Rolf Appel (25 February 1921 – 30 January 2012) was an
inorganic chemist
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 ...
who worked in the area of
organophosphorus chemistry
Organophosphorus compounds are organic compounds containing phosphorus. They are used primarily in pest control as an alternative to chlorinated hydrocarbons that persist in the environment. Some organophosphorus compounds are highly effective ins ...
Education
Appel received his PhD at age 30. He was appointed in 1962 to both the University of Bonn along with the inorganic chemical institute in 1962 from the University of Heidelberg. He was a research assistant in Chemistry at Bonn University in Bonn, when he developed the
Appel reaction
The Appel reaction is an organic reaction that converts an alcohol into an alkyl chloride using triphenylphosphine and carbon tetrachloride. The use of carbon tetrabromide or bromine as a halide source will yield alkyl bromides, whereas using carb ...
.
[ For his discovery, Appel received the ]Liebig Medal
The Liebig Medal (German: ''Liebig-Denkmünze'') was established by the (''Verein Deutscher Chemiker'') in 1903 to celebrate the centenary of Justus von Liebig. Since 1946 it has been awarded by the Society of German Chemists (''Gesellschaft De ...
. In 1986, he retired from the inorganic institute. He was succeeded by Edgar Niecke.
The Appel reaction is an organic reaction
Organic reactions are chemical reactions involving organic compounds. The basic organic chemistry reaction types are addition reactions, elimination reactions, substitution reactions, pericyclic reactions, rearrangement reactions, Mechanistic Organ ...
that converts an alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
into an alkyl
In organic chemistry, an alkyl group is an alkane missing one hydrogen.
The term ''alkyl'' is intentionally unspecific to include many possible substitutions.
An acyclic alkyl has the general formula of . A cycloalkyl is derived from a cycloalk ...
chloride
The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride salts ...
using triphenylphosphine
Triphenylphosphine (IUPAC name: triphenylphosphane) is a common organophosphorus compound with the formula P(C6H5)3 and often abbreviated to P Ph3 or Ph3P. It is widely used in the synthesis of organic and organometallic compounds. PPh3 exists a ...
and carbon tetrachloride
Carbon tetrachloride, also known by many other names (such as tetrachloromethane, also IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry, recognised by the IUPAC, carbon tet in the cleaning industry, Halon-104 in firefighting, and Refrigerant-10 in HVAC ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appel, Rolf
20th-century German chemists
1921 births
2012 deaths