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Emil Erlenmeyer | |
|---|---|
 Erlenmeyer before 1909 | |
| Born | Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer (1825-06-28)28 June 1825 Wehen, Duchy of Nassau, todayTaunusstein, Germany |
| Died | 22 January 1909(1909-01-22) (aged 83) |
| Alma mater | University of Gießen |
| Known for | Erlenmeyer flask Erlenmeyer rule |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Organic chemistry |
| Institutions | Munich Polytechnic School |
Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer (28 June 1825 – 22 January 1909), known simply asEmil Erlenmeyer, was a Germanchemist known for contributing to the early development of the theory of chemical structure and formulating the Erlenmeyer rule. He also designed theErlenmeyer flask, a specialized apparatus ubiquitous in chemistry laboratories, which is named after him.[1]
Erlenmeyer was born in Wehen,Duchy of Nassau (todayTaunusstein, Hesse, near Wiesbaden), in 1825, the son of a Protestant minister.[2] He enrolled in theUniversity of Giessen to study medicine, but after attending lectures ofJustus von Liebig changed to chemistry. In the summer of 1846 he went toHeidelberg for one year, and studied physics, botany and mineralogy, returning to Giessen in 1847. After serving as assistant to H. Will and then toCarl Remigius Fresenius, Erlenmeyer decided to devote himself topharmaceutical chemistry. For this purpose he studied in Nassau, where he passed the state pharmaceutical examination, and shortly afterwards acquired an apothecary's business, first atKatzenelnbogen and then inWiesbaden. He became dissatisfied with pharmacy and returned to chemistry, finishing his doctorate at Giessen in 1850.For a short time he was also active politically and supported German nationalism and unification.
In 1855 he moved to Heidelberg to work on the chemistry of fertilizers in the laboratory ofRobert Bunsen. He wished to teach, but Bunsen's associates were not allowed to take private students. Therefore, with his wife's help, he converted a shed into a private laboratory. In 1857 he became aprivatdocent and his habilitation thesis "On the manufacture of the artificial manure known as superphosphate" contained a description of several crystalline substances which greatly interestedRobert Bunsen. It was while at Heidelberg that Erlenmeyer was brought under the influence ofAugust Kekulé, whose theoretical views he was one of the first to adopt. He was the first to suggest, in 1862, that double and triple bonds could form between carbon atoms, and he made other important contributions to the development of theories of molecular structure.
In 1863 he became associate professor at the University of Heidelberg. In 1868 he was hired as a full professor inMunich to take charge of the laboratories of the newMunich Polytechnic School, a post which he held until he retired from teaching in 1883.
His work mostly focused on theoretical chemistry, where he suggested the structural formula fornaphthalene. The Erlenmeyer rule states that allalcohols in which the hydroxyl group is attached directly to a double-bonded carbon atom becomealdehydes orketones (cf.keto-enol tautomerism).
Erlenmeyer's practical investigations were concerned mostly withaliphatic compounds. In 1859 he synthesisedaminohexoic acid and proceeded to study the general behavior ofalbuminoids onhydrolysis. He worked out methods to determine the relative amounts ofleucine andtyrosine, which are produced during the degradation of several substances of this class, and was the first (1860) to understand the nature ofglycide and to suggest that this substance is related toglycerol in the same way as ismetaphosphoric acid toorthophosphoric acid. In the following year he studied the action ofhydroiodic acid onglycerol, and showed that the product wasisopropyl- and notpropyl iodide. His investigations of the higher alcohols produced during fermentation yielded the important proof that these alcohols do not belong to the normal series.[1]
His other work included the isolation ofglycolic acid from unripe grapes (1864), synthesis ofsodium oxalate by heatingsodium formate (1868), hydrolysis of ether to alcohol (1858), synthesis of phenyl-lactic acid (1880), preparation ofpyruvic acid by the distillation oftartaric acid (1881) and the formation ofcarbostyril fromquinoline (1885).
His investigations in the aromatic series include isomerism of thecinnamic acids and the synthesis oftyrosine fromphenylalanine (1882). In 1875, by nitratingbenzoic acid, Erlenmeyer disproved the prevalent opinion that more than threenitrobenzoic acids exist.
In 1860 he published a description of theconical flask that bears his name.[1][3]
Emil Erlenmeyer is the grandfather ofHans Erlenmeyer.
This article incorporates text fromObituary notices, by Otto N. Witt (1853–1915), a publication from 1911, now in thepublic domain in the United States.
