William_Boon

William Boon

William Boon

British chemist

For the Australian rules footballer, see William Boon (footballer).

William Robert Boon FRS FRSC (20 March 1911 – 28 October 1994) was a British chemist, known for developing the herbicide paraquat.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Early life

He was educated at St Dunstan's College and King's College London (BSc; PhD).[1]

Career

ICI

He developed Bipyridine compounds (4,4'-Bipyridine) in 1954 at ICI's Jealott's Hill Experimental Station (Plant Protection Limited) at Jealott's Hill (Warfield) in Berkshire (Bracknell Forest). These compounds are known as Paraquat-Gramoxone and Diquat, being released onto the market in 1958.

Awards

He was awarded the Mullard Award of the Royal Society in 1972 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974.[2] He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Fellow of King's College London.

References

  1. [1]
    ‘BOON, Dr William Robert’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016
  2. [2]
    Wain, R. L. (1997). "William Robert Boon. 20 March 1911--28 October 1994: Elected F.R.S. 1974". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 43: 135. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1997.0008.
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