Richard Anschutz (1852-1937), KekulQ'sForgotten Successor Part I: The Life George 6. Kauffman California State University, Fresno, Fresno, CA 93740 As the successor of August Kekuk (1829-1896), the supreme patriarch of structural organic chemistry, Richard Anschutz (1852-1937) played a most important role in the development of organic chemistry during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth century. One of the last representatives of the classical period of structural organic chemistry, Anschutz, in his more than a half-century research career, combined physical methods with chemical synthesis as a means for establishing chemical structure. I t is one of the ironies of historv that the verv mrson who rescued Arrhibnld Scott Couper ((831 189?), thr indeoendent discoverer of the self-linking of rarbun atoms (1.2). From oblivion should himself be largeiy forgotten. Yet, except for a one-page encyclopedia article (31, Anschutz has been almost completely neglected by historians of chemistry writing in the English language. It is the purpose of this paper to bring t o the attention of English-speaking chemists the life and work of a prolific scientist who authored three books, including the now classic two-volume biography of Kekuli! (4). as well as no less than 233 articles. Anschiitz was an extremely versatile organic chemist (3). Among his earliest contributions, his study of the isomerism of maleic and fumaric acids was the starting point for his research on polyhasic acids. His work on oxalic acid and its de-
rivatives led to the use of oxalic acid as a dehydrating agent in ~renarinedicarboxvlicacid anhvdrides from their chlorides. B; distillacon underreduced pr&snre, a technique which he pioneered, he isolated new oxalic acid esters, among them dichlorooxalic ester and tetraorthooxalic ester. In his work on higher aromatic hvdrocarbons. Anschutz synthesized anthiacene by the reaetion of benzene with acetylene tetrahromide in the presence of aluminum chloride, a reaction which confirmed draebe and Liebermann's formula for anthrncene. He also studied the shifts in alkvl side chains on the ring hy using carbon disulfide as a solvent in reactions of aluminum chloride with aromatic hydrocarbons. In his research of more than four decades on the action of phosphorus(II1) and phosphorus(V) chlorides on phenol, phenolcarboxylic acids, and phenolsulfonic acids, Anschutz confirmed the analogy between phenolcarboxylic and phenolsulfonic acids oostulated bv Kekuli! in 1827. Anschiitz's 1892 study of the action of phosphorus oxychlorideon salicylic acid led to hisextensive researchon salicyiides, dithiosalicylides, and sulfonylides. One practical result of this wurk was his discovery of a crystalline addition compound of tetrasal-
Part ll, dealing with Anschiitz's work, will appear in next month's issue.
Richard Anschutz as a young man: from reference (6)(Ber., 72A, 29 (1941).
Kekule in 1862 (age 33). From Bugge. anther. "Das Buch der grossen Chemiker." Verlag Chemie GmbH. WeinheimlBergstrasse,1929, Vol. 2. p. 201.
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icylide and chloroform, which on heating yields a high-purity chloroform, which Anschutz recommended for use as an anaesthetic. Anschutz's studies of dlhydroxytartaric acid and tartwine led to his roof that tartrazineisa pyrazolone rather than an -osazone a's proposed by its disc&erer. In his research on tetronic and henzotetronic acids, he devised new syntheses for coumarin and tetronic acid, and he prepared pure dimethyltetramic acid. Anschutz proposed the name benzotetronic acid for P-hydroxycoumarin, which is tetronic acid in which the methylene group has been replaced by a phenylene group. He also made a number of contributions to the history of chemistry. ~~
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Richard Anschutz was born in the Hessian city of Darmstadt, also the birthplace of Kekul6 and Liebig. He was the son of a German career officer (later Major General), Ludwig Anschutz, and his wife Friedrike (n8e Delp) (5,6). Growing up in a typical officer's household, Richard was from his earliest youth imbued with a deep sense of military frugality, duty;and patriotism. Despitethe frequent change in residences and schools occasioned hy his father's profession, he graduated in 1870, a t the age of eighteen, from the Grossherzogliches Gymnasium a t Darmstadt. His preference for mathematics and the natural sciences along with his excellent talent for drawing led him to enroll in the engineering curriculum a t the Darmstadt Polvtechnikum (Technische ~ k h s c h u l e ) However, . his weak eyes, which had exempted him from militarv service, made drawing difficult, and during his first semester he turned to the s t d y of chemistry. He auicklv immersed himself in this new suhject, which he had never studied before, and he eagerly attended the lectures of Philipp Buchner (1821-1890) (chemistry), Friedrich Kohlrausch (1840-1910) (physics), Carl Eugen Thiel(1830-1915) (mineralogy), and Heinrich DBlp and Alexander Wilhelm von Brill (1842-1935) (mathematics). After four semesters, in 1872 he entered the Universitiit Heidelherg where he studied under Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (1811-1899) and Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887). won a prize of 20 florins for "his superior diligence shown in his work in the physics seminar," and attended lectures by Leo Konigsherger (1837-1921) (higher mathematics), Heinrich von Treitschke (1834-1896) (German history), and Kuno Fischer (1824-1907) (German literature). On February 27,1874, he received his doctorate insigni cum laude, under Bunsen, without a dissertation, which was then customary a t Heidelherg. In order to complete his education in organic chemistry Anschutz studied for two semesters (1874-1875) a t the Universitat Tubingen under Rudolph Fittig (1835-1910), who, after Anschutz had completed the usual preparative work, assigned him an investigation of hydrosorbic acid, from which Anschutz synthesized n-caproic acid hy heating it with hydriodic acid. Toward the end of the winter semester 1874-1875 an event that determined the scientific development and entire of Anschiitz's future life took dace. At that time .-- course -~ ~~~-~~ Theodor Zincke (1843-1928), Abtei1ungs;orsteher (Section Director) of the Univenitat Bonn Chemical Institute, wrote t o Fittig that August Kekul6 was looking for a Vorlesungsassistent (lecture assistant). On Fittig's recommendation, in the Spring of 1875 the 23-year-old Anschutz obtained the post and moved to Bonn, where he spent the remainder of his career-more than a half-century of uninterrupted research and teaching activity. Under KekulB's commanding influence (he later became his Priuatassistent (personal assistant) (7) and with the companionship of stimulating colleagues like Otto Wallach (1847-1931), Ludwig Claisen (1851-1930) (8), Heinrich Klinger (1853-1945), August Bernthsen (185&1931), Francis R. Japp (1848-1925) (9),Leonard P. Kinnicutt (1854-1911) (10,11), Gustav Schultz (1851-1928) (12). Victor von Richter (1841-1891) whose famous organic chemistry ~
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k same source August Kekul6 in 1890 (age 61); oil painting taken from t as figure above.
textbook Anschiitz was later to revlse, Am6 Pictet (185719371,and Julius Rredt (185,%1997j, Anschutz felt complrtely at home in the laboratow. He swn beaan his own independent experimental research, h i t i d y with ~ u s t a vSchultz 62),and in August 1878, he presented to the Philosophical Faculty of the Universitiit Bonn his Habilitationsschrift (a paper embodying the results of original, independent research required before one could lecture at a university).,"Uber Phenanthren und ein Gesetz der Pyrokondensation." His public inaugural u n ~ ) of every new Priualaddress ( ~ n t r ~ t f s ~ u r l e srequired duzenf (unsalaried lecturer^ took place on Novemher 7,1878 and was entitled "Uher die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen reiner Chemie und chemischer Technik" (On the Reciprocal Relationships hetween Pure Chemistry and Chemical Technology). In 1882 Anschiitz succeeded Ludwie Claisen as Instructional Assistant (~nterrichtsassistentiandwas thus able to nursue his exoandine research Droeram ~ nu. .. with the h e l of merous cu-wurkers. His investigations of the rlavsical isomerism orohlem of maleic and fumaric acids, heginninp in 1878, and t i e synthesis of anthracene from acetylene tetrabromide, benzene. and aluminum chloride, beginning in 1883, which confirmdd Graehe and Liehermann's fbrmula, made his name so well known that in the Spring of 1884the Aktiengesellschaft fur Anilinfarbenfahrikation (Agfa) offered him a lucrative position. On Kekul6's recommendation, the faculty at Bonn used this offer to have Anschiitz promoted to Ausserordentlicher Professor (associate professor). He declined Agfa's offer hut accented a ~vear's collaboration with the firm. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ In 1888 Anschutz married Anna Pfliiger, daughter of the famous Bonn nhvsioloeist Eduard Pflueer. The couole had two sons. ~he'ydunge; Theophil (borcin 1891) dieb quite voune. ,.. while the older. Ludwie (1889-1954). chose chemistrv as a career and in 1930 kcamehofessor of Organic Chemistry at the Deutsche Technische Hochschule at Brunn (now Rrno, Czechoslovakia). When Otto Wallach left Bonn for Gottingen in the Fall of
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on January 21, 1902, in ceremonies in which Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm took part (14). Active in university affairs, Anschutz served as Rektor (rector) of the university during the war vears (1915-1916). (15). . . ~ n a r & n nature t lover, Anschiitz collected butterflies. He was especially fond of the Alps, which he climbed unaccompanied, even in his sixties. He was especially interested in vulcanism. and in the Swine of 1906 he visited the eruption of ~ e s u v i &at ~ a p l e s . - ~ n s c h i iwas t z a music lover and a passionate admirer of Beethoven, whose piano sonatas he frequently played during evenings. Among his numerous honors (he was a Geheimrat (privy councillor)), Anschutz especially treasured the Iron Cross, which he received for his service as Rektor during World War I. He was a member of the Kaiserliche Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher in Halle (1887) and the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1935) and an honorary member of the Physikalischer Verein in Frankfurt am Main (1908). He was awarded several honorarv doctorates-in law from the Universitv of ~ G r d e e n(1906; and in engineering from his a h a mater,'the Darmstadt 'I'echnische Hurhschule (1Y271. Long active in the Deutsche Chemisrhr (;esellschaft, Anwhim served as VicePresident during 1918 and 1920and thcreafcer was a permanent member of Board of Directors. At the time of his death he was one of its oldest members. ~~~~
Chemisches lnstitut der Universitat Bonn, ca. 1905 with Kekule Memorial Statue in front. Photo courtesy of Professor Dr. Giinter Bergerhoff, Universitat Bonn. 1889, Anschiitz succeeded him as Estraordinariw Professor and Dirigent der praktischen Ubungen der gesamten Chemiker (Director of Practical Exercises for All Chemists). After KeknlQ'sdeath on July 13,1896, Anschutz assumed the directorship of the Institute as his substitute for a semester. Anschutz proposed as permanent Director Theodor Curtius (1857-1928), whose discovery of hydrazine and hydrazoic acid had created such a stir in chemical circles. However, Curtius remained a t Bonn for only a year and then transferred to Heidelberg. On April 1,1898, Anschiitz was promoted to Ordentlicher Professor (full professor) and named Director of the Institute, a joint position which he held until his retirement on March~31.1921. After remaining in Bonn for a few years and completing some experimental research with a few co-workers, in the summer of 1925 Anschutz moved to the house of his parents in Darmstadt. Here, aided by his wife, he completed his monumental biography of Kekulk (4). In the Spring of 1933 he suffered a severe attack of influenza. from whose consequences he never fully recovered. ~ c a r c e lrecovered '~ from his illness, he completed his obituary of his friend Ludwig Claisen (8) and occupied himself with the last edition of his textbook (13). He died on January 8,1937, in his eighty-fourth year. Anschiitz was an excellent lecturer and spoke clearly and forcefully and always without notes, even to the end of his academic career. As might be expected of someone who had spent many years as a lecture assistant, he accompanied his lecture with manv imoressive demonstrations. He visited each of his students intheiahoratory almost daily, and he was the first to introduce a lahoratorv course in dve chemistrv in a German university. More t i a n a hundred ~ o k t o r i n d e n (doctoral candidates). manv of them foreieners. com~leted their dissertations under (is direction. lmmed'iatel; upon assuming the Institutedirectorship he undertook the task of planning an extension u, the old building, which was dedicated
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Acknowledgment The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the History and Philosophy of Science Program, National Science Foundation for Grant SOC-76-11267, the California State University, Fresno for a sabbatical leave, and Profs. Richard P. Ciula, Gijnter Bergerhoff, and Heinz N. Kusel for valuable discussions.
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