Günther Otto Schenck

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Günther Otto Schenck

Günther Otto Schenck (born May 14, 1913 in Lörrach ; † March 25, 2003 in Mülheim an der Ruhr ) was a German chemist who dealt with organic chemistry , photochemistry and radiation chemistry. He is considered one of the pioneers of radiation chemistry in Germany.

Life

After graduating from high school in Heidelberg, Schenck studied physics at Heidelberg University from 1932 to 1937 , then chemistry and physiology . As a student he joined the SA in November 1933 and became a member of the NSDAP in May 1937 , but left it at a mere formal membership without ever coming forward with National Socialist activities or statements. In 1936 he had already followed his academic teacher Karl Ziegler to the University of Halle , where he also received his doctorate in 1939 . Although initially drafted into the war, Schenck was able to return to the university because of research that was classified as important to the war effort (combating roundworm infections). With Karl Ziegler he succeeded in synthesizing ascaridol against worm infections. He completed his habilitation in 1943 with a thesis on autoxidation and photoxidation in the furan series and then worked as an assistant at the Chemical Institute of the University of Halle until 1945. When Karl Ziegler was appointed director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim an der Ruhr in 1943 , Schenck was also offered an employee contract at Ziegler's instigation. It was planned that Schenck would follow his mentor to Mülheim after the end of the war and take over the management of a newly established department for organic chemistry .

At the end of the Second World War, however, Schenck was initially brought to Heidelberg by the American occupation forces as part of Operation Paperclip , where he was forbidden from doing academic work. Instead he worked as a musician and on the side built a private laboratory for the commercial production of ascaridol. Since 1948 he published on the photochemical synthesis of ascaridol, conducted clinical studies and dealt with the theory of photosensitized reactions with oxygen. His numerous publications attracted attention from the academic world, so that in 1950 he was appointed as an adjunct professor for organic chemistry at the University of Göttingen . Visiting professorships followed in France (1967) and in Great Britain (1974/75).

Schenck already dealt with cantharidin in his dissertation and researched during the Second World War with Ziegler and E. von Krockow on the synthesis of cantharidin, which should be used as a contact insecticide. In 1953, together with Karl Wirtz, he succeeded in the synthesis using photochemical methods similar to that of ascaridol (photooxidation of terpenes with chlorophyll as photosensitizer).

As an expert in radiation chemistry, Schenck held discussions during his time in Göttingen with the German Research Foundation , the Fraunhofer Society , the Max Planck Society and the German Atomic Energy Commission with the aim of establishing a research focus on radiation chemistry. Boris Rajewsky , biophysicist and adviser to the Atomic Commission since 1955, asked Schenck to develop a concept for an institute for radiation chemistry, which he did. Another participant in the planning of this institute was the North Rhine-Westphalian State Secretary Leo Brandt .

Karl Ziegler, who was interested in bringing this institute to Mülheim an der Ruhr, succeeded in persuading Schenck to implement the finished and already financed concept in Mülheim. In 1958, an independent department for radiation chemistry was set up at the Mülheim Coal Research Institute, independent in that it became a direct part of the Max Planck Society and thus formed a kind of enclave in the Institute for Coal Research, which since 1937 has had the special status of a legal foundation within the Max Planck Society owned. Günther Otto Schenck became the founding director of this new, institute-like facility. Until his retirement in 1981, he managed to develop the department into an independent institute, the Max Planck Institute for Radiation Chemistry (from 2003: Max Planck Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry, since 2012: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion ) to expand. Günther Schenck's research projects started in Göttingen and continued in Mülheim dealt with: a. with the ene reaction , the “Schenck mechanism” (energy transfer in radiation-induced reactions), the selectivity of ionizing rays, the double-chamber photo reaction for disinfecting drinking water and the UV / peroxide treatment of wastewater. Schenck also dealt with issues of climate protection and forest dieback. His more than 300 specialist publications contributed significantly to the fact that radiation chemistry developed into an independent sub-discipline within chemistry.

Offices and awards (selection)

estate

The estate of Günther Otto Schenck is in the archive on the history of the Max Planck Society in Berlin.

Works (selection)

  • Alexander Schönberg : Preparative Organic Photochemistry. with a contribution by GO Schenk, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Göttingen-Heidelberg, 1958.
  • Alexander Schönberg: Preparative Organic Photochemistry. 2nd completely revised edition of Preparative Organic Photochemistry. Springer-Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 1968. (in collaboration with GO Schenk, O.-A. Neumüller)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Louis Fieser , Mary Fieser: Organic chemistry. 2nd Edition. Verlag Chemie, Weinheim 1972, ISBN 3-527-25075-1 , p. 1552.


personal data
SURNAME Schenck, Günther Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German chemist
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Loerrach
DATE OF DEATH March 25, 2003
Place of death Mülheim an der Ruhr