Hermann Staudinger

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hermann Staudinger
ETH Zürich
University of Freiburg
Thesis Anlagerung des Malonesters an ungesättigte Verbindungen  (1903)
Doctoral advisorDaniel Vorländer
Doctoral studentsWerner Kern
Tadeusz Reichstein
Leopold Ružička
Rudolf Signer

Hermann Staudinger (German pronunciation:

organic chemist who demonstrated the existence of macromolecules, which he characterized as polymers. For this work he received the 1953 Nobel Prize
in Chemistry.

He is also known for his discovery of

insecticides
in the 1960s and 1970s.

Early work

Staudinger was born in 1881 in

University of Halle in 1903, Staudinger qualified as an academic lecturer at the University of Strasbourg in 1907.[1] He was supported in his work by his new wife Dora Staudinger who wrote up his lectures.[2]

Figure 1. The general structure of a ketene. R is any group.

It was here that he discovered the ketenes, a family of molecules characterized by the general form depicted in Figure 1.[3] Ketenes would prove a synthetically important intermediate for the production of yet-to-be-discovered antibiotics such as penicillin and amoxicillin.[4]

In 1907, Staudinger began an assistant professorship at the

Technical University of Karlsruhe. Here, he successfully isolated a number of useful organic compounds (including a synthetic coffee flavoring) as more completely reviewed by Rolf Mülhaupt.[5] Here too he guided future Nobel laureates Leopold Ružička (1910) and Tadeusz Reichstein to their doctorates.[6]

The Staudinger reaction

In 1912, Staudinger took on a new position at the

iminophosphorane (Figure 2).[7] This reaction, commonly referred to as the Staudinger reaction, typically produces a high yield of the iminophosphorane.[8]

Figure 2. Triphenylphosphine and an azide react to form an iminophosphorane and gaseous nitrogen by the Staudinger reaction.
Nylon 6-6

World War I

While in autumn 1914 German professors joined the widespread public support of the war, Staudinger refused to sign Manifesto of the Ninety-Three and joined the few exceptions like Max Born, Otto Buek and Albert Einstein in condemning it. In 1917 he authored an essay predicting the defeat of Germany due to industrial superiority of the Entente and called for a peaceful settlement as soon as possible, and after the entrance of the US he repeated the call in a long letter to the German military leadership.[9] Fritz Haber attacked him for his essay, accusing him of harming Germany, and Staudinger in turn criticized Haber for his role in the German chemical weapons program.

Polymer chemistry

While at Karlsruhe and later, Zurich, Staudinger began research in the chemistry of

covalent bonds.[10]
In other words, polymers are like chains of paper clips, made up of small constituent parts linked from end to end (Figure 3).

Figure 3. A chain of paper clips (above) is a good model for a polymer such as polylactic acid (below). The polymer chain is composed of small pieces linked together in a head-to-tail fashion.

At the time, leading organic chemists such as

colloids. At first, the majority of Staudinger’s colleagues refused to accept the possibility that small molecules could link together covalently to form high-molecular weight compounds. As Mülhaupt aptly notes, this is due in part to the fact that molecular structure and bonding theory were not fully understood in the early 20th century.[5]

In 1926, he was appointed lecturer of chemistry at the

Herman Mark provided direct evidence for long chains of repeating molecular units. And the synthetic work led by Carothers demonstrated that polymers such as nylon and polyester
could be prepared by well-understood organic reactions. His theory opened up the subject to further development, and helped place polymer science on a sound basis.

Private life

He married in 1906 to Dora Förster and they remained together until their divorce in 1926. They had four children including Eva Lezzi (1907-1993) and Klar (Klara) Kaufmann who were active in resisting the rise of fascism. Dora married again and became a leading peace activist.[2]

In 1927, he married the Latvian botanist, Magda Voita (also shown as; German: Magda Woit), who was a collaborator with him until his death and whose contributions he acknowledged in his Nobel Prize acceptance.[13]

In 1935 Staudinger became a Patron Member of the SS.[14][15][16]

Legacy

Staudinger's groundbreaking elucidation of the nature of the high-molecular weight compounds he termed Makromoleküle paved the way for the birth of the field of polymer chemistry.

Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker designated Staudinger's work as an International Historic Chemical Landmark.[21]
His pioneering research has afforded the world myriad plastics, textiles, and other polymeric materials which make consumer products more affordable, attractive and enjoyable, while helping engineers develop lighter and more durable structures.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Hermann Staudinger - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. 1953. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Staudinger, Dora". hls-dhs-dss.ch (in German). Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  3. doi:10.1002/cber.19050380283
    .
  4. ISBN 978-3-319-55621-5
    .
  5. ^
    PMID 14983438
    .
  6. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1980.0013
    .
  7. doi:10.1002/hlca.19190020164
    .
  8. PMID 15199557
    .
  9. ^ "Life and work of Hermann Staudinger".
  10. doi:10.1002/cber.19200530627
    .
  11. S2CID 46017893
    .
  12. ^ Biography on Nobel prize website
  13. ^ Ogilvie & Harvey 2000, p. 1223.
  14. ^ Bernd Martin: Die Entlassung der jüdischen Lehrkräfte an der Freiburger Universität und die Bemühungen um ihre Wiedereingliederung nach 1945. In: Freiburger Universitätsblätter. H. 129, September 1995, pp. 7–46.
  15. ^ Guido Deußing, Markus Weber, Das Leben des Hermann Staudinger, k-online, 2012, Teil 3.
  16. ^ Uta Deichmann, Flüchten, Mitmachen, Vergessen. Chemiker und Biochemiker in der NS-Zeit. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH 2001.
  17. doi:10.1039/tf9332900018
    .
  18. doi:10.1039/tf9363200323
    .
  19. doi:10.1002/macp.200290078
    .
  20. ^ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1953 (accessed Mar 2006).
  21. ^ "Hermann Staudinger and the Foundation of Polymer Science". International Historic Chemical Landmarks. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 21 August 2018.

References

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hermann_Staudinger&oldid=1217695275"