Nikolai Matveyevich Kischner (; 27 November 1867 – 28 November 1935) was a Russian

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

and member of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

Biography

After graduating from the Moscow Classical Gymnasium in 1886 Kischner enrolled to the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

. Since 1889 he focused on organic chemistry, studying under Vladimir Luginin and

Vladimir Markovnikov Vladimir Vasilyevich Markovnikov, also Markownikoff (; – 11 February 1904) was a Russian chemist, best known for having developed the Markovnikov's rule, that describes addition reactions of hydrogen halides and alkenes. Early life and educat ...

. In 1890, he completed his courses and started working on a PhD on "Amines and hydrazines of polymethylene series, methods of their preparation and transformation", which he defended in 1895. In 1900, he defended a

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 ...

on "The action of silver oxide and hydroxylamine on bromamines. On the structure of hexahydrobenzene". While studying under Markovnikov, he assisted him with teaching of qualitative analysis. Later (1893–1898), he taught special courses in organic chemistry at the Moscow University and the Alexander Military School. In 1901, Kischner was appointed full professor at Department of Organic Chemistry of the Tomsk Polytechnic University. His work benefited from copious funding, but it was hindered by

gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...

of his hands and feet that eventually brought him to disability. In 1913 he left his position and returned to Moscow. In Moscow, his health improved, so that he could continue working until his death in 1935.

Work

In his early years (1891–97) Kischner studied the hydrogenation of benzene using hydriodic acid. After a careful study of the physical and chemical properties of the reaction product (presumably hexahydrobenzene), he concluded that the product is methylcyclopentane, and the reaction proceeds via isomerization of the cycle. These results agreed with works of Markovnikov who discovered the isomerization of naphthenic (alicyclic) compounds. In 1907–1910, he synthesized

cyclobutane Cyclobutane is a cycloalkane and organic compound with the formula (CH2)4. Cyclobutane is a colourless gas and is commercially available as a liquefied gas. Derivatives of cyclobutane are called cyclobutanes. Cyclobutane itself is of no commerc ...

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an acid (either organic or inorganic) in which the hydrogen atom (H) of at least one acidic hydroxyl group () of that acid is replaced by an organyl group (R). These compounds contain a distin ...

and studied transformations of cyclobutane into cyclopentane. In 1911, he extended this work on

cyclopropane Cyclopropane is the cycloalkane with the molecular formula (CH2)3, consisting of three methylene groups (CH2) linked to each other to form a triangular ring. The small size of the ring creates substantial ring strain in the structure. Cyclopropane ...

. In 1910 he described the

catalytic Catalysis () is the increase in reaction rate, rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst ...

decomposition of alcylidenhydrazines, which was later named as the Wolff–Kishner reduction. In 1912, Kischner later applied the catalytic decomposition to pyrazoline bases and developed a versatile method for the preparation of substituted cyclopropanes by thermal decomposition of pyrazolines. This reaction, known as the Kishner reaction, is easy to conduct and yields pure products at a high yield of 50–70%. Kischner continued the studies of his mentor Markovnikov. He significantly contributed to the understanding of alicyclic compounds, their intermediate position between fatty (acyclic) and aromatic compounds and relationships with heterocyclic compounds. He also developed several efficient catalytic synthesis methods that were used by the Soviet

dye Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...

industry. In recognition of his achievements, he was awarded the Butlerov Prize (in 1893 and 1914) and elected as a regular (1929) and then honorary (1934) member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kischner, Nikolai 1867 births 1935 deaths Chemists from the Russian Empire Soviet chemists Academic staff of Tomsk Polytechnic University