Norrish reaction
Named reaction
A Norrish reaction, named after Ronald George Wreyford Norrish who developed the reaction(s) during the 1930's primarily through his work at Cambridge University. It is a photochemical reaction taking place with ketones and aldehydes, further subdivided into Norrish type I reactions and Norrish type II reactions. While of limited synthetic utility, these reactions are important in the photo-oxidation of polymers such as polyolefins, polyesters, certain polycarbonates and polyketones.