Celebrating chemistry pioneer Sir Edward Frankland

05 Sep 2016

Thanks to Frankland and our other chemists, “the atom is very much a Mancunian”

The School of Chemistry has unveiled a prestigious plaque awarded by the History Division of the American Chemical Society to celebrate the legacy of Manchester pioneer Sir Edward Frankland FRS.

Sir Edward published a seminal work in 1852 which established the theory of chemical valence – which is now recognised as a cornerstone of our understanding of chemistry. Sir Edward is also widely credited as one of the originators of organometallic chemistry – compounds with metal-carbon bonds – following his successful synthesis of fundamental organometallic molecules such as diethylzinc.

To commemorate these milestone achievements, a symposium was hosted by the Faculty, attended by several of Sir Edward’s descendants.

Miss Miriam O’Hanlon, a great-great-great-grandchild of Sir Edward, concluded the symposium by unveiling a commemorative plaque.

The plaque will be permanently displayed in the foyer of The School of Chemistry adjacent to an earlier plaque bequeathed by the American Chemical Society that recognises seminal work on radioactivity accomplished by another Manchester pioneer, Nobel Laureate Sir Earnest Rutherford.

This makes the University the only UK institution to boast two plaques from the American Chemical Society.

Professor Steve Liddle, Head of Inorganic Chemistry and organiser of the event, said: “We are very grateful to the American Chemical Society for this award.

“The quality and breath of the science that was presented at this symposium is a testament to the profound legacy that Sir Edward created with his theory of chemical valence.

“The University of Manchester has a proud heritage where this area is concerned, and in addition to the work of Frankland and Rutherford it has close ties to atomic structure and bonding luminaries John Dalton, Joseph Thompson, and James Chadwick.”

Professor Richard Winpenny, Head of the School of Chemistry, added: “Between them, Frankland, Rutherford, Dalton, Thompson, and Chadwick discovered the proton, neutron, electron, atomic structure theory, and the concept of chemical valence, so the atom is very much a Mancunian.”