Charterhouse Rd, Godalming GU7 2DL, UK
John was educated initially at Charterhouse School.
University Rd, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Collie continued his studies as an assistant to Letts when the latter moved to Queen’s College, Belfast, in 1879, working on reactions of tetrabenzyl phosphonium salts.
Sanderring 2, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
In 1883 Collie went to Wurzburg to obtain his Ph.D. under Wislicenus, studying thermal decomposition products of phosphonium and ammonium salts.
Charterhouse Rd, Godalming GU7 2DL, UK
John was educated initially at Charterhouse School.
University Rd, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Collie continued his studies as an assistant to Letts when the latter moved to Queen’s College, Belfast, in 1879, working on reactions of tetrabenzyl phosphonium salts.
Sanderring 2, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
In 1883 Collie went to Wurzburg to obtain his Ph.D. under Wislicenus, studying thermal decomposition products of phosphonium and ammonium salts.
https://www.amazon.com/Climbs-Explorations-Canadian-Rockies-Stutfield/dp/0968382002/?tag=2022091-20
1899
https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Himalaya-Other-Mountain-Ranges-ebook/dp/B00KTNY7HU/?tag=2022091-20
1902
explorer mountaineer scientist
Collie was born on September 10, 1859, in Alderley Edge, England, the second son of John and Selina Mary Collie. Norman learned early in life to love the outdoors so much that mountaineering vied with chemistry as his chief interest in life.
John was educated initially at Charterhouse School (1873). In 1877 Collie entered University College, Bristol, where he studied under E. A. Letts. Collie continued his studies as an assistant to Letts when the latter moved to Queen’s College, Belfast, in 1879, working on reactions of tetrabenzyl phosphonium salts. In 1883 Collie went to Wurzburg to obtain his Ph.D. under Wislicenus, studying thermal decomposition products of phosphonium and ammonium salts. Here Collie also began the study of β-aminocrotonic ester that led him ultimately into his major works on polyketides and pyrones. After completing his degree in 1885.
Collie became science lecturer at Ladies’ College, Cheltenham, and remained there until 1887, when he went to University College, London, as an assistant to William Ramsay. Collie was named professor of chemistry at the Pharmaceutical College, Bloomsbury Square, and a fellow of the Royal Society in 1896. In 1902 he returned to University College, London, as the first professor of organic chemistry, a position he held until his retirement in 1928 as emeritus professor and an honorary fellow of the college.
When Collie finished his studies on phosphonium salts, the lutidone derivative he had obtained earlier from heating β-aminocrotonic ester still piqued his interest. He managed to obtain this lutidone from dehydracetic acid and ammonia as well. This observation could not be reconciled with the then accepted structure for dehydracetic acid and Collie began to study this acid to understand its structure and chemistry. He successfully obtained 4-hydroxy, 6-methyl, a-pyrone, the tautomeric 6-latone of triacetic acid, by hydrolysis of dehydracetic acid with sulfuric acid. With the finding of the postulated triacetic acid, Collie suggested the appropriate conditions for the condensation of tetra-, tri-, di-, and acetic acids into lactones.
From diacetylacetone Collie succeeded in obtaining orcinol, symmetrical dimethylutidone, and various naphthalene and isoquinoline derivatives. He culminated his work on dehydracetic acid, 2,6-dimethylpyrone, and diacetylacetone in his generalization of the multiple ketene group. What Collie called the ketene group and its enol tautomer can, in one comprehensive scheme, relate pyrone, coumarin, benzopyrone, pyridine, isoquinoline, and naphthalene to the polyacetic acids. He also speculated on the formation of sugars and fats, with the multiple ketene group as the fundamental building block for these biological materials. Pentose sugars would be formed from pyrones and fats or acetogenins from acetic acid, depending on the hydrolysis of the multiple ketene group. The breadth of this early suggestion is just now being appreciated in biochemistry.
Collie appears to have begun climbing in Skye in 1886. He went there with his brothers to fish but made an ascent of Sgùrr nan Gillean. After two unsuccessful attempts, he was given advice on the route by John Mackenzie, a Skye crofter and Britain's first professional mountain guide. Collie returned regularly to Skye and climbed with MacKenzie, the two men becoming firm friends and making many first ascents.
In 1899 he discovered the Cioch, a unique rock feature on the Coire Laggan face of Sron na Ciche. This he climbed in 1906 with Mackenzie, who named if from the Gaelic word for a breast. Collie was instrumental in producing much better maps of the Cuillin which had previously defied the skills of cartographers.
Collie was a Professor of Organic Chemistry, but was famous as a pioneering mountaineer. His best-known climbs were in the Cuillin Mountains on the Isle of Skye, but he also climbed in the English Lake District, the Alps and Caucasus. In the Himalaya, he made the first attempt on an 8000m peak, Nanga Parbat. He also spent many years exploring the Canadian Rockies, making twenty-one first ascents.
