Sir Hugh Stott Taylor KBE FRS (6 February 1890 – 17 April 1974) was an English chemist primarily interested in catalysis.
[3] He also developed important methods for procuring heavy water during World War II and pioneered the use of stable isotopes in studying chemical reactions.
He was educated at Cowley Grammar School in St Helens and then attended the University of Liverpool, where he received his BSc in 1909 and his MSc in 1910.
Moreover, he conceived the idea that chemically active sites might be sparse on the surface of a catalyst and, hence, could be inhibited with relatively few molecules.
Taylor showed that hydrogen atoms are key intermediates of reactions involving H2 on metal surfaces and also discovered the conversion of heptane to toluene over chromium oxide.
Taylor and a graduate student developed the first semi-realistic model of the α-helix, an element of protein secondary structure.