Richard Laurence Millington Synge was born inWest Kirby on 28 October 1914, the son of Lawrence Millington Synge, a Liverpool stock-broker, and his wife, Katherine C. Swan.[1]
It was during his time inLeeds that he worked withArcher Martin, developingpartition chromatography, a technique used in the separation mixtures of similar chemicals, that revolutionised analytical chemistry.[3] Between 1942 and 1948 he studiedpeptides of the protein groupgramicidin, work later used byFrederick Sanger in determining the structure ofinsulin. In March 1950 he was elected aFellow of the Royal Society for which his candidature citation read:
Distinguished as a biochemist. Was the first to show the possibility of using counter-current liquid-liquid extraction in the separation of N-acetylamino acids. In collaboration with A.J.P. Martin this led to the development of partition chromatography, which they have applied with conspicuous success in problems related to the composition and structure of proteins, particularly wool keratin. Synge's recent work on the composition and structure of gramicidins is outstanding and illustrates vividly the great advances in technique for which he and Martin are responsible.
He was for several years the treasurer of the Chemical Information Group of theRoyal Society of Chemistry, and was an honorary Professor in Biological Sciences at theUniversity of East Anglia from 1968 to 1984. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (ScD) from theUniversity of East Anglia in 1977, and an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science atUppsala University, Sweden in 1980.[5][6]
In 1943 Synge married Ann Davies Stephen (1916–1997).[7] Ann Stephen was the daughter of psychologistKarin Stephen and psychoanalystAdrian Stephen.[8] Ann's sister Judith (1918–1972) was married to documentary artist and photographerNigel Henderson.
