Wilhelm Cake

Wilhelm Kuchen (born May 27, 1926 in Aachen ; † November 26, 2008 ibid) was a German chemist and first director of the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry and Structural Chemistry at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, which was newly founded in 1965 .

Life

After graduating from high school in 1944 at Rhein-Maas-Gymnasium Aachen , Wilhelm Kuchen studied chemistry at RWTH Aachen University from 1946 and graduated with his diploma in 1951. A year later he did his doctorate as assistant to Robert Schwarz with the topic " On organic derivatives of silica and ether cleavage by SiCl4 ". Kuchen stayed at the Aachen Institute before he became a guest assistant for Harry Julius Emeléus at Cambridge University in 1954/55 with a grant from the German Research Foundation . After returning to the TH Aachen, he completed his habilitation in 1957 with the topic: " Contributions to the chemistry of organophosphorus compounds " and was then taken on as a private lecturer under Martin Schmeißer. In 1961, Kuchen also took on a guest professorship at the University of Bonn . In addition, he was a member of the Senate and the Finance and Constitutional Committee of the TH Aachen from 1962 to 1964. Finally he was appointed adjunct professor here in 1964.

In 1965, Kuchen was appointed full professor of inorganic chemistry at the newly founded Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, where he was also promoted to the position of first director of the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry and Structural Chemistry. During these early years he still held a visiting professorship in Aachen until 1968. In addition, Kuchen was chairman or member of numerous commissions that deal with the planning, construction and establishment of the institutes for natural sciences that are still to be founded as well as the establishment of a mathematical and natural science faculty and the introduction of a mathematical and natural science course at the new university. After he was elected a member of the Senate in 1975, he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences in 1976 and its Vice Dean until 1979. In 1991, Kuchen retired and he spent the rest of his life in his old hometown Aachen until his death on November 26th, 2008.

In his early years at Robert Schwarz's institute, Kuchen's main area of ​​work was research into silicic acid esters and the development of thermally resilient insulating materials for electrical engineering . He received support for his work from, among others, Siemens-Schuckertwerke , based in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg, and his results then led to the granting of more than 40 domestic and foreign patents. Later Emeleus in Cambridge, he focused on the study of the halogen - silanes and then primarily to the synthesis as well as the properties and applications of organophosphorus - and coordination compounds , the preparation of metal-ion-selective ion exchanger is smaller by matrix print with well-defined metal complexes, investigation on the structure and reactivity of molecules of phosphorus chemistry in the gas phase and on the synthesis of macrocycles with P atoms as ring members, and their use as chelating agents in the liquid-liquid extraction of metal ions .

In addition, Kuchen was the author of numerous specialist publications for German and international specialist magazines.

Works (selection)

• About organic derivatives of orthosilicic acid and the splitting of ethers by silicon tetrachloride ; Organization. - o. O., 1952
• Contributions to the chemistry of organophosphorus compounds; Organization . - o. O., 1957

Web links

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