Post by Organic Name Reactions

Georg Wittig began studying chemistry in 1916 at the University of Tübingen. His studies were interrupted by military service during WW I and subsequent imprisonment as a prisoner of war. After returning in 1919, he initially struggled to resume university study before continuing at the University of Marburg under Karl von Auwers, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1923. He completed his habilitation in 1926 and remained at Marburg until 1932. In 1932, Wittig was appointed associate professor and head of a department at the Technical University of Braunschweig. This period was marked by political tensions as he supported Karl Fries, who opposed the Nazi regime. In 1937, following an invitation from Hermann Staudinger, he moved to the University of Freiburg, where he served as associate professor until 1944. He was then appointed full professor at the University of Tübingen in 1944, before becoming director of the Chemical Institute at Heidelberg University in 1956. He retired in 1967. In 1935, Wittig began studying reactions of organolithium compounds, including phenyllithium, focusing on metalation and halogen–metal exchange reactions. In 1947, he discovered reactions leading to ylides. In these studies, he used benzophenone to determine the position of lithiation via formation of crystalline derivatives. This methodological approach led to the identification of reactive intermediates and contributed to the discovery of the Wittig reaction. His work also included ammonium ylides and rearrangements, including the Wittig rearrangement, and the demonstration of benzyne (1,2-dehydrobenzene in his terminology) as an intermediate. In 1954, he developed the Wittig olefination, based on phosphorus ylides for alkene formation. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1979, shared with Herbert C. Brown. 📸 Credit: Nobel Foundation archive