Geinrih Wiland Chemist Date of Birth: 04.06.1877 Country: Germany

1. Biography of Heinrich Otto Wieland
2. Contributions to Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry
3. Other Contributions and Personal Life

Biography of Heinrich Otto Wieland

Heinrich Otto Wieland was a German organic and biochemist. He was born in Pforzheim, Germany, to Theodore Wieland, a pharmacist, and Eliza (Blom) Wieland. Wieland received his primary and secondary education in local schools and went on to study chemistry at the universities of Munich, Berlin, and Stuttgart. In 1901, he obtained his doctorate degree from the University of Munich and later worked as a lecturer and adjunct professor there in 1909. Four years later, Wieland became a professor at the Technical University of Munich.

Contributions to Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry

During World War I, Wieland worked at the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry Kaiser Wilhelm in Berlin, under Fritz Haber, where he contributed to Germany's efforts in developing chemical weapons. After the war, he returned to the Technical University of Munich, where he remained until his retirement in 1950. Wieland made significant contributions to various areas of organic chemistry, refusing to focus solely on narrow scientific fields like many other scientists of his time.

Initially, Wieland studied the chemistry of organic nitrogen compounds, particularly the mechanism of the addition of nitrogen oxides to carbon-carbon double bonds and the nitration of aromatic hydrocarbons. He also investigated the sequence of reactions and intermediate compounds formed during the synthesis of cyanuric acid from ethanol, nitric acid, and mercury. His analysis of the color reaction of hydrazine led him to the discovery of free nitrogen radicals, highly reactive groups of atoms with unpaired electrons. Wieland and his colleagues published over 90 articles on nitrogen compound research.

In 1932, English chemists Otto Rosenheim and Harold King, using X-ray crystallography, proved that these substances were steroids, organic compounds with a structure consisting of four carbon rings. Wieland noted that bile acids form colloidal solutions with fats and hydrocarbons in water, suggesting their physiological function was to convert dietary fats into a water-soluble form. For his studies on bile acids and the structure of related compounds, Wieland was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1927.

Other Contributions and Personal Life

Wieland's research also extended to the chemistry of natural substances, such as morphine and strychnine alkaloids, curare, lobelia, toxic cyclopentides like phallodin and amanitin found in the death cap mushroom, and pigments in butterfly wings known as pterins. In 1908, Wieland married Josephine Bartmann, and they had three sons, one of whom, Theodore, determined the precise structure of phallodin, and a daughter who married Theodore Linn. Despite his scientific achievements, Wieland was known for his boundless energy and remarkable work ethic. He enjoyed drawing and playing music, often participating in home musical performances. Wieland passed away at the age of 80 in Starnberg, Germany.

Throughout his career, Wieland served as the editor of "Liebig's Annalen der Chemie" for 20 years, showcasing his encyclopedic knowledge of chemistry. He was a member of numerous scientific societies, including the Royal Society of London, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Chemical Societies of London, Romania, Japan, India, and the Soviet Union, as well as the academies of sciences in Munich, Göttingen, Heidelberg, and Berlin. In 1955, the German Chemical Society awarded Wieland the inaugural Otto Hahn Prize for his achievements in physics and chemistry. He received honorary degrees from the University of Freiburg and Athens.