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

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

Contributor(s):
Princeton University
Taylor, Hugh S.
Heidelberger, Michael
Publication:
Produced: 4 November 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, pointing out that Taylor and Hurd showed that while 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:
This item may be under copyright protection; contact the copyright owner for permission before re-use.
Extent:
2 pages
NLM Unique ID:
101584940X186 (See in Profiles in Science)
Profiles in Science ID:
DHBBMD
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101584940X186
Archival Collection:
The Michael Heidelberger Papers (Profiles in Science)