The George Gray Laboratories, University of Hull

Abstract

February 11th dawned clear and bitterly cold. The Pennines were white with Christmas card icing. The sky was blue. The sun was shining. God was clearly in his heaven and Blondie were back at number one, as representatives of the UK liquid crystal scene gathered at the University of Hull for a ceremony to mark the naming of the new organic chemistry laboratories after George W. Gray. The ceremony involved the unveiling of a plaque by the Vice Chancellor (Professor D. N. Dilks), followed by an afternoon of three lectures. The first, a tour of reminiscence by George Gray, outlined his early scientific life—how he narrowly escaped a career in the oil industry in the Middle East, and the events leading up to the synthesis of pentylcyanobiphenyl. The point he made about his gratitude to the University for giving him space and freedom to develop his liquid crystals work was well taken. The second talk, by Steven Ley of Cambridge University, described the synthesis of okadic acid. This was an impressive example of the power of modern organic synthetic chemistry. The third talk from John Goodby outlined some of the more recent liquid crystals interests at Hull, including smectic-C materials, and then concentrated on a new and promising class of mesogens: the liposaccharides.