Rudolf Fittig - Career

Scientist, born in Hamburg, N Germany. He studied at Göttingen, and became professor of organic chemistry at Tübingen (1869) and at Strasbourg (1876). He is best known for his work on organic compounds, in particular their reaction with sodium.

Fittig was responsible for discovery of the pinacol coupling reaction, mesitylene, diacetyl and biphenyl. He discovered the Fittig reaction or Wurtz-Fittig reaction for the synthesis of alkylbenzenes, he proposed a diketone structure for benzoquinone and isolated phenanthrene from coal tar.

Career

Fittig studied chemistry at Göttingen, graduating as Ph.D. Fittig's researches are entirely in organic chemistry, and cover an exceptionally wide field. He observed that aldehydes and ketones may suffer reduction in neutral, alkaline, and sometimes acid solution to secondary and tertiary glycols, substances which he named pinacones; Fittig developed this method by showing that a mixture of an aromatic and alkyl haloid, under similar treatment, yielded homologues of benzene. His investigations on Perkins reaction led him to an explanation of its mechanism which appeared to be more in accordance with the facts. The question, however, is one of much difficulty, and the exact course of the reaction appears to await solution. These researches incidentally solved the constitution of coumarin, the odoriferous principle of woodruff. Fittig and Erdmann's observation that phenyl isocrotonic acid readily yielded α-naphthol by loss of water was of much importance, since it afforded valuable evidence as to the constitution of raphthalene. They also investigated certain hydrocarbons occurring in the high boiling point fraction of the coal tar distillate and solved the constitution of phenanthrene. We also owe much of our knowledge of the alkaloid piperine to Fittig, who in collaboration with Ira Remsen established its constitution in 1871. Fittig has published two widely used textbooks; be edited several editions of Wohler's Grundriss der organischen Chemie (11th ed., 1887) and wrote an Unorganische Chemie (1st ed., 1872;