Editing Hermann Kolbe (section)

==Work in chemical research==

As late as the 1840s, and despite [[Wöhler synthesis|Friedrich Wöhler's synthesis of urea]] in 1828, some chemists still believed in the doctrine of [[vitalism]], according to which a special life-force was necessary to create "organic" (i.e., in its original meaning, biologically derived) compounds. Kolbe promoted the idea that [[organic compound]]s could be derived from substances clearly sourced from outside this "organic" context, directly or indirectly, by substitution processes. (Hence, while by modern definitions, he was converting one [[organic compound|organic molecule]] to another, by the parlance of his era, he was converting "inorganic"—''anorganisch''—substances into "organic" ones only thought accessible through vital processes.) He validated his theory by converting [[carbon disulfide|carbon disulfide (CS<sub>2</sub>)]] to [[acetic acid]] ({{Chem2|CH3COOH}}) in several steps (1843–45). Kolbe also introduced a modified idea of structural [[radical theory|radicals]], so contributing to the development of [[structural theory]]. A dramatic success came when his theoretical prediction of the existence of secondary and tertiary [[Alcohol (chemistry)|alcohol]]s was confirmed by the synthesis of the first of these classes of organic molecules. Kolbe was the first person to use the word [[chemical synthesis|synthesis]] in its present-day meaning,<ref>Kolbe wrote the word "synthesis" describing his project to transform carbon disulfide into acetic acid. See: {{cite journal|last1=Kolbe|first1=H.|title=Beiträge zur Kenntniß der gepaarten Verbindungen|journal=Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie|date=1845|volume=54|issue=2|pages=145–188|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112025847093;view=1up;seq=161|trans-title=Contributions to [our] knowledge of paired compounds|language=de|doi=10.1002/jlac.18450540202}} From pp. 145–146: ''"Im Gegensatz zu den bis jetzt bekannten gepaarten organischen Säuren, welche durch Zersetzung organischer Materien von meist complicierter Zusammensetzung unter Einwirkung kräftiger Agentien und unter Verhältnissen entstanden sind, welche eine mehrfache Auslegung der Zersetzungserscheinungen gestatten, werden diejenigen, welche den Gegenstand der nachstehenden Betrachtungen ausmachen, durch Synthese aus Körpern von möglichst einfacher Zusammensetzung gebildet, so daß sie uns über ihre Constitution kaum im Zweifel lassen, und können deshalb gewissermaßen als Prototypen jener Körperreihe angesehen werden."'' (In contrast to the paired organic acids known until now, which have been formed by the decomposition of organic matter of the most complicated composition during the reaction of strong agencies and under conditions that admit multiple interpretations of decomposition phenomena, those [compounds] that constitute the object of the following observations are formed by synthesis from substances of the simplest possible composition, so that they leave us hardly in doubt about their constitution, and thus can be viewed in a way as prototypes of those series of substances.)</ref> and contributed a number of new chemical reactions.<ref name="Britannica bio" />

In particular, Kolbe developed procedures for the [[electrolysis]] of the salts of [[fatty acid|fatty]] and other [[carboxylic acid]]s ([[Kolbe electrolysis]])<ref>{{cite journal|title=Untersuchungen über die Elektrolyse organischer Verbindungen |author=Hermann Kolbe |journal=[[Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie]] |year=1849 |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=257–372 |doi=10.1002/jlac.18490690302 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1427016}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=July 2014}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lindsey|first1=Alan|last2=Jeskey|first2=Harold|date=1957|title=The Kolbe Schmitt Reaction|journal=Chem Rev|volume=57|issue=4|pages=583–620|doi=10.1021/cr50016a001}}</ref> and prepared [[salicylic acid]], a building block of [[aspirin]] in a process called [[Kolbe synthesis]] or [[Kolbe-Schmitt reaction]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ueber Synthese der Salicylsäure |author=Hermann Kolbe |journal=[[Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie]] |year=1860 |volume=113 |issue=1 |pages=125–127 |doi=10.1002/jlac.18601130120 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1427141}}</ref><ref name="Kolbe-Schmitt Reaction">{{cite web|url=https://www.organic-chemistry.org/namedreactions/kolbe-schmitt-reaction.shtm|title=Kolbe-Schmitt Reaction|access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> His method for the synthesis of nitriles is called the [[Kolbe nitrile synthesis]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4TBWg3dIyKQC&q=kolbe+nitrile%25&pg=PA537 Electrochemical Dictionary]</ref> and with [[Edward Frankland]] he found that [[nitrile]]s can be hydrolyzed to the corresponding acids.<ref name="Kolbe Nitrile Synthesis">{{cite web|url=https://www.organic-chemistry.org/namedreactions/kolbe-nitrile-synthesis.shtm|title=Kolbe Nitrile Synthesis|access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref>
In addition to his own bench research and scholarly and editorial work, Kolbe oversaw student research at Leipzig and especially at Marburg; students spending time under his tutelage included [[Peter Griess]], [[Aleksandr Mikhailovich Zaitsev]] (known for [[Zaitsev's rule]] predicting the product composition of elimination reactions), [[Theodor Curtius]] (discoverer of [[diazo]] compounds, [[hydrazine]]s, and the [[Curtius rearrangement]]), [[Ernst Otto Beckmann]] (discoverer of the [[Beckmann rearrangement]]), [[Carl Graebe]] (discoverer of [[alizarin]]), [[Oscar Loew]], [[Constantin Fahlberg]], [[Nikolai Menshutkin]], [[Vladimir Markovnikov]] (first to describe [[carbocycle]]s smaller and larger than [[cyclohexane]], and known for [[Markovnikov's rule]] describing addition reactions to alkenes), [[Jacob Volhard]], [[Ludwig Mond]], [[Alexander Crum Brown]] (first to describe the double bond of ethylene), [[Maxwell Simpson]], and [[Frederick Guthrie (scientist)|Frederick Guthrie]].<ref name="worldofchemicals.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldofchemicals.com/495/chemistry-articles/adolph-wilhelm-hermann-kolbe-developer-of-kolbe-synthesis.html |title=Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe – developer of Kolbe synthesis |access-date=28 July 2016 |date=11 June 2015 |archive-date=19 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819135758/http://www.worldofchemicals.com/495/chemistry-articles/adolph-wilhelm-hermann-kolbe-developer-of-kolbe-synthesis.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>