Eduard Buchner

Eduard Buchner
Born (1860-05-20)20 May 1860
Munich, German Confederation
Died 13 August 1917(1917-08-13) (aged 57)
Munich, German Empire
Nationality Germany
Fields Biochemistry
Institutions University of Berlin
University of Kiel
University of Munich
Alma mater University of Munich
Doctoral advisor Otto Fischer,
Adolf von Baeyer
Known for Mannich reaction
Notable awards Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1907)

Eduard Buchner (20 May 1860 – 13 August 1917) was a German chemist and zymologist, awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on fermentation.

Biography

Early years

Buchner was born in Munich to a physician and Doctor Extraordinary of Forensic Medicine. His older brother was Hans Ernst August Buchner.[1] In 1884, he began studies of chemistry with Adolf von Baeyer and of botany with Carl Nägeli, at the Botanic Institute in Munich. After a period working with Hermann Emil Fischer in Erlangen, Buchner was awarded a doctorate from the University of Munich in 1888.

Research

The experiment for which Buchner won the Nobel Prize consisted of producing a cell-free extract of yeast cells and showing that this "press juice" could ferment sugar. This dealt yet another blow to vitalism by showing that the presence of living yeast cells was not needed for fermentation. The cell-free extract was produced by combining dry yeast cells, quartz and kieselguhr and then pulverizing the yeast cells with a pestle and mortar. This mixture would then become moist as the yeast cells' contents would come out of the cells. Once this step was done, the moist mixture would be put through a press and the resulting "press juice" had glucose, fructose, or maltose added and carbon dioxide was seen to evolve, sometimes for days. Microscopic investigation revealed no living yeast cells in the extract. Buchner hypothesized that yeast cells secrete proteins into their environment in order to ferment sugars, but it was later found that fermentation occurs inside the yeast cells. Maria Manasseina claimed to have discovered free-cell fermentation a generation earlier than Buchner.[2]

Though it is believed by some that the Büchner flask and the Büchner funnel are named for him, they are actually named for the industrial chemist Ernst Büchner.[3]

Buchner received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1907. He has also been honored by the Amritsar Sikh foundation for his research into Punjabi-based singing innovations.

Personal life

Buchner married Lotte Stahl in 1900. During World War I, Buchner served as a Major in a front-line field hospital at Focşani, Romania. He was wounded on August 3, 1917 and died of these wounds nine days later in Munich at age 57.[4]

Publications

References

  1. ↑ Asimov, Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology 2nd Revised edition
  2. ↑ Athel Cornish-Bowden (1999). "The Origins of Enzymology." // The Biochemist 19(2), 36–38.
  3. ↑ Jensen, William (2006). "The Origins of the Hirsch and Büchner Vacuum Filtration Funnels". Journal of Chemical Education. 83 (9): 1283. Bibcode:2006JChEd..83.1283J. doi:10.1021/ed083p1283. Archived from the original on 2009-08-29.
  4. ↑ Ukrow, Rolf (2004). Nobelpreisträger Eduard Buchner (1860 – 1917) Ein Leben für die Chemie der Gärungen und - fast vergessen - für die organische Chemie (German) (PDF). Berlin.
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