View source for Adolf von Baeyer

{{Short description|German chemist (1835–1917)}}
{{for|the founder of the pharmaceutical company [[Bayer]]|Friedrich Bayer}}
{{Infobox scientist
| birth_name = Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf Baeyer
| image = Adolf von Baeyer (1905).jpg
| caption = Baeyer in 1905
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1835|10|31|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Berlin]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]
| nationality = German
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1917|8|20|1835|10|31|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Starnberg]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]], [[German Empire]]
| field = [[Organic chemistry]]
| work_institution = [[University of Berlin]]<br>[[Technical University of Berlin|Gewerbe-Akademie, Berlin]]<br>[[University of Strasbourg]]<br>[[University of Munich]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Berlin]]
| thesis_title = De arsenici cum methylo conjunctionibus
| thesis_url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9dkCbmTrfm0C
| thesis_year = 1858
| doctoral_advisors = [[Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz|Friedrich August Kekulé]]<br>[[Robert Bunsen]]<ref name="The Mathematics Genealogy Project">{{cite web | title=Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer | website=The Mathematics Genealogy Project | url=https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=158752 | access-date=18 November 2022}}</ref>
| doctoral_students = [[Hermann Emil Fischer|Emil Fischer]]<br>[[John Ulric Nef (chemist)|John Ulric Nef]]<br>[[Victor Villiger]]<br>[[Carl Theodore Liebermann]]<br>[[Carl Gräbe]]<br>[[Karl Andreas Hofmann]]
| known_for = Synthesis of [[indigo]], [[phenolphthalein]] and [[fluorescein]]<br>[[Photogeochemistry]]<br>[[Von Baeyer nomenclature|Baeyer nomenclature]]<br>[[Potassium permanganate#Synthesis of organic compounds|Baeyer reagent]]<br>[[Ring strain#Angle strain (Baeyer strain)|Baeyer strain]]<br>[[Baeyer–Drewson indigo synthesis]]<br>[[Baeyer–Emmerling indole synthesis]]<br>[[Baeyer–Villiger oxidation]]
| prizes = {{no wrap|[[Davy Medal]] <small>(1881)</small><br>[[Liebig Medal]] <small>(1903)</small> <br>[[Nobel Prize for Chemistry]] <small>(1905)</small><br>[[Elliott Cresson Medal]] {{small|(1912)}}}}
| footnotes = 
| spouse = {{marriage|Adelheid Bendemann|1868}}
| children = 3; including {{ill|Otto von Baeyer|de|lt=Otto}}.
}}

'''Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer''' ({{IPA|de|ˈaːdɔlf fɔn ˈbaɪɐ|lang|De-Adolf von Baeyer.ogg}}; 31 October 1835 – 20 August 1917) was a German [[chemist]] who synthesised [[indigo dye|indigo]]<ref>{{cite journal | title= Darstellung von Indigblau aus Orthonitrobenzaldehyd |trans-title=Preparation of blue indigo from o-nitrobenzaldehyde | author=Adolf Baeyer, Viggo Drewsen | journal=[[Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft]] | volume=15 | issue=2 | pages=2856–2864 | year=1882 | url= http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k906950/f1258.image.langEN | doi=10.1002/cber.188201502274 }}</ref> and developed a [[Von Baeyer nomenclature|nomenclature for cyclic compounds]] (that was subsequently extended and adopted as part of the [[IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry|IUPAC organic nomenclature]]). He was [[nobility|ennobled]] in the [[Kingdom of Bavaria]] in 1885 and was the 1905 recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]].<ref name="meijere">''Adolf von Baeyer: Winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1905 '' Armin de Meijere [[Angewandte Chemie International Edition]] Volume 44, Issue 48, Pages 7836 – 7840 '''2005''' [https://archive.today/20121210203036/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112190460/ABSTRACT Abstract]</ref>

==Family and education==
[[File:Baeyer.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Father [[Johann Jacob Baeyer]], Prussian lieutenant-general, the noted [[geodesist]]]]
Baeyer was born in [[Berlin]] as the son of the noted [[geodesist]] and captain of the Royal Prussian Army [[Johann Jacob Baeyer]] and his wife Eugenie Baeyer née Hitzig (1807–1843).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1905/baeyer-bio.html |title=Adolf von Baeyer – Biographical |publisher=Nobelprize.org |date=1917-08-20 |access-date=2013-12-09}}</ref> Both his parents were [[Lutherans]] at the time of his birth and he was raised in the Lutheran religion.<ref>[https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz7302.html Baeyer, Adolf Ritter von] in ''Deutsche Biographie''</ref> His mother was the daughter of [[Julius Eduard Hitzig]] and a member of the originally [[Jews|Jewish]] [[Itzig family]], and had converted to Christianity before marrying his father, who was of non-Jewish German descent.<ref>During the Nazi period, Baeyer's Jewish ancestry caused difficulties for his grandsons, who were compelled to emigrate to Canada and the United States.</ref> Baeyer had four sisters: Clara (born 1826) Emma (born 1831), Johanna (Jeanette) (born 1839), Adelaide (died 1843) and two brothers: Georg (born 1829) and Edward (born 1832). Baeyer lost his mother at a young age while she was giving birth to his sister Adelaide.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XewbBAAAQBAJ|title=Brücken aus Papier: Atlantischer Wissenstransfer in dem Briefnetzwerk des deutsch-amerikanischen Ehepaars Francis und Mathilde Lieber, 1827–1872|last=Schnurmann|first=Claudia|date=2014-10-15|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|others=Note 1445|isbn=978-3-643-12678-8|location=Germany|pages=371|language=de}}</ref>

Although his birth name was Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf Baeyer, he was known simply as Adolf throughout most of his life. The poet [[Adelbert von Chamisso]] and the astronomer [[Friedrich Bessel|Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel]] were his godparents. On his 50th birthday he was raised to the hereditary nobility by King [[Ludwig II of Bavaria]], conferring on him the "von" distinction.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPRB-OED1bcC|title=Encyclopedia of World Scientists|last=Oakes|first=Elizabeth H.|publisher=Infobase Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4381-1882-6|location=NY, USA|pages=39}}</ref>

Baeyer became interested in science early, performing experiments on plant nutrition at his paternal grandfather's Müggelsheim farm as a boy. In Berlin he began chemical experimentation at the age of nine. Three years later, he synthesized a previously unknown chemical compound -double carbonate of copper and sodium.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Organic Chemistry since 1860|last=Hudson|first=John|date=1992-01-01|publisher=Springer US|isbn=978-1-4684-6443-6|pages=303|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-1-4684-6441-2}}</ref> On his 13th birthday, he initiated his lifework, buying a chunk of indigo worth two [[Prussian Thaler|Thaler]]s for his first dye experiments.<ref name=":0" />

When a schoolboy, his chemistry teacher at the [[Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium]] appointed him as his assistant. After graduating from secondary school in 1853, he entered the [[Humboldt University of Berlin|Berlin University]] to study [[physics]] and mathematics. A stint in the Prussian army interrupted his study until 1856, when he returned to academia at the [[Heidelberg University|University of Heidelberg]], intending to study [[chemistry]] under [[Robert Bunsen]].{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}  After an argument with the renowned chemist he changed his mentor to [[August Kekulé]]. He continued to collaborate with Kekulé even after he returned to Berlin in 1858 for the completion of his doctorate on arsenic methyl chloride, or [[Cacodylic acid|cacodylic chloride]].<ref name=":0" />

==Academic career and achievements==
After completing his doctorate, he followed Kekulé to the [[Ghent University|University of Ghent]], when Kekulé became professor there. He became a lecturer at the {{ill|Gewerbeinstitut Berlin|de}} (Royal Trade Academy) in 1860 and a professor at the [[University of Strasbourg]] in 1871. In 1875, he succeeded [[Justus von Liebig]] as Chemistry Professor at the [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich|University of Munich]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Baeyer's chief achievements include the [[Chemical synthesis|synthesis]] and description of the plant [[dye]] [[indigo dye|indigo]], the discovery of the [[phthalein]] dyes, and the investigation of [[polyacetylene]]s, [[oxonium ion|oxonium]] [[salt (chemistry)|salt]]s, [[nitroso]] compounds (1869) and [[uric acid]] derivatives (1860 and onwards) (including the discovery of [[barbituric acid]] (1864), the parent compound of the [[barbiturate]]s). He was the first to propose the correct formula for [[indole]] in 1869, after publishing the first synthesis three years earlier. His contributions to [[theoretical chemistry]] include the 'strain' (''Spannung'') theory of [[triple bond]]s and [[Baeyer strain theory|strain theory]] in small [[carbon]] rings.<ref>
{{cite journal
| title   = Ueber Polyacetylenverbindungen (Zweite Mittheilung)
|trans-title=On polyacetylene compounds (Part II)
| author  = Adolf Baeyer
| journal = [[Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft]]
| volume  = 18
| issue   = 2
| pages   = 2269–2281
| year    = 1885
| url = http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k90703s/f463.image.langEN
| doi     = 10.1002/cber.18850180296
}}  See especially pages 2277-2281.</ref>

In 1871 he discovered the synthesis of [[phenolphthalein]] by [[Condensation reaction|condensation]] of [[phthalic anhydride]] with two equivalents of [[phenol]] under [[acid]]ic conditions (hence the name). That same year he was the first to obtain synthetic [[fluorescein]], a [[fluorophore]] [[pigment]] which is similar to naturally occurring [[pyoverdin]] that is synthesised by microorganisms (e.g., by some [[Fluorescence|fluorescent]] strains of ''[[Pseudomonas]]''). Baeyer named his finding "resorcinphthalein" as he had synthesised it from [[phthalic anhydride]] and [[resorcinol]]. The term [[fluorescein]] would not start to be used until 1878.

In 1872 he experimented with [[phenol]] and [[formaldehyde]]; the resinous product<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/468698/major-industrial-polymers/76466/Phenol-formaldehyde | title=Major industrial polymers| encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> was a precursor for [[Leo Baekeland]]'s later commercialization of [[Bakelite]].

In 1881 the [[Royal Society of London]] awarded Baeyer the [[Davy Medal]] for his work with indigo. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1884.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=5 May 2011}}</ref> In 1905 he was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] "in recognition of his services in the advancement of organic chemistry and the chemical industry, through his work on organic dyes and hydroaromatic compounds", and he continued in full active work as one of the best-known teachers in the world of organic chemistry up to within a year of his death.<ref>{{EB1922|inline=1|wstitle=Baeyer, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von|volume=30|page=365}}</ref>

== Honours ==
* 1881: [[Davy Medal]] of the [[Royal Society]] in London
* 1884: [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] fellow.<ref name="AAAS" />
* 1884: [[Prussian Academy of Sciences]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbaw.de/die-akademie/akademiegeschichte/mitglieder-historisch/alphabetische-sortierung?altmitglied_id=94&letter=B|title=Mitglieder der Vorgängerakademien.|website=Adolf Ritter von Baeyer}}</ref>
* 1884: International Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-09 |title=Adolf Johann Friedrich Wilhelm von Baeyer |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/adolf-johann-friedrich-wilhelm-von-baeyer |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref>
* 1885: foreign member of the [[Royal Society of Chemistry|Royal Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collections.royalsociety.org/Dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Persons&dsqSearch=Code==%2527NA6255%2527&dsqCmd=Show.tcl|title=Baeyer, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von (1835–1917)|website=Archive of Royal Society|access-date=2016-07-17|archive-date=2020-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527025038/https://collections.royalsociety.org/Dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Persons&dsqSearch=Code%3D%3D%27NA6255%27&dsqCmd=Show.tcl|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1885: survey in the hereditary nobility of the Kingdom of Bavaria
* 1895: admission into the [[Pour le Mérite|Order Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste |date=1978 |title=Die Mitglieder des Ordens. 2 1882–1952. |url=http://www.orden-pourlemerite.de/plm/mgvita/baeyer1835_vita.pdf |location=Berlin |publisher=Gebr. Mann Verlag |page=104 |isbn=978-3-7861-1125-2 |access-date=2018-06-22 |archive-date=2016-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711000400/http://orden-pourlemerite.de/plm/mgvita/baeyer1835_vita.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 1892: elected to honorary membership of the [[Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society]]<ref>Memoirs and proceedings of the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society FOURTH SERIES  Eighth  VOLUME   1894 </ref>
* 1989: International Member of the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Adolf von Baeyer |url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001299.html |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
* 1903: [[Liebig Medal]], awarded by the German Chemical Society
* 1905: Nobel Prize in Chemistry
* 1910: International Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Adolf+von+Baeyer&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
The {{Interlanguage link|Adolf-von-Baeyer-Denkmünze|de|lt=Adolf von Baeyer Medal}} has been awarded annually since 1911.

His name is reflected in various "name reactions" as the [[Baeyer–Villiger oxidation]] and [[Baeyer's reagent]]. There is also the [[Von Baeyer nomenclature]] in structural chemistry and Baeyer [[Ring strain|strain theory]] (which granted him the Nobel prize) of [[alicyclic compound]]s.

In 2009 [[von Baeyer (crater)|von Baeyer]] [[Lunar craters|lunar crater]] was named after him.

== Personal life ==
In 1868, Baeyer married Adelheid (Lida) Bendemann, the daughter of a family friend, and together the couple had three children: Eugenie, Hans, and {{ill|Otto von Baeyer|de|lt=Otto}}.<ref name=":0" />

He died on 20 August 1917 in [[Starnberg]] at the age of 81.

==See also==
*[[Antimanic drugs]]
*[[Barbituric acid]]
*[[Hydantoin]]
*[[Indole]]
*[[Nitrosobenzene]]
*[[Phenolphthalein]]
*[[Picoline]]
*[[Resorcinarene]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Baeyer, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von|volume=3|page=192}}
*{{Nobelprize}}
*[https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1905/press.html Speech] given by [[Anders Lindstedt]], President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, on 10 December 1905, upon Baeyer's receiving the Nobel Prize

{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1901-1925}}
{{1905 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baeyer, Adolf Von}}
[[Category:1835 births]]
[[Category:1917 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century German chemists]]
[[Category:20th-century German chemists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Berlin]]
[[Category:German people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:German Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]]
[[Category:German organic chemists]]
[[Category:Heidelberg University alumni]]
[[Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni]]
[[Category:Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Technische Universität Berlin]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Members of the Lincean Academy]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:German Lutherans]]
[[Category:Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities]]
[[Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Chemists from the Kingdom of Prussia]]
[[Category:Jewish Nobel laureates]]