Robert Sidney Cahn (9 June 1899 – 15 September 1981) was a British chemist, best known for his contributions tochemical nomenclature andstereochemistry, particularly by theCahn–Ingold–Prelog priority rules, which he proposed in 1956 withChristopher Kelk Ingold andVladimir Prelog.[1] Cahn was the first to report the structure ofCannabinol (CBN) found inCannabis in the early 1930s.[2][3]
Cahn was the elder son of Gottfried Cahn of Hampstead (where he was born) and Lilian Julie (née Montague) of New Zealand.[4] He attended Westminster School and was elected toTrinity College, Cambridge in July 1918, where he took theNatural Science Tripos. He was awarded his BA in 1921 and MA in 1925.[5]
He became a fellow of theRoyal Institute of Chemistry[6] and was editor of theJournal of the Chemical Society from 1949 until 1963, and he remained with the Society as Director of Publications Research until his retirement in 1965.[7]
Robert Cahn married Margaret Joan Emery inWare, Hertfordshire in 1926. They had one child: Elizabeth Gwen. He then married Frances Mary G Richardson in Pancras in 1936.
Robert Sidney Cahn died at 1 Elsaw Court, Cawley Road, Chichester on 15 September 1981.[8]
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