Andrew Norman Meldrum born in Alloa in 1876, was a Scottish scientist known for his work in organic chemistry and for his studies of the history of chemistry. It has been claimed that Meldrum's acid "is the only chemical to be named after a Scotsman."
He was educated at Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen, the Royal College of Science in London, and the University of Aberdeen. He taught at the universities of Aberdeen, Liverpool, Sheffield and Manchester, and entered the Indian Education Service in 1912. His appointments in India included the Chair of Chemistry at the Madhavlal Ranchodal Science Institute in Ahmedabad, and finally, from 1925 until his retirement in 1931, principal of the Royal Institute of Science (University of Bombay).
He published articles and books on chemistry and science including :
Avogadro and Dalton - Meldrum, Andrew Norman (1906).
"A β-lactonic acid from acetone and malonic acid" - Meldrum, Andrew Norman (1908).
The Development of the Atomic Theory - Meldrum, Andrew Norman (1920).
The Eighteenth Century Revolution in Science. The First Phase. - Meldrum, Andrew Norman (1930).
Meldrum died in Edinburgh in 1934.
Meldrum's Acid
Meldrum's acid or 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione is an organic compound with formula C6H8O4. which is is widely used in organic synthesis It's molecule has a heterocyclic core with four carbon and two oxygen atoms. It is a crystalline colourless solid, sparingly soluble in water. It decomposes on heating with release of carbon dioxide and acetone. The unusually high acidity of this compound was long considered anomalous—it is eight orders of magnitude more acidic than the closely related compound dimethyl malonate.
The compound was first made by Meldrum by a condensation reaction of acetone with malonic acid in acetic anhydride and sulfuric acid, which he reported in 1908. However, he misidentified it's structure as a β-lactone of β-hydroxyisopropylmalonic acid; the correct structure, the bislactone of 1,3-dioxane was not discovered until 1948.