Tiemann, Ferdinand

Complete Specification.—I, Johann Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand Tiemann, member of the firm of Haaimaun Reimer, of Holzminden, residing at Berlin, Germany, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement —... 

In 1874, Holzminden chemists Ferdinand Tiemann and Wilhelm Haarmann first succeeded in synthesising vanillin from coniferin. Holzminden became the site where vanillin was first produced industrially. Haarmann Reimer was the world s first factory in which synthetic scents and flavourings were produced [5]. 

In 1889, a turning point in perfume preparation had come, when Aime Guerlain introduced his perfume /icfcy , in which, for the first time, only synthetically generated vanillin, coumarin and heliotropin (3,4-methylenedioxy-benzaldehyde also known as piperonal) were used. In the course of his work on highly nitrated benzene derivatives, which would become very important as explosives, the French chemist Albert Baur found by chance a group of compounds with a musk odour. Ferdinand Tiemann in Berlin, looking for a syn-... 

The characteristic scent of violets comes from their flowers. Violet flower oU contains aroimd 22 % of enantiomericaUy pure (Jl)-a-ionone and jS-ionone, as well as their dihydro derivatives (Fig. 3.14). Their discovery was based upon an inaccurate structure determination. In 1893, Ferdinand Tiemann believed, that with the ionones he had identified the odouriferous principle of iris oil. As became apparent some 50 years later, this consisted however of a mixture of structurally related irones, which are methyl-substituted ionones. 

Vanillin was isolated for the first time from vaniUa pods by Nicolas-Theodore Gobley in 1858, and by 1874 its structure was elucidated by Ferdinand Tiemann and Wilhelm Haarmann. Because of its high price and a considerably variable product yield, dependent on weather conditions, there was a strong incentive to prepare vanillin synthetically. This was the time, when the scent and flavours industry was born. 

Johann Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand Tiemann (Riibeland, Harz, 10 June 1848-Meran, 14 November 1899) studied in Brunswick and Berlin he participated in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, then was assistant (1871), privatdocent (1878) and associate professor (from 1882) in Hofmann s department in Berlin. From 1882 he edited the Berichte for 15 years. He was Hofmann s brother-in-law. His work was mostly on aromatic compounds. ... 

Contrary to what has been conveyed by historians, AngeU and his former teacher Ciamician possessed markedly different characters and temperaments, but nonetheless Ciamician never had a more faithful disciple and staunch supporter. Angeli even argued on his behalf with the doyen of Italian chemists, Stanislao Cannizzaro (1826-1910). He also had a few contretemps with Ferdinand Tiemann (1848-99), co-discoverer of the Reimer-Tiemann reaction and with Theodor Curtius (1857-1928), discoverer of the Curtius rearrangement, diazoacetic acid, and hydrazine. All of their discussions were conducted with great respect and mutual regard. 

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