Donald Charlton Bradley , (1924–2014) was a British

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

who was recognized for his work on the chemistry of metal-

alkoxides In chemistry, an alkoxide is the conjugate base of an alcohol and therefore consists of an organic group bonded to a negatively charged oxygen atom. They are written as , where R is the organyl substituent. Alkoxides are strong bases and, when ...

and metal-

amides In organic chemistry, an amide, also known as an organic amide or a carboxamide, is a compound with the general formula , where R, R', and R″ represent any group, typically organyl groups or hydrogen atoms. The amide group is called a p ...

, their

synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry *Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors **Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organi ...

structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

and bonding, and for his studies of their conversions to metal-oxides and metal-

nitrides In chemistry, a nitride is a chemical compound of nitrogen. Nitrides can be inorganic or organic, ionic or covalent. The nitride anion, N3−, is very elusive but compounds of nitride are numerous, although rarely naturally occurring. Some nitr ...

Biography

Donald Charlton Bradley was born in London on 7 November 1924 at the

Paddington Green Children's Hospital The Paddington Green Children's Hospital was a hospital in Paddington Green, London, that existed from 1883 to 1987. The former building is now grade II listed with Historic England. History The hospital was founded at Bell Street by Eustace Smi ...

, the son of Gladys Winifred Bradley, a milliner, from

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

. Gladys’s older sister Doris Marian and her husband John brought up Donald, mostly in

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

. There he attended Hove County Grammar School for Boys. After gaining his Higher School Certificate in sciences and maths, Bradley was directed to work at the British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association (ERA) in northwest London, as part of the war effort. He investigated the effects of mustard gas on electrical components, and how to extend the lifetime of capacitors. During this apprenticeship he enrolled for a part-time degree at Birkbeck College in London, and gained a first-class BSc in 1946. He went on to do research for a PhD, under Professor William Wardlaw. during which he studied zirconium alkoxide compounds r(OR)₄sub>n. He was awarded his PhD in 1950. Bradley continued at Birkbeck, working with Ram Charan Mehrotra, who was visiting for two years from India, and Marc Faktor, among others. On 21 August 1959, Bradley, his wife and son sailed on the SS ''Maasdam'' from Southampton to Canada, en route to

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, where Donald was to take up a professorial job at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

(UWO), working with Fred Pattison and Paul de Mayo. After six years in Canada, Bradley was offered the chair in inorganic chemistry at

Queen Mary College Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...

in London (QM), starting in 1965. Amongst other achievements he hired crystallographer Michael Hursthouse and so started a thriving

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science of determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to Diffraction, diffract in specific directions. By measuring th ...

group at QM. Don formally retired in 1987, remaining very active in research as emeritus professor of

inorganic chemistry Inorganic chemistry deals with chemical synthesis, synthesis and behavior of inorganic compound, inorganic and organometallic chemistry, organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subj ...

Family

While at the ERA Bradley met Constance Joy Hazeldean (Joy), the librarian there. They married in 1948 and had one child, David, on 18 May 1951. Joy died on 9 March 1985. In January 1988 he met Ann Levy (née MacDonald). They married at St Olav’s church in the City of London on 10 June 1990. Donald Charlton Bradley died on 20 December 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Donald Charlton Royal Medal winners British chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1924 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Academics of Queen Mary University of London