Hermann Staudinger

Hermann Staudinger

German chemist, awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Date of Birth: 23.03.1881
Country: Germany

Biography of Hermann Staudinger

Hermann Staudinger was a German chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1953. He initially intended to study botany after finishing high school, but at his father's advice, he pursued chemistry instead. He enrolled at the University of Halle in 1898 and studied at the Higher Technical School in Darmstadt in 1899 and the University of Munich in 1900. In 1903, he earned his Ph.D. degree.

From 1903 to 1907, Staudinger worked at the University of Strasbourg, where he conducted research on the properties of ketones. These studies made him so renowned that at the age of 26, he received an invitation to become an extraordinary professor at the Higher Technical School in Karlsruhe. He conducted research on isoprene, butadiene, and aliphatic hydrocarbons. In 1912, he became a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich.

During his time in Zurich, Staudinger conducted notable research on the synthesis and properties of high-molecular-weight compounds. In 1921, he demonstrated that the molecules of rubber and other colloidal compounds consist of a vast number of atoms (from thousands to millions) connected by covalent bonds. This discovery challenged the prevailing belief at the time that these compounds formed from relatively low-molecular-weight compounds through the action of "associative forces."

In 1920 and 1922, Staudinger hydrogenated rubber, resulting in a soluble colloid called hydro-rubber. He explained its solubility as a result of valence forces. In 1922, he proposed calling such molecules "macromolecules." To prove their existence, he had to develop new methods of investigation, including the viscometric method for determining molecular weight.

In 1922, Staudinger also proposed the theory of the chain structure of macromolecules. However, since this theory could not explain the loss of solubility in some polymers, he supplemented it with the concept of branched macromolecules and three-dimensional polymer networks. In 1934, he discovered the three-dimensional polymerization reaction in collaboration with V. Heyer.

The results of Staudinger's research were utilized even before the completion of debates on the correctness of theoretical concepts regarding the structure of rubber. They led to a significant increase in the production of synthetic high-molecular-weight compounds. In 1926, Staudinger was invited to become a chemistry professor at the University of Freiburg. In 1940, the Institute for Macromolecular Chemistry was established based on his department.

Staudinger was awarded honorary doctorates from six educational institutions and was a member of numerous scientific societies.

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