Otto Bayer (4 November 1902 – 1 August 1982) was a German industrial

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 ...

IG Farben I. G. Farbenindustrie AG, commonly known as IG Farben, was a German Chemical industry, chemical and Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was formed on December 2, 1925 from a merger of six chemical co ...

who was head of the research group that in 1937 discovered the polyaddition for the synthesis of

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...

s out of poly-

isocyanate In organic chemistry, isocyanate is the functional group with the formula . Organic compounds that contain an isocyanate group are referred to as isocyanates. An organic compound with two isocyanate groups is known as a diisocyanate. Diisocyan ...

and

polyol In organic chemistry, a polyol is an organic compound containing multiple hydroxyl groups (). The term "polyol" can have slightly different meanings depending on whether it is used in food science or polymer chemistry. Polyols containing two, th ...

. Bayer was not related to the founding family of Bayer Corp. Today polyurethanes are ubiquitous throughout modern life. He was a member of the board of directors and of the supervisory board of

Bayer Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer' ...

, and was also vice chairman of the supervisory board of Cassella in the 1950s. Bayer was the 1975 recipient of the

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society#Organization, American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, ...

. He was the 1974 recipient of the Carl-Dietrich-Harries-Medal for commendable scientific achievements.

References

1902 births 1982 deaths 20th-century German chemists German polymer scientists and engineers Werner von Siemens Ring laureates Bayer people 20th-century German inventors {{Germany-chemist-stub