Emil Fischer Pioneer in Monomer and Polymer Science

Abstract

Emil Fischer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in 1902 and one of chemistry’s alltime greats, invested much of his outstanding career in pioneering the science of monomers, polymers, polymerization, and depolymerization. His remarkable genius becomes even more evident when it is recalled that he lived (1852–1919) and worked with complex materials long before the development of modern instruments and techniques. The monomers of his investigations included formaldehyde, hydroxyaldehydes, sugars, amino acids, and hydroxybenzoic acids. The monomelic aldehydes were converted into carbohydrates of increased molecular weight; the synthesis of starch and cellulose was contemplated. Various amino acids, some prepared by the hydrolysis of proteins, were polymerized to polypeptides. Tannins were hydrolyzed to hydroxybenzoic acids, e.g., gallic acid; these were converted into polyesters of sugars.