Adolf von Baeyer

Infobox Scientist
name = Adolf von Baeyer


image+size = 180px
caption = Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer in 1905
birth_date = birth date|1835|10|31|mf=y
birth_place = Berlin, Germany
nationality = Germany
death_date = death date and age|1917|8|20|1835|10|31
death_place = Starnberg, Germany
field = Chemistry
work_institution = University of Berlin
Gewerbe-Akademie, Berlin
University of Strasbourg
University of Munich
alma_mater = University of Berlin
doctoral_advisor = Robert Wilhelm Bunsen
Friedrich August Kekulé
doctoral_students = Emil Fischer
John Ulric Nef
Victor Villiger
Carl Theodore Liebermann
Carl Gräbe
known_for = Synthesis of indigo
prizes = nowrap|Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1905)
religion =
footnotes =

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer (IPA2|ˈbaɪɐ; October 31, 1835 - August 20, 1917) was a German chemist who synthesized indigo, [cite journal | title= Darstellung von Indigblau aus Orthonitrobenzaldehyd (p ) | author=Adolf Baeyer, Viggo Drewsen | journal=Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft | volume=15 | issue=2 | pages=2856–2864 | year=1882 | url= | doi=10.1002/cber.188201502274 ] and was the 1905 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry."Adolf von Baeyer: Winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1905 " Armin de Meijere Angewandte Chemie International Edition Volume 44, Issue 48 , Pages 7836 - 7840 2005 [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112190460/ABSTRACT Abstract] ] Born in Berlin, he initially studied mathematics and physics at Berlin University before moving to Heidelberg to study chemistry with Robert Bunsen. There he worked primarily in August Kekulé's laboratory, earning his doctorate (from Berlin) in 1858. He followed Kekulé to the University of Ghent, when Kekulé became professor there. He became a lecturer at the Berlin Trade Academy in 1860, and a Professor at the University of Strassburg in 1871. In 1875 he succeeded Justus von Liebig as Chemistry Professor at the University of Munich.

Baeyer's chief achievements include the synthesis and description of the plant dye indigo, the discovery of the phthalein dyes, and the investigation of polyacetylenes, oxonium salts, nitroso compounds (1869) and uric acid derivatives (1860 and onwards) (including the discovery of barbituric acid (1864), the parent compound of the barbiturates). He was the first to propose the correct formula for indole in 1869, after publishing the first synthesis three years earlier. His contributions to theoretical chemistry include the 'strain' ("Spannung") theory of triple bonds and strain theory in small carbon rings. [cite journal
title = Ueber Polyacetylenverbindungen
author = Adolf Baeyer
journal = Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft
volume = 18
issue = 2
pages = 294–295
year = 1885
doi = 10.1002/cber.18850180296 ]

In 1871 he discovered the synthesis of phenolphthalein by condensation of phthalic anhydride with two equivalents of phenol under acidic conditions (hence the name). That same year he was the first to obtain synthetic fluorescein, a fluorophore pigment which is frequently referred to as pyoverdin when naturally synthesized by microorganisms (e.g., by some fluorescent strains of "Pseudomonas"). Von Baeyer named his finding resorcinphthalein as he had synthesized it from phthalic anhydride and resorcinol. The term fluorescein would not start to be used until 1878.

In 1872 he experimented with phenol and formaldehyde, almost preempting Leo Baekeland's later discovery of Bakelite.

In 1881 the Royal Society of London awarded Baeyer the Davy Medal for his work with indigo. In 1905 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "in recognition of his servicesin the advancement of organic chemistry and the chemical industry, through his work on organic dyes and hydroaromatic compounds".

Baeyer's name is pronounced like the English word "buyer." His birth name was Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf Baeyer, but throughout most of his life he was known simply as "Adolf Baeyer." On his fiftieth birthday he was raised to the hereditary nobility, changing his name to "Adolf von Baeyer."

References

External links

* [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1905/baeyer-bio.html Biography] Biography from Nobelprize.org website
* [http://www.geocities.com/asdoplomoil/reff/baeyer-press.html Speech given by Professor A. Lindstedt, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, on December 10, 1905, upon Baeyer's receiving the Nobel Prize]
* [http://www.nndb.com/people/219/000099919/ von Baeyer biography]

Persondata
NAME= Baeyer, Adolf von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Bayer, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf Ritter von; Bayer, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von
SHORT DESCRIPTION= German Chemist
DATE OF BIRTH= October 31, 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH= Berlin, Germany
DATE OF DEATH= August 20, 1917
PLACE OF DEATH= Starnberg, Germany