Oskar Baudisch (3 June 1881 – 29 March 1950) was an

Austrian American Austrian Americans (, ) are Americans of Austrian descent, chiefly German-speaking Catholics and Jews. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 735,128 Americans of full or partial Austrian descent, accounting for 0.3% of the population. The ...

biochemist and

radiographer Radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, diagnostic radiographers and medical radiation technologists are healthcare professionals who specialize in the imaging of human anatomy for the diagnosis and treatment of pathology. Radi ...

. He is mainly known for a

chemical reaction A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the IUPAC nomenclature for organic transformations, chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the pos ...

that bears his name, the

Baudisch reaction In organic chemistry, the Baudisch reaction is a process for the synthesis of nitrosophenols using metal ions. Although the products are of limited value, the reaction is of historical interest as an example of metal-promoted functionalization of a ...

Early life and education

Baudisch was born to Joseph and Julie Baudisch in Maffersdorf, Austria, which is today

Vratislavice nad Nisou Vratislavice nad Nisou (german: Maffersdorf) is a district of the city of Liberec, in the north of the Czech Republic. As of 2021, it has about 8,800 inhabitants. and straddles the Nisa river between Liberec and Jablonec, around 3.5 km south- ...

, now part of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He received his first education in chemistry at the Staatsgewerbeschule in Reichenberg. Since this kind of school was not sufficient to be allowed to start a Ph. D. thesis in Austria, he went abroad. Baudisch studied chemistry in Zurich, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1904.

Career

In Europe

After a year of military service in the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

, he worked for his former chemistry teacher, Ferdinand Breinl, in Reichenberg. There he published a paper on the oxidation of proteins by

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3%� ...

. He then joined the group of

Eugen Bamberger Eugen Bamberger (19 July 1857 – 10 December 1932) was a German chemist and discoverer of the Bamberger rearrangement. Life and achievements Bamberger started studying medicine in 1875 at the University of Berlin, but changed subjects and univer ...

at the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

as a private assistant. In 1907 he joined the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

where he worked with William Henry Perkin, Jr. During this time he published his work on

Cupferron Cupferron is jargon for the ammonium salt of the conjugate base derived from ''N''-nitroso-N-phenylhydroxylamine. It once was a common reagent for the complexation of metal ions, being of interest in the area of qualitative inorganic analysis. Its ...

, a

complexation A coordination complex consists of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ''ligands'' or complexing agents. Many ...

agent later used for the quantitative analysis of copper and iron. Baudisch left London in 1909 and worked in the

dyestuff A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...

industry for some time. In 1911, he worked with Alfred Werner in Zurich, and obtained his habilitation. Just before the outbreak of World War I, he became director of the Strahlenforschungsinstitut (radiation research institute) in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. During the war, Baudisch served in the Austria-Hungary army in the fields of medicine and epidemic control. After the war he joined the

Kaiser Wilhelm Institute 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 ...

for Physics in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

In America

In 1920, he assumed a professorship of photochemistry at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. Two years later, he moved to the

Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classi ...

where he concentrated his research on trace minerals in soil and water. In 1933, he was asked to head the New York State Institute of Balneology and Hydrotherapy at

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

. During his time at this institute he also worked on the impact of trace minerals in water on health. During this time he published on iron-pyridine complexes. In 1939 Baudisch discovered the copper-catalyzed reaction of

phenol Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () bonded to a hydroxy group (). Mildly acidic, it ...

s and

hydroxylamine hydrochloride Hydroxylammonium chloride is the hydrochloric acid salt of hydroxylamine. Hydroxylamine is a biological intermediate in nitrification (biological oxidation of ammonia with oxygen into nitrite) and in anammox (biological oxidation of nitrite and am ...

to give ''o''-nitrosophenols. This reaction is today known as the

Death

Baudisch drowned on 28 March 1950 near La Jolla, California in a boating accident. He had been working on a research project on trace elements in the sea for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baudisch, Oskar 1881 births 1950 deaths 20th-century American chemists Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States German Bohemian people American people of Austrian descent Accidental deaths in California Deaths by drowning in California Boating accident deaths People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Scientists from Liberec Academics of the University of Manchester Yale University faculty