Ludwig Knorr

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ludwig Knorr as a young professor in Würzburg in 1888

Ludwig Knorr (born December 2, 1859 in Munich , † June 4, 1921 in Jena ) was a German chemist .

Tautomeric forms of acetoacetic ester (R = methyl and R '= ethyl )
Grave of Ludwig Knorr on the old southern cemetery in Munich location

life and work

After graduating from high school, Knorr studied chemistry in Munich, in Heidelberg with Robert Bunsen and later in Erlangen . Knorr received his doctorate there in 1882 under Emil Fischer with the thesis on piperyl hydrazine . He completed his habilitation there in 1885 and moved to Würzburg together with Fischer . During this time he mainly worked on the synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles with acetoacetic ester . The discovery of the Paal-Knorr synthesis together with Carl Paal also falls during this time. Part of this work was the search for quinine-like substances, which were also tested for their medicinal effectiveness. Antipyrine , which was tested by Wilhelm Filehne at Hoechst , was found to reduce fever and relieve pain. Antipyrin was patented in 1883 and was the most widely used medicine until aspirin was widely used at the beginning of the 20th century. The later developed pyramidon also became an economically successful drug.

During 1884 he married Elisabeth Piloty, the sister of Oskar Piloty , a laboratory colleague from the time at the University of Munich. He had five children with her.

After Anton Geuther's sudden death in 1889, he took over his chair for chemistry at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena , which he held until his death. In 1898 he was accepted as a full member of the Royal Saxon Society of Sciences .

Geuther had discovered the acetoacetic ester in 1863, but started a dispute with Edward Frankland and Johannes Wislicenus when the structural formula was formulated . The keto form , in which there is a CO double bond, and the enol form with a CC double bond, to which a hydroxyl group is attached , were both possible and could be confirmed by experiments. It was not until 1911 that Knorr was able to resolve the dispute: the two structures are in equilibrium, which can be shifted depending on the test conditions. The keto-enol tautomerism had already been explained theoretically, but it could also be confirmed experimentally with the compounds isolated by Knorr.

tomb

The tomb of Ludwig Knorr is on the old southern cemetery in Munich (New Arkadenplatz 22 at cemetery 27) location .

Honors

The University of Erlangen has awarded a Ludwig Knorr Prize since 1997. In Leverkusen-Wiesdorf a street is named after Ludwig Knorr.

relationship

Ludwig Knorr is related to the chemist Eduard Knorr (1867–1926), after whom the Koenigs-Knorr method was named. He was the uncle of Angelo Knorr , chemist and president of FC Bayern Munich.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Life data, publications and academic family tree of Ludwig Knorr at academictree.org, accessed on February 24, 2018.
  2. ^ Members of the SAW: Ludwig Knorr. Saxon Academy of Sciences, accessed on November 2, 2016 .

Web links

Commons : Ludwig Knorr  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Knorr, Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German chemist
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH June 4, 1921
Place of death Jena