Alfred E. Treibs

Alfred Treibs ( born July 21, 1899 in Oberstein / Nahe, † 1983) was a German engineer and geochemists; He is generally regarded as the founder of the Organic Geochemistry.

Life

From 1924 to 1929 he was an assistant with Nobel laureate Hans Fischer at the Organic Chemistry Institute of the Technical University of Munich. In 1925 he was awarded the Dr. -Ing. doctorate. After his habilitation he worked as a curator in Organic Chemistry. This place he had for his political attitude towards National Socialism in 1936 to give up, but returned in 1946 back to the university reopening of his old stamping ground.

Importance

In the 1930s developed Treibs starting from the detection of certain organic compounds ( tetrapyrroles; these chemical compounds are modified structural analogs of the pigments which are used for photosynthesis in bacteria, archaea, algae, and land plants ) in petroleums the hypothesis of the biological origin of the organic material and thus of oil. Due to the relatively low concentrations of the components - in the sub ppm range - was this evidence at the time a chemical- analytical challenge. Moreover, this discovery as the first application of the concept of ' biological markers ' ( engl. ' biomarkers ') apply in geochemistry.

Alfred Treibs Award

The Organic Geochemistry Division of the Geochemical Society awards in honor of Alfred Treibs and recognizing 'for major achievements in organic geochemistry ' since 1979 the Alfred Treibs Award.