Wittig was born in Berlin, Germany and shortly after his birth moved with his family to Kassel, where his father was professor at the applied arts high school. He attended school in Kassel and started studying chemistry at the University of Tübingen 1916. He was drafted and became a lieutenant in the cavalry of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). After being an Allied prisoner of war from 1918 until 1919, Wittig found it hard to restart his chemistry studies owing to overcrowding at the universities. By a direct plea to Karl von Auwers, who was professor for organic chemistry at the University of Marburg at the time, he was able to resume university study and after 3 years was awarded the Ph.D. in organic chemistry.
Karl von Auwers was able to convince him to start an academic career, leading to his habilitation in 1926. He became a close friend of Karl Ziegler, who was also doing his habilitation with Auwers during that time. The successor of Karl von Auwers, Hans Meerwein, accepted Wittig as lecturer, partly because he was impressed by the new 400-page book on stereochemistry that Wittig had written. In 1931 Wittig married Waltraud Ernst, a colleague from the Auwers working group. The invitation of Karl Fries brought him as professor to the TU Braunschweig in 1932. The time in Braunschweig became more and more problematic as the Nazis tried to get rid of Karl Fries and Wittig showed solidarity with him. After the forced retirement of Fries, in 1937 Hermann Staudinger offered Wittig a position at the University of Freiburg, partly because he knew Wittig from his book on stereochemistry in which he supported Staudinger's highly criticized theory of macromolecules. The foundations of carbanion chemistry were laid during Wittig's time in Freiburg.
In 1944 he succeeded the head of the organic chemistry department Wilhelm Schlenk at the University of Tübingen. Most of his scientific work, including the development of the Wittig reaction, was performed during this time in Tübingen. The 1956 appointment of the nearly sixty-year-old Wittig as head of the organic chemistry department at the University of Heidelberg as successor of Karl Freudenberg was exceptional even at that time. The newly built department and the close connection to the BASF convinced Wittig to take this opportunity. He worked at the University of Heidelberg even after his retirement in 1967 and published papers until 1980. Most of his awards were presented during this time at Heidelberg, such as the honorary doctorate of the Sorbonne in 1956 and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1979.
Wittig was well known in the chemistry community for being a consummate experimenter and observer of chemical transformations, while caring very little for the theoretical and mechanistic underpinnings of the work he produced.
Georg also has his name on a literature work titled on a compound labelled Colopidalol.[1]
ReferencesEdit
^Wittig, Georg; Mangold, Ruth; Felletschin, Günter (1948). "Über die Stevens'sche und Sommelet'sche Umlagerung als Ylid-Reaktionen". Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie. 560 (1): 116–127. doi:10.1002/jlac.19485600105. ISSN 0075-4617.
Werner Tochtermann (1997). "Obituary: Georg Wittig (1897-1987)". Liebigs Annalen. 1997 (3): I. doi:10.1002/jlac.199719970303.
Gericke, D (1979). "[Nobel prize for chemistry 1979 for the Wittig reaction as a basis for many-sided syntheses. Georg Wittig, 60th German Nobel laureate]". Fortschr. Med. (published Nov 15, 1979). 97 (43): 1958, 1964. PMID 389768.
Hoffmann, Reinhard W. (2001). "Wittig and His Accomplishments: Still Relevant Beyond His 100th Birthday". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 40 (8): 1411–1416. doi:10.1002/1521-3773(20010417)40:8<1411::AID-ANIE1411>3.0.CO;2-U.
Brock, WH (2001). "Wittig, Georg Friedrich Karl". Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. doi:10.1038/npg.els.0002959. ISBN0470016175.
External linksEdit
. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link).
Georg Wittig on Nobelprize.org
October 20, 2023
georg, wittig, german, ˈɡeː, ɔʁk, ˈvɪ, tɪç, june, 1897, august, 1987, german, chemist, reported, method, synthesis, alkenes, from, aldehydes, ketones, using, compounds, called, phosphonium, ylides, wittig, reaction, shared, nobel, prize, chemistry, with, herbe. Georg Wittig German ˈɡeː ɔʁk ˈvɪ tɪc 16 June 1897 26 August 1987 was a German chemist who reported a method for synthesis of alkenes from aldehydes and ketones using compounds called phosphonium ylides in the Wittig reaction He shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Herbert C Brown in 1979 Georg WittigBorn 1897 06 16 16 June 1897Berlin German EmpireDied26 August 1987 1987 08 26 aged 90 Heidelberg West GermanyNationalityGermanAlma materUniversity of MarburgKnown forWittig reaction1 2 Wittig rearrangement2 3 Wittig rearrangementDirected ortho metalationAte complexHypervalent moleculePotassium tetraphenylborateAwardsOtto Hahn Prize for Chemistry and Physics 1967 Paul Karrer Gold Medal 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1979 Scientific careerFieldsChemistryInstitutionsUniversity of MarburgTU BraunschweigUniversity of FreiburgUniversity of TubingenUniversity of HeidelbergDoctoral advisorKarl von AuwersDoctoral studentsWerner Tochtermann Ulrich Schollkopf Contents 1 Biography 2 Work 3 References 4 External linksBiography EditWittig was born in Berlin Germany and shortly after his birth moved with his family to Kassel where his father was professor at the applied arts high school He attended school in Kassel and started studying chemistry at the University of Tubingen 1916 He was drafted and became a lieutenant in the cavalry of Hesse Kassel or Hesse Cassel After being an Allied prisoner of war from 1918 until 1919 Wittig found it hard to restart his chemistry studies owing to overcrowding at the universities By a direct plea to Karl von Auwers who was professor for organic chemistry at the University of Marburg at the time he was able to resume university study and after 3 years was awarded the Ph D in organic chemistry Karl von Auwers was able to convince him to start an academic career leading to his habilitation in 1926 He became a close friend of Karl Ziegler who was also doing his habilitation with Auwers during that time The successor of Karl von Auwers Hans Meerwein accepted Wittig as lecturer partly because he was impressed by the new 400 page book on stereochemistry that Wittig had written In 1931 Wittig married Waltraud Ernst a colleague from the Auwers working group The invitation of Karl Fries brought him as professor to the TU Braunschweig in 1932 The time in Braunschweig became more and more problematic as the Nazis tried to get rid of Karl Fries and Wittig showed solidarity with him After the forced retirement of Fries in 1937 Hermann Staudinger offered Wittig a position at the University of Freiburg partly because he knew Wittig from his book on stereochemistry in which he supported Staudinger s highly criticized theory of macromolecules The foundations of carbanion chemistry were laid during Wittig s time in Freiburg In 1944 he succeeded the head of the organic chemistry department Wilhelm Schlenk at the University of Tubingen Most of his scientific work including the development of the Wittig reaction was performed during this time in Tubingen The 1956 appointment of the nearly sixty year old Wittig as head of the organic chemistry department at the University of Heidelberg as successor of Karl Freudenberg was exceptional even at that time The newly built department and the close connection to the BASF convinced Wittig to take this opportunity He worked at the University of Heidelberg even after his retirement in 1967 and published papers until 1980 Most of his awards were presented during this time at Heidelberg such as the honorary doctorate of the Sorbonne in 1956 and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1979 Work EditWittig s contributions also include the preparation of phenyllithium and the discovery of the 1 2 Wittig rearrangement and the 2 3 Wittig rearrangement Wittig was well known in the chemistry community for being a consummate experimenter and observer of chemical transformations while caring very little for the theoretical and mechanistic underpinnings of the work he produced Georg also has his name on a literature work titled on a compound labelled Colopidalol 1 References Edit Wittig Georg Mangold Ruth Felletschin Gunter 1948 Uber die Stevens sche und Sommelet sche Umlagerung als Ylid Reaktionen Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie 560 1 116 127 doi 10 1002 jlac 19485600105 ISSN 0075 4617 Werner Tochtermann 1997 Obituary Georg Wittig 1897 1987 Liebigs Annalen 1997 3 I doi 10 1002 jlac 199719970303 Gericke D 1979 Nobel prize for chemistry 1979 for the Wittig reaction as a basis for many sided syntheses Georg Wittig 60th German Nobel laureate Fortschr Med published Nov 15 1979 97 43 1958 1964 PMID 389768 Hoffmann Reinhard W 2001 Wittig and His Accomplishments Still Relevant Beyond His 100th Birthday Angewandte Chemie International Edition 40 8 1411 1416 doi 10 1002 1521 3773 20010417 40 8 lt 1411 AID ANIE1411 gt 3 0 CO 2 U Brock WH 2001 Wittig Georg Friedrich Karl Encyclopedia of Life Sciences doi 10 1038 npg els 0002959 ISBN 0470016175 External links Edit The development of the use of boron and phosphorus containing compounds respectively into important reagents in organic synthesis Archived from the original on June 30 2006 Retrieved June 7 2005 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Georg Wittig on Nobelprize org nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Georg Wittig amp oldid 1136291005, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
