Robert Sidney Cahn

Robert Sidney Cahn (9 June 1899 – 15 June 1981) was a British chemist, best known for his contributions to chemical nomenclature and stereochemistry, particularly by the Cahn–Ingold–Prelog priority rules, which he proposed in 1956 with Christopher Kelk Ingold and Vladimir Prelog.^[1] Cahn was the first to report the structure of Cannabinol (CBN) found in Cannabis in the early 1930s.^[2][3]

Cahn was born in Hampstead, London. He became a fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry^[4] and was editor of the Journal of the Chemical Society from 1949 until 1963, and he remained with the Society as Director of Publications Research until his retirement in 1965.^[5]

References

1. George B. Kauffman (1998). "In Memoriam Vladimir Prelog (1906–1998): Some Personal Reminiscences". The Chemical Educator. 3 (2): 1–9. doi:10.1007/s00897980200a. S2CID 96367574.
2. Cahn, Robert Sidney (1932). "174. Cannabis indica resin. Part III. The constitution of cannabinol". Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed): 1342–1353. doi:10.1039/JR9320001342.
3. Pertwee, Roger G. (2006). "Cannabinoid pharmacology: The first 66 years". British Journal of Pharmacology. 147 (Suppl 1): S163-71. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706406. PMC 1760722. PMID 16402100.
4. Leonard T. Capell (1960). "An Introduction to Chemical Nomenclature". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 82 (22): 5960. doi:10.1021/ja01507a051.
5. David Hardy Whiffen, Donald Holroyde Hey (1991). The Royal Society of Chemistry: The First 150 Years. Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN 0-85186-294-2.

Bibliography

• Robert S. Cahn (1959). An Introduction to Chemical Nomenclature. Butterworths. and subsequent editions published in 1964, 1968, and 1974.