Georg Wittig
| Georg Wittig | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
June 16, 1897 Berlin, German Empire |
| Died | August 26, 1987 (aged 90) Heidelberg, West Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions |
University of Marburg TU Braunschweig University of Freiburg University of Tübingen University of Heidelberg |
| Alma mater | University of Marburg |
| Doctoral advisor | Karl von Auwers |
| Doctoral students | |
| Known for |
Wittig reaction 1,2-Wittig rearrangement 2,3-Wittig rearrangement Potassium tetraphenylborate |
| Notable awards |
Otto Hahn Prize for Chemistry and Physics (1967) Paul Karrer Gold Medal (1972) Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1979) |
Georg Wittig (June 16, 1897 – August 26, 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.
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 English prisoner of war from 1918 till 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.
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