Albert Niemann (chemist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Memorial plaque in Goslar

Albert Friedrich Emil Niemann (born May 20, 1834 in Goslar , † January 19, 1861 in Goslar) was a German chemist .

Life

Niemann was born in Goslar in 1834 as the son of a teacher. From 1852 he studied chemistry with Friedrich Wöhler in Göttingen and then became his assistant. After the Austrian adventurer Karl von Scherzer brought a bale of coca leaves to Göttingen from the Novara expedition at Wöhler's request in 1859 , Niemann was the first to isolate cocaine in crystalline form in 1860 and gave it his name. On closer examination he found, among other things, that it melts at 98 ° C and, when heated, decomposes into hydrochloric and benzoic acid as well as methanol and ecgonine . Niemann could not complete his examinations and had to return to his family in Goslar, seriously ill, where he died a short time later. The likely cause of death was poisoning with mustard gas , which Niemann dealt intensively with before his cocaine studies. A plaque commemorates him on the house where he was born and died in Goslar.

After his death, his colleague Wilhelm Lossen (1838–1906) continued his work and in 1862 determined the empirical formula for cocaine C 17 H 21 NO 4 .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Niemann, Albert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Niemann, Albert Friedrich Emil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pharmacist and chemist
DATE OF BIRTH May 20, 1834
PLACE OF BIRTH Goslar
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 1861
Place of death Goslar