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{{Short description|British chemist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Jocelyn Field Thorpe
| image = File:JocelynFieldThorpe.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1872|12|1|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Clapham]], [[London]], England
| nationality = English
| death_date = {{death date and age|1940|6|10|1872|12|1|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Cooden Beach]], [[East Sussex]], England
| fields = [[Organic chemistry]]
| workplaces = [[Imperial College London]]
| alma_mater = [[Heidelberg University]]
| thesis_title =
| thesis_url =
| thesis_year =
| doctoral_advisor = [[Karl von Auwers]]
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students = [[Christopher Kelk Ingold]]
| notable_students =
| known_for = [[Thorpe reaction]]<br>[[Thorpe–Ingold effect]]<br>[[2-Pyridone#Synthesis|Guareschi–Thorpe condensation]]
| prizes = [[Longstaff Prize]] (1921)<br>[[Davy Medal]] (1922)
}}
'''[[Knight Bachelor|Sir]] Jocelyn Field Thorpe''' [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]<ref name="Ingold">{{Cite journal | last1 = Ingold | first1 = C. K. | author-link1 = Christopher_Kelk_Ingold | title = Jocelyn Field Thorpe, 1872 - 1940 | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1941.0020 | journal = [[Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 3 | issue = 10 | pages = 531–44| year = 1941| s2cid = 178487429 }}</ref> (1 December 1872 – 10 June 1940) was an English chemist who made major contributions to organic chemistry, including the [[Thorpe-Ingold effect]] and three named reactions.
== Early life and education ==
Thorpe was born in Clapham, London on 1 December 1872, one of nine children and the sixth son, of Mr. and Mrs. W.G. Thorpe of the [[Middle Temple]]. He attended Worthing College, and then from 1888 - 1890 studied engineering at [[King's College, London]]. He then moved to the [[Royal College of Science]] from 1890 - 1892 to study chemistry. He earned his Ph.D. in [[organic chemistry]] under [[Karl von Auwers]] at [[Heidelberg University]] in 1895.<ref name="Armstrong">{{Cite journal | last1 = Armstrong | first1 = E. F. | title = Sir Jocelyn Thorpe, C.B.E., F.R.S | doi = 10.1038/1451001a0 | journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume = 145 | issue = 3687 | page = 1001| year = 1940 | bibcode = 1940Natur.145.1001A| doi-access = free }}</ref> In 1895 he joined [[Owens College, Manchester]] (this became part of the [[University of Manchester]] in 1904), starting as an assistant to [[William Henry Perkin Jr.|W. H. Perkin Jr.]], becoming a lecturer in 1896 and senior lecturer in 1908. In that year he was elected FRS and was awarded a Sorby Fellowship by the Royal Society to study in Sheffield.
==Career and research==
In 1908 he moved to the [[University of Sheffield]] to a full-time research appointment, and in 1913 applied for and was awarded the chair of organic chemistry at [[Imperial College]], a post he was to hold until 1939. The previous incumbent was [[Thomas Edward Thorpe]] - although the two were not related, his father was a close friend of T. E. Thorpe and it was the latter who persuaded him to switch from engineering to chemistry in his undergraduate career. Although Ingold's obituary<ref name="Ingold" /> gives a good account of Thorpe's scientific work it lacks references; [[Patrick Linstead]]<ref name="Linstead">{{cite journal |last= Linstead |first= R. P. |author-link= Patrick_Linstead |journal= [[J. Chem. Soc.]] |title= The Scientific Work of Sir Jocelyn Field Thorpe |pages= 448–464 |year= 1941 |doi=10.1039/JR9410000444 }}</ref> does give some references and on that account is the better source for Thorpe's chemical research career.
With [[William Henry Perkin Jr.|William H. Perkin Jr.]] at Manchester he worked largely on [[terpene]]s (the primary constituents of many [[essential oil]]s), in particular on [[camphor]] and its derivatives.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Perkin Jr. |first1= W. H. |last2= Thorpe |first2= J. F. |author-link1= William_Henry_Perkin_Jr. |journal= [[Journal of the Chemical Society|J. Chem. Soc., Trans.]]
|title= XV.—αα-Dimethylbutane-αβδ-tricarboxylic Acid, γ-Keto-ββ-dimethylpentamethylene-α-carboxylic Acid, and the Synthesis of Inactive α-Campholactone of Inactive α-Campholytic acid and of β-Campholytic Acid (isoLauronolic Acid). |volume= 85 |pages= 128–148 |year= 1904 |doi= 10.1039/CT9048500128|url= https://zenodo.org/record/1763827 }}</ref> At Imperial College from 1913 he set about a much-needed reorganisation of the organic chemistry department. With the outbreak of war in 1914 he threw himself into war work<ref name="Gay">{{cite book |last1= Gay |first1= H. |last2= Griffith |first2= W. P. |title= The Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London: a History, 1845 – 2000 |publisher=World Scientific Publishing |year= 2017 |isbn= 978-1-78326-973-0 |doi= 10.1142/p1087}}</ref> and proved to be a creative administrator within, amongst others, the Chemical Defence<ref>{{cite web|title=Navy lists:Monthly:1939:March:Standing Committees:Chemical Defence Committee|website=National Library of Scotland|url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92667838?mode=transcription|access-date=7 May 2020}}</ref> and Trench Warfare<ref name="Gay" /> committees, and from 1916 to 1922 he served on the Advisory Council to the newly formed and highly influential [[Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (United Kingdom)|Department of Scientific and Industrial Research]].  His chemistry during the war was much concerned with the development of [[Tear gas|lachrymators]] and of [[analgesic]] agents such as [[phenacetin]] and [[novocaine]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Hurst |first1= W. H. |last2= Thorpe |first2= J. F. |author-link1= Winifred_Grace_Wright |journal= [[Journal of the Chemical Society|J. Chem. Soc., Trans.]] |title= CIV.—The Formation of Chlorinated Amines by the Reduction of Nitro-compounds |volume= 107 |pages= 934–941 |year= 1915 |doi= 10.1039/CT9150700934|url= https://zenodo.org/record/2446870 }}</ref>
After the war he remained on many committees and was frequently consulted by governmental and industrial bodies. His departmental reorganisations continued, but this postwar period saw much of his best research.
With [[Christopher Kelk Ingold]], a demonstrator in the chemistry department from 1920 – 1924, Thorpe worked on 'valence deflection' (sometimes called the [[Thorpe–Ingold effect|Thorpe - Ingold effect]]). This derives from the observation that increasing the size of two of the substituents at a tetrahedrally-bound carbon atom leads to higher intramolecular reaction rates between parts of the other two substituents.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Beesley |first1= R. M. |last2= Ingold |first2= C. K. |last3= Thorpe |first3= J. F. |author-link2= Christopher_Kelk_Ingold |journal= [[Journal of the Chemical Society|J. Chem. Soc., Trans.]] |title= CXIX.—The Formation and Stability of ''spiro''-Compounds. Part I. ''spiro''-Compounds from ''cyclo''-Hexane |volume= 107 |pages= 1080–1106 |year= 1915 |doi= 10.1039/CT9150701080|url= https://zenodo.org/record/2403252 }}</ref>
Three organic reactions bear his name. The '''[[Thorpe reaction]]''' is a [[chemical reaction]] described as a self-condensation of [[aliphatic]] [[nitrile]]s catalyzed by [[Base (chemistry)|base]] to form [[enamine]]s.<ref name="Baron">{{cite journal |last1= Baron |first1= H. |last2= Remfry |first2= F. G. P. |last3= Thorpe |first3= J. F. |journal= [[Journal of the Chemical Society|J. Chem. Soc., Trans.]] |title= CLXXV.—The Formation and Reactions of Imino-compounds. Part I. Condensation of Ethyl Cyanoacetate with its Sodium Derivative
|volume= 85 |pages= 1726–1761 |year= 1904 |doi= 10.1039/CT9048501726|url= https://zenodo.org/record/1429705 }}</ref> The '''[[Thorpe reaction|Thorpe–Ziegler reaction]]''' is the [[Intramolecular reaction|intramolecular]] modification with a dinitrile as a reactant and a cyclic [[ketone]] after acid hydrolysis.<ref name="SchaeferBloomfield2011">{{cite book|last1=Schaefer|first1=John P.|title=Organic Reactions|last2=Bloomfield|first2=Jordan J.|chapter=The Dieckmann Condensation (Including the Thorpe-Ziegler Condensation)|year=2011|pages=1–203|doi=10.1002/0471264180.or015.01|isbn=978-0471264187}}</ref> In the '''[[Guareschi-Thorpe condensation]]''' [[cyanoacetamide]] reacts with a [[ketone|1,3-diketone]] to a [[2-pyridone]].<ref name="Guareschi">{{cite journal |last= Guareschi |first= I. | author-link= :it:Icilio_Guareschi |journal= [[:es:Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino|Mem. Reale Accad. Sci. Torino II]] |title=Sintesi di composti piridinici dagli eteri chetonici coll'etre cianacetico in presenza dell'ammoniaca e delle amine |trans-title= Synthesis of pyridine compounds from ketone ethers with cyanoacetic ether in the presence of ammonia and amines| volume= 46 |pages= 7, 11, 25 |year= 1896 |url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/112130#page/39/mode/1up}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Day |first1= J. N. E. |last2= Thorpe |first2= J. F. |journal= [[Journal of the Chemical Society|J. Chem. Soc., Trans.]] |title= CLXIII.—The Formation and Reactions of Imino-compounds. Part XX. The Condensation of Aldehydes with Cyanoacetamide. |volume= 117 |pages= 1465–1474 |year= 1920 |doi= 10.1039/CT9201701465}}</ref><ref name="Baron" />
== Publications ==
Thorpe wrote many papers, particularly in the ''Journal of the Chemical Society Transactions;'' some are cited by Linstead.<ref name="Linstead" /> He also wrote three books, all available in the British Library:
J. C. Cain and J. F. Thorpe, ''The synthetic dyestuffs and the intermediate products from which they are derived'' (1905);
C. K. Ingold and J. F. Thorpe, ''Synthetic colouring matters - vat colours'' (1923);
J. F. Thorpe and M. Whiteley, ''A Student's Manual of Organic Chemical Analyses'' (1925).
In his later years he was part-editor of several volumes of T. T. Thorpe's ''Dictionary of Applied Chemistry.''
==Honours and awards==
Thorpe became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1908, was awarded a [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in 1917, and in the same year became a member of the [[Legion of Honour|Officier de la Légion d'honneur]]. In 1921 he became the vice-president of the [[Chemical Society]] and was awarded its [[Longstaff Prize|Longstaff medal]]. in 1917. In 1922 he received the [[Davy Medal]] of the [[Royal Society]]. He became President of the Chemical Society from 1928 - 1931, and was knighted (KBE) in 1939.<ref name="Kon">{{cite journal |last = Kon |first = G. A. R. |title = Sir Jocelyn Field Thorpe, 1872 – 1940. |journal =  [[J. Chem. Soc.]] |year = 1941 |pages = 444–7 |doi=10.1039/JR9410000444}}</ref><ref name="Armstrong" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Whiteley |first1= M. A. |last2= Kon |first2= G. A. R. |title= Jocelyn Field Thorpe |journal =  [[Analyst (journal)|The Analyst]] |volume= 65 |issue= 774 |year = 1940 |pages = 483–4 |bibcode= 1940Ana....65..483W |doi= 10.1039/AN9406500483}}</ref>
== Personality ==
Kon<ref name="Kon" /> remembered Thorpe as being jovial and full of ideas, never happier than when working in the laboratory, which he normally did in his shirtsleeves without any protective clothing (as famous picture shows him smoking a cigar – he was fond of cigarettes and cigars) while peering through a test-tube. Kon,<ref name="Kon" /> Linstead<ref name="Linstead" /> and Armstrong<ref name="Armstrong" /> remark on his kindness and humanity to others. He was a cultured man with a keen interest in English china. He was well supported in his career by his wife, Alice Lilian [[Birth name|née]] Briggs (1879 – 1967), who he married in 1902.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
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[[Category:1872 births]]
[[Category:1940 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College London]]
[[Category:Heidelberg University alumni]]
[[Category:English chemists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:People from Clapham]]
[[Category:People from Bexhill-on-Sea]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]