Traugott Sandmeyer
Traugott Sandmeyer (born September 15, 1854 in Wettingen , † April 9, 1922 in Zollikon ) was a Swiss chemist . The Sandmeyer reaction , which is still important today , was named after him. He worked with greats in chemical research at the time, such as Victor Meyer or Arthur Hantzsch , but never obtained a chemistry diploma himself. A total of 66 patents bear the Sandmeyer name.
Life
Sandmeyer was born the last of seven children. He attended the district school in Aarau and then completed an apprenticeship as a precision mechanic in Zurich. Through his friend J. Gustav Schmidt, who studied chemistry at ETH Zurich , he came into contact with the natural sciences. In his kitchen he experimented in self-study and, through his observations, provided the topic of his friend's doctoral thesis on the effects of aldehyde on furfural .
In 1882 Victor Meyer hired him as a lecture assistant at the technical-chemical institute of the ETH. In fruitful research, the two discovered, among other things, the synthesis of thiophene . In 1884 Sandmeyer discovered the reaction named after him. A year later, the then 36-year-old Victor Meyer was appointed to Göttingen and was able to convince Sandmeyer to accompany him as an assistant for one semester. Meyer wrote: For me it was a question of life, or at least a question for my health.
Sandmeyer married his step-niece Mina Billeter from Männedorf in 1892 , but the marriage did not result in any children.
After returning to Zurich, Sandmeyer initially worked for Arthur Hantzsch at the ETH. For a monthly wage of CHF 300.- he soon moved to Basel to work in the up-and-coming company Geigy (now Novartis ), from January 1, 1901 on the board of directors of this company.
In the course of his research, Sandmeyer received two honorary doctorates: Heidelberg 1891 and ETH Zurich 1915. After 31 years at Geigy, he retired from working life in 1919. He lived the rest of his life in Zollikon near Zurich, where he succumbed to a heart condition in 1922 at the age of 68.
legacy
The Swiss Chemical Society (SCG) awards the Sandmeyer Prize for outstanding work in a field of industrial or applied chemistry to a work team or an individual.
The Traugott Sandmeyer Foundation was set up to provide affordable accommodation for chemistry students in Basel. She bought a house on Socinstrasse in Basel and turned it into the Traugott Sandmeyer student residence.
literature
- Claus Priesner: Sandmeyer, Traugott. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-428-11203-2 , p. 422 ( digitized version ).
Web links
- Armand Buchs: Sandmeyer, Traugott. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sandmeyer, Traugott |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sandmeier, Traugott |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss chemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 15, 1854 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wettingen , Switzerland |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 9, 1922 |
| Place of death | Zollikon , Switzerland |