Fischer, Hermann Emil

Emil Fischer
Emil Fischer
	; Hermann Emil Fischer
Born	October 9, 1852; Euskirchen, Germany
Died	July 15, 1919; Berlin, Germany;
Residence	Germany
Nationality	German
Field	Chemist
Institutions	University of Munich (1875-81); University of Erlangen (1881-88); University of Würzburg (1888-92); University of Berlin (1892-1919)
Alma mater	University of Bonn; University of Strassburg
Academic advisor	Adolf von Baeyer
Notable students	Alfred Stock Otto Diels
Known for	Study of sugars & purines
Notable prizes	Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1902)

Latest revision as of 23:02, 22 June 2023

Hermann Emil Fischer (October 9, 1852 - July 15, 1919), better known as Emil Fischer, was a brilliant German chemist who ushered in the age of biochemistry by clarifying the structure of sugars and enzymes and demonstrating the way in which they are formed. He synthesized many naturally occurring substances for the first time, including glucose, caffeine, and uric acid. He synthesized several amino acids and created small chains of them as precursors to protein formation. He suggested the "lock and key" mechanism to explain how enzymes can catalyze certain reactions but not others. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1902.

Biography

Hermann Emil Fischer was born in Euskirchen, Germany, the son of Laurenz Fischer and Julie Poensgen. He was the youngest of five children, and the only male child. Fischer's father was a merchant, and held out the hope that Fischer could enter the business world. But Fischer's aptitude for and interest in scientific subjects was strong enough to pull him away from his father's work.

Student days

Fischer attended the Gymnasium at Bonn, and graduated at top of his class. In 1871, he began his formal studies in chemistry at the University of Bonn, and transferred to Strasbourg the following year where he studied under Adolf von Baeyer. He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1874 for research on coal tar dyes, after which he assumed a professorship at Bonn.

Professional career

Fischer continued to work with Baeyer, moving to Munich with his mentor in 1875 after Baeyer took over the chair from Justus Von Liebig. He continued research on coal tar dyes with a cousin, Otto Philipp Fischer. In 1878, Fischer served as Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry. Two years later he accepted a professorship at the University of Erlanger. Around this time, he discovered the compound phenylhydrazine, which he subsequently used in his investigation of sugars.

Purine investigations

He then turned his attention to a group of compounds that shared a chemical base. They could all be derived from purine, which Fischer first predicted the existence of and later synthesized in his laboratory. Purine is now known as one of the important components of nucleic acids that carry the hereditary code in plants and animals. At the time, however, Fischer saw the similarity between purine and other chemicals as more important. He was the first to synthesize caffeine, and was able to create over 100 other compounds that belonged to this class, including uric acid.

In 1884, Fischer became ill from exposure to phenylhydrazine, but recovered a year later. In 1888, he married Agnes Gerlach, the daughter of a professor. The couple had three sons.

During the 1890s, Fischer clarified the chemical structure of the naturally occurring sugars glucose, fructose, and mannose, and synthesized them in 1890.

Proteins and amino acids

Did you know?

Nobel Prize winner Emil Fischer suggested the "lock and key" mechanism involving complementary geometric shapes to explain how enzymes catalyze specific reactions

Toward the late 1890s, his work turned toward proteins and amino acids. He synthesized several amino acids, and created small chains of amino acids as precursors to protein formation. He identified the structure that links amino acids in a protein, calling it a "peptide" bond. Fischer also suggested that enzymes are able to catalyze certain biochemical reactions and not others because they fit with the substrate they act on like a "lock" and "key" and are therefore very specific. For these and other discoveries, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1902.

Later career

In his later life, Fischer strengthened the German chemical industry by assisting in the establishment of the Kaiser Wilhelm Socity for the Advancement of Sciences and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry.

During World War I, Fischer was in charge of Germany's chemical operations, and worked on the synthesis of many substances that the nation no longer had access to because of the Allied blockade. He lost two sons during the war, which is said to have resulted in a major upheaval in his emotional life. A third son, Hermann Otto Laurenz Fischer, who died in 1960, was Professor of Biochemistry in the University of California at Berkeley.

Fischer died July 15, 1919, apparently from stomach cancer. The Emil Fischer Memorial Medal was instituted by the German Chemical Society soon after his death. Fischer's son established the Emil Fischer Library at the University of California in 1952.

Major contributions

Monument to Hermann Emil Fischer in Berlin

Many consider Fischer to be the most brilliant chemist who ever lived, as his numerous contributions to science, especially chemistry and biochemistry. Many chemical reactions and concepts are named after him:

Fischer indole synthesis
Fischer projection
Fischer oxazole synthesis
Fischer peptide synthesis
Fischer phenylhydrazine and oxazone reaction
Fischer reduction
Fischer-Speier esterification
Fischer glycosidation

German Chemical Society medals are named after him.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Asimov, Isaac. 1982. Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 2nd ed. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0385177712
Ferguson, Pamela. 2002. World Book's Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists. 8th ed. Chicago: World Book. ISBN 0716676001
Gillispie, Charles Coulston. 1975. Dictionary of Scientific Biography. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0684101211
Von Meyer, Ernst. [1906] 2007. A History of Chemistry. tr. George McGowan. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-0548590645

External links

All links retrieved June 22, 2023.

Nobel Prize Biography
Emil Fischer Science History Institute

Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Laureates (1901-1925)

Credits

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-<<This article has almost entirely been plagiarized from the bio of Emil Fischer at the Nobel Web site [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1902/fischer-bio.html here], which itself was taken from a book, ''Nobel Lectures, Chemistry, 1901-1921''. This article therefore needs to be rewritten, combining info from several sources, properly cited, and NOT copying things verbatim. A few short quotes from sources are acceptable, if placed within quotation marks and if the sources are cited. Also, this article needs to be divided into sections, as done for other bios.>>
+{{epname|Fischer, Hermann Emil}}
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-'''Hermann Emil Fischer''' (better known as '''Emil Fischer'''; October 9, 1852 - July 15, 1919) was a [[Germany|German]] [[chemist]] and recipient of the [[Nobel Prize for Chemistry]] in 1902.  Emil Fischer was born in [[Euskirchen]], near [[Cologne]], the son of a businessman.  After graduating he wished to study natural sciences, but his father compelled him to work in the family business until determining that his son was unsuitable.
+'''Hermann Emil Fischer''' (October 9, 1852 - July 15, 1919), better known as '''Emil Fischer,''' was a brilliant [[Germany|German]] [[chemist]] who ushered in the age of biochemistry by clarifying the structure of [[sugar]]s and [[enzyme]]s and demonstrating the way in which they are formed. He synthesized many naturally occurring substances for the first time, including [[glucose]], [[caffeine]], and uric acid. He synthesized several [[amino acid]]s and created small chains of them as precursors to [[protein]] formation. He suggested the "lock and key" mechanism to explain how enzymes can catalyze certain reactions but not others. He was awarded the [[Nobel Prize]] for chemistry in 1902.
+{{toc}}
-Fischer then attended the [[University of Bonn]] in 1872, but switched to the [[University of Strasbourg]] in 1872.  He earned his doctorate in 1874 with his study of phthalein and was appointed to a position at the university.
+==Biography==
-In 1875 von Baeyer was asked to succeed Liebig at the [[University of Munich]] and Fischer went there with him to become an assistant in organic chemistry.
-In 1878 Fischer qualified as a Privatdozent at Munich, where he was appointed Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry in 1879. In the same year he was offered, but refused, the Chair of Chemistry at Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1881 he was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the University of Erlangen and in 1883 he was asked by the Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik to direct its scientific laboratory. Fischer, however, whose father had now made him financially independent, preferred academic work.
-In 1888 he was asked to become Professor of Chemistry at the [[University of Würzburg]] and here he remained until 1892, when he was asked to succeed A. W. Hofmann in the Chair of Chemistry at the [[University of Berlin]]. Here he remained until his death in 1919.
-Fischer's early discovery of [[phenylhydrazine]] and its influence on his later work have already been mentioned. While he was at Munich, Fisher continued to work on the [[hydrazine]]s and, working there with his cousin Otto Fischer, who had followed him to Munich, he and Otto worked out a new theory of the constitution of the dyes derived from [[triphenylmethane]], proving this by experimental work to be correct.
-At Erlangen Fischer studied the active principles of tea, coffee and cocoa, namely, [[caffeine]] and [[theobromine]], and established the constitution of a series of compounds in this field, eventually synthesizing them.
+Hermann Emil Fischer was born in [[Euskirchen]], Germany, the son of Laurenz Fischer and Julie Poensgen. He was the youngest of five children, and the only male child. Fischer's father was a merchant, and held out the hope that Fischer could enter the business world. But Fischer's aptitude for and interest in scientific subjects was strong enough to pull him away from his father's work.
-The work, however, on which Fischer's fame chiefly rests, was his studies of the purines and the sugars. This work, carried out between 1882 and 1906 showed that various substances, little known at that time, such as adenine, xanthine, in vegetable substances, caffeine and, in animal excrete, [[uric acid]] and [[guanine]], all belonged to one homogeneous family and could be derived from one another and that they corresponded to different hydroxyl and amino derivatives of the same fundamental system formed by a bicyclic nitrogenous structure into which the characteristic urea group entered. This parent substance, which at first he regarded as being hypothetical, he called [[purine]] in 1884, and he synthesized it in 1898. Numerous artificial derivatives, more or less analogous to the naturally occurring substances, came from his laboratory between 1882 and 1896.
+==Student days==
-In 1884, Fischer began his great work on the sugars, which transformed the knowledge of these compounds and welded the new knowledge obtained into a coherent whole. Even before 1880 the [[aldehyde]] formula of [[glucose]] had been indicated, but Fischer established it by a series of transformations such as oxidation into [[aldonic acid]] and the action of phenylhydrazine which he had discovered and which made possible the formation of the [[phenylhydrazone]]s and the [[osazone]]s. By passage to a common osazone, he established the relation between glucose, fructose and mannose, which he discovered in 1888. In 1890, by epimerization between [[gluconic acid|gluconic]] and [[mannonic acid]]s, he established the [[stereochemistry|stereochemical]] nature and isomery of the sugars, and between 1891 and 1894 he established the stereochemical configuration of all the known sugars and exactly foretold the possible isomers, by an ingenious application of the theory of the asymmetrical carbon atom of Van't Hoff and Le Bel, published in 1874. Reciprocal syntheses between different [[hexose]]s by isomerization and then between [[pentose]]s, hexoses, and [[heptose]]s by reaction of degradation and synthesis proved the value of the systematics he had established. His greatest success was his synthesis of glucose, fructose and mannose in 1890, starting from glycerol.
+Fischer attended the Gymnasium at [[Bonn]], and graduated at top of his class. In 1871, he began his formal studies in chemistry at the University of Bonn, and transferred to Strasbourg the following year where he studied under [[Adolf von Baeyer]]. He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1874 for research on coal tar dyes, after which he assumed a professorship at Bonn.
-This monumental work on the sugars, carried out between 1884 and 1894, was extended by other work, the most important being his studies of the glucosides.
+==Professional career==
-Between 1899 and 1908 Fischer made his great contributions to knowledge of the [[protein]]s. He sought by analysis effective methods of separating and identifying the individual [[amino acid]]s, discovering a new type of them, the cyclic amino acids: [[proline]] and [[oxyproline]]. He also studied the synthesis of proteins by obtaining the various amino acids in an optically active form in order to unite them. He was able to establish the type of bond that would connect them together in chains, namely, the peptide bond, and by means of this he obtained the dipeptides and later the tripeptides and polypeptides. In 1901 he discovered, in collaboration with Fourneau, the synthesis of the dipeptide, glycyl-glycine and in that year he also published his work on the hydrolysis of casein. Amino acids occurring in nature were prepared in the laboratory and new ones were discovered. His synthesis of the oligopeptides culminated in an octodecapeptide, which had many characteristics of natural proteins. This and his subsequent work led to a better understanding of the proteins and laid the foundations for later studies of them.
+Fischer continued to work with Baeyer, moving to Munich with his mentor in 1875 after Baeyer took over the chair from [[Justus Von Liebig]]. He continued research on coal tar dyes with a cousin, [[Otto Philipp Fischer]]. In 1878, Fischer served as Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry. Two years later he accepted a professorship at the University of Erlanger. Around this time, he discovered the compound [[phenylhydrazine]], which he subsequently used in his investigation of sugars.
-In addition to his great work in the fields already mentioned, Fischer also studied the enzymes and the chemical substances in the lichens which he found during his frequent holidays in the Black Forest, and also substances used in tanning and, during the final years of his life, the fats.
+==Purine investigations==
+He then turned his attention to a group of compounds that shared a chemical base. They could all be derived from [[purine]], which Fischer first predicted the existence of and later synthesized in his laboratory. Purine is now known as one of the important components of nucleic acids that carry the hereditary code in plants and animals. At the time, however, Fischer saw the similarity between purine and other chemicals as more important. He was the first to synthesize [[caffeine]], and was able to create over 100 other compounds that belonged to this class, including [[uric acid]].
-Fischer was made a Prussian Geheimrat (Excellenz), and held honorary doctorates of the Universities of Christiania, Cambridge (England), Manchester and Brussels. He was also awarded the Prussian Order of Merit and the Maximilian Order for Arts and Sciences. In 1902 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on sugar and purine syntheses.
+In 1884, Fischer became ill from exposure to phenylhydrazine, but recovered a year later. In 1888, he married Agnes Gerlach, the daughter of a professor. The couple had three sons.
-At the age of 18, before he went to the University of Bonn, Fischer suffered from [[gastritis]], which attacked him again towards the end of his tenure of the Chair at Erlangen and caused him to refuse a tempting offer to follow [[Victor Meyer]] at the Federal Technical University at Zurich and to take a year's leave of absence before he went, in 1888, to Würzburg. Possibly this affliction was the forerunner of the cancer from which he died.
+During the 1890s, Fischer clarified the chemical structure of the naturally occurring sugars glucose, fructose, and mannose, and synthesized them in 1890.
-Throughout his life he was well served by his excellent memory, which enabled him, although he was not a naturally good speaker, to memorize manuscripts of lectures that he had written.
+==Proteins and amino acids==
+{{readout||right|250px|[[Nobel Prize]] winner Emil Fischer suggested the "lock and key" mechanism involving complementary geometric shapes to explain how [[enzyme]]s catalyze specific reactions}}
+Toward the late 1890s, his work turned toward [[protein]]s and [[amino acid]]s. He synthesized several amino acids, and created small chains of amino acids as precursors to protein formation. He identified the structure that links amino acids in a protein, calling it a "peptide" bond. Fischer also suggested that enzymes are able to catalyze certain biochemical reactions and not others because they fit with the substrate they act on like a "lock" and "key" and are therefore very specific. For these and other discoveries, he was awarded the [[Nobel Prize]] in chemistry in 1902.
-He was particularly happy at Würzburg where he enjoyed walks among the hills and he also made frequent visits to the Black Forest. His administrative work, especially when he went to Berlin, revealed him as a tenacious campaigner for the establishment of scientific foundations, not only in chemistry, but in other fields of work as well. His keen understanding of scientific problems, his intuition and love of truth and his insistence on experimental proof of hypotheses, marked him as one of the truly great scientists of all time.
+==Later career==
+In his later life, Fischer strengthened the German chemical industry by assisting in the establishment of the Kaiser Wilhelm Socity for the Advancement of Sciences and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry.
-In 1888 Fischer married Agnes Gerlach, daughter of [[Joseph von Gerlach]], Professor of Anatomy at Erlangen. Unhappily his wife died seven years after their marriage. They had three sons, one of whom was killed in the First World War; another took his own life at the age of 25 as a result of compulsory military training. The third son, Hermann Otto Laurenz Fischer, who died in 1960, was Professor of Biochemistry in the University of California at Berkeley.
+During [[World War I]], Fischer was in charge of Germany's chemical operations, and worked on the synthesis of many substances that the nation no longer had access to because of the Allied blockade. He lost two sons during the war, which is said to have resulted in a major upheaval in his emotional life. A third son, Hermann Otto Laurenz Fischer, who died in 1960, was Professor of Biochemistry in the University of California at Berkeley.
-When Fischer died in 1919, the Emil Fischer Memorial Medal was instituted by the German Chemical Society.
+Fischer died July 15, 1919, apparently from stomach cancer. The Emil Fischer Memorial Medal was instituted by the German Chemical Society soon after his death. Fischer's son established the Emil Fischer Library at the University of California in 1952.
-Fischer is noted for his work on [[sugar]]s among other work the [[organic synthesis]] of (+) [[glucose]]<ref>E. Fischer, Ber. Dtsch. Chem. Ges. 1890, 23, 799 ± 805. </ref>  and [[purine]]s (including the first synthesis of [[caffeine]]).
+==Major contributions==
+[[File:Hermann Emil Fischer berlin.jpg|thumb|300px|Monument to Hermann Emil Fischer in [[Berlin]]]]
-Many consider Fischer to be the most brilliant chemist who ever lived, as his numerous contributions to science, especially chemistry and biochemistry. Many names of chemical reactions and concepts are named after him:
+Many consider Fischer to be the most brilliant chemist who ever lived, as his numerous contributions to science, especially chemistry and biochemistry. Many chemical reactions and concepts are named after him:
-* [[Fischer indole synthesis]]
+* Fischer indole synthesis
-* [[Fischer projection]]
+* Fischer projection
-* [[Fischer oxazole synthesis]]
+* Fischer oxazole synthesis
-* [[Fischer peptide synthesis]]
+* Fischer peptide synthesis
-* [[Fischer phenylhydrazine and oxazone reaction]]
+* Fischer phenylhydrazine and oxazone reaction
-* [[Fischer reduction]]
+* Fischer reduction
-* [[Fischer-Speier esterification]]
+* Fischer-Speier esterification
-* [[Fischer glycosidation]]
+* Fischer glycosidation
 [[German Chemical Society]] medals are named after him.
-== See also==
-* [[Adolf von Baeyer]]
-* [[August Kekule]]
-== Notes ==
-<references/>
 == References ==
-<<We need at least 3 reliable references here, properly formatted.>>
-*{{cite journal|title= Emil Fischer - Unequalled Classicist, Master of Organic Chemistry Research, and Inspired Trailblazer of Biological Chemistry| author= Horst Kunz| journal= Angewandte Chemie International Edition |volume 41| pages= 4439 - 4451 |doi=10.1002/1521-3773(20021202)41:23<4439::AID-ANIE4439>3.0.CO;2-6}}
+* Asimov, Isaac. 1982. ''Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology''. 2nd ed. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0385177712
+* Ferguson, Pamela. 2002. ''World Book's Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists.'' 8th ed. Chicago: World Book. ISBN 0716676001
+* Gillispie, Charles Coulston. 1975. ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography.'' New York: Scribner. ISBN 0684101211
+* Von Meyer, Ernst. [1906] 2007. ''A History of Chemistry.'' tr. George McGowan. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-0548590645
-== External link ==
+== External links ==
+All links retrieved June 22, 2023.
+* [https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1902/fischer/biographical/ Nobel Prize Biography]
+* [https://sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/emil-fischer/ Emil Fischer] ''Science History Institute''
-* [http://www.nobel.se/chemistry/laureates/1902/fischer-bio.html Biography at nobel.se]
 {{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1901-1925}}
 [[Category:Physical sciences]]
-[[Category:Biographies of Scientists and Inventors]]
+[[Category:Biographies of Scientists and Mathematicians]]
 [[Category:Biography]]
 {{credit|118216616}}

Emil Fischer
Hermann Emil Fischer
Born	October 9, 1852 Euskirchen, Germany
Died	July 15, 1919 Berlin, Germany
Residence	Germany
Nationality	German
Field	Chemist
Institutions	University of Munich (1875-81) University of Erlangen (1881-88) University of Würzburg (1888-92) University of Berlin (1892-1919)
Alma mater	University of Bonn University of Strassburg
Academic advisor	Adolf von Baeyer
Notable students	Alfred Stock Otto Diels
Known for	Study of sugars & purines
Notable prizes	Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1902)