Born in Berlin, he initially studied mathematics and physics at Berlin University before moving to
Heidelberg to study chemistry with Robert Bunsen. There he worked primarily in August Kekulé's
laboratory, earning his doctorate (from Berlin) in 1858. He followed Kekulé to the University of Ghent,
when Kekulé became professor there. He became a lecturer at the Berlin Trade Academy in 1860, and a
Professor at the University of Strasbourg in 1871. In 1875 he succeeded Justus von Liebig as Chemistry
Professor at the University of Munich.[3]
Baeyer's chief achievements include the synthesis and description of the plant dye indigo, the discovery
of the phthalein dyes, and the investigation of polyacetylenes, oxonium salts, nitroso compounds (1869)
and uric acid derivatives (1860 and onwards) (including the discovery of barbituric acid (1864), the
parent compound of the barbiturates). He was the first to propose the correct formula for indole in
1869, after publishing the first synthesis three years earlier. His contributions to theoretical chemistry
include the 'strain' (Spannung) theory of triple bonds and strain theory in small carbon rings.[4]
In 1871 he discovered the synthesis of phenolphthalein by condensation of phthalic anhydride with two
equivalents of phenol under acidic conditions (hence the name). That same year he was the first to
obtain synthetic fluorescein, a fluorophore pigment which is similar to naturally occurring pyoverdin,
that is synthesized by microorganisms (e.g., by some fluorescent strains of Pseudomonas). Von Baeyer
named his finding resorcinphthalein as he had synthesized it from phthalic anhydride and resorcinol.
The term fluorescein would not start to be used until 1878.
In 1872 he experimented with phenol and formaldehyde, almost preempting Leo Baekeland's later
discovery of Bakelite.
In 1881 the Royal Society of London awarded Baeyer the Davy Medal for his work with indigo. He was
elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1884.[5] In 1905
he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "in recognition of his services in the advancement of
organic chemistry and the chemical industry, through his work on organic dyes and hydroaromatic
compounds".
Baeyer's name is pronounced like the English word "buyer." His birth name was Johann Friedrich
Wilhelm Adolf Baeyer, but throughout most of his life he was known simply as "Adolf Baeyer." On his
fiftieth birthday he was raised to the hereditary nobility, changing his name to "Adolf von Baeyer."
Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer was born on October 31, 1835, in Berlin, as the son of
Johann Jakob Baeyer and Eugenie née Hitzig. He came from a family distinguished both in literature and
the natural sciences. His father, a lieutenant-general, was the originator of the European system of
geodetic measurement. Even as a child Baeyer was interested in chemical experiments and at the age of
twelve found a new double salt of copper.
Baeyer devoted his first two years as a student at the University of Berlin (1853-1855) chiefly to physics
and mathematics. By 1856, however, his old love for chemistry re-awakened and drew him to Bunsen's
laboratory in Heidelberg. His studies here on methyl chloride resulted in his first published work which
came out in 1857. During the next year he worked in Kekulé's private laboratory in Heidelberg and was
associated with his ingenious structure theory. Baeyer's life work was soon to bring this indeed most
brilliant of chemical theories much resounding success. In 1858, in Berlin, he received his doctorate for
his work on cacodyl compounds which had been done in Kekulé's laboratory.
For the next year or two Baeyer was again working with Kekulé who had meanwhile become Professor
at Ghent. A study of uric acid, which also led him to the discovery of barbituric acid, provided the thesis
by which he qualified as a university teacher in 1860. In the same year he became a lecturer in organic
chemistry at the "Gewerbe-Akademie" (Trade Academy) in Berlin. He received little money but was
given a spacious laboratory. In 1866 the University of Berlin, at the suggestion of A.W. Hofmann,
conferred on him a senior lectureship, which, however, was unpaid.
It was during the Berlin period that Baeyer began most of the work that was to bring him fame later. In
1865 he started his work on indigo - the blue dye had fascinated him since his youth-and this soon led to
the discovery of indole and to the partial synthesis of indigotin. His pupils Graebe and Liebermann, with
the help of the zinc-dust distillation developed by Baeyer, clarified the structure of alizarin and worked
out the synthesis used industrially. Studies were initiated on condensation reactions which, after Baeyer
had gone to Strassburg as Professor in the newly established University (1871) brought to light that
important category of dyestuffs - the phthaleins. Baeyer's theory of carbon-dioxide assimilation in
formaldehyde also belongs to this period.
On the death of Justus von Liebig in 1873, Baeyer was called to his Chair in the University of Munich and
there, over many years, built up an excellent new chemical laboratory. With his tenure at Munich came
elegant total syntheses of indigo, as well as work on acetylene and polyacetylene, and from this derived
the famous Baeyer strain theory of the carbon rings; there were studies of the constitution of benzene
as well as comprehensive investigations into cyclic terpene. In this connexion the Baeyer-Villiger
oxidation of ketones by means of per-acids was discovered. Especial interest was aroused theoretically
by his work on organic peroxides and oxonium compounds and on the connexion between constitution
and colour.
Von Baeyer's work was at once pioneering and many-sided. With admirable penetration and
extraordinary experimental skill he combined dogged perseverance and, even at 70 years old, a youthful
buoyancy in his work. He was careful never to overestimate the value of a theory. While Kekulé
sometimes approached Nature with preconceived opinions, von Baeyer would say: "I have never set up
an experiment to see whether I was right, but to see how the materials behave". Even in old age his
views did not become fixed, and his mind remained open to new developments in chemical science.
Like Berzelius and Liebig, von Baeyer distinguished himself by forming a school which alone nurtured
fifty future university teachers. Honours were heaped upon him, including the Nobel Prize for Chemistry
in 1905. On his fiftieth birthday he was raised to the hereditary nobility.
Adolf von Baeyer married Adelheid (Lida) Bendemann in 1868. They had one daughter, who became the
wife of the chemist Oskar Piloty, and two sons, both university lecturers, Hans in medicine at Munich,
and Otto in physics at Berlin. He was still young in spirit when he succumbed to a seizure at his country
house at Starnberger See on August 20, 1917.
Born: 31-Oct-1835
Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
Died: 20-Aug-1917
Location of death: Starnberg, Germany
Cause of death: unspecified
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Chemist
Nationality: Germany
Executive summary: Synthesized indigo