Hermann Emil Fischer

Emil exchanged the nuptial vows with Agnes Gerlach in 1888 and the couple had three sons.

On 15 July 1919, this eminent chemist ended his life by overdosing on phenylhydrazine.

He is the eponym of several chemical reactions and concepts including the ‘Fischer projection’, ‘Fischer oxazolesynthesis’ and ‘Fischer peptide synthesis’

Herman Emil Louis Fischer was born on 9 October, 1852 to Laurenz and Julie Fischer in the Euskirchen town of Germany. Laurenz was a successful entrepreneur dealing in the lumber industry.

Louis was initially home tutored and later enrolled in school; he completed his schooling from the cities ofWetzlar and Bonn. After appearing for his final examinations in 1869, wherein he performed exceptionally, the bright mind wanted to pursue higher studies.

As the only living child of his parents he was expected to join the family business. But eventually his father agreed to let him pursue the study of natural sciences. Hence in 1871, Fischer was enrolled at the ‘University of Bonn’.

Initially inclined to specialize in physics, he moved to the ‘University of Strasbourg’ in 1872, along with his cousin Otto Fischer; who would later become his research partner.

At Strasbourg, his encounter with the director of chemical institute, Adolph von Baeyer sparked his lifelong interest in chemistry. Baeyer was credited with the discovery of phthalein dyes and Emil worked under him during his doctoral studies.

In 1874, he was offered the position of a research assistant at the ‘University of Strasbourg’. It was while working as an assistant in the organic chemistry laboratory under von Baeyer, that he discovered the first hydrazine derivative compound, phenylhydrazine.

In 1875, following the discovery of phenylhydrazine, Emil accompanied von Baeyer to the ‘University of Munich’ as an assistant. Three years later he was conferred upon the title of Privatdozent, which allowed him to teach university level courses.

In 1879, the ‘University of Munich’ offered him the position of Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry. During his time at the university, he was devoted to the study of hydrazines. Along with Otto Fischer, the duo worked on demonstrating the constitution of chemical derivatives of triphenylmethane.

The ‘University of Erlangen’ offered Fischer the position of a professor of chemistry in 1881. It was here that he studied the compounds in tea and coffee and explained the molecular structures of compounds like caffeine and theobromine. He named this class of compounds as “purines” and even synthesised them artificially.

He went to the ‘University of Würzburg’ in 1885 and took up the job of a professor in chemistry; a position he would hold for the next eight years.

Emil Fischer was a renowned name in the world of chemistry and his work on the family of bases named purines, and sugars earned him a Nobel Prize. The ‘Fischer Projection’ method of representing the molecular structure of sugar was also devised by this eminent chemist.