Letter from Michael Heidelberger to Hugh S. Taylor, Princeton University

Letter from Michael Heidelberger to Hugh S. Taylor, Princeton University

Contributor(s):
Heidelberger, Michael
Taylor, Hugh S.
Princeton University
Publication:
Produced: 9 September 1939
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Chemistry, Organic
Genre(s):
Archival Materials
Letters (correspondence)
Abstract:
Heidelberger had helped to synthesize cyclooctatetraene, the next higher analog of benzene (consisting of a ring with eight carbon atoms and four double bonds), during a year of postdoctoral study (1911-12) in the laboratory of the 1915 Nobel Laureate, Richard Willstatter, at the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland. His research with Willstatter on cyclooctatetraene was controversial, and was questioned as late as the 1940s by Hugh S. Taylor and Charles D. Hurd. Heidelberger, however, strongly defended his results, as documented in this letter, pointing out that while Taylor and Hurd showed that cyclooctatetraene resinifies and degrades at high temperatures, he had worked in cold temperatures continuously for 24 hours to synthesize a colorless liquid that was both stable and reactive. Heidelberger and Willstatter's results stood, and as a consequence of their work cyclooctatetraene became a widely used intermediate in organic chemistry.
Copyright:
The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
Extent:
1 pages
NLM Unique ID:
101584940X185 (See in Profiles in Science)
Profiles in Science ID:
DHBBMC
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101584940X185
Archival Collection:
The Michael Heidelberger Papers (Profiles in Science)