Walter Karrer

Walter Karrer (born August 19, 1891 in Moscow , † February 4, 1961 in Riehen ) was a Swiss chemist .

Karrer grew up in Wildegg , went to grammar school in Aarau and began studying law in Zurich before turning to chemistry in 1914. In 1918 he was at Alfred Werner with a dissertation on organic cobalt complexes doctorate . He then worked for a year as an assistant in Zurich (under his brother Paul Karrer ) and from 1919 at Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel. In 1952 he retired.

In particular, he examined active plant substances from a pharmacological point of view, for example cardiac glycosides from thimbles (digitalis) and the creepers of the genus Strophanthus ( g-Strophanthin ), from spring Adonis , lily of the valley , Christmas rose and sea ​​onion . In addition, he dealt with the active ingredients of Alexandrian Senna (as laxatives) and various vitamins and vitamin-like preparations ( bioflavonoids such as neo-hesperidin). Lastly, he turned to proteins. In his retirement he wrote a standard work on herbal active ingredients.

He was the younger brother of Paul Karrer .

Fonts

• Constitution and occurrence of organic plant substances (excluding alkaloids), Birkhäuser, from 1958, several volumes (supplementary volumes edited by Emile Cherbuliez and Conrad Hans Eugster ).

literature

• RM Kunz, Obituary in Negotiations Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, Volume 141, 1961, pp. 221–225.