Ernst Otto Fischer (; 10 November 1918 – 23 July 2007) was a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize for pioneering work in the area of
organometallic chemistry
Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and so ...
.
Early life
He was born in
Solln, a borough of
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. His parents were Karl T. Fischer, Professor of Physics at the
Technical University of Munich
The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences.
Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...
(TU), and Valentine née Danzer. He graduated in 1937 with ''Abitur''. Before the completion of two years'
compulsory military service
Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...
, the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
broke out, and he served in Poland, France, and Russia. During a period of study leave, towards the end of 1941 he began to study chemistry at the
Technical University of Munich
The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences.
Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...
. Following the end of the War, he was released by the Americans in the autumn of 1945 and resumed his studies.
Training
Fischer graduated from TUM in 1949. He then started his doctoral thesis as an assistant to Professor
Walter Hieber
Walter Hieber (18 December 1895 – 29 November 1976) was an inorganic chemist, known as the father of metal carbonyl chemistry. He was born 18 December 1895 and died 29 November 1976. Hieber's father was Johannes Hieber, an influential evange ...
in the
Inorganic Chemistry
Inorganic chemistry deals with chemical synthesis, synthesis and behavior of inorganic compound, inorganic and organometallic chemistry, organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subj ...
Institute, His thesis was entitled "The Mechanisms of Carbon Monoxide Reactions of Nickel(II) Salts in the Presence of Dithionites and Sulfoxylates".
Research career
After receiving his doctorate in 1952, he remained at TU. He continued his research on the
organometallic chemistry
Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and so ...
of the
transition metal
In chemistry, a transition metal (or transition element) is a chemical element in the d-block of the periodic table (groups 3 to 12), though the elements of group 12 (and less often group 3) are sometimes excluded. The lanthanide and actinid ...
. He almost immediately challenged the structure for ferrocene as postulated by Pauson and Keally. Shortly thereafter, he published the structural data of
ferrocene
Ferrocene is an organometallic chemistry, organometallic compound with the formula . The molecule is a Cyclopentadienyl complex, complex consisting of two Cyclopentadienyl anion, cyclopentadienyl rings sandwiching a central iron atom. It is an o ...
and the new complexes
nickelocene
Nickelocene is the organonickel compound with the formula Ni( ''η''5-C5H5)2. Also known as bis(cyclopentadienyl)nickel or NiCp2, this bright green paramagnetic solid is of enduring academic interest, although it does not yet have any known pra ...
and
cobaltocene
Cobaltocene, known also as bis(cyclopentadienyl)cobalt(II) or even "bis Cp cobalt", is an organocobalt compound with the formula Co(C5H5)2. It is a dark purple solid that sublimes readily slightly above room temperature. Cobaltocene was discover ...
. Near the same time, he focused also on the then baffling chemistry resulting from Hein's reactions of chromium(III) chloride with
phenylmagnesium bromide
Phenylmagnesium bromide, with the simplified formula , is a magnesium-containing organometallic compound. It forms colorless crystals. It is commercially available as a solution in diethyl ether or tetrahydrofuran (THF). Phenylmagnesium bromide i ...
. This effort resulted in his isolation of
bis(benzene)chromium
Bis(benzene)chromium is the organometallic compound with the formula . It is sometimes called dibenzenechromium. The compound played an important role in the development of sandwich compounds in organometallic chemistry and is the prototypical co ...
, foretelling an entirely new class of sandwich complexes.
Professional advances and recognition
He was appointed a lecturer at the TU in 1955 and, in 1957, professor and then, in 1959, C4 professor. In 1964 he took the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry at the TU.
In 1964, he was elected a member of the Mathematics/Natural Science section of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. In 1969 he was appointed a member of the
German Academy of Natural Scientists, Leopoldina and in 1972 was given an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy of the University of Munich.
He lectured across the world on metal complexes of
cyclopentadienyl Cyclopentadienyl can refer to
* Cyclopentadienyl anion, or cyclopentadienide,
** Cyclopentadienyl ligand
* Cyclopentadienyl radical, •
* Cyclopentadienyl cation,
See also
* Pentadienyl
{{Chemistry index ...
, indenyl, arenes, olefins, and metal carbonyls. In the 1960s his group discovered a metal alkylidene and alkylidyne complexes, since referred to as
Fischer carbene
A Fischer carbene is a type of transition metal carbene complex, which is an organometallic compound containing a divalent organic ligand. In a Fischer carbene, the carbene ligand is a σ-donor π-acceptor ligand. Because π-backdonation from the ...
s and Fischer-
carbyne
In organic chemistry, a carbyne is a general term for any compound whose structure consists of an electrically neutral carbon atom connected by a single covalent bond and has three non-bonded electrons. The carbon atom has either one or three ...
s. Overall he published about 450 journal articles and he trained many PhD and postdoctoral students, many of whom went on to noteworthy careers. Among his many foreign lectureships, he was Firestone Lecturer at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
(1969), visiting professor at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
(1971), and
Arthur D. Little
Arthur D. Little is an international management consulting firm originally headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1886 and formally incorporated in 1909 by Arthur Dehon Little, an MIT chemist who extended the applicatio ...
visiting professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
(1973).
He has received many awards including, in 1973 with
Geoffrey Wilkinson
Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson FRS (14 July 1921 – 26 September 1996) was a Nobel laureate English chemist who pioneered inorganic chemistry and homogeneous transition metal catalysis.
Education and early life
Wilkinson was born at Springside, Todm ...
, the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...
for his work on
organometallic compound
Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and ...
s.
Death

He died on 23 July 2007 in Munich.
derStandard.at
/ref> At the time of his death, Fischer was the oldest living German Nobel laureate. He was succeeded by Manfred Eigen
Manfred Eigen (; 9 May 1927 – 6 February 2019) was a German biophysical chemist who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on measuring fast chemical reactions.
Eigen's research helped solve major problems in physical chemistry and ...
, who shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967 and is nine years younger than Fischer was.
See also
*Organochromium chemistry Organochromium chemistry is a branch of organometallic chemistry that deals with organic compounds containing a chromium to carbon bond and their reactions. The field is of some relevance to organic synthesis. The relevant oxidation states for organ ...
*Organouranium chemistry
Organouranium chemistry is the science exploring the properties, structure, and reactivity of organouranium compounds, which are organometallic compounds containing a carbon to uranium chemical bond. The field is of some importance to the nuclea ...
*Chromocene
Chromocene is the organochromium compound with the formula r(C5H5)2 Like structurally related metallocenes, chromocene readily sublimes in a vacuum and is soluble in non-polar organic solvents. It is more formally known as bis(η5-cyclopentadien ...
*Metallocene
A metallocene is a compound typically consisting of two cyclopentadienyl anions (, abbreviated Cp) bound to a metallic element, metal center (M) in the oxidation state II, with the resulting general formula Closely related to the metallocenes are ...
*Osmocene
Osmocene is an organoosmium compound found as a white solid. It is a metallocene with the formula Os(C5H5)2.
Synthesis
Osmocene is commercially available. It may be prepared by the reaction of osmium tetroxide with hydrobromic acid followed by ...
*Rhodocene
Rhodocene is a chemical compound with the formula . Each molecule contains an atom of rhodium bound between two planar aromaticity, aromatic systems of five carbon atoms known as cyclopentadienyl rings in a sandwich compound, sandwich arrangement ...
*Sandwich compound
In organometallic chemistry, a sandwich compound is a chemical compound featuring a metal bound by hapticity, haptic, covalent bonds to two arene compound, arene (ring) ligands. The arenes have the formula , substituted derivatives (for example ...
References
*C. Elschenbroich, A. Salzer ”Organometallics : A Concise Introduction” (2nd Ed) (1992) from Wiley-VCH: Weinheim.
*
*
*
External links
* including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1973 ''On the Road to Carbene and Carbyne Complexes''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Ernst Otto
1918 births
2007 deaths
Inorganic chemists
20th-century German chemists
Nobel laureates in Chemistry
German Nobel laureates
Technical University of Munich alumni
Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich
Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities