Karl Otto Christe (born July 24, 1936) is an inorganic

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 t ...

. He is the best reference in respectful handling of a huge number of extremely reactive components and his extensive experience in fluorine chemistry earned him the title of 'The Fluorine God'. His research covers fluorine chemistry of nitrogen and halogens and the synthesis of new energetic materials.

Life

In 1957 Christe began his chemistry studies at the University of Stuttgart. He prepared both his diploma- (1960) and PhD theses (1961) under the supervision of

Josef Goubeau Josef Goubeau (31 March 1901 in Augsburg, Germany – 18 October 1990 in Stuttgart) was a German chemist. Life and work Goubeau studied chemistry at the University of Munich starting from 1921 and attained a doctorate there 1926 on the atomic we ...

. In 1962, Christe immigrated to the US and settled in California. He started working as a senior research chemist with Stauffer Chemical Co in Richmond/CA. In 1967 he joined Rocketdyne Division

Rockwell International Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. R ...

Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and t ...

where he became the manager of research in 1978. In 1994 he accepted split positions between the

Air Force Research Laboratory The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of aerospace warfighting technologies, pl ...

at Edwards Air Force Base and the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute of USC. In 2005, he moved full-time to USC where he is working as a research professor.

Work

Since the 1960s, Christe has been investigating the synthesis of new fluorides of nitrogen, halogen, and the halogen oxides, as well as their ions. Notable examples are the syntheses of both NF₄⁺ and ClF₆⁺. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of

Henri Moissan Ferdinand Frédéric Henri Moissan (28 September 1852 – 20 February 1907) was a French chemist and pharmacist who won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in isolating fluorine from its compounds. Moissan was one of the original mem ...

's first production of fluorine, Christe in 1986 reported about the first truly chemical synthesis of fluorine. Another important field of his work covers the research on homoleptic nitrogen compounds for use in energetic materials. In this context, he synthesized the bent

pentazenium In chemistry, the pentazenium cation (also known as pentanitrogen) is a positively-charged polyatomic ion with the chemical formula and structure . Together with solid nitrogen polymers and the azide anion, it is one of only three poly-nitrogen ...

cation, N₅⁺, and was the first to experimentally detect the cyclic

pentazolate In chemistry, a pentazolate is a compound that contains a ''cyclo''-N5− ion, the anion of pentazole. In 2017, researchers prepared the first salt (N5)6(H3O)3(NH4)4Cl containing pentazolate anion starting a substituted phenylpentazole, ''m''-CPB ...

anion, N₅⁻ and to prepare stable high nitrogen pentazolates. Both compounds are considered important milestones on the way to even heavier polynitrogen compounds. In 1996, Christe was the first to propose the use of

ionic liquids An ionic liquid (IL) is a salt in the liquid state. In some contexts, the term has been restricted to salts whose melting point is below a specific temperature, such as . While ordinary liquids such as water and gasoline are predominantly made of ...

as energetic materials in propulsion systems. He is currently working on the development of oxidizers to replace the dangerous ammonium perchlorate. Christe has authored over 400 peer-review publications, and has more than 60 patents.

Awards

*1969: Apollo Achievement Award,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

*1986: ACS National Award in Fluorine Chemistry,

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

(ACS) *1999: Star Team Award,

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sig ...

*2000: Henri Moissan Award, Institution du Prix Moissan, Paris *2003: ACS National Award in Inorganic Chemistry Award, ACS *2006:

Alfred Stock Alfred Stock (July 16, 1876 – August 12, 1946) was a German inorganic chemist. He did pioneering research on the hydrides of boron and silicon, coordination chemistry, mercury, and mercury poisoning. The German Chemical Society's Alfred-Stoc ...

Preis,

Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker The German Chemical Society (German: ', GDCh) is a learned society and professional association founded in 1949 to represent the interests of German chemists in local, national and international contexts. GDCh "brings together people working in che ...

, *2010:

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 37 Nobel Prize laur ...

, Salzburg *2011: Richard C. Tolman Award, ACS *2015: ACS National Award for Creative Research and Applications of Iodine Chemistry *2017: Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science *2021: ACS National Award M. Frederick Hawthorne Award in Main Group Inorganic Chemistry

Publications (selection)

* *The hexafluorochlorine (VII) cation, CIF₆⁺, K. O. Christe, Inorg. Nucl. Chem. Lett. 8, 751, (1972) * * * * * *

References

External links

Chem.usc.eduPressrealtions.deScalacs.org
*80th Birthday of Karl O. Christ

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christe, Karl Otto 1936 births Living people German emigrants to the United States People from Ulm University of Southern California faculty