Scientific Discoveries
Weedon, in collaboration with L. M. Jackman, was the first to use magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study the structures of carotenoids. He also worked on the synthesis of carotenoids and in 1953 described the synthesis of methylbixin which was produced by exposing bixin from Bixa orellana to iodine, later he successfully synthesised bixin using the Wittig reaction. During the 1960s and 1970s, Weedon's research group elucidated the structures of and synthesised a wide range of naturally occurring carotenoids. These included, canthaxanthin (responsible for the pink colour of flamingos), astaxanthin (responsible for the colour of lobsters), capsanthin and capsorubin (found in red peppers), renieratene (from Japanese sea sponges) and fucoxanthin (the most abundant carotenoid found in seaweed). Other compounds whose structures where discovered include alloxanthin, mytiloxanthin, decaprenoxanthin and violerythrin.
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