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William Robert Boon FRS FRSC (20 March 1911 – 28 October 1994) was a British chemist, known for developing the herbicide paraquat.

Early life

He was educated at St Dunstan's College and King's College London (BSc; PhD).^[1]

Career

ICI

He developed Bipyridine compounds (4,4'-Bipyridine) in 1954 at ICI's Jealott's Hill Experimental Station (Plant Protection Limited) at Jealott's Hill (Warfield) in Berkshire (Bracknell Forest). These compounds are known as Paraquat-Gramoxone and Diquat, being released onto the market in 1958.

Awards

He was awarded the Mullard Award of the Royal Society in 1972 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974.^[2] He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Fellow of King's College London.

References