Hans Finkelstein

Hans Finkelstein (17 May 1885, Leipzig, Germany - December 1938 ) was a German chemist. He is particularly known for the Finkelstein reaction which was named after him.^[1][2]

Biography

Hans Finkelstein came from a Jewish family. He joined the Protestant Church when he was 10 years old. He studied chemistry, thus following his father Berthold Finkelstein, one of BASF's first chemists.

After studying in Leipzig and Dresden, he worked on his doctoral thesis with Johannes Thiele in Strasbourg from 1906, until his presentation in 1909. Finkelstein continued his scientific work as an assistant to Thiele from 1910 to 1912, during which he also translated some scientific books into German with his father.

In 1912, Finkelstein left his career at the university and was introduced as the head of research department in Bayer AG, Uerdingen. He filed for some patents working as an industrial chemist. During the year, Finkelstein married Annemarie Bruns, with whom he had two children.

In November, 1938, the Kristallnacht took place, followed by the issuance of The Decree on the Exclusion of Jews from German Economic Life^[3] on 12 November. Consequently, Finkelstein was forced to resign from his position in the company and surrender his passport.

In December 1938, Finkelstein died under tragic circumstances.^[2]

Work

Hans Finkelstein is well known in chemistry for the Finkelstein reaction, which was named after him. The reaction describes the replacement of a halogen atom in a hydrocarbon by another halogen atom. This process is considered important for the formation of organic iodine compounds, among other applications.

The original work of Hans Finkelstein was published as a part of his doctoral thesis, and shortly thereafter, as an article in a scientific journal in 1910.

References