Ingold, Sir Christopher, (1893-1970), an English chemist, made fundamental contributions to the field of organic chemistry, the study of compounds that contain carbon atoms. Often in collaboration with his chemist wife, Edith Hilda Usherwood, he investigated the electric charges present in organic compounds and developed theories on the part these charges play in chemical reactions. He and the Welsh chemist Edward David Hughes carried out detailed studies of elimination reactions, in which molecules lose a portion of their structure, and substitution reactions, in which one subunit of a molecule is replaced by a different one.
Christopher Kelk Ingold was born on Oct. 28, 1893, in London. He received a doctor of science degree from the University of London in 1921. In 1930, he was appointed professor of chemistry at University College, University of London. In 1952, he received the Royal Medal from the Royal Society, one of the world’s foremost scientific societies. He was knighted in 1958. He died on Dec. 8, 1970.
