Jacob Volhard (4 June 1834 – 14 January 1910) was the German chemist who discovered, together with his student Hugo Erdmann, the Volhard–Erdmann cyclization reaction. He was also responsible for the improvement of the Hell–Volhard–Zelinsky halogenation. From 1852 to 1855 he studied chemistry at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...

, and afterwards, furthered his education at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. For two years he worked as an assistant under

Justus von Liebig Justus ''Freiherr'' von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 18 April 1873) was a Germans, German scientist who made major contributions to the theory, practice, and pedagogy of chemistry, as well as to agricultural and biology, biological chemistry; he is ...

at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, and in 1860/61 studied with

August Wilhelm von Hofmann August Wilhelm von Hofmann (8 April 18185 May 1892) was a German chemist who made considerable contributions to organic chemistry. His research on aniline helped lay the basis of the aniline-dye industry, and his research on coal tar laid the g ...

in London. In 1863 he obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

at Munich, where he subsequently became an associate professor. In the meantime, he worked in the Institute of Plant Physiology at the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities () is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject. The general goal of th ...

(1865–76). In 1879 he was named a professor of

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

at the

University of Erlangen A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, then in 1882 relocated to the

University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

, where he served as a professor up until 1908.

Selected works

* ''Die Begründung der Chemie durch Lavoisier'', 1870 – The founding of chemistry by

Antoine Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), When reduced without charcoal, it gave off an air which supported respiration and combustion in an enhanced way. He concluded that this was just a pure form of common air and that i ...

. * ''Experiments in general chemistry and introduction to chemical analysis'', 1889; Analytic tables by Clemens Zimmermann, translated by Edward Renouf. * ''August Wilhelm von Hofmann : ein Lebensbild im Auftrage der Deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft'', 1902 – Biography of August Wilhelm von Hofmann. * ''Justus von Liebig'' (2 volumes, 1909) – Biography of Justus von Liebig.Most widely held works by Jakob Volhard
WorldCat Identities

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Volhard, Jacob 1834 births 1910 deaths 19th-century German chemists Scientists from Darmstadt People from the Grand Duchy of Hesse University of Giessen alumni Heidelberg University alumni Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Academic staff of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Academic staff of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg

Selected works

See also

References