Commentary: Autobiography:
Bonded to People
Central Institute of Chemistry, Universidade Federal de
BWW Life Fellow Member Professor Randolph Riemschneider has summarized
his lifetime work in a soon to be published book [1] in which readers will find
some enlightening reports about the numerous people who influenced his life.
With this paper the author also continues his essay “Bonded to Compounds –
Chemistry has always
been and remains the author’s life. For the sake of his devotion to chemistry,
the author has resisted and confronted all problems which politics can involve,
and has fought against resistances and intrigues. Here it is shown from whom
and in what manner he received support and sorely-needed assistance.
This essay also represents
a piece of contemporary history, especially from the 1940s to the 1960s, regarding
Nobel Prize winners such as Profs Alder/Diels, Butenandt, R.Kuhn, Pauling,
Natta/Ziegler and in Germany well-known personages such as Profs. Dinghas
(mathematician), Lohmann (ATP), Sauerbruch, General Nobile, Dir. Dr. Scherer
(Freon HOECHST), and Dr. Ronge (attorney) as well as personages from
-
The Editor
PART I:
In the opinion of the author, the Vita
written by Professor Dr. H. Reinitzer [3] and the essay "Bonded to
Compounds -
More than once, the author was lucky enough to meet people in the right
place and at the right time who had a decisive impact on his life. Those worth
mentioning are, in the order of the year of first contact:
1) K. Wonde, Student of Theology, Hitler
opponent, in
2) Prof. Dr. Conrad Weygand, Organic Chemistry, University of
3) Prof. Dr. Günther Rienäcker, Inorganic Chemistry,
Universities of Göttingen (1939) und
4a) Karl Erdmann, demoted police officer,
Hitler opponent in Komotau during infantry drill (1941)
4b) Dipl.Ing. Oskar Matter, chemist in
5) Prof. Dr. Karl Lohmann, Physiological
Chemistry, Uni of Berlin (1946) - Lohmann – discoverer of the adenosine
triphosphoric acid (ATP) in the 30ies – ought to have received the Nobel Price,
together with Meyerhof but did not: for mere political reasons.
6) Dr. Werner Saenger, publisher of the
periodical "Die Pharmazie",
7) Prof. Dr. Alexander Dinghas, Mathematics,
University of
8) Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Sauerbruch, surgeon at
Charité
9) Dr. von Bergmann, reader of the publishing
house Dr. W. Saenger (1947), later Curator of the Free University of Berlin
(1950)
10) Dr. Paul Ronge, famous defence counsel,
11) Director Dr. F. Scherer, Farbwerke HOECHST
(1949)
12) Prof. Dr. W. Lautsch, Organische Chemistry
FU (1951)
Contacts in
13) Prof. Dr. Richard Wasicky, Sen., Pharmacy
Dept., University
14) Prof. Dr. José Mariano da Rocha Filho, for
many years Vice-chancellor of the University of Santa Maria, Reitor da UFSM; head of Medical School, Santa
Maria, RS, Brazil (1962)
Contacts in
15) Prof. Dr. Sankei Takei, Agricultural
Chemistry,
16) Prof. Dr. Yonezo Morino, Physics and Chemistry,
17) Mr. Toru Aikawa, Yamakawa Company, Ltd.,
Contact in
18) Prof Dr G Natta, Politecnico Milano (1951), Nobel Price
Winner in 1963
19) Prof Dr
D Marotta, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 1950 (1942)
20) Prof Dr Umberto Nobile, General and University
re 1) WONDE:
At the end of 1936, the
author took the first steps towards his subsequent intended emigration from
Nazi
After changing from a high school in Cologne to one in Berlin, the
author had problems with certain home essay topics such as "Who has been
called 'Great' in history", "The people is alive in books",
"The importance of the Indo-Teutonic race", etc. because of his
negative attitude towards the Nazi system. Therefore, an ad was placed to look
for assistance. A certain Mr. Wonde replied, who was just the right person
because of his history with the Nazis (concentration camp). Mr. Wonde taught
the author to say one thing and think the other, explained what was right and
what should be written to get a pass. In doing so, Mr. Wonde continued what
grandmother Ida had started intuitively,
but was unable to put into words as clear as those of Mr. Wonde. The hiss she
made when producing the word "Nazi" was clear proof of her disgust
with this system.
This
grandmother, called "Aunt Ida" by everybody, was a kind, selfless
woman who helped wherever she could. Even when she died on April 12, 1944, she
did good: Because the author had to travel to her funeral in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf
on April 20, 1944, he owes her his life, because he would normally have
been on call at the Hydrogenation Plant RUHRÖL GmbH,
After a
strategic attack, RUHRÖL was in ruins on April 20, 1944. During that week, the remaining six operating
hydrogeneration plants in
Thanks to Mr. Wonde, the author received his first in-depth information
from one who knows about the downside of the NS system and learnt about its
real intentions which cannot be called anything but criminal. His attitude
towards National Socialism (NS-System) which had been critical from the very
beginning was confirmed thereby early on;
as conclusions he drew:
- not to join the "Hitler Youth"
- not to publish[i]
in
- to exercise passive resistance in the subject religious education[ii]
when the teacher dealt with nothing but Hitler's "Mein Kampf" for
over seven months[iii]
For the future, the author resolved to perfect his English so as to be
able emigrate to another country after finishing his studies of chemistry in
Despite his intention to study chemistry, the author had chosen
classical education at the Schiller Highschool in
re 2) CONRAD WEYGAND
Commencement of the
author's own chemical research under the direction of Prof. Dr. Conrad Weygand:
annual paper in the subject Chemistry in preparation of Highschool graduation (Abitur) at the
Matthias-Claudius-Gymnasium in Hamburg during the years 1937 to 1939, resulting
in his thesis for diploma in 1941 and, later, in PROJ I with over 100 quotes
(1937 - 2006)[iv]
As a pupil, the author visited Prof. Weygand at the
Weygand then proposed several experiments which might be suitable for
"preparing a so-called annual paper in preparation of the Highschool
diploma". This was the beginning of valuable contacts which, in 1939,
actually did result in an annual paper [4] [ref. [1] in PROJ I], then to a
thesis for diploma [5] in 1941 and finally, at the author's own initiative, in
PROJ I with the title "Acyl
derivatives of cyclic compounds, oxydations with permanganates and chromium
trioxide"4.
One practical result: Discovery of
o-diacetylbenzene (1937), drawing up a working synthesis, development of
the process right to the production stage, accepted as a commercial product by
the Schuchardt company in Munich (later MERCK): [37].
In 1937, Professor C. Weygand pointed Riemschneider towards his first
research project "Acyl derivatives of isocyclic compounds, permanganate
oxidations" and, without intending to, prepared the path for his eventual
"succession". In the last few days of this pointless war in the
Spring of 1945, he was killed as a "home guard combatant".
Professor Weygand excelled in experimentation. His most valuable
experience is summarised in his book "Organische Experimentierkunst"[vi]
(The art of organic experimentation). In the years between 1937 and 1941, the
author was present on several occasions when Weygand duplicated experiments
described in literature to include them into the latest edition of his work.
In this connection, the author was also a witness to the “KPG Stirrer
experiments” (Fig 11 in [1]) which he later used for analytical work of
"Zn dust treatment of approx. 60 polyhalocyclohexanes" (638); Fig 11
in PROJ. IX 3,8,2 in [1].
All of the experiments described in the above-mentioned book
"Experimentierkunst" were tested either by Weygand personally or
carried out in his lab and supervised by him. On several occasions, the author
acted as his assistant.
Professor Weygand had a special way of wearing his
glasses which was especially conspicuous during his lectures: He usually pushed
them up on his forehead and let them drop when he wanted to read or take a
closer look at something.
His lectures were not exactly exciting, but full of
valuable information and spiced with examples from his own experience, i.e. far
away from the usual textbooks. For instance, he did not make a classification
into aliphatic and aromatic chemistry, but classified compounds by the number
of carbon atoms, by the reaction of functional groups and areas. When giving a
lecture on heterocycles containing N in 1941, for example, he mentioned that
enjoying a smoke certainly involves the visual aspect: during the Great War,
the soldiers in the trenches smoked in the dark, but did not get much joy out
of it.
Smokers, please check: the author has never smoked.
The author’s advice: Do never smoke -
every cigarette may take several minutes of your life.
re 3) GEORG RIENÄCKER
The author's university
career began when the experimental paper titled "Contact insecticides on
halogen hydrocarbon basis" submitted to Prof. Rienäcker in
The first personal contacts with Prof. Dr. G. Rienäcker started in
October 1939 when the author studied chemistry in Göttingen. And then continued
in October 1946 during a visit to
Thus Prof. Rienäcker laid the foundations for the author's future in
October 1946:
The author had travelled to
In the autumn of 1946, the Soviets abducted all of the scientists still
working at
The author had been advised by the office of the vice-chancellor to
disappear; his private agreements with Professor Keller of the
The author had an offer to work at the Hamburg Tropical Institute (Route
I); he also considered the option of working as an industrial chemist (Route
II). A third option, namely habilitation and a university career, was shown him
by Professor Rienäcker. With the
above-mentioned letter of recommendation, he
certainly laid the foundations for Route III, because he was convinced of the value of the post-doctoral thesis (for
continuation, see Lohmann).
In 1949, the author sent Professor Rienäcker reports on his unpublished
experimental results on a totally new topic, namely “Reactions in resp. with
compressed CO2” and "Inorganic-organic solvents having a low
melting point (polar ionic, non-aqueous solvents)" including the concept
of a leaflet submitted to the patent department of HOECHST in 1950.
This also comprised the lecture on solvents like "imidazoles + AlCl3",
"compressed CO2", ecc. ref [10] given in Hoechst on December
15, 1952, cf. also SPECIAL PART F).
re 4a) ERDMANN
Active support to leave
the military as soon as possible and to return
to chemistry. Final success in March 1943
as a result of other steps taken early on.
On October 1, 1941, the author graduated as a Certified Chemist[ix].
On October 3, 1941, he reported to the infantry in Komotau. One of the treats
of the first month was "on the double with a gas mask and a heavy
backpack" - intolerable. Comrade Erdmann (demoted as a police officer,
because he had denied Polish provocations justifying the invasion of our troops
in Poland) had valuable advice: "Tomorrow, do exactly what I do: At the
next command 'on the double with the gas mask on', throw yourself on the
ground, do not get up and get yourself transported back to the barracks. Half
an hour before the medical examination the next day, swallow 7 ASPIRIN!"
No sooner said than done. The result: accelerated pulse, racing heart, etc. I
was diagnosed unfit for the infantry and transferred to the riflemen, i.e. to
safety for the time being. Those "trained" in Komotau were sent to
the Russian front after only two months - canon fodder.
Operation ASPIRIN was an important, albeit dangerous step of the author
to get out of the military and to return
to chemistry. Luckily, the military doctor did not discover the ASPIRIN
trick [2]. Two other steps had already been taken shortly before the author was called up: 1) A job application in
reply to an ad of RUHRÖL, a hydrogenation plant, which would have released me
from military service, and 2) an application as chemist for the military. The
latter was written by the author's father, because an application by a soldier
would not have been considered.
ASPIRIN had saved me from being sent to the front, but did not lead to my
immediate release. This was achieved
when I was accepted as a military chemist
in 1942, and thanks to a "RÜ exchange in 43" I was rated "
re 4b) OSKAR MATTER, engineer
He made it possible that
first patents in
The author had the first contact with a person from
The meeting with Matter also resulted in first contacts with neutral and
genuinely democratic
After two patents had been applied for in
The first time we ever spoke in 1943, we had realised that, in addition
to chemistry, we shared another "passion", namely high-performance engines.
Both of us knew Ferdinand Porsche in person; Matter was even able to call him
his friend. The author mentioned that he was about to buy a Porsche.
Matter stressed that, unfortunately, high-performance engines had a
short lifespan and was curious what the author would decide. The author decided
to buy a Porsche – and not only one - just the same. A Swedish combine in
Skoghall bought the first Porsche (picture) for the author as fee for
scientific work done for them in 1949/50).
During a
first visit to Vitznau in this Porsche in 1951, we took a spin from Vitznau via
Brunnen and Zugersee around the Rigi and back to Vitznau, Mrs. Matter squeezed
in the back of the two-seater.
Matter had
been right when he prophesied the short lifespan: After only two years and
50,000 km the red 4-cyclinder Porsche gave out, and the second one did not last
much longer. Only the 6-cyclinder TARGA Porsches, also air-cooled, had more
stamina. After driving Porsches for 45 years, in 1987 the author bought the
model 911 shown on the next page, with a
TARGA engine and Carrera special chassis:
We also discussed the
parallel development of an air-cooled engine by Czech engineer Hans Ledwinka
(TATRA)
In further discussions, engineer O. Matter had learnt that the author
had worked at the Military Research Institute for explosives and warfare agents
in
1) Compound types such as TNT (trinitrotoluene),
hexogen (trimethylene trinitramine), i.e. those containing fuel-C and one or
more oxidant group(s) in the form of NO2. We are speaking of NO2-
groups as nitro (C-N bond), nitrate (C-O-N bond), nitrimino (C=N-N bond), nitramino (C-NH-N bond), N always being NO2.
2) Compounds rich in N (endotherm) which release
considerable amounts of N2 upon disintegration, i.e. tetrazoles,
pentazoles, etc. (proposed in December 1942 during the presentation at the OKH.
At the time, the author did not realise how backward
(cf. explanation on next page) the
3) Compounds of type 1)
and 2) with considerable ring tension including cages.
Matter and the author started working together in this field in 1953; cf.
SPECIAL PART K)
re 2) "backward"
means to say that the scientists at this institute still worked on the
"preparation of TNT analogues", e.g. " the nitration of
trinitrobenzene" (not even on the far more interesting trinitroanisol). As
the author learnt in January 1943, there was no cooperation with Peenemünde.
Still, he played along -
However, he kept his suggestions regarding tetrazoles, diamino-tetrazoles
and other nitro derivatives (Formula Summary I) to himself, because he did not
trust Drs. Cruse and Haul who worked in the
While in Prague, however, the author took the opportunity - unofficially and at his own initiative -
to reproduce some of the tests on tetrazoles and tetrazole derivatives
described in 1892 and later by J. Thiele (e.g. Liebig's Ann. Chemie 270,1;
273, 144; 303, 57) as well as several
experiments published by R. Stolle and co-workers in 1933 (J. prakt. Chem. 138, 15) and to advance their development
in some aspects; see SPECIAL PART K): Formula Summaries I, II, III and IV.
Keeping these activities secret paid off. The gentlemen in question were
only able to publish the analytical method officially developed by the author
at the Prague Institute, omitting to mention the true author "Method for
determining trinitrobenzene besides m-dintrobenzene (witness: engineer A.
Kühnl). As already mentioned, they were luckily unaware of the topic
"Tetrazoles, monoaminotetrazole, diaminotetrazole as well as processing
and nitration of the same"; cf. PROJ. IV 3: APPENDIX in [1].
re 5) KARL LOHMANN
Commencement of a
university career under Lohmann - total freedom regarding the author's own
chemical and biochemical research in all directions
Professor Rienäcker [re 3)] had considered three options for the
author's habilitation:
1) Prof. Lohmann, Berlin, 2) Prof. Otto WARBURG, Berlin, 3) Prof. Hans
Beyer, Greifswald. He saw no possibility in
The first recommendation of Prof. Rienäcker to travel to Prof. K.
Lohmann,
Lohmann justified his attitude as follows: Even though he discovered adenosine triphosphoric acid (ATP), he was
passed over for the Nobel Prize!
Lohmann had worked at the Meyerhof Institute in
Another recognition for Lohmann scheduled in the 1950s in
With the support of Lohmann, the following appointments followed for the
author:
- Appointment as lecturer of Organic Chemistry at the Department of
Science and Maths (1948).
- Appointment as lecturer for Physiological Chemistry (1948) at the
- Appointment to the new chair for BIOCHEMISTRY [BIOLOGICAL
CHEMISTRY] of the Humboldt University (1950) after he had changed to the Free University in Berlin(WEST) [For
reasons that need not be explained, this professorship was not accepted!].
As can be inferred from the above, the enormous significance of the
discovery of ATP did not receive appropriate recognition at first and did not
find its way into pertinent textbooks until rather late. For the author, it was
more than lucky to meet Lohmann that early
and to hear about the significance of "bonds rich in energy"[x]
with regard to ATP in his institute. Regarding this topic, the author
established an immediate correlation with Professor Sauerbruch's question:
"Why wounds heal quicker when covered by muscle tissue". More about
the ATP-topic under "Sauerbruch" [re 8)]; more about the topic "bonds rich in energy" in
SPECIAL PART C).
re 6) WERNER SAENGER
The publication of two
monographs in the field of chemical pest control
research "What there is to know
about contact insecticides I & II" [6] by the publishing house Dr.
Werner Saenger, Berlin (East), resulted in valuable contacts both at national and
international level which were to have a decisive influence on his further
action in the field of CHEMISTRY.
In October 1946, the author had submitted his manuscript with the title:
"Constitution and effect of insecticides on the basis of halogen
compounds" which had been accepted as a post-doctoral thesis for
publication with the Dr. Saenger publishing house in
This publication and a 150 page sequel titled "Contact insecticides
on the basis of halogen hydrocarbons II" were both published as
independent monographs in four editions, initially at the publishing
house Dr. Werner Saenger in Berlin(EAST) and then, after Dr. Saenger had
"moved" to West Germany, at the Aulendorff
publishing house in Württemberg. Both publications [6] led to important
personal contacts (cf. PROJ. IX 2,1 in [1]):
i.e. Abroad:
- with Professor Dr. S. Takei,
- with Professor Dr. Y. Morino, Tokyo University; Takei was also responsible
for the intensified contact with Nobel Prize Winner Dr. A. Butenandt that first
started in 1950;
- with Professor Dr. R. Wasicky,
- with the vice-chancellor of the University of Santa Maria,
Professor Dr. José Mariano da Rocha Filho, in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul,
BRAZIL.
In
- with Dr. Richard Kuhn, Nobel Prize Winner for Chemistry,
- with Prof. Dr. A. Butenandt, Nobel Prize
Winner for Chemistry,
- with Dr. Escherich, Chief Editor of the
"Magazine for Applied Entomology",
- with Mr. von Bergmann, M.D., reader of the
publishing house Dr. Werner Saenger, 1947/48; 1948 - 69, then curator of the
newly established Free University [until
the so-called democratisation of the FU, i.e. abolishment of all established
structures, a general administration instead of the previous chancellorship
which felt free to bully the professors, no more "protective"
departments, etc.,1969 (Präsidialverwaltung statt Rektorat)]. Due to the
university reform at the FU in
The function of a "managing director" of a
scientific board at FU is not comparable with an "institute director"
before 1969 (before introduction of the new University Act), i.e. there is no
contradiction to the above comments: As a "comrade professor" (“Genosse
Professor Arbeitsgruppenleiter”) one remains the team leader of a
"tiny" team of a scientific institution. Things like that happened at
the “Free” University since 1969!
See also last paragraphs of re 7) and SPECIAL PART A).
re 7) ALEXANDER DINGHAS
Mathematician Professor
Dr. Dinghas organized the author's change of university from East to West on
January 1, 1950, and supported his chemical research together with the Organic
Chemist Professor Lüttringhaus, Freiburg i. Br., and Nobel Prize Winner
Professor Dr. Richard Kuhn, Heidelberg: They tried to help in the organization
and the construction of the chemistry departments of the newly founded
University in Berlin(WEST) (FU) - seeing two possibilities for the author:
1) Chair of STEREOCHEMISTRY
(Organic Chemistry) according to
Dinghas/Lüttringhaus,
2) Chair of BIOCHEMISTRY
(Organic Chemistry)
according
to Kuhn/Lüttringhaus,
being aware of the
mathematical direction of some of the author’s work a n d regarding the position which the author had
already in the Humboldt University,
Berlin(EAST), there he held the “Dozentur für Organische Chemie in der
Math.Nat.Fakultät“ and simultanously the „Dozentur für Physiologische Chemie in
der Medizinischen Fakultät.“
But as one sees - reading
Plate 1 – the time to “separate the Biochemistry from the Organic Chemistry”
and to create a chair of Biochemistry
was not ripe in 1950. Especially because in 1950 the chair of ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
was administered for a short time by a Pharmaceutical chemist and in 1951 then
– against the protest of the above mentioned experienced three professors –
filled with an organic chemist interested more in biochemistry than organic
chemistry.
Professor Dr. Alexander Dinghas, head of the mathematical department at
Friedrich Wilhelm Universität, Berlin(EAST) until beginning of 1949, had
attended the first public lecture on "Molecular Asymmetry" [7] in
February 28, 1948, and became interested both in the work and the person of the
author. These scientific contacts were intensified in numerous personal
discussions.
After Professor Dinghas moved from EAST to WEST, i.e. from the
university in
Starting in 1949, Professor Dinghas was Director of the Mathematical
Institute of the Free University of Berlin(West) (Dinghas is in the middle of
illustration 1, to his right: Prof. Vetter). Dinghas was a close friend of
Professor Einstein[xi]
and Professor Dr. Iwan Nikola Stranski (TU Berlin). Together with the latter,
he showed a keen interest in the stereochemical problems dealt with by the
author and helped solve some of the related mathematical questions.
Dinghas knew that
only one academic chair in Germany was held by a stereochemist
(University of Freiburg i. Br.: Prof. Dr. A. Lüttringhaus) and wanted take an
influence on organic chemistry in Berlin in cooperation with Lüttringhaus,
Stranski and Nobel Prize Winner Prof. Dr. Richard Kuhn. Unfortunately, he was
not successful, i.e. he was unable to prevent all FU chairs for chemistry being
filled with unsuitable incumbents.
This was also the opinion of Prof. D. E. Schütte, head of the chair of Physiological Chemistry at the Medical
School of the FU. For many years, Prof. Schütte had followed the above
mentioned “battles of organic chemistry against biochemistry” in the
Mathematical Scientific Department becoming independent with great interest.
Together with Professor Schütte, the author tried in 1967 to integrate
his chair for biochemistry anchored in the Mathematic-Scientific Department
with that of medicine across department borders, for example a "Chair for Biological Chemistry"
within the meaning of the following scheme: Plate 1 and key
- text continued after the key
(next page)
Plate 1:
Scheme showing the derivation of the term "Biological Chemistry"
key to Plate 1:
This scheme was
developed by the author in 1952 after a discussion with Prof. Dr. Richard Kuhn
and later with Prof. Dr. L. Pauling. It makes the subject "BIOLOGICAL
CHEMISTRY" (called "Biochemistry" for a long time) equivalent to
the recognised subjects "Inorganic", "Organic",
"Physical" and "Technical Chemistry". It also forms the
basis for the interview recorded by reporter Friedrich Marsfeld at the
Also already in the
50ies the author had had the opportunity to discuss with the Nobel Price Winner
Professor Dr Linus Pauling the subject “Biological
Chemistry” (to substitute the term Biochemistry) and in these discussions has
been encouraged to fight for equality with “Inorganic, Organic, Physical and Technical chemistry”.
During the course of
time the author had further talks with Professor Linus Pauling regarding
a) the term “BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY”
b) the function of vitamin C as “Hydrid-Ion-transporter”,
see Plate 6 and 7 in the essay [32],
c) the steochemistry of vitamin C, see Plate 8
in [32]
d) own DL50 rat experiments and vitamin C metabolism [32] –
(Vitamin C here: Ascorbis acid (I) – dehydroascorbic acid (II), including intermediates
as a reversible redox system and II-mono and II-dihydrate); cf also [33]. - key end -
Regarding the creation of a “Chair for Biological Chemistry” (interfakultär), the result of meetings
with FU-representatives of the subjects Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry,
Physiological Chemistry, Genetics, Botany, and Pharmacy was negative. The project primarily failed
because of the resistance of the head of the department of Organic Chemistry,
Professor Lautsch's successor Professor Dr. Manecke. Prof. Manecke was of the
opinion that Biochemistry is a part of Organic Chemistry and might as well be
represented by him, i.e. he felt we neither needed a chair for Biochemistry nor
an integration with the medical subjects.
Just for clarification: The Chair
for Biochemistry at the Free University of Berlin was created at the time
at the initiative of Nobel Prize Winners Kuhn and Butenandt according to
American role models (1957/58). The then head of the department of Organic
Chemistry, Prof. Lautsch [cf. observations on “re 12)”], had only agreed to the
author being called to the chair for Biochemistry on the condition that two
Nobel Prize winners give an expert opinion on Riemschneider (by that time in
the United States). This was done in 1958.
Initially, it was mentioned that the creation of a chair for Organic
Chemistry with a focus on stereochemistry had been planned for the author; in
view of the scope of the author's field of work, Kuhn and Butenandt saw no
problem in switching to Biochemistry or
Biological Chemistry, respectively: They were aware of the extensive early
work carried out by the author in this direction. PROJ XV - XXVI - here: Xenobiotica (Fremdstoffe) included in Biological Chemistry; cf quotations
before 1958 in [1].
First hint of Dinghas on
the “new coming university law” and its consequences:
When the new leftist university
law was defended in the 60ies for three hours by the creator, Prof. Stein,
at a faculty meeting against all other members of the department, it was
primarily Prof. Dinghas who fought verbal duels with Prof. Stein, because he
was probably the only faculty member who foresaw the disastrous effect the
planned new law would have on science. Unfortunately, the department did not
reject the law, probably because of the political inexperience of most members
of the Mathematical-Scientific Department. The author did not foresee the
implications of the new law either, but Dinghas enlightened him privately in
the evening after the meeting. For this, the author will be eternally grateful
to him.
On the basis of this information and the discussion in the meeting, the author
had taken various precautionary steps in different directions:
1) His research at Sprengplatz in
Berlin-Grunewald was to cease shortly[xii].
2) He exercised great restraint when it came
to passing information about his cooperation with "capitalist"
enterprises in
3) He accelerated the development of the
Chemical Central Institute of the Brazilian Federal University in Santa Maria,
RS [12, 9], to have a "way out" if necessary [see “re 13)” and “re
14)”] and SPECIAL PART D).
re 8) FERDINAND SAUERBRUCH (illustration
2)
On several occasions,
Professor Dr. Sauerbruch and lecturer Dr. Riemschneider (standing in for
Professor Lohmann) tested medical students in the subject "Physiological
Chemistry" together at the
In the years 1948 and 1949, the author stood in
for Professor Dr. Karl Lohmann in lectures and examinations every now and then.
By law, examinations of medical students in the subject "Physiological
Chemistry" had to be attended by a full professor as co-examiner. As a
result, the author made the acquaintance of several professors of the medical
school in the course of time, including the famous surgeon Prof Dr. Ferdinand
Sauerbruch (illustration 2). After that examination, Prof Sauerbruch asked the
following question of his young colleague Riemschneider: "Tell me, young
man, why do wounds heal more quickly when covered by fresh liver tissue, muscle
tissue or placenta as we did in emergencies in field hospitals during the war,
because nothing else was available?"
This was a question which the author continued to work on. It was
obvious to him to make the connection with the ATP discovered by Lohmann. ATP
meant energy10, more energy meant increased protein biosynthesis for
wound healing. In other words, one had to look for substances increasing the
ATP yield in the mitochondria. A discussion with Lohmann did not yield any
results. He merely gave the author a penetrating and pitying look and said,
thinking aloud: "You will see where this will get you."
His reaction was not as enthusiastic as the
author had hoped. At least, however, he gave his permission to the author to
involve Ms. Waltraudt Gerischer, an institute employee familiar with the
WARBURG method, in experiments on "respiration enhancement" to find
substances increasing the ATP yield. The author started systematic research for
components which incease the O2-uptake and in consequence the
ATP-production in
WARBURG experiments were carried out over many years to find substances
having an accelerating effect on cell
respiration (or inhibiting cell
respiration, respectively). This research resulted in the development of an
injection preparation by the name of CELLRYL on the basis of peptides obtained
from blood in 1972 which was used clinically in
re 9) BERGMANN
Dr. von Bergmann, MD,
reader of the publishing house Dr. Werner Saenger, from 1959 curator of the
Free University of Berlin; as such he gave considerable administrative assistance to the
author during the period from 1950 to 1969.
Worth mentioning are:
The creation of a "Docentship for Organic Chemistry" with a
separate budget at the Organic Institute of the Free University and then, after
the author had been called from the United States to the newly established
Chair for Biochemistry (1957), establishment of the Institute for Biochemistry
housed in two different buildings.
In addition, Dr. von Bergmann helped the author against a former Nazi representative, Professor Jahr, Inorganic
Chemistry.
At the instruction of the Nazis, Jahr - who held a golden party badge -
and Professor Jander "ousted" the practical textbook of Jewish author
Riesenfeld and replaced it by "Jander & Jahr." When Jahr's
appointment to a chair was under discussion, the author was the only one who vetoed it. It goes without
saying, that Jahr was informed posthaste [also see last paragraph “re 12)”].
re 10) PAUL RONGE
Dr. Ronge arranged
contacts with the
Attorney for the defence Dr. Paul Ronge, a friend of Professor Dinghas,
gave the author legal advice in the 1950s to help release the author from the
time-consuming duty of lay judge. Soon afterwards, Dr. Ronge in turn was
looking for a competent scientist for two of his clients to give an expert
opinion on a production plant: these were the Professor Sauerbruch KG of
Wolfgang Böttger and the company of Wolfgang Thober who produced Plazentubex.
Thanks to a 40 page opposing opinion regarding the current state of the
placenta extract production of "Sauerbruch Präparate KG"
(subsequently renamed BÖTTGER KG) in the basement of his castle at Ittendorf,
the author was able to refute the expert opinion of pharmacologist Professor
Herken which the complaint was based on.
The author was certainly competent on this subject because he had been
conducting research on the topic of organ extracts for over 10 years. The
shortcomings in Ittendorf the author complained about were remedied as a result
of this opposing opinion by ensuring 100%
sterile work and installing an explosion-proof
basket-type centrifuge.
The positive outcome of this case encouraged Wolfgang Böttger to appoint
Professor Riemschneider as head of research of BÖTTGER KG. In addition to many
other duties, the author held this position for 40 years until 1997; as a
result of
Until his death in the 1960s, Dr. Ronge was a good friend and attorney
of the author, helping him out of tight spots more than once.
Once in a while, the author would pick up Dr. Ronge at his office and
take him for a beer at the "Wilmersdorfer". On one such occasion, Dr.
Ronge, chairman of the Free Democrat Party, voiced his concern about the era
Brandt[xiii].
He knew what Brandt had written in 1935 in the magazine "Tribüne",
namely that it was the aim of his life to "make
Dr. Ronge came from
Dr. Ronge was an extremely gifted lawyer and envied by many.
Unfortunately, all efforts to get the university to honour Dr. Ronge have
failed. His knowledge, his quick-wittedness and his sense of humour will never
be forgotten by the author. When the author visited his office unannounced, he
would greet him: "Well, dear Professor, what have you done now?" (Na, lieber Professor, was haben wir denn
heute wieder angestellt?) or "Today, dear Professor, you do not look
the part at all. What's the matter?" (Sie sehen heute aber gar nicht professoral aus…) Another of his sayings was: "Dear Professor,
there are many things I can battle and help you, but I am powerless against perjury."
How many friends Dr. Ronge had - and how many he had helped at a very
low fee - became evident at his funeral in Berlin-Dahlem. The mourners filled
Hüttenweg for hundreds of meters all the way to Clay-Allee, something seldom to
be seen.
After his death, the author learned that Dr. Ronge's widow was
penniless. Dr. Ronge had "never thought about money". He had helped the
author four times, but sent only one invoice in which the travel expenses
Berlin-Mannheim-Berlin were the biggest item.
Once, the author was able to help Dr. Ronge, namely in the Burgmann case which had to do with E
605: PROJ XVIII in [1]: The information provided by the author led to acquittal
from the charge of murder.
re 11) SCHERER
Dr. F. Scherer, known
for the development of fluorochlorinated hydrocarbons (FREON), was department
head and director of Farbwerke HOECHST and established the author's contact
with that company in the 1950s, a cooperation which was to last for more than
20 years.
The chemical pest control department of Farbwerke HOECHST headed by Dr.
F. Scherer, was interested in the author's work on hexachlorocyclopentadiene chemistry, i.e. the group of DIENE
insecticides developed by the author, and acquired pertinent intellectual
property rights with the author's aid. This also included the development of
the insecticide THIODAN e.g. [11]. In the course of the years, the cooperation
also extended to other fields as is shown by several patent applications.
Details on the topic "Pest Control Research" and "Inventor
fights" in PROJ VI to XIII, XVII
[1], [40] and published 2005 in the
Internet under
http://www.bwwsociety.org/journal/html/pestcontrol.htm
[35].
According to the opinion of some representatives of German
industry (HOECHST) and of competent scientists, nominated below, the discovery
of the unexpected high reactivity of hexa-chlorocyclopentadiene
with unsaturated compounds of all kind and of the insecticidal properties of pertinent adducts (M
410, C10H6Cl8) are entirely due to
Riemschneider.
The justification of this opinion, supported by the
-
Head board of Farbwerke HOECHST , under Director Dr Scherer,
Plant Protection, and Dr.Beer, Patent
Department
-
Nobelprice winners profs Dr A.Butenandt and Dr.Richard Kuhn,
was based on the facts summarised in SPECIAL PART J) and on the
following background information:
When occupying
re 12) WILLI LAUTSCH
Prof. Dr. W. Lautsch,
Organic Chemistry of the Free University (1950)
As already pointed out above, none of the chairs in Chemistry at the
Free University had suitable incumbents - or were perceived as such (in the
opinion of Dinghas, Schütte and Kuhn). For example, Prof. Dr. W. Lautsch who
held the chair for Organic Chemistry, conducted biochemical research (enzyme
issues), but no pure Organic Chemistry - as opposed to the author who published
continuously in the field of Organic Chemistry[xiv]
and then - as a delimitation against Lautsch and against the latter's will -
received a "Docentship for Organic Chemistry" at the Institute of
Organic Chemistry, but represented research and the teaching of Biochemistry,
primarily not to get in the way of the Organic specialist. Merely on a proforma
basis, the chair for Physical Chemistry was filled by Iwan Stranski, a renowned
physico-chemist, but unfortunately all the lectures were held by Prof. Vetter,
an electrochemist; the chair for Inorganic Chemistry was filled with an analyst,
namely Prof. Dr. Jahr. The term UNIVERSITAS had been lost to some chairholders
even before the so-called democratisation.
The conflict between Lautsch and Riemschneider briefly mentioned above
was inevitable. Lautsch's research was unsuccessful, despite a large staff and
sufficient funds. He fell ill and had to give up after a few years (Psychiatric
Clinic). In a faculty meeting, Lautsch only agreed to the appointment of the
author (working in the
As a result of his often uncontrolled behaviour, Professor Lautsch had
made many enemies so that numerous people testified against him after his
nervous breakdown, these testimonials being collected by the FU administration.
The author was the only one who did not testify against Lautsch (illness
excuses much), even though he would have had sufficient reason. With the aid of
his friend, defence counsel Dr. Ronge, the author succeeded in refusing to
testify against Lautsch as demanded by the Academic Senate (1960). This was to
have beneficial consequences: After Lautsch recovered and returned to work, he
helped the author build up the subject BIOCHEMISTRY and separate it from the
subject Organic Chemistry. Unfortunately, Lautsch died soon after his
"recovery" and the author had to continue "battling"
against Jahr as mentioned above.
Jahr, Head of the Institut of Inorganic Chemisty FU Berlin, but only
specialist in Inorganic Analytical Chemistry, “represented” the subject Organic
Chemistry after the death of collegue Lautsch (1962) and should have held the
main lectures in Organic Chemistry (demonstration lecture with 48 lessons per
term) offered in the “Personal- und
Vorlesungsverzeichnis der FU in the 60ies“ under the heading
“Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Vorlesungen Chemie” : Table 1.
Since Jahr was incapable of this (given his specialisation in Inorganic
Chemistry) he approached the author with the request to hold this demonstration
lecture. In return, he offered to guarantee independence of Biochemistry.
Nevertheless, Jahr fought against the author until his death.
Continued in blue letters after Table
1.
Table 1:
Vorlesungsankündigung FU
Organische Experimentalchemie
für
Chemiker, Lebensmittelchemiker, Physiker, Biologen, Pharmazeuten,
Lehramtskandidaten, Mediziner, Zahnmediziner, Veterinärmediziner, Geologen,
Mineralogen
Mi, Fr 12-14
The author gave an excellent experimental lesson in spite of only short
preparation time (three weeks before start asked from Jahr) and in spite of
accident of his main assistant (motorcycle crash: Eberhardt Riedel).
Four of his doctoral candidates helped voluntary to prepare the
experiments. Thanks here again to the co-corkers then already “Diplom-Chemiker”
for sacrificing a whole term: K.Brendel, E.B.Grabitz, H.Kampfer, and
D.Kirstein. All of them became successful chemists with the appropriate Dr.
title.
For a long time, there
were three unmarried colleagues in the Mathematical Scientific Department of
the Free University: Dinghas (Mathematics), Hinderer (Astronomy) and
Riemschneider (Chemistry/ Biochemistry). This alone gave Professor Jahr enough
reason to imply that we led a "loose life". What an irony, that it
was he who died in a porn cinema: Dinghas had informed the author by telephone
in his heavily accented German (because Greek was his mother tongue): Mr.
Rimmenschneider, imagine, colleague Jahr is dead - of all things, he died
in a porno movie."
Under the heading
"Dr. Werner Saenger Publishing House", it had already been pointed
out that the publication of the two monographs "What there is to know about contact insecticides I & II",
1st ed., published 1947 and 1949, respectively, resulted in numerous
important contacts both in Germany and abroad, most of all Brazil, Japan, and
Italy.
Contacts in
13) Professor
Dr. Richard Wasicky, sen.
had been trying to
recruit the author for
Professor Wasicky,
Wasicky told the author
details about his escape and about a certain Dr. Gerhardt Schenck who - in
uniform at the time - had been the first to notice Wasicky's absence. This
Schenck held the chair for Pharmacy at the FU in
Illustration 3:
Professor Wasicky (left) with the author
The extensive knowledge of Professor Wasicky was demonstrated, for
example, on walks taken with the author in
The author learnt a vast amount during these unforgettable walks and
wishes he could have benefited from Wasicky's wisdom even longer.
Unfortunately, the latter died before the opening of the Chemical Central Institute
organized by the author on behalf of
UFSM (USM) between 1964 and 1972. It
is a great pity that Professor Wasicky's name does not appear on the
commemorative plaque unveiled on the occasion of the inauguration (1973; Plate
2a), even though he initiated the whole project by bringing the author together
with the vice-chancellor of the university, Mariano, in 1962: Plates 2a,b
Plate 2a shown here:
Plate 2b: Text of the commemorative plaque
REPÚBLICA FEDERATIVA DO BRASIL
MINISTÉRIO DA EDUCAÇÃO E CULTURA
UNIVERSIDADE
FEDERÁL DE SANTA MARIA
CENTRO DE ESTUDOS BÁSICOS
DEPARTAMENTO DE QUÍMICA
INSTALAÇÃO: 24 DE AGOSTO DE 1973
PRESIDENTE DA REPÚBLICA
GENERAL EMILIO GARRASTAZÚ MÉDICI
MINISTRO DA EDUCAÇÃO E CULTURA
SENADOR JARBAS CONCALVES PASSARINHO
REITOR DA UFSM
PROF.DR.JOSÉ MARIANO DA ROCHA FILHO
DECANO DO GER
DR.DOMINGOS CROSSETTI
DIRETOR COORDENADOR (GERMANIA OCIDENTAL)
PROF.DR.RANDOLPH RIEMSCHNEIDER
DIRETOR (BRASIL)
PROF.DR. CLANDIO MARQUES DA ROCHA
CONVÉNIOS
GOVERNOS: BRASIL / ALEMANHA OCIDENTAL
UNIVERSIDADES: UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE
Wasicky's wife accompanied him on all his trips from
Her brother, pharmacologist Professor Dr. Joachimovicz, also taught at
UFSM, and the author worked with him successfully over many years.
Wasicky's son, Dr. Richard Wasicky jr., who had been born in
His hobby was flying. He
had his own plane, and in 1970 we flew over S. Paulo in his Cessna PT-AXI. From
the air, I was able to grasp the true dimension of this huge city situated in a
pan which had 16 million inhabitants even then. We flew West to the Serra, then
down towards
In closing, here a few
words about the author's first visit to
More about the authors stays in
On this occasion, the author would like to point out that he saw many
cars fuelled with ethanol (PETROBRAS) instead of gasoline during his visits to
In other words, the Brazilians recognised early on that alternative
energy sources to oil and atomic energy must be found. Unfortunately, this was
not the case in
http://www.bwwsociety.org/journal/html/alternatives.htm 2006, 7p
re 14) Professor Dr. José
Mariano da Rocha Filho
For
many years, he was vice-chancellor of the
In response to this invitation, the author held the following three
lectures in three different languages in 1964:
No. 1: "Spatial structure and activity of
chemical compounds" in Englisch,
No. 2: "La chimica degli
insetticidi di gruppo DIEN" in Italian,
No. 3: "New yeast cell preparations" in
German with simultaneous translation
which belonged to the PROJECTS VII, XI and XXII [1]. That this last
lecture was held in German is due to the fact that most of the audience did not
have sufficient command of English and Italian.
This invitation was based on the desire to recruit the author for the
Then until the nineties, annual visits [see SPECIAL PART G)] to
Plate 3a
Title page of the publication
[USM (until 1963)], UFSM (1965),
136 pages [12]
Plate 3b: Organogramm of the Chemical Central Institute, page 5 in [12] In SPECIAL PART D), the planning of the
Institute is described in detail in the lectures I and II held in
Portuguese.
Progress of the building of the Central Institute in illustration 4.
Illustration 4: Central Institute under construction, amphitheatre, front left
In 1965, the author had one and a half
buildings of 115 m length, 15 m width with three floors at his disposal for
planning, organising and building the Chemical Central Institute of UFSM. The planned amphitheatre (front left) was
opened as early as
Illustration 5: Professor Mariano (left) with the author
Plate
4:
Title of the publication of the commemorative event "Inauguração do
Anfiteatro da UFSM" baseada em uma
conferencia, realizada em 16 Agõsto
1968, Ministério da Educação e Cultura, UFSM (1973), 31 pages
Text of page 2: Aula teórica de “Introdução a Bioquímica e Prática básica
da Bioquímica”, baseada em uma conferencia realizada pelo de Agõsto da 1968
para a inauguração de Anfiteatro da UFSM e compleada Agõsto de 1973.
Conferencista: Prof Dr.rer.nat., Dr.h.c.R.Riemschneider,
Diretor Coordenador.
The author did not accept the call to
Illustration 6: The author during the inauguration lecture in the
"amphitheatre": Plate 4.
The Plate behind the orator is shown as
Plate 10c at the end of this
publication.
Mariano, as the vice-chancellor was called by all his friends, was a
very special person. He had a vast knowledge which far exceeded his actual
subject, medicine. He gave excellent lectures in his native language, but also
in English. His talent for organisation brought prestige to the university, and
his strong sense of humour helped considerably.
One example: Mariano
just returned from a trip to Japan as the author arrived from Germany, which
was celebrated by a festive reception with a Galetto dinner: In a few words,
Mariano brought the big difference between Japan and Brazil to the point:
"If you pay a visit in Japan and enter a house, you take off your shoes.
In
In 1973, the author was awarded the title "Dr. honoris causa"[xv]
as well as the title of Professor h.c. which made him a full member of the
faculty of the university; also see comments in SPECIAL PART D) and the
documents copies in Plate 11a,b.
The vice-chancellor, a surgeon by training and head of the university
teaching hospital for many years, brought high standing to the university
founded by his father. A genuine friendship had developed between Mariano and
the author over the years resulting in cooperation in several fields. Also see
the essay published in the Internet:
"Thalidomide - A remedy
with two faces", dated 2004 in
http://www.bwwsociety.org/journal/html/thalidomide.htm
[13]
and http://www.bwwsociety.org/journal/html/planttech.htm [31]
under the title:
"Plant technology based on chemistry, botany, and architecture",
2008.
[This concludes Part I
of the three-part series in which this paper appears; Part II will appear in
the upcoming November-December 2008 issue]
[i] On
September 12, 1940, the
Editorial Board of the Italian periodical
"Gazzetta Chimica Italiana" received from the author in
Italian language the paper "Derivati acetilici di combinazione isocicliche
– Nota I. o-, m-, p-diacetil
benzolo" as the first scientific publication of the author, asking for later publication.
- According to his wish, the paper was
not published until after the war in the "Gazzetta Chimica Italiana 77,
607-611 (1947)". Copy
of this paper in ref.(35) in PROJ I [1]; details about o-diacetylbenzene also in
reference of footnote 4.
[ii] „religious
education“ in Nazi jargon meant „Weltanschauung“
[iii] Evidence:
the worst mark in my Highschool diploma (Abitur):
D [ausreichend]
[iv] cf. o-Diacetylbenzene
(o-Di) and some analogues in amino
acid analytics and as markers in criminalology
o-Di competitor of
ninhydrine? http://www.bwwsociety.org/journal/html/ortho.htm May 2006, 25 p: PROJ I in [1]
[v] At
the recommendation of Fritz Riemschneider, one of his father's brothers
[vi] Organisch-chemische
Experimentierkunst, by C. Weygand, publisher Johann Ambrosius Barth. Leipzig,
1948. 2nd ed. Leipzig, 824 pages, 258 illustrations. At the request of his
widow, the book was revised by Dr. Siebenmarck and Dr. R. Riemschneider. For
many years, the main work was carried out by Dr. Siebenmarck, the author
contributed to several chapters.
Here a remark regarding the intrigues after the second
edition was published:
After the book came
on the market, Dr. Siebenmarck had hoped to participate in the financial gain -
he did not receive a penny. The author was unable to help his friend Dr.
Siebenmarck, because there were no legal provisions and no contract with the
widow. Since
Riemschneider had other income and had not expected any financial reward for
himself, he had not thought about putting anything down in writing. The widow was clever and had a plan ready in
advance: Without the knowledge of Dr. Siebenmarck, she had deleted the words of
thanks to the author written by Dr. Siebenmarck during the proof-reading process.
As already
mentioned in PROJ IX 1 ref (548), the author had the intention of helping Dr.
Siebenmarck escape from the Soviet Occupation Zone in 1948/49 and to recruit
him as a collaborator at the Physiological-Chemical Institute of the University
of Berlin, i.e. to work with him scientifically. Unfortunately, family
circumstances forced Dr. Siebenmarck to remain in Leipzig.
After 1953, i.e.
after the GDR came into existence, leaving without authorisation would have
been illegal emigration - very dangerous -, and the FU where the author worked
by then, had little money at the beginning. So the situation remained as
it was.
[vii] The
pick of the bunch of Jena scientists had been taken along when the American
occupation forces left Thuringia and left idle for rather a long time in
Heidenheim an der Brenz (The exchange was Thuringia and Saxony for presence in
Berlin).
[viii] The
physicist Dr. Capella whom the author had come to know and like a few months
before was among those deported (The friendship started with the loan of a
suitable resistor for adjusting the speed of a KPG Stirrer). Dr. Capella
suffered from a nervous disease which caused permanent movements that could not
be controlled. He escaped by jumping from a moving train. Because of his
condition, the Soviets had not expected that he would make an attempt to flee
and not guarded him properly. The escape was successful.
[ix] This
title “Diplom-Chemiker” came into being very shortly before that date. Until
then, it read "2nd association exam in chemistry".
[x] This
means phosphate esters like ATP, GTP etc. with a higher group transfer
potential according to the definition of R. Riemschneider [8]. The group transfer
potential describes the ability in biochemistry to store chemical energy
in bonds. All living beings need energy in the form of ATP, GTP, TTP
etc. This energy must be replaced in the
same quantity as consumed. The
term "group transfer potential" is generally used to describe the
direction of the energy flow: the more negative the ΔG (expressed as the
free standard enthalpy ΔG°), the more exergonic the reaction. For the synthesis
of ATP from ADP (GDP from GTP) therefore, phosphorylated metabolites
with high group transfer potential are needed. On the other hand, ATP is capable of phosphorylating
metabolites like glucose, because it has a higher group transfer
potential than the resulting glucose phosphates. Group transfer onto an
acceptor is smooth whenever the reaction is exergonic, i.e. when the free
enthalpy change has a negative sign. If one desires to compare the ease of
group transfer for different systems, a reference compound is required as the
acceptor. Water was chosen as such a reference compound so that the received data
should be rated as change of the free standard enthalpy during hydrolysis; cf.
also Plate 7-9.
[xi] At
the invitation of Professor Einstein, Professor Dinghas was visiting professor at the university of
Princeton over a longer period of time in the 1950s.
[xii] see ref [31]: Plant
technology
[xiii] In the authors opinion, it would be discounted
during that era that one cannot spend more money than one has. How right he
was, is best shown by a joke told to the author by a Munich
taxi driver on the way from the airport to the Patent Court: "Federal
Chancellor Brandt has been nominated for a Nobel Prize for the second time,
this time for Chemistry, because he converted the D-Mark into shit” (Chemistry
is the science of substance conversions). When the Brandt administration came
to power, the country was free of debt, then!
[xiv] For example, in over 100 original organic
chemistry papers published between 1951 and 1959 in scientific magazines such
as Mh. Chem., Z. Naturforschg., Chem. Ber., etc.;
cf. [1].
[xv] Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Richard Kuhn was also
awarded the title "Dr. h.c." by the
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