Otto Bayer (4 November 1902 – 1 August 1982) was a German industrial

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

IG Farben Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG (), commonly known as IG Farben (German for 'IG Dyestuffs'), was a German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Formed in 1925 from a merger of six chemical companies—BASF, ...

who was head of the research group that in 1937 discovered the

polyaddition Polyaddition (or addition polymerisation ) is a polymerization reaction that forms polymers via individual independent addition reactions. Polyaddition occurs as a reaction between functional groups on molecules with low degrees of polymerizat ...

for the synthesis of

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethan ...

s out of poly-

isocyanate In organic chemistry, isocyanate is the functional group with the formula . Organic compounds that contain an isocyanate group are referred to as isocyanates. An organic compound with two isocyanate groups is known as a diisocyanate. Diisocyan ...

and

polyol In organic chemistry, a polyol is an organic compound containing multiple hydroxyl groups (). The term "polyol" can have slightly different meanings depending on whether it is used in food science or polymer chemistry. Polyols containing two, thr ...

. Bayer was not related to the founding family of Bayer Corp. Today polyurethanes are ubiquitous throughout modern life. He was a member of the board of directors and of the

supervisory board In corporate governance, a governance board also known as council of delegates are chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and fire the board of directors. In civil s ...

Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of busi ...

, and was also vice chairman of the supervisory board of

Cassella Cassella AG, formerly Leopold Cassella & Co. and Cassella Farbwerke Mainkur AG, commonly known as Cassella, was a German chemical and pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. Founded in 1798 in the Frankfurt Jewish Alley by ...

in the 1950s. Bayer was the 1975 recipient of the

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed ...

. He was the 1974 recipient of the Carl-Dietrich-Harries-Medal for commendable scientific achivements.

References

1902 births 1982 deaths 20th-century German chemists Polymer scientists and engineers Werner von Siemens Ring laureates Bayer people 20th-century German inventors {{Germany-chemist-stub