- English organic
chemist who was the first to synthesize a vitamin (ascorbic acid, vitamin
C) 1933, for which he shared a Nobel prize 1937. He made significant
advances in determining the structures of many carbohydrates, particularly
sugars.
Haworth was born in Chorley, Lancashire, and studied at Manchester and
Göttingen, Germany. He was professor at Birmingham 1925-48.
The linkages in the ring structure of carbon atoms in hexoses are now
known as Haworth formulas because of his work. His team investigated
polysaccharides, establishing the chain structures of cellulose, starch,
and glycogen. Work on sugars led naturally to vitamin C.
In the late 1930s, Haworth studied the reactions of polysaccharides
with enzymes and certain aspects of the chemistry of the hormone insulin.
During World War II, his laboratory became a primary producer of purified
uranium, which led to work on the preparation and properties of organic
fluorine compounds.
Haworth's book The Constitution of the Sugars 1929 became a standard
work.
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