberg, M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 22, 757–771 (1900).
Tidwell, T. T. Adv. Phys. Org. Chem. 36, 1–58 (2001).
Wieland, H. Ber. Dtsch. Chem. Ges. 44, 2550–2556 (1911).
DiLabio, G. A. et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 49, 5982–5985 (2010).
Bonhoeffer, K. F. Z. Phys. Chem. 113, 199–219 (1924).
Paneth, F. & Hofeditz, W. Ber. Dtsch. Chem. Ges. 62, 1335–1347 (1929).
Berthoud, A. & Béraneck, J. Helv. Chim. Acta 10, 289–299 (1927).
Wachholtz, F. Z. Phys. Chem. 125, 1–48 (1927).
Dickinson, R. G. & Leermakers, J. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 54, 3852–3862 (1932).
Dickinson, R. G. & Carrico, J. L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 56, 1473–1480 (1934).
Bauer, W. H. & Daniels, F. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 56, 2014 (1934).
Smith, H. P., Noyes, W. A. Jr & Hart, E. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 55, 4444–4459 (1933).
Price, C. C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 58, 1834–1838 (1936).
Haber, F. & Willstätter, R. Ber. Dtsch. Chem. Ges. 64, 2844–2856 (1931).
Haber, F. & Weiss, J. Naturwissenschaften 15, 948–950 (1932).
Blunt, T. P. The Analyst 5, 79–81 (1880).
Jamieson, J. Proc. R. Soc. Vic. 17, 116–123 (1882).
Jamieson, J. Proc. R. Soc. Vic. 20, 1–2 (1884).
Downes, A. & Blunt, M. Proc. R. Soc. Vic. 20, 2–6 (1884).
Downes, A. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 40, 14–22 (1886).
Brit. Med. J. 652–653 (1938).
Lowe, H. The Analyst 5, 79–81 (1932).
Stuhl, B. K. et al. Nature 492, 396–400 (2012).
Acknowledgements
The assistance of Jeanette Jerome, the great granddaughter of Thomas P. Blunt, in providing information for this manuscript is gratefully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tidwell, T. Sunlight and free radicals. Nature Chem 5, 637–639 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1703
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1703
