Roland Heinrich Scholl (30 September 1865 – 22 August 1945) was a Swiss chemist who taught at various European universities. Among his most notable achievements are the synthesis of
coronene
Coronene (also known as superbenzene and cyclobenzene) is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) comprising seven peri-fused benzene rings. Its chemical formula is . It is a yellow material that dissolves in common solvents including benzene, tol ...
, the co-development of the
Bally-Scholl synthesis, and various discoveries about
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple aromatic rings. The simplest representative is naphthalene, having two aromatic rings and the three-ring compounds anthracene and phenanthrene. ...
s.
Early life and education
Roland Heinrich Scholl was born on 30 September 1865 in
Zurich, Switzerland, the son of a
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
sian merchant. After primary education by a
private teacher and secondary education at a
Gymnasium in Zurich, he studied
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
and
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
at the
University of Würzburg
The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...
in 1883. One of his teachers there was
Johannes Wislicenus
Johannes Wislicenus (24 June 1835 – 5 December 1902) was a German chemist, most famous for his work in early stereochemistry.
Biography
The son of the radical Protestant theologian Gustav Wislicenus, Johannes was born on 24 June 1835 in Kl ...
, his mother's brother. After
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...
in a
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
n
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...
, he continued his studies in 1885 at the ''
Eidgenössisches Polytechnikum'' in Zurich. In 1890 he received a
Dr. phil. degree from the
University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universiti ...
.
Life and career
In 1893, Roland Scholl became ''
Privatdozent
''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
'' in chemistry at the ''Polytechnikum'' as well as 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 ...
. In 1897, he became the assistant director of the chemical laboratory of the ''
Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; german: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) is a public research university in Karlsruhe, Germany. The institute is a national research center of the Helmholtz Association.
KIT was created in 2009 ...
'' (today the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology). After being promoted to
associate professor
Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''.
Overview
In the '' North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is ...
in 1904, he moved to the
University of Graz
The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria.
History
The univers ...
, where he became
full professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...
in 1907. In 1914, Scholl
volunteered for service in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, and after the end of his service he moved to the ''
Technische Universität Dresden
TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...
'', where he worked as the director of the institute for
organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J ...
until his retirement in 1934.
Suffering from injuries sustained in the
Allied bombing of Dresden, Roland Scholl died on 22 August 1945 in a
refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...
on the site of a former military airfield near
Mörtitz, a small village in
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...
.
Research
Scholl made a name for himself in the scientific community at a young age through publications on the chemistry of
fulminic acid
Fulminic acid is an acid with the formula HCNO, more specifically . It is an isomer of isocyanic acid () and of its elusive tautomer, cyanic acid (), and also of isofulminic acid ().
Fulminate is the anion or any of its salts. For historic ...
, disproving the structures of this molecule proposed by
August Kekulé
Friedrich August Kekulé, later Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz ( , ; 7 September 1829 – 13 July 1896), was a German organic chemist. From the 1850s until his death, Kekulé was one of the most prominent chemists in Europe, especially ...
and
Edward Divers
Edward Divers FRS (27 November 1837 – 8 April 1912) was a British experimental chemist who rose to prominence despite being visually impaired from young age. Between 1873 and 1899, Divers lived and worked in Japan and significantly contribute ...
. He did some research for the ''
Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik (BASF)'' in the early 1900s, and began doing research on
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple aromatic rings. The simplest representative is naphthalene, having two aromatic rings and the three-ring compounds anthracene and phenanthrene. ...
s, especially
vat dye
Vat dyes are a class of dyes that are classified as such because of the method by which they are applied. Vat dyeing is a process that refers to dyeing that takes place in a bucket or vat. The original vat dye is indigo, once obtained only from pl ...
s such as
indanthrene and
flavanthrene, in 1903. Among other things, Scholl developed a method for the synthesis of
pyranthrone, the first nitrogen- and sulfur-free vat dye.
Scholl was one of the first persons to use the
microbalance
A microbalance is an instrument capable of making precise measurements of weight of objects of relatively small mass: of the order of a million parts of a gram. In comparison, a standard analytical balance is 100 times less sensitive; i.e. it is ...
developed by
Fritz Pregl, the father of
microanalysis
Microanalysis is the chemical identification and quantitative analysis of very small amounts of chemical substances (generally less than 10 mg or 1 ml) or very small surfaces of material (generally less than 1 cm2). One of the pionee ...
, who was a close collaborator of Scholl. In 1911, Roland Scholl and
Oscar Bally published an article on the synthesis of
benzanthrone by
condensation
Condensation is the change of the state of matter from the gas phase into the liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. The word most often refers to the water cycle. It can also be defined as the change in the state of water vapo ...
of
anthraquinone
Anthraquinone, also called anthracenedione or dioxoanthracene, is an aromatic organic compound with formula . Isomers include various quinone derivatives. The term anthraquinone however refers to the isomer, 9,10-anthraquinone (IUPAC: 9,10-dioxoan ...
with
glycerol
Glycerol (), also called glycerine in British English and glycerin in American English, is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known ...
, a process that would later be called the Bally-Scholl synthesis. In 1932, Scholl was the first person to synthesise coronene.
Over the course of his career, Scholl published about 180 scientific articles. He became a member of the
Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1916, of the
Saxon Academy of Sciences
The Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig (german: Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig) is an institute which was founded in 1846 under the name ''Royal Saxon Society for the Sciences'' (german: Königlich Sächsische G ...
in 1920, and of the
German Chemical Society
The German Chemical Society (German: ', GDCh) is a learned society and professional association founded in 1949 to represent the interests of German chemists in local, national and international contexts. GDCh "brings together people working in ch ...
as well as the ''
Chemische Gesellschaft Karlsruhe'' in 1930. In 1944 he was awarded the ''
Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft''.
Notable publications
* Scholl's first article on the vat dyes Indanthrene and Flavanthrene
* On the first synthesis of pyranthron
* Description of the Bally-Scholl synthesis
* On the first synthesis of coronene
* Scholl's final article, written from memory in the refugee camp
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scholl, Roland
1865 births
1945 deaths
19th-century Swiss people
Academic staff of TU Dresden
ETH Zurich alumni
Academic staff of ETH Zurich
Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Scientists from Zürich
Swiss chemists
Academic staff of the University of Graz
Academic staff of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
University of Würzburg alumni
Academic staff of the University of Zurich
Civilians killed in World War II
Deaths by airstrike during World War II
German military personnel of World War I