Alexander Ellinger (17 April 1870,
Frankfurt am Main – 26 July 1923, Frankfurt am Main) was a German chemist and
pharmacologist.
From 1887 he studied chemistry at the
University of Berlin under
August Wilhelm von Hofmann and at the
University of Bonn as a pupil of
August Kekulé. Afterwards, he studied medicine at the
University of Munich, followed by work as an assistant in the institute of pharmacology at the
University of Strasbourg. In 1897 he became an assistant to
Max Jaffé
The Jaffe reaction is a colorimetric method used in clinical chemistry to determine creatinine levels in blood and urine. In 1886, Max Jaffe (1841–1911) wrote about its basic principles in the paper ''Über den Niederschlag, welchen Pikrinsäur ...
in the laboratory of
medicinal chemistry and experimental pharmacology at the
University of Königsberg. In 1914 he was appointed professor of pharmacology at the newly established
University of Frankfurt.
[Ellinger, Alexander]
In: Neue Deutsche Biographie
''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (''NDB''; literally ''New German Biography'') is a biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 26 volumes published thus far cover ...
4 (1959), S. 457 f.
He is remembered for his extensive biochemical research of several
amino acids
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...
, especially
tryptophan. In 1904 he isolated
kynurenic acid from the urine of dogs that had been fed tryptophan. His other work included studies on the water exchange between
body tissue
In biology, tissue is a biological organizational level between cells and a complete organ. A tissue is an ensemble of similar cells and their extracellular matrix from the same origin that together carry out a specific function. Organs are th ...
s and blood, on the formation on
lymph,
[ and with chemist ]Karl Spiro
Karl Spiro (24 June 1867 – 21 March 1932) was a German biologist, and physical chemist.
Spiro was born in Berlin. In 1889 he received his PhD from the University of Würzburg as a student of Emil Fischer, then in 1893 obtained his medical do ...
, he conducted investigations of blood coagulation
Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot. It potentially results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The mechanism o ...
.Journal of the Chemical Society, Volume 72, Issue 2, Part 1
/ref>
Partial bibliography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellinger, Alexander
1870 births
1923 deaths
Scientists from Frankfurt
Academic staff of the University of Königsberg
Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt
University of Bonn alumni
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
German pharmacologists
20th-century German chemists