Ludwig Knorr
Ludwig Knorr ( born December 2, 1859 in Munich, † June 4, 1921 in Jena ) was a German chemist.
Life and work
Knorr studied after high school in Munich, Heidelberg under Robert Bunsen and later in Erlangen chemistry. Knorr his doctorate there in 1882 by Emil Fischer. He habilitated there in 1885 and moved together with fishermen to Würzburg. During this time he worked mainly in the synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles with acetoacetic ester. The discovery of the Paal -Knorr synthesis, together with Carl Paal falls into this time. Part of this work was the search for quinine -like substances that were also checked for their medical effectiveness. Antipyrine, which was tested by Wilhelm Filehne at Hoechst, turned out to be antipyretic and analgesic. The antipyrine was patented in 1883 and was up to the widespread use of aspirin, early 20th century, the drug most commonly used. The later developed Pyramidon was also an economically successful drug.
During the year 1885 he married Elisabeth Piloty, the sister of Oskar Piloty, a laboratory colleagues of the time at the University of Munich.
After the sudden death of Anton Geuther 1889 he took over the chair of chemistry at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, where he remained until his death.
Geuther had discovered in 1863 the acetoacetic ester, but in the formulation of structure an argument with Edward Frankland and John Wislicenus waged. The keto form, in which a CO double bond is present, and the enol form with a CC double bond to hanging a hydroxy group, were both possible and could be confirmed by experiments. It was not until 1911 Knorr could decide the dispute: the two structures are in equilibrium that can be shifted depending on the experimental conditions. The keto -enol tautomerism was indeed already explained theoretically, but with the isolated Knorr compounds could also be confirmed experimentally.
The University of Erlangen gives a Ludwig Knorr Award since 1997. In Leverkusen Wiesdorf a street is named after Ludwig Knorr.