Wilhelm Schlenk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wilhelm Johann Schlenk (March 22, 1879 – April 29, 1943) was a German chemist. He was born in Munich and also studied chemistry there.

He was an organic chemist who discovered organolithium compounds around 1917. He also investigated free radicals and carbanions and discovered (together with his son) that in what now is called the Schlenk equilibrium organomagnesium halides are capable of forming complex equilibria.

Nowadays, Schlenk is most vividly remembered for his contributions to the development of techniques to handle air-sensitive compounds, and is attributed as the inventor of the Schlenk flask, which is reaction vessel which has means via a glass or Teflon tap to add or remove gases (such as nitrogen or argon) to and from the flask, and of the Schlenk line, a double manifold incorporating a vacuum line and a gas line, joined by double oblique taps that allows the user to switch between vacuum and gas, for the manipulation of air-sensitive compounds.