William Palmer Wynne was born in 1861 in Stafford. He went to
King Edward School in Birmingham. A determined chemist he had to
practice chemistry at his own home due to the lack of a
laboratory at his school! Working as an apprentice by day for
pharmaceutical companies he studied by night. His determination
and perseverance led him to get a scholarship at the Royal
College of Science working uder Professor Frankland. He obtained
a 1st class B.Sc. degree.
In 1886 he joined Professor
Armstrong in the goal of separating sulphonic acid
isomers. This would lead to the determination of the orientation
of napthalene derivatives. With hindsight, this is actually a
form of determination of aromaticity and the activation
and de-activation of rings!
The Armstrong-Wynne partnership went on for 11 years but no
publications ever came of it. Wynne, although a pioneer in the
napthalene chemistry is largely unknown. He wrote for Thorpe's
dictionary, explaining how the research in napthalene could help
the dye industry.