Emil Erlenmeyer

Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer, known simply as Emil Erlenmeyer (Taunusstein, June 28, 1825 – January 22, 1909), was a German chemist.

Emil Erlenmeyer was a professor at the Munich Polytechnic Institute between 1863 and 1883. His most notable achievements were the synthesis of guanidine and tyrosine, as well as the explanation of the structure of compounds such as lactone. Also known for the beaker flask that bears his name.

Biography

Born in Taunusstein, a city near Wiesbaden, Germany, Erlenmeyer worked for some years as a pharmacist after studying medicine. He studied in Gießen, although not with Justus von Liebig, although he did work with some of Liebig's students, such as Fresenius. He also studied in Heidelberg with Friedrich Kekulé

Erlenmeyer investigated together with Robert Bunsen in the field of fertilizers. As a professor in Munich between 1868 and 1883, he carried out great experimental work that included the discovery and synthesis of a good number of organic compounds, such as isobutyric acid, in 1865. Furthermore, in 1861 he invented the flask that bears his name, widely used in laboratories.

Erlenmeyer was among the first chemistry students to adopt structural formulas based on the valence of atoms. He proposed the modern formula for naphthalene, with two benzene rings bonded to two carbon atoms.

In 1880 he formulated what is called in his honor Erlenmeyer's Rule, which says that when an alkene has a hydroxyl group linked to one of the carbons of the double bond, it becomes an aldehyde or ketone.

He had to leave his academic work in 1883 for health reasons, but he continued to collaborate as an advisor. He died in the city of Aschaffenburg. His son, Friedrich Gustav Carl Emil Erlenmeyer (1864-1921), who also studied chemistry, continued his father's work.

Contributions to chemistry

• 1861: designed and created Erlenmeyer's majesty
• 1863: proposed the theory of valence
• 1865: discovered isobutyric acid
• 1866: established the benzene formula
• 1867: established the formula of lactic and hydroacrylic acids
• 1874: defined the diazon formula for diazonic salts, although it had been established independently in 1869 by Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand (1826-1897) and in 1871 by Adolf Friedrich Ludwig Strecker (1822-1871).
• 1880: clarified the structure of lactones.
• 1883: he was the first to synthesize the tyrosine
• He was the first to define the existence of double and triple links in carbon chemistry
• He was the first to synthesize the guanidine, creatine and creatinine
• Established the one that would later be called the Erlenmeyer Rule (Czeto-Encolic)
• Recommended the use of the term aromatic to refer to all compounds of similar properties to benzene