Maximilian Nierenstein (also known as Moses Max Nierenstein or Max Nierenstein; 1877–1946) was a professor of

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

. He is known for the Nierenstein reaction, an organic reaction describing the conversion of an acid chloride into an haloketone with diazomethane. In 1912, Polish biochemist Casimir Funk isolated a complex of micronutrients and proposed the complex be named "

vitamin Vitamins are Organic compound, organic molecules (or a set of closely related molecules called vitamer, vitamers) that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolism, metabolic function. Nutrient#Essential nutrients, ...

e" (a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of "vital amine"), a name reportedly suggested by friend Max Nierenstein. He also studied

natural phenol In biochemistry, naturally occurring phenols are natural products containing at least one phenol functional group. Phenolic compounds are produced by plants and microorganisms. Organisms sometimes synthesize phenolic compounds in response to ecol ...

s and

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...

s found in different plant species. He showed in 1945 that luteic acid, a molecule present in the myrobalanitannin, a tannin found in the fruit of '' Terminalia chebula'', is an intermediary compound in the synthesis of

ellagic acid Ellagic acid is a polyphenol found in numerous fruits and vegetables. It is the dilactone of hexahydroxydiphenic acid. Name The name comes from the French term ''acide ellagique'', from the word ''galle'' spelled backward because it can be o ...

. Working with Arthur George Perkin, he prepared

from algarobilla and certain other

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s in 1905. He suggested its formation from

galloyl Gallic acid (also known as 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) is a trihydroxybenzoic acid with the formula C6 H2( OH)3CO2H. It is classified as a phenolic acid. It is found in gallnuts, sumac, witch hazel, tea leaves, oak bark, and other plant ...

glycine Glycine (symbol Gly or G; ) is an amino acid that has a single hydrogen atom as its side chain. It is the simplest stable amino acid. Glycine is one of the proteinogenic amino acids. It is encoded by all the codons starting with GG (G ...

by ''

Penicillium ''Penicillium'' () is a genus of Ascomycota, ascomycetous fungus, fungi that is part of the mycobiome of many species and is of major importance in the natural environment, in food spoilage, and in food and drug production. Some members of th ...

'' in 1915. Tannase is an enzyme that Niederstein used to produce m- digallic acid from gallotannins. He proved the presence of

catechin Catechin is a flavan-3-ol, a type of secondary metabolite providing antioxidant roles in plants. It belongs to the subgroup of polyphenols called flavonoids. The name of the catechin chemical family derives from ''catechu'', which is the tannic ...

cocoa bean The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa () or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao tree ...

s in 1931. He also worked on milk and caseinogen. He reviewed the discovery of

lactose Lactose is a disaccharide composed of galactose and glucose and has the molecular formula C12H22O11. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from (Genitive case, gen. ), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix ''-o ...

in 1936.

Works

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References

External links

* http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/maximilian-nierenstein/ (Italian) 1877 births 1946 deaths German biochemists Vitamin researchers Alumni of the University of Bristol {{Biochemist-stub