Emil Fischer and His Contribution to Carbohydrate Chemistry

Freudenberg, Karl, Emil Fischer and his Contribution to Carbohydrate Chemistry, 21, 1-38... 

Emil Fischer and his contributions to carbohydrate chemistry, K. Freudenberg, Adv. Carbohydr. Chem., 21 (1966). 

Emil Fischer devised a simplified system for drawing stereoisomers that shows the arrangements of the atoms around the chiral centers. Fischer received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1902 for his contributions to carbohydrate and protein chemistry. Now we use his model, called a Fischer projection, to represent a three-dimensional structure of enantiomers. Vertical lines represent bonds that project backward from a carbon atom and horizontal lines represent bonds that project forward. In this model, the most highly oxidized carbon is placed at the top and the intersections of vertical and horizontal lines represent a carbon atom that is usually chiral. 

The editors herewith present the twenty-first volume in this serial publication. To celebrate our coming of age, we are proud to offer a review of the contributions of Emil Fischer to carbohydrate chemistry, by one of his students, Professor Karl Freudenberg. In translation, some of the fine expression and style of the original German may have been lost, yet the review is nevertheless an outstanding evaluation of Fischer s contributions to the fundamentals of modern carbohydrate chemistry. 

The life and work of one of the greatest carbohydrate scientists of our time, Raymond U. Lemieux, is recalled here in a sensitive account by Bundle (Edmonton). During a remarkably productive career extending over more than half a century, Lemieux pioneered the application of NMR spectroscopy in chemistry, developed rational approaches for glycosidic coupling, made major contributions to our understanding of three-dimensional carbohydrate structures and protein binding, and made important contributions in the biomedical area. His own articles in these Advances include the chemistry of streptomycin in Volume 3, the mechanisms of replacement reactions in Volume 9, and in Volume 50 a consideration of Emil Fischer s lock and key concept of enzyme specificity. 

Emil Fischer (1852—1919) was professor of organic chemistry at the University of Berlin. In addition to monumental work in the field of carbohydrate chemistry, where Fischer and co-workers established the configuration of most of the monosaccharides, Fischer also made important contributions to studies of amino acids, proteins, purines, indoles, and stereochemistry generally. As a graduate student, Fischer discovered phenylhydrazine, a reagent that was highly important in his later work with carbohydrates. Fischer was the second recipient (in 1902) of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. 

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