Herbert Lindlar-Wilson (15 March 1909 – 27 June 2009), better known as Herbert Lindlar, was a British-Swiss chemist. He is known in particular through the development of his catalyst for

hydrogenation Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a Catalysis, catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. The process is commonly employed to redox, reduce or S ...

, as the

Lindlar catalyst A Lindlar catalyst is a heterogeneous catalyst that consists of palladium deposited on calcium carbonate or barium sulfate which is then poisoned with various forms of lead or sulfur. It is used for the hydrogenation of alkynes to alkenes (i.e. ...

bears his name.

Biography

Lindlar was born in Sheffield, England in March 1909 and moved to Switzerland with his family in 1909. He studied chemistry at the

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

and the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

and graduated in 1939 with a thesis "about the behavior of

dicarboxylic acids In organic chemistry, a dicarboxylic acid is an organic compound containing two carboxyl groups (). The general molecular formula for dicarboxylic acids can be written as , where R can be aliphatic or aromatic. In general, dicarboxylic acids show ...

in the formation of ureides". He then joined the pharmaceutical company

Hoffmann-La Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX ...

. With the exception of one four-year hiatus, he worked for Hoffmann-La Roche until retirement in 1974. During these four years in Zurich and Basel, Lindlar worked as an English vice consul. He turned 100 in March 2009 and died in June.

References

External links

Baselland.ch
1909 births 2009 deaths Men centenarians Swiss centenarians Swiss chemists British emigrants to Switzerland {{UK-chemist-stub