Ferdinand Münz (1888-1969) was an Austrian chemist who first synthesized
EDTA
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is an aminopolycarboxylic acid with the formula H2N(CH2CO2H)2sub>2. This white, water-soluble solid is widely used to bind to iron (Fe2+/Fe3+) and calcium ions (Ca2+), forming water-soluble complexes ev ...
(ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) at the IG Farben in 1935, patented both in Germany (anonymously) and in the USA (with his name), with the aim of producing a
citric acid
Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in ...
substitute, in order to reduce the German government's dependence on imports of chemical products from abroad. Münz noted that an aminocarboxylic acid worked much better as a chelating agent than citric acid and therefore thought that a polyaminopolycarboxylic acid would have worked even better.
In 1945 he worked closely with the future Nobel laureate
Kurt Alder
Kurt Alder (; 10 July 1902 – 20 June 1958) was a German chemist and Nobel laureate.
Biography
Alder was born in the industrial area of Königshütte, Silesia (modern day Chorzów, Upper Silesia, Poland), where he received his early schoo ...
(1902-1958). In 1949 they published a paper together on
diene
In organic chemistry a diene ( ) (diolefin ( ) or alkadiene) is a covalent compound that contains two double bonds, usually among carbon atoms. They thus contain two alk''ene'' units, with the standard prefix ''di'' of systematic nomenclature. ...
synthesis and additions.
See also
*
EDTA
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is an aminopolycarboxylic acid with the formula H2N(CH2CO2H)2sub>2. This white, water-soluble solid is widely used to bind to iron (Fe2+/Fe3+) and calcium ions (Ca2+), forming water-soluble complexes ev ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munz, Ferdinand
1888 births
1969 deaths
20th-century German chemists
20th-century Austrian chemists
Scientists from Frankfurt
University of Vienna alumni