Haworth, (Walter) Norman (1883–1950)

English organic chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1937 for his work in synthesizing a vitamin (ascorbic acid, vitamin C) in 1933. He made significant advances in determining the structures of many carbohydrates, particularly sugars. He was knighted in 1947.

Haworth was born in Chorley, Lancashire, and studied at Manchester and Göttingen, Germany. He was professor at Birmingham 1925–48.

The linkages in the ring structure of carbon atoms in hexoses are now known as Haworth formulas because of his work. His team investigated polysaccharides, establishing the chain structures of cellulose, starch, and glycogen. Work on sugars led naturally to vitamin C.

In the late 1930s, Haworth studied the reactions of polysaccharides with enzymes and certain aspects of the chemistry of the hormone insulin. During World War II, his laboratory became a primary producer of purified uranium, which led to work on the preparation and properties of organic fluorine compounds.

Haworth's book The Constitution of the Sugars (1929) became a standard work.