Costin D. Neniţescu in some

scientific publication : ''For a broader class of literature, see Academic publishing.'' Scientific literature comprises scholarly publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences. Within an academic field, scient ...

written as ''Nenitzescu'' (; 15 July 1902 – 28 July 1970) was a prominent

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

, and a professor at the

Polytechnic University of Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Politehnica din București) is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania. 200 years of activity have been celebrated lately, as the university was founded in 1818.member of the Romanian Academy, a corresponding member of the German Academy of Sciences in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, and a member of the Leopoldina Academy of Natural Scientists in Halle-Saale.

Education and career

After completing in 1920 his secondary studies at Gheorghe Lazăr High School, Neniţescu continued his studies at the

Polytechnic Institute An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

and

Ludwig Maximilian University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, where he was one of the favorite students of Hans Fischer. He studied Friedel–Crafts-like reactions in the series of aliphatic hydrocarbons, the mechanism of the isomerization of cyclobasics, the halogen migration in cycles and chains, reactions induced by carbonium ions, and others. He identified a group of

naphthenic acid Naphthenic acids (NAs) are a mixture of several cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl carboxylic acids with molecular weight of 120 to well over 700 atomic mass units. The main fraction are carboxylic acids with a carbon backbone of 9 to 20 carbons. McKee ...

s in Romanian crude oil. He searched for ways of obtaining

cyclobutadiene Cyclobutadiene is an organic compound with the formula . It is very reactive owing to its tendency to dimerize. Although the parent compound has not been isolated, some substituted derivatives are robust and a single molecule of cyclobutadiene is ...

, while explaining the chemistry of this unstable substance and isolating its dimers. His research interests were also in the oxidation of open-chain and aromatic hydrocarbons with chromic acid and chromic oxychloride. He found new methods for the synthesis of

pyrylium salt Pyrylium is a cation (positive ion) with formula , consisting of a six-membered ring of five carbon atoms, each with one hydrogen atom, and one positively charged oxygen atom. The bonds in the ring are conjugated as in benzene, giving it an ar ...

s ( Balaban–Nenitzescu–Praill synthesis), of

carbene In organic chemistry, a carbene is a molecule containing a neutral carbon atom with a valence of two and two unshared valence electrons. The general formula is or where the R represents substituents or hydrogen atoms. The term "carbene" m ...

tryptamine Tryptamine is an indolamine metabolite of the essential amino acid, tryptophan. The chemical structure is defined by an indole ─ a fused benzene and pyrrole ring, and a 2-aminoethyl group at the second carbon (third aromatic atom, with the f ...

serotonin Serotonin () or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Its biological function is complex and multifaceted, modulating mood, cognition, reward, learning, memory, and numerous physiological processes such as vomiting and va ...

, two new syntheses for the indole nucleus, and a new method of polymerisation of

ethylene Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon-carbon double bonds). Ethylene ...

. His research was substantiated in more than 200 papers. His remarkable technical and scientific activity helped develop the chemical industry in Romania. A detailed biography is available in M.D. Banciu and A.T. Balaban (1995), C. D. Neniţescu -Viata si opera (C. D. Neniţescu – his life and work ), Editura Academiei Române, Bucuresti, . One of his preferred quote is:

"To be able to convey science you have to be yourself a creative scientist, or at least you should strive to be".

In his honor, the chemistry contest "C.D. Neniţescu" is organized yearly at the

References

External links

Neniţescu's biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nenitescu, Costin Romanian chemists 20th-century Romanian inventors Titular members of the Romanian Academy Politehnica University of Bucharest faculty Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Gheorghe Lazăr National College (Bucharest) alumni 1902 births 1970 deaths Members of the Romanian Academy of Sciences Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin