Hanns Fischer (physicist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hanns Fischer (2000)

Hanns Fischer (born July 21, 1935 in Darmstadt , Germany ; † February 22, 2005 in Zollikon , Switzerland ) was a Swiss physicist and from 1969 to 2001 professor at the Physico-Chemical Institute of the University of Zurich . Born a German, he became a Swiss citizen in 1984. He was a pioneer in the chemistry of free organic radicals and their kinetics and reaction mechanisms in solution, which he studied using optical spectroscopy and magnetic resonance techniques.

Life

Hans Fischer was born in Darmstadt in 1935. After studying in Darmstadt and Munich, he received a diploma in physics from the Technical University of Darmstadt (TH Darmstadt, named Technical University of Darmstadt from October 1, 1997) in 1960 , where he was awarded a doctorate in natural sciences (Dr. rer. appointed. In 1966 the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at the Technical University of Darmstadt awarded him the Venia Legendi in physics after his habilitation thesis on "Electron spin resonance of alkyl radicals in solution" .

From 1960 to 1969 he worked at the German Plastics Institute in Darmstadt; from 1968 he was head of department there. After his habilitation in 1966, he also worked as a lecturer at the Technical University of Darmstadt. In 1969 the University of Zurich appointed him assistant professor at its physico-chemical institute. In 1971 he was appointed full professor at the same institute and worked there until his retirement in 2001.

Even after his official retirement, he continued his academic work as a visiting professor: at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh , at the Italian CNR in Bologna, at the University of Marseille and at the CSIRO in Melbourne.

On February 22, 2005, he died of a serious illness in Zollikon, Switzerland.

Create

Hanns Fischer started his studies with the generation of free organic radicals by irradiating polymers and their detection using electron spin resonance (ESR). Soon, however, he switched to UV and laser flash photolysis in the liquid phase, with the advantage that the ESR signals of the radicals in a homogeneous environment now showed sharp line patterns that could be quantitatively evaluated. He refined the time-resolved methods to such an extent that he was able to measure and understand the kinetics of diffusion-controlled radical reactions (radical recombinations, radical propagation and radical termination reactions) with high accuracy. In parallel to his research with time-resolved ESR spectroscopy, Hanns Fischer worked with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), optical spectroscopy and muon spin resonance. In-situ photolysis in the NMR spectrometer led to the discovery of emission lines and thus to the discovery of the chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (CIDNP).

Hanns Fischer has published over 200 scientific papers and numerous books and book chapters. He was also the editor of more than 30 volumes of the Landolt-Börnstein editions "Magnetic Properties of Free Radicals" and "Radical Reaction Kinetics". He supervised more than 50 doctoral and diploma theses, and seven of his former employees and students are now in academic positions. Towards the end of his professional career, he devoted himself to environmentally friendly student laboratory work. He developed a laboratory course for students in the first two semesters in which laboratory waste is minimized by using products from one experiment as starting materials for the next and largely recycling the solvents.

For his research and teaching activities, Hanns Fischer received several awards and honors: the "Jan Servai Stas Medal" of the Belgian Chemical Society (1971), the "Centanary Medal and Lectureship" of the "Chemical Society London" (1974), the "Bruker Lectureship "Of the British" ESR Society "(1988), the" Silver Medal "of the" International EPR Society "(1997) and the" Distinguished Guest Medal "of" IUPCV "(Paris, 2004).

Publications

  • "Organic Free Radicals", H. Fischer, H. Heimgartner, (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1988
  • H. Fischer, “Internship in General Chemistry”, Part 1, 1st Ed. (1992) 2nd Ed. (1994) and
  • H. Fischer, “Internship in General Chemistry”, Part 2 (1993), Helv. Chim. Acta, Basel, VCH Weinheim
  • Landolt-Börnstein, H. Fischer (Ed.), 30 volumes, beginning with Landolt-Börnstein Vol. II / 1 "Magnetic Properties of Free Radicals" (1965) to Landolt-Börnstein Group II "Molecules and Radicals", Vol. 26 "Magnetic Properties of Free Radicals", A1, (2007).
  • List of scientific publications s. https://www.chem.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:c56a56b6-fdc5-48ef-bfa6-ed84caf9abb3/Hanns%20Fischer_%20Publikationsliste.pdf

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ ALJ Beckwith, KU Ingold: Hanns Fischer: Radical Pioneer. Helv. Chim. Acta, 89 (2006), p. 2016.
  2. ↑ Editorial. Helvetica Chimica Acta, Vol 89 (2006), p. 2059.
  3. ↑ Roduner: Hanns Fischer (1935-2005) . EPR Newsletter 15/4, 14 (2006).
  4. ↑ s. "Publications".
personal data
SURNAME Fischer, Hanns
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss-German physicist and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH July 21, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Darmstadt , Germany
DATE OF DEATH February 22, 2005
Place of death Zollikon , Switzerland