Richard Müller (chemist)

Richard Gustav Müller ( born July 17, 1903 in Hartha, † July 7, 1999 in Radebeul ) was a German chemist and is considered the "Father of Silicones ".

Life and work

The son of an employee studied after attending the primary school in Hartha and GELessing school in chub 1923-1931 Chemistry at the University of Leipzig, where he received his doctorate in 1931. He then worked from 1933 as a laboratory manager in the chemical factory in Radebeul v. Heyden. During his studies there he succeeded in 1941, the industrial production of methyl chlorosilanes, which are the starting materials for the production of silicones.

Quote Richard Müller:

Developed parallel to it, the U.S. chemist Eugene G. Rochow, the same procedure. Since both independently conducted their development, this process is now called Müller -Rochow synthesis.

On the reconstruction of the chemical industry in Radebeul after the Second World War Müller played a key role. In 1952 he became head of VEB silicone chemistry in Nuenchritz, an outsourced branch factory of Chemische Fabrik von Heyden, and 1953 scientific director of the overall operation.

His courage he showed during the insurrection of the Seventeenth June 1953, when he was spokesman of the staff of the now state-owned chemical plant operation von Heyden.

From 1954 to 1972 taught Müller as head of the Institute of silicone and fluorocarbon chemistry at the Technical University of Dresden, in 1992 made ​​him an honorary doctorate.

Müller was buried in the cemetery Radebeul -Ost. Since 2001, a street is named after Richard Müller in Radebeul.

Awards and honors

Writings

• Müller, Richard; Contributions to the knowledge of the system nickel oxide -oxygen water. Phil Diss, Leipzig 1931.