Carl Alexander Neuberg (29 July 1877 – 30 May 1956) was an early pioneer in
biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
, and he is often referred to as the "father of modern biochemistry". His notable contribution to science includes the discovery of the
carboxylase and the elucidation of alcoholic fermentation which he showed to be a process of successive enzymatic steps, an understanding that became crucial as to how metabolic pathways would be investigated by later researchers.
Personal life
Carl Sandel Neuberg was born on 29 July 1877 to a Jewish family in
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
as the first child of Julius and Alma Neuberg.
He was educated in the classical language
gymnasium Lyceum I of the Ratsgymnasium until he was 15. In 1892 he moved with his parents to Berlin where he attended Friedrich-Werdersches Gymnasium.
After graduating school in 1896, he studied astronomy, but soon switched to chemistry to comply with his father's wishes for him to become a master of brewery. He studied at the
University of Würzburg
The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...
and
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
as well as Technischen Hochschule Charlottenburg.
On 21 May 1907, Neuberg married Franziska Helene (Hela) Lewinski, with whom he had two daughters, Irene Stephanie in 1908 and Marianne in 1911. His wife died from leukemia on 24 March 1929 at the age of 45. Neuberg was forced out of his job in 1934 under pressure from the Nazis. Just before the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he left Germany to work for a while at the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
, then travelled to
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
via France during the war, eventually leaving in 1940 to move to the United States to join his daughters who had already settled there.
He died on 30 May 1956 in New York after a prolonged illness.
Career in science
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R15350, Einweihung des Kaiser-Wilhelm-Instituts in Dahlem](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R15350%2C_Einweihung_des_Kaiser-Wilhelm-Instituts_in_Dahlem.jpg)
Neuberg began his professional career working as an assistant in the physiological chemistry department of
Charité
The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...
in 1898 while he was still working on his doctoral thesis. He gained his PhD in 1900 working on the chemistry of
glyceraldehyde under the supervision of
Alfred Wohl
Alfred Wohl (3 October 1863 – 25 December 1939) was a German chemist.
Several chemical reactions are named after him, including the Wohl degradation, Wohl-Aue reaction and the Wohl-Ziegler reaction.
Life
Wohl studied chemistry at the Un ...
at the University of Berlin.
In 1903, Neuberg became a ''
privatdozent
''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
'', and in 1906 a professor at the University of Berlin.
Neuberg was the first editor of the journal ''
Biochemische Zeitschrift'' he founded in 1906 which is now known as the ''
FEBS Journal
''The FEBS Journal'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies. It covers research on all aspects of biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, an ...
''. In his early work in Germany, he worked on solubility and transport in cells, the chemistry of
carbohydrate
In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ma ...
s,
photochemistry
Photochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Generally, this term is used to describe a chemical reaction caused by absorption of ultraviolet (wavelength from 100 to 400 nm), visible light (400–7 ...
, as well as investigating and classifying different types of
fermentation
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
. He was also a pioneer in the study of the chemistry of
amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...
s and
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...
s.
In 1913, Neuberg was invited to head the biochemistry section of the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Experimental Therapy, the director of which was
August von Wasserman
August Paul von Wassermann (21 February 1866 – 16 March 1925) was a German bacteriologist and hygienist.
Born in Bamberg, with Jewish origins, he studied at several universities throughout Germany, receiving his medical doctorate in 1888 from ...
.
Neuberg discovered in 1911 an
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...
"carboxylase" which catalyzed the decarboxylation of
pyruvic acid
Pyruvic acid (CH3COCOOH) is the simplest of the alpha-keto acids, with a carboxylic acid and a ketone functional group. Pyruvate, the conjugate base, CH3COCOO−, is an intermediate in several metabolic pathways throughout the cell.
Pyruvic aci ...
. He also introduced methods for trapping of intermediate metabolites which allowed him to correctly interpret the steps and mechanisms of reactions, and formulate a theory for the alcoholic fermentation of
glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...
.
Support for his theory was bolstered when he helped develop an industrial process that contributed materially to the German war effort in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, manufacturing
glycerol
Glycerol (), also called glycerine in British English and glycerin in American English, is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known ...
—for the production of
explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
s—by the fermentation of sugar.
Neuberg made a particularly important discovery in 1916:
hydrotropy A hydrotrope is a compound that solubilizes hydrophobic compounds in aqueous solutions by means other than micellar solubilization. Typically, hydrotropes consist of a hydrophilic part and a hydrophobic part (similar to surfactants), but the hydrop ...
, a solubilization process where the addition of large amounts of a second solute causes an increase in the aqueous solubility of a different solute. He also worked on
catalase
Catalase is a common enzyme found in nearly all living organisms exposed to oxygen (such as bacteria, plants, and animals) which catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. It is a very important enzyme in protecting t ...
and the oxidation of fatty acids and amino acids, studied the structure of biochemicals, discovered other enzymes, and synthesized phosphorylated intermediates of carbohydrate metabolism.
He is considered one of the founders and leaders of modern dynamic biochemistry.
Due to his
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
origin, Neuberg was forced by the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
to end his work at the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biochemistry
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...
in 1936 and he left Germany in 1937. The successor for his position at the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biochemistry
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...
was
Adolf Butenandt. Neuberg moved to the United States in 1940, however due to his age, he was unable to find a paid academic position, and he worked as a consultant for industry.
Nevertheless, he was associated with a number of universities, and continued to work on enzymes and cell transport processes.
On 5 Nov 1947, he received a medal from the American Society of European Chemists and Pharmacists. He served as a professor at the
Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.
See also
*
Neuberg ester
Fructose 6-phosphate (sometimes called the Neuberg ester) is a derivative of fructose, which has been phosphorylated at the 6-hydroxy group. It is one of several possible fructosephosphates. The β-D-form of this compound is very common in cell (b ...
(fructose-6-phosphate)
References
External links
Carl Neuberg PapersAmerican Philosophical Society Accessed 14 July 2015
History of Chemistry Journals''FEBS Journal''Homepage of the FEBS Journal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neuberg, Carl
1877 births
1956 deaths
German biochemists
Jewish German scientists
Jewish American scientists
German emigrants to the United States
Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Max Planck Institute directors