Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig

Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig
Born(1835-12-06)6 December 1835
Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, German Confederation
Died19 November 1910(1910-11-19) (aged 74)
Strasbourg, Alsace–Lorraine, German Empire
(now Grand Est, France)
Alma materUniversity of Göttingen
Known forFittig reaction
Lactone
Pinacol rearrangement
AwardsDavy Medal (1906)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
InstitutionsUniversity of Göttingen
Doctoral advisorHeinrich Limpricht and Friedrich Wöhler[citation needed]
Doctoral studentsIra Remsen

Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig (6 December 1835 – 19 November 1910) was a German chemist. He discovered the pinacol coupling reaction, mesitylene, diacetyl and biphenyl. Fittig studied the action of sodium on ketones and hydrocarbons. He discovered the Fittig reaction or Wurtz–Fittig reaction for the synthesis of alkylbenzenes, he proposed a diketone structure for benzoquinone and isolated phenanthrene from coal tar. He discovered and synthesized the first lactones and investigated structures of piperine, naphthalene, and fluorene.[1]

  1. ^ Otto N. Witt (1911). "Obituary notices: Friedrich Konrad Beilstein, 1838–1906; Emil Erlenmeyer, 1825–1909; Rudolph Fittig, 1835–1910; Hans Heinrich Landolt, 1831–1910; Nikolai Alexandrovitsch Menschutkin, 1842–1907; Sir Walter Palmer, Bart., 1858–1910". J. Chem. Soc., Trans. 99: 1646–1668. doi:10.1039/CT9119901646.