Viktor Meyer
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{{Infobox_Scientist
|name = Viktor Meyer
|image = Meyer_Viktor.jpg
|image_width = 200px
|caption = Viktor Meyer
|birth_date = [[September 8]] [[1848]]
|birth_place = [[Berlin]], [[Germany]]
|residence = [[Germany]], [[Switzerland]]
|nationality = [[Germany|German]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1897|8|8|1848|8|9}}
|death_place = [[Heidelberg]], [[Germany]]
|field =
|work_institution = [[University of Stuttgart|Polytechnikum of Stuttgart]],</br> [[ETH Zurich|Polytechnikum of Zurich]],</br> [[University of Heidelberg]],</br> [[University of Göttingen]]
|alma_mater = [[University of Heidelberg]]
|doctoral_advisor = [[Robert Bunsen]],</br> [[Emil Erlenmeyer]]
|doctoral_students = [[Traugott Sandmeyer]],</br> [[Wilhelm Michler]],</br> [[Max Bodenstein]]
|known_for =
|prizes =
|religion =
|footnotes =
}}
'''Viktor Meyer''' ([[8 September]], [[1848]] – [[8 August]], [[1897]]) was a [[Germany|German]] [[chemist]] and significant contributor to both [[organic chemistry|organic]] and [[inorganic chemistry]]. He is best known for inventing an apparatus for determining vapour densities, the [[Viktor Meyer apparatus]], and for discovering [[thiophene]], a [[heterocyclic compound]]. He is sometimes referred to as '''Victor Meyer''', a name used in some of his publications.
==Early life==
Viktor Meyer was born in [[Berlin]] in [[1848]], the son of [[trader]] and [[cotton]] printer Jacques Meyer and mother, Bertha. His parents were [[Jew]]ish, though he was not actively raised in the Jewish faith. Later, he was confirmed in the reformed [[Jewish Church]]. He married a [[Christian]] woman, Hedwig Davidson, and raised his children as such. He entered the gymnasium at the age of ten in the same class as his two-year older brother Richard. Although he had excellent science skills his wish to become an actor was based on his love for poetry. At a visit from his brother Richard, who was studying chemistry at the [[University of Heidelberg]], he became attracted to chemistry.
==Work and education==
In [[1865]], when not even 17 years old but pushed by his parents, Meyer began studying chemistry at the [[University of Berlin]], the same year that [[August Wilhelm von Hofmann]] succeeded [[Eilhard Mitscherlich]] as the Chair of Chemistry there. After one semester, Meyer went to [[Heidelberg]] to work under [[Robert Bunsen]], where he also heard lectures on organic chemistry by [[Emil Erlenmeyer]]. As no research was required under Bunsen at the time, Meyer received his doctorate in [[1867]], at the age of 19. This opened the doors to a very successful career in which he became one of the most important chemists of his time. He stayed one year with Bunsen for an area wide analysis of spring water. Besides this he was also able to teach some PhD students. In Berlin he joined the group of Adolf Baeyer, one of his best friends in later life, changing from inorganic chemistry to organic chemistry. At the age of 23 Baeyer sent him to Stuttgart at a request from Fehling for a student capable to be a lecturer at the University.
==Health==
Overworked and overtaxed, Meyer's [[nervous system]] suffered, leading to several minor and major [[nervous breakdown]]s during the last years of his life. He always failed to recover completely, yet continued working. He took pills to fall asleep, but these had a damaging effect on his nervous system. In one of his depressions, Meyer decided to take his own life, and committed suicide by taking [[cyanide]]. He died at the age of 49 during the night of [[August 7]] - [[August 8]] [[1897]] in Heidelberg. It was a shock to others as Meyer was considered a highly gifted scientist by his colleagues, and a very talented teacher by his students.
==Career==
'''Meyer's professional career:'''
{| {{wikitable}} width="70%"
|-
| style="text-align:center;width:10%;" | '''[[1867]]'''
| Assistant at the [[laboratory]] of [[Robert Bunsen]], analyzing [[mineral water]] for the government of [[Baden]] and helping students preparing their examinations
|-
| style="text-align:center;width:10%;" | '''[[1868]]'''
| Studying [[organic chemistry]] at the ''[[Technical University of Berlin|Gewerbe-Akademie]]'' in [[Berlin]], guided by [[Adolf von Baeyer]] (until [[1871]])
|-
| style="text-align:center;width:10%;" | '''[[1871]]'''
| Position as [[Professor|Professor extraordinarius]] of organic chemistry at the [[University of Stuttgart|Polytechnikum of Stuttgart]], allowed without [[habilitation]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;width:10%;" | '''[[1872]]'''
| Position as [[Professor|Professor ordinarius]] at the [[ETH Zurich|Polytechnikum of Zurich]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;width:10%;" | '''[[1885]]'''
| Position at the [[University of Göttingen]], occupying the famous [[chair (official)|Chair]] of [[Friedrich Wöhler]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;width:10%;" | '''[[1889]]'''
| Taking over the Chair of Robert Bunsen at the [[University of Heidelberg]]; Meyer was requested (by Bunsen) to take this position in [[1888]], but only complied after a second request in [[1889]]
|}
He was also a student of Robert bunsen, and his father was Julius Meyer
'''Scientific contributions:'''
* Synthesis of [[aromatic]] [[carboxylic acid]]s from sulfonic acid and [[formiate]]s ([[1869]]).
* [[Nitroalkane]]s from [[alkyl iodide]]s and [[silver nitrite]] ([[1872]]).
* Development of a method to distinguish primary, secondary and tertiary nitroalkanes ([[1875]]).
* Starting with studying [[physical chemistry]] in [[1876]], Meyer created a new method for determining gas density in [[1878]]. This method allowed him to demonstrate how [[arsenious oxide]] vapours corresponded to the formula As<sub>4</sub>O<sub>6</sub>, that [[mercury (element)|mercury]], [[zinc]] and [[cadmium]] yielded monatomic vapours, and that [[halogen]] molecules dissociated into atoms on heating, a phenomenon which he studied until his death. The '''Victor Meyer apparatus''' accurately measures the volume of a volatilized substance from which the [[vapor density]] of the gas can be derived and also the relative mass.
* Proposing [[glucose]] is an [[aldehyde]] and not a [[ketone]], hereby correcting von Baeyer and [[Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff|van't Hoff]] ([[1880]]).
* Synthesis of [[aldoxime]]s and [[ketoxime]]s from [[hydroxylamine]] and [[aldehyde]]s or [[ketone]]s, hereby discovering a new structural identification and elucidation method ([[1882]], together with [[Alois Janny]]).
* Identification of [[thiophene]] as a contaminant in [[benzene]] derived from [[coal]] ([[1882]]). Benzene produced by [[decarboxylation]] of [[benzoic acid]] did not contain this impurity.
* First reliable synthesis of pure [[sulfur mustard]] ([[1886]], also see [[Meyer's account on sulfur mustard]])
* Coining of the concepts of [[stereochemistry]] and [[dipole]] in [[1888]]. Meyer had always been interested in stereochemical problems and was one of the first ones to instruct his pupils with van't Hoff's theory of [[asymmetric carbon]] and the [[Hantzsch-Werner theory]].
* Discovery of [[iodoso]] compounds in [[1892]] by reacting o-[[iodobenzoic acid]] with [[nitric acid]].
* Observation ([[1892]]) that ortho-substituted benzoic acid derivatives are [[esterification|esterified]] with difficulty. This principle is now known as the '''Victor Meyer esterification law''' and was discovered in an attempt to esterify o-iodosobenzoic acid.
* Discovery of [[iodonium]] compounds by reacting [[iodobenzene]] and [[iodosobenzene]] ([[1894]]).
'''Books:'''
Meyer wrote several notable books:
* ''Tabellen zur qualitativen Analyse'' ([[1884]], written together with [[Frederick Treadwell]])
* ''Pyrochemische Untersuchungen'' ([[1885]])
* ''Die Thiophengruppe'' ([[1888]])
* ''Chemische Probleme der Gegenwart'' ([[1890]])
* ''Ergebnisse und Ziele der Stereochemischen Forschung'' ([[1890]])
* ''Lehrbuch der organischen Chemie'' ([[1893]], written together with [[Paul Jacobson]]. A very popular book at the time that has been reprinted and reedited several times)
* ''Märztage im kanarischen Archipel, ein Ferienausflug nach Teneriffa und Las Palmas'' ([[1893]], travel guide)
==See also==
* Victor Meyer apparatus: In a demonstration in [http://www.archive.org/details/PracticalOrganicChemistry Cohen's Practical Organic Chemistry] (1910) the molar mass of [[diethyl ether]] was determined experimentally at 72 g/mol and that for [[aniline]] 93 g/mol.
==Further reading==
* Richard Meyer. ''Victor Meyer. Leben und Wirken eines deutschen Chemikers und Naturforschers,1848-1897'' (Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, 1917) (''note: [[Richard Meyer (chemist)|Richard Meyer]] is Victor Meyer's brother).
==References==
* W Pötsch. ''Lexikon bedeutender Chemiker'' (VEB Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig, 1989) (ISBN 3-8171-1055-3)
* E von Lippmann. ''Zeittafeln zur Geschichte der organischen Chemie'' (Julius Springer, 1921)
* G Bugge. ''Das Buch der grossen Chemiker'' (Verlag Chemie GmbH, 1955)
* {{cite journal
| author= G. M. Richardson
| title = Obituary (for Viktor Meyer)
| journal = [[Journal of the American Chemical Society]]
| year = 1897
| volume = 19
| issue = 11
| pages = 918–921
| doi = 10.1021/ja02085a010}}
* {{cite journal
| author= Richard Meyer
| title = Victor Meyer. 1848 - 1897
| journal = [[Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft]]
| year = 1908
| volume = 41
| issue = 3
| pages = 4505–4718
| doi = 10.1002/cber.190804103190 }}
* {{cite journal
| author= G. Lunge
| title = Victor Meyer
| journal = [[Zeitschrift für Angewandte Chemie]]
| year = 1897
| volume = 10
| issue = 24
| pages = 777–779
| doi = 10.1002/ange.18970102402 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Viktor}}
[[Category:German chemists]]
[[Category:German scientists]]
[[Category:German inventors]]
[[Category:Jewish inventors|Meir]]
[[Category:Inventors who committed suicide]]
[[Category:Scientists who committed suicide]]
[[Category:Suicides by poison]]
[[Category:1848 births]]
[[Category:1897 deaths]]
[[Category:Suicides in Germany]]
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