Otto Diels

@Organic Chemists, Family and Family ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Otto Diels or Otto Paul Herman Diels was a German scientist who received the Nobel Prize in chemistry German Scientists Chemists Inorganic Chemists Organic Chemists Aquarius Celebrities Otto Diels or Otto Paul Herman Diels was a German scientist who received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing a process by which cyclic organic compounds could be obtained. This process was called the ‘diene synthesis’ or the ‘Diels-Alder reaction’. He shared the Nobel Prize with another scientist, Kurt Alder, who had worked jointly with him in developing the process. His work led to the production of synthetic plastics and rubber. His initial research was in the field of inorganic chemistry during which he discovered a highly reactive substance known as ‘carbon suboxide’. He later changed his research to encompass the domain of organic chemistry. His process of using selenium to remove hydrogen atoms from cyclic organic compounds not only helped the synthesis of plastics and rubber but also became a useful tool for finding out the complicated chemical structures of a series of steroids. He was successful in dehydrogenating cholesterol with the help of selenium which produced a skeletal structure of steroids. During the period when he was at the ‘University of Kiel’, he worked with Kurt Alder to develop the ‘Diels-Alder reaction’ which helped to synthesize unsaturated cyclic organic compounds leading to the production of synthetic plastic and rubber compounds, alkaloids and insecticides at a low cost without using any catalyst, reagent, high temperature or pressure.

Personal Details

Birthday: January 23, 1876 Died on: March 7, 1954 Nationality: German Famous: Scientists, Chemists, Inorganic Chemists, Organic Chemists Spouses: Paula Geyer Universities: Humboldt University of Berlin Birth Place: Hamburg, German Empire Information Detail Birthday January 23, 1876 Died on March 7, 1954 Nationality German Famous Scientists, Chemists, Inorganic Chemists, Organic Chemists Spouses Paula Geyer Universities Humboldt University of Berlin Birth Place Hamburg, German Empire Gender Male Father Hermann Diels Mother Bertha Dubell Sun Sign Aquarius Born in Hamburg, German Empire Famous as Chemist Died at Age 78

Hamburg, German Empire

Otto Diels born at Unsplash Birth Place

He married Paula Geyer in 1909 and had three sons and two daughters from the marriage. Unsplash Personal Life

He lost two of his sons at the eastern front during World War II. Unsplash Personal Life

His home was also razed to the ground by Allied bombing during the later stages of the World War II. Unsplash Personal Life

Otto Diels was born on January 23, 1876 in Hamburg, Germany. His father, Hermann Diels, was a professor at the University of Berlin and taught classical philology. His mother, Bertha Dubell, was a district judge’s daughter. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He had two brothers named Ludwig and Paul who went on to become professors in the fields of botany and Slavic philology respectively. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

When he was two-year-old his family moved from Hamburg to Berlin where his father was offered a professorship at the university. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He did his early schooling from 1882 to 1895 at the ‘Joachimsthalsches Gymnasium’ in Berlin. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

In 1895 he enrolled at the University of Berlin to study chemistry along with other science subjects. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Immediately after graduation from the University of Berlin in 1899, he was appointed an assistant at the Institute of Chemistry at the same university. Unsplash Career

He progressed very fast through the ranks and soon became a lecturer in 1904 and was then promoted to professor in 1906. Unsplash Career

In 1906 he discovered ‘carbon suboxide’ which is the anhydride acidic form of malonic acid. He found out the chemical composition and properties of this highly reactive substance. The information about its chemical structure helped him understand the composition of different carbon oxides. Unsplash Career

In 1913 he was appointed the Head of the Department of chemistry at the Berlin University and became a full professor in 1915. Unsplash Career

He was appointed as an associate professor at the Chemical Institute of the Royal Friedrich Wilhelm University in Kiel in 1914. Unsplash Career

Otto Diels authored and published his work ‘Einfuhrung in die organische Chemie’ in 1907 which had nineteen editions by 1962. It is one of the most popular textbooks in the field of organic chemistry. Unsplash Major Works

His papers were published in many scientific journals and magazines including the periodical ‘Liebigs Annalen der Chemie’. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	January 23, 1876
Died on	March 7, 1954
Nationality	German
Famous	Scientists, Chemists, Inorganic Chemists, Organic Chemists
Spouses	Paula Geyer
Universities	Humboldt University of Berlin
Birth Place	Hamburg, German Empire
Gender	Male
Father	Hermann Diels
Mother	Bertha Dubell
Sun Sign	Aquarius
Born in	Hamburg, German Empire
Famous as	Chemist
Died at Age	78

Otto Diels

German

Jan 23, 1876

Biography

Personal Details

Hamburg, German Empire