Cornforth investigated enzymes that catalyse changes in organic compounds, the substrates, by taking the place of hydrogen atoms in a substrate's chains and rings. In his syntheses and descriptions of the structure of variousterpenes,olefins, andsteroids, Cornforth determined specifically which cluster of hydrogen atoms in a substrate were replaced by an enzyme to effect a given change in the substrate, allowing him to detail thebiosynthesis ofcholesterol.[8] For this work, he won a share of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975, alongside co-recipientVladimir Prelog, and was knighted in 1977.[9]
Born in Sydney, Cornforth was the son and the second of four children of English-born,Oxford-educated schoolmaster and teacher John Warcup Cornforth and Hilda Eipper (1887–1969), a granddaughter of pioneering missionary andPresbyterian ministerChristopher Eipper. Before her marriage, Eipper had been a maternity nurse.[3][10]
Cornforth was raised in Sydney as well asArmidale, in the north of New South Wales,[11] where he undertook primary school education.[10]
At about 10 years old,[12] Cornforth had noted signs of deafness, which led to a diagnosis ofotosclerosis, a disease of the middle ear which causes progressive hearing loss. This left him completely deaf by the age of 20 but also fatefully influenced his career direction away from law, his original intended field of study, and towards chemistry.[13][14] In an interview withSir Harry Kroto for theVega Science Trust, Cornforth explained:
I had to find something in which the loss of hearing would not be too severe a handicap...I chose chemistry...The most liberating thing was the realization that the literature wasn't entirely correct. It gave me quite a shock at first, and then a thrill. Because I can set this right! And always, and ever since, I've relied upon the primary literature exclusively.[15]
Cornforth was educated atSydney Boys' High School, where he excelled academically, passed tests inEnglish,mathematics,science,French,Greek, andLatin,[16] and was inspired by his chemistry teacher, Leonard ("Len") Basser,[17][18] to change his career directions from law to chemistry.[12][19] Cornforth graduated as thedux of the class of 1933 at Sydney Boys' High School, at the age of 16.[20]
While studying at the University of Sydney, Cornforth met his future wife, fellow chemist and scientific collaborator,Rita Harradence.[24][25] Harradence was a graduate ofSt George Girls High School[24][25] and a distinguished academic achiever[10][26][27] who had topped the state in Chemistry in the New South Wales Leaving Certificate Examination.[28] Harradence graduated with a Bachelor of Science with First-Class Honours and the University Medal in Organic Chemistry in 1936, a year ahead of Cornforth.[29] Harradence also graduated with aMSc in 1937,[30] writing a master's thesis titled "Attempts to synthesise the pyridine analogue of vitamin B1".[31]
In 1939, Cornforth and Harradence, independently of each other, each won one of two Science Research Scholarships (the1851 Research Fellowship) from theRoyal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851,[32] tenable overseas for two years.[29] At the University of Oxford, Harradence was a member ofSomerville College while Cornforth was atSt. Catherine's College[33] and they worked with SirRobert Robinson, with whom they collaborated for 14 years.[10] During his time at Oxford, Cornforth found working for and with Robinson stimulating, and the two often deliberated to no end until one had a cogent case against the other's counterargument.[34] In 1941, Cornforth and Harradence both graduated with aD.Phil. in Organic Chemistry.[35][36] At the time, there were no institutions or facilities at which a PhD in chemistry could be done in Australia.[37]
After his arrival at Oxford and duringWorld War II, Cornforth significantly influenced the work onpenicillin, particularly in purifying and concentrating it. Penicillin is usually very unstable in its crude form; as a consequence of this, researchers at the time were building uponHoward Florey's work on the drug. In 1940, Cornforth and other chemists measured the yield of penicillin in arbitrary units to understand the conditions that favoured penicillin production and activity, and he contributed to the writing ofThe Chemistry of Penicillin.[38]
In 1946, the Cornforths, who had by now married, left Oxford and joined theMedical Research Council (MRC), working at theNational Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), where they continued on earlier work in synthesising sterols, including cholesterol. The Cornforths' collaboration with Robinson continued and flourished. In 1951, they completed, simultaneously withRobert Burns Woodward[citation needed], the first total synthesis of the non-aromatic steroids. At the NIMR, Cornforth collaborated with numerous biological scientists, includingGeorge Popják,[39] with whom he shared an interest in cholesterol. Together, they received theDavy Medal in 1968 in recognition of their distinguished joint work on the elucidation of the biosynthetic pathway to polyisoprenoids and steroids.
While working at the MRC, Cornforth was appointed a professor at theUniversity of Warwick and was employed there from 1965 to 1971.[40]
In 1975, Cornforth was awarded a share of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, alongsideVladimir Prelog. In his acceptance speech, Cornforth said:
Throughout my scientific career my wife has been my most constant collaborator. Her experimental skill made major contributions to the work; she has eased for me beyond measure the difficulties of communication that accompany deafness; her encouragement and fortitude have been my strongest support.[41]
In 1941, the year in which they graduated from the University of Oxford, Cornforth married Rita Harriet Harradence (b. 1915),[5][24][45] with whom he had one son, John, and two daughters, Brenda and Philippa.[3][46] Cornforth had met Harradence after she had broken aClaisen flask in their second year at the University of Sydney; Cornforth, with his expertise ofglassblowing and the use of ablowpipe, mended the break.[47] Rita Cornforth died on 6 November 2012,[48] at home with her family around her,[49] following a long illness.[50]
On an important author or paper that was integral to his success, Cornforth stated that he was particularly impressed by the works of German chemistHermann Emil Fischer.[47]
Cornforth was named theAustralian of the Year in 1975,[57] jointly with Maj. Gen.Alan Stretton.[58] In 1977, Cornforth was recognised by his alma mater, the University of Sydney, with the award of an honoraryDoctor of Science.[59][60] Cornforth's other awards and recognitions follow:
Cornforth's certificate of election for theRoyal Society reads:
Distinguished as an Organic Chemist of outstanding originality and exceptional experimental skill, particularly in microchemical manipulation. He was the first to attribute the correct constitution topenicillamine and to synthesise the amino-acid. After making significant contributions to the synthesis ofpenicillin he notably developed the chemistry of theoxazole group and made oxazole itself for the first time.
The important share he took in the total synthesis ofandrogenic hormones and othersteroids is gratefully recognised by all his collaborators in the investigation.
Miscellaneous work onnatural products andchemotherapy equally displays individual thought, invention, and superlative technical accomplishment.[1]
Cornforth was the focus of a skit on an episode ofComedy Inc., whereby a fictionalWho Wants to Be A Millionaire? contestant (played byGenevieve Morris) is asked "Which Australian scientist won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1975?" for the million-dollar question. As it happens, the contestant gleefully claims they are second cousins with Cornforth (despite being nearly 50 years his junior) and knows Cornforth is the answer, confidently rattling off a bunch of highly specific and esoteric facts about Cornforth's life and achievements, all the while the host (a satirical portrayal ofEddie McGuire) stubbornly and continuously stalls her for dramatic effect, asking her for several minutes if she'd like to think about it more to an absurd degree.[65]
TheRoyal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) honours Cornforth by naming its prize for the best PhD thesis in chemical science completed at an Australian university the Cornforth Medal.[67]
^White, J.W. (5 February 1996)."Rita Cornforth Fellowships".Research School of Chemistry, ANU. Archived fromthe original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved2 December 2013.
