Hoffman, Friedrich

The hydrogenation of 3-hydroxy propan al (HPA) to 1,3-propanediol (PD) over Ni/SiOi/AEO, catalyst powder was studied by Professor Hoffman s group at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlagen, Germany (Zhu et al., 1997). PD is a potentially attractive monomer for polymers like polypropylene terephthalate. They used a batch stirred autoclave. The experimental data were kindly provided by Professor Hoffman and consist of measurements of the concentration of HPA and PD (Chpa< Cpd) versus time at various operating temperatures and pressures. 

We sincerely thank Professor Hoffman of the Institute of Technical Chemistry, Friedrich-Alexander University, Germany for providing us with the raw data for the hydrogenation of 3-hydroxypropanol. 

Hoffman s acetylsalicylic acid competed with the other salicylate compounds after its initial synthesis. In 1899 Hoffman s employer, the Bayer Company, founded in 1861 by Friedrich Bayer (1825-1880), began to market acetylsalicylic acid under the name Aspirin. The term aspirin was derived by combining the letter a from acetyl and spirin from spiric acid. Spiric acid is another name for salicylic acid found in plants of the genus Spirea. Bayer pro-... 

Hoffmans next task was to convince his employer, Bayer, founded in 1861 by Friedrich Baeyer (1825-1880), to market the product. In 1899, Bayer began to market acetylsalicylic... 

Ether (C H gO) (Figure 2.2), is a liquid that vaporizes very quickly at room temperature. It can be either swallowed or inhaled, but the effects are faster by inhalation because inhalation is a more direct route to the brain. Friedrich Hoffman introduced ether into medicine under the trade name Anodyne in the early 18 century. It was described as one of the world s most perfect tonics and was prescribed for pains due to ailments as varied as kidney and gallstones, menstrual pains, intestinal cramps, earaches, and toothaches. 

Hoffman, August (1961). Friedrich Wohler. In Great Chemists, ed. Eduard Farber. New York Interscience. 

In 1863, the comjjany that was to become Bayer (of aspirin and pharmaceutical fame) was founded in Germany by Friedrich Bayer (1825-1880) and Johann Friedrich Weskott (1821-1876), both of whom were dye makers. The pharmaceutical group was not formed until 1881. Aspirin, developed by Bayer chemist Felix Hoffman, was commercialized in 1899, a year that marked the initial emergence of the drug industry as a separate entity. 

In the early days of chemistry, especially organic chemistry, between roughly 1820 and 1895, academic genealogy was a way for proud professors (and proud former students) to show their common roots, their similar research interests and their influence upon the world of chemistry. This was a great period for organic and physical chemistry (1-7), when the students of Jons Jakob Berzelius, Friedrich Wohler, Friedrich Strohmeyer, Robert Bunsen, Justus von Liebig, Friedrich Kekule, August von Hoffman, and later of Adolph von Baeyer, Viktor Meyer, Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald, Otto Wallach and Hermann von Helmholtz were the leaders of the chemical (and physical in the case of Helmholtz) research and education world. 

TEM images of injection molded PP nanocomposite samples (a) not annealed (scale bar = 500 nm) and (b) annealed for 200 min at 220°C (scale bar = lOOOnm). Reprinted with permission of John Wiley Sons, Inc. from Reichert, P., Hoffman, B., Bock, T., Thomann, R., Mulhaupt, R. and Friedrich, C., Morphological stability of polypropylene nanocomposites, Macromot. Rapid. Comm., 22, 519-523 (2001) Copyright 2001, Wiley. 

---