Adolf von Baeyer died on this day in 1917. Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer was a German chemist who synthesized indigo (1880) and formulated its structure (1883). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1905 “in recognition of his services in the advancement of organic chemistry and the chemical industry, through his work on organic dyes and hydroaromatic compounds”. Baeyer also did work on acetylene and polyacetylene, and from this derived the famous Baeyer strain theory of the carbon rings. He studied benzene and cyclic terpene. In this connexion the Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of ketones by means of per-acids was discovered. His work on organic peroxides and oxonium compounds and on the connexion between constitution and colour aroused special interest.
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