Sir Alexander Robertus Todd

Sir Alexander Robertus Todd
(1907-1997)

British biochemist whose research on the structure and synthesis of nucleotides, nucleosides, and nucleotide coenzymes gained him the 1957 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
After receiving doctorates from the universities of Frankfurt am Main (1931) and Oxford (1933), Todd held posts with the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, London, and the University of London before becoming professor of organic chemistry at the University of Manchester (1938-44) and then at Cambridge (1944-71), where he was also master of Christ's College (1963-78). He was named chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in 1975 and was visiting professor at Hatfield Polytechnic (1978-86).

While at Manchester he began work on nucleosides, compounds that form the structural units of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). In 1949 he synthesized a related substance, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is vital to energy utilization in living organisms. He synthesized two other important compounds, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) in 1949 and uridine triphosphate in 1954. In 1955 he elucidated the structure of vitamin B12.

Todd also worked on the structure and synthesis of vitamin B1, vitamin E, and alkaloid substances found in marijuana and hashish. He studied other alkaloids as well, plant and insect pigments, and mold products, including penicillin. He served as chairman (1952-64) of the British government's advisory committee on scientific policy, and in 1975 he was elected president of the Royal Society. Knighted in 1954, he was created a life peer in 1962 and made a member of the Royal Order of Merit in 1977.