Ernst Carstens (chemist)

Ernst Carstens (born May 2, 1915 in Oberlethe ; † 1986 ) was a German chemist who gained importance in drug research .

Life

Carstens attended elementary school in Oberlethe and finished high school in Oldenburg in 1936 with the Abitur. He then did labor and military service and began studying chemistry at the University of Göttingen in 1938 , which he graduated with a diploma in 1944. During his studies he was called up for military service several times and was taken prisoner of war by the British, from which he was released at the end of 1945. Carstens returned to Göttingen and in 1947 when Hans Lettré with a thesis on the influence of the nitrile group to the responsiveness of the adjacent carbon atom / About condensations of reductone About doctorate .

In 1947 Carstens moved to Dresden and started working at the drug factory Chemische Fabrik v. Heyden in Radebeul . In 1952 he was promoted to group leader of the plant, which has since been converted into a VEB . In the same year he was awarded the honorary title of “ Merited Inventor ” endowed with DM 4000 . As early as 1953, Carstens rose to head the research and development department. Among other things, he carried out research in the field of sulfonamides , salicylic acid and pyrazolones . By the early 1960s, more than 40 preparations based on Carstens' research had been brought to market maturity and were also exported.

Carstens achieved particular importance in the field of anti-diabetic drugs . In 1951, together with Erich Haack , he synthesized the active ingredient "Ca 1022", a sulphonylurea that came onto the market as a preparation called Oranil . In the GDR "a new section of diabetes therapy" began. Carstens' and Hellmuth Kleinsorge also developed the sulfonylurea tolbutamide , which was marketed in the GDR as the antidiabetic orabet . In 1961, Carstens received the National Prize III for his “extraordinary services to the development and progress of pharmaceutical research and industry in the German Democratic Republic” . Science and technology class . With Rudolf Eckhardt , Klaus Femmer and Hermann Fiehring , Carstens also researched cardiovascular drugs in the 1970s. For the development of the preparation Cordanum ( Talinolol ), Carstens was again awarded a National Prize III in 1980 as part of the “Development Cordanum” collective . Excellent for science and technology.

Carstens was the chairman of the Central Working Group for Research and Technology “Synthetic Medicines” and was a member of the Technical and Economic Council of the VVB Pharmaceutical Industry and the Working Group “Pharmaceutical Industry” of the Permanent Chemistry Commission of the Council for Mutual Economic Aid . Carstens' research group resulted in over 50 patents; Carstens himself also worked as a patent judge. He held a teaching position at the Technical University of Dresden on the subject of synthetic remedies . He also gave regular lectures at congresses at home and abroad.

Patents (selection)

• July 6, 1962: Process for the production of asymmetrical alkyl esters of sulfuric acid (Wolfgang Lugenheim, Ernst Carstens, Hans Fürst )
• December 14, 1965: Process for the production of 2,4,7-triaminopteridines (Ernst Carstens, Kurt Klemm, Günther Dietz)

Awards

• 1952: Honored Inventor
• 1961: National Prize III. Science and technology class
• 1980: National Prize III. Science and technology class

literature

• National prize for Ernst Carstens . In: Chemische Technik , Volume 14, Issue 1, January 1962, p. 63.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heroes at the Front of Socialist Labor - Honor Roll of Merited Inventors 1952 . In: Neues Deutschland , October 14, 1952, p. 3.
2. ↑ Diabetes in the (ex-) GDR . diabetes-index.de, April 4, 2007.
3. ^ National Prize for Ernst Carstens . In: Chemische Technik , Volume 14, Issue 1, January 1962, p. 63.
4. ↑ Andreas Schuhmann, Bernhard Sorms, AWD.pharma GmbH & Co. KG (ed.): History of the Drugs Plant Dresden . Dresden 2002, p. 46f.
5. ↑ National Prize Winner 1961 . In: Berliner Zeitung , October 7, 1961, p. 6.
6. ↑ Highest awards for the GDR national holiday . In: Neues Deutschland , October 8, 1980, p. 4.