The Max Planck Institute für Kohlenforschung is a chemical research institute located in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany. The institute is part of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, a network of scientific research institutes mainly located in Germany. Founded in 1912, as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim an der Ruhr, to study the chemistry and uses of coal, it became an independent Max-Planck-Institute in 1949.
The Institute carries out basic research in organic and organometallic chemistry, in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis as well as in theoretical chemistry. The principal aim is to develop new methods for the selective and environmentally benign preparation of new compounds and materials.
In 1945, a pilot plant for the extraction of shale oil had been in operation at the "Kaiser Wilhelm Institute",[1] and from 1943-1969, Nobel Prize laureate Karl Ziegler worked at the institute.