All Topics  
Eduard Buchner

 
Eduard Buchner

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Eduard Buchner
 
 
  Topics Eduard Buchner Topic Home

Eduard Buchner (20 May 1860 – 13 August 1917) was a German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 chemist
Chemistry

Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions....
 and zymologist
Zymurgy

Zymurgy or zymology is the study of Fermentation . The word was originally used to describe the science involved in these processes but it has since become more broadly used to describe the brewing of alcoholic beverages....
, the winner of the 1907 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Pri...
 for his work on fermentation
Fermentation (biochemistry)

Fermentation is the process of deriving energy from the Redox of organic compounds, such as carbohydrates, using an Endogeny electron acceptor, which is usually an organic compound....
.

ner was born in Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
 to a physician and Doctor Extraordinary of Forensic Medicine. In 1884, he began studies of chemistry with Adolf von Baeyer
Adolf von Baeyer

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer was a Germany chemistry who synthesized indigo dye, and was the 1905 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry....
 and of botany with Professor C. von Naegeli
Karl Wilhelm von Nägeli

Karl Wilhelm von N?geli was a Swiss botany. He discovered what would later become known as chromosomes and apparently discouraged Gregor Mendel from further work on genetics....
, at the Botanic Institute in Munich. After a period working with Otto Fischer in Erlangen
Erlangen

Erlangen is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located at the confluence of the river Regnitz and its large tributary, the Untere Schwabach....
, Buchner was awarded a doctorate from the University of Munich
Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich

The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich , also known as LMU, is a university in Munich and, with more than 44,000 students, is the second-largest university in Germany....
 in 1888.

experiment for which Buchner won the Nobel Prize consisted of producing a cell-free extract of yeast
Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryote microorganisms classified in the Kingdom fungus, with about 1,500 species currently described; they dominate fungal diversity in the oceans....
 cells and showing that this "press juice" could ferment sugar.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Eduard Buchner'
Start a new discussion about 'Eduard Buchner'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Eduard Buchner (20 May 1860 – 13 August 1917) was a German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 chemist
Chemistry

Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions....
 and zymologist
Zymurgy

Zymurgy or zymology is the study of Fermentation . The word was originally used to describe the science involved in these processes but it has since become more broadly used to describe the brewing of alcoholic beverages....
, the winner of the 1907 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Pri...
 for his work on fermentation
Fermentation (biochemistry)

Fermentation is the process of deriving energy from the Redox of organic compounds, such as carbohydrates, using an Endogeny electron acceptor, which is usually an organic compound....
.

Biography


Early years

Buchner was born in Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
 to a physician and Doctor Extraordinary of Forensic Medicine. In 1884, he began studies of chemistry with Adolf von Baeyer
Adolf von Baeyer

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer was a Germany chemistry who synthesized indigo dye, and was the 1905 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry....
 and of botany with Professor C. von Naegeli
Karl Wilhelm von Nägeli

Karl Wilhelm von N?geli was a Swiss botany. He discovered what would later become known as chromosomes and apparently discouraged Gregor Mendel from further work on genetics....
, at the Botanic Institute in Munich. After a period working with Otto Fischer in Erlangen
Erlangen

Erlangen is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located at the confluence of the river Regnitz and its large tributary, the Untere Schwabach....
, Buchner was awarded a doctorate from the University of Munich
Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich

The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich , also known as LMU, is a university in Munich and, with more than 44,000 students, is the second-largest university in Germany....
 in 1888.

Research

The experiment for which Buchner won the Nobel Prize consisted of producing a cell-free extract of yeast
Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryote microorganisms classified in the Kingdom fungus, with about 1,500 species currently described; they dominate fungal diversity in the oceans....
 cells and showing that this "press juice" could ferment sugar. This dealt yet another blow to vitalism
Vitalism

Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is#a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions...
 by showing that the presence of living yeast cells was not needed for fermentation. The cell-free extract was produced by combining dry yeast cells, quartz
Quartz

Quartz is the most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust . It is made up of a Crystal structure of silica tetrahedra. Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale and a density of 2.65 g/cm?....
 and kieselguhr and then pulverizing the yeast cells with a pestle and mortar. This mixture would then become moist as the yeast cells' contents would come out of the cells. Once this step was done, the moist mixture would be put through a press and the resulting "press juice" had glucose
Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
, fructose
Fructose

Fructose is a simple Reducing sugar sugar found in many foods and is one of the three important dietary monosaccharides along with glucose and galactose....
, or maltose
Maltose

Maltose, or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an a linkage. It is the second member of an important biochemical series of glucose chains....
 added and carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
 was seen to evolve, sometimes for days. Microscopic investigation revealed no living yeast cells in the extract. One interesting thing is that Buchner hypothesized that yeast cells secrete proteins into their environment in order to ferment sugars, instead of the fermentation occurring inside the yeast cells, which is the actual mechanism.

Though believed by some that Büchner flask
Büchner flask

A B?chner flask, also known as a vacuum flask, filter flask, side-arm flask or Kitasato flask, is a thick-walled Erlenmeyer flask with a short glass tube and wiktionary:hose barb protruding about an inch from its neck....
 and Büchner funnel
Büchner funnel

A B?chner funnel is a piece of laboratory equipment used in suction filtration. It is traditionally made of porcelain, but glass and plastic funnels are also available....
 are named for him, but they are actually named for the industrial chemist Ernst Büchner
Ernst Büchner

Ernst B?chner - industrial chemist, inventor of B?chner funnel and B?chner flask....
.

Buchner received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Pri...
 in 1907.

Personal life

Buchner married Lotte Stahl in 1900. During World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, Buchner served as a Major in a front-line field hospital
Field hospital

A field hospital is a large mobile medical unit that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities....
 at Focsani
Focsani

Focsani is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the shores the Milcov river. It has a population of 101,854....
, Romania
Romania

Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
. He was wounded on August 3 1917 and died of these wounds nine days later in Munich at age 57.

Publications



External links

  • Cell Free Fermentation
(English translation of Buchner's "Alkoholische Gährung ohne Hefezellen")