Harald Schäfer (10 February 1913,
Jena – 21 December 1992,
Münster) was a professor of
inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...
at the
University of Münster in Germany. He is recognized for popularizing the use of
chemical vapor transport and the discovery of many new
inorganic compound
In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemist ...
s.
Schäfer began his studies in 1937 and was awarded a doctorate in 1940. His dissertation was on analytical chemistry of boron. He conducted his habilitation at the Technical University of
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
on iron
oxychloride
In chemistry, molecular oxohalides (oxyhalides) are a group of chemical compounds in which both oxygen and halogen atoms are attached to another chemical element A in a single molecule. They have the general formula , where X = fluorine (F), chlor ...
s, during which he discovered the phenomenon of chemical vapor transport (migration in the solid state via the gas phase).
[Schäfer, H. "Chemical Transport Reactions" Academic Press, New York, 1963.]
In recognition of his research achievements, he was awarded the
Alfred Stock Memorial Prize in 1967. He was also elected to the
Leopoldina Academy
The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...
.
References
1913 births
1992 deaths
20th-century German chemists
Solid state chemists
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