Hugh Stott Taylor
| Hugh Stott Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Born | 6 February 1890 |
| Died | 17 April 1974 (aged 84) |
| Alma mater | University of Liverpool |
| Notable awards | Fellow of the Royal Society |
Sir Hugh Stott Taylor KBE FRS (6 February 1890 – 17 April 1974) was an English chemist primarily interested in catalysis. In 1925, in a landmark contribution to catalytic theory, Taylor suggested that a catalyzed chemical reaction is not catalyzed over the entire solid surface of the catalyst but only at certain ‘active sites’ or centers.
He also developed important methods for procuring heavy water during World War II and pioneered the use of stable isotopes in studying chemical reactions.
Taylor was born in St Helens, Lancashire, England in 1890, the son of glass technologist James and Ellen (née Stott) Taylor. He was educated at Cowley Grammar School in St Helens and then attended the University of Liverpool, where he received his B.Sc. in 1909 and his M.Sc. in 1910. Taylor then carried out three years of graduate work in Liverpool, after which he spent one year at the Nobel Institute in in the laboratory of Svante Arrhenius and another at the Technische Hochschule in Hanover under Max Bodenstein. These studies earned him a Ph.D degree from the University of Liverpool in 1914.
Taylor showed that chemisorption may be an activated process, and occur slowly. Moreover, he conceived the idea that chemically active sites might be sparse on the surface of a catalyst and, hence, could be inhibited with relatively few molecules.
Taylor showed that hydrogen atoms are key intermediates of reactions involving H2 on metal surfaces and also discovered the conversion of heptane to toluene over chromium oxide.
Taylor and a graduate student developed the first semi-realistic model of the α-helix, an element of protein secondary structure. An earlier model by Astbury had been shown to be physically implausible by Hans Neurath. Using physical models and chemical reasoning, Taylor sought to find a better model, which differs only slightly from the modern α-helix proposed by Linus Pauling and Robert Corey. Taylor reported their models at his Franklin Medal lecture (1941) and in press (1942).
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