Johann Peter Griess (6 September 1829 – 30 August 1888) was an industrial chemist and an early pioneer of

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 ...

. Griess was influential in the formation of modern dyes, first formulating the

diazotization Diazonium compounds or diazonium salts are a group of organic compounds sharing a common functional group where R can be any organic group, such as an alkyl or an aryl, and X is an inorganic or organic anion, such as a halide. General propert ...

reaction of arylamines.

Life

After he finished at an agricultural private school, he joined the Hessian

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...

, but left the military shortly after. He started his studies at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The ...

in 1850, but changed to the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

in 1851. During his student life he was several times sentenced to the

Karzer A Karzer was a designated lock-up or detention room to incarcerate students as a punishment, within the jurisdiction of some institutions of learning in Germany and German-language universities abroad. Karzers existed both at universities and ...

(campus jail) and was also banned from the city for one year, during which time he listened to lectures of

Justus Liebig Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at the ...

at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

. After most of the family possession had been spent, he had to start working at the chemical factory of Oehler in

Offenbach am Main Offenbach am Main () is a city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It has a population of 138,335 (December 2018). ...

in 1856. This was only possible after the recommendation of Hermann Kolbe, who was head of the chemistry department in Marburg. The devastating fire of 1857 ended the production of chemicals at the factory and a changed Peter Griess rejoined Hermann Kolbe at the

. His new enthusiasm for chemistry yielded the discovery of diazonium salts in 1858.Peter Griess (1858
"Vorläufige Notiz über die Einwirkung von salpetriger Säure auf Amidinitro- und Aminitrophenylsäure,"
(Preliminary notice of the reaction of nitrous acid with picramic acid and aminonitrophenol), ''Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie'', 106 : 123-125. The discovery of a new class of chemicals convinced

August Wilhelm von Hofmann August Wilhelm von Hofmann (8 April 18185 May 1892) was a German chemist who made considerable contributions to organic chemistry. His research on aniline helped lay the basis of the aniline-dye industry, and his research on coal tar laid the g ...

to invite Griess to join him at his new position at the

Royal College of Chemistry The Royal College of Chemistry: the laboratories. Lithograph The Royal College of Chemistry (RCC) was a college originally based on Oxford Street in central London, England. It operated between 1845 and 1872. The original building was designed ...

. During his time at the Royal College, he studied the reactions of

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

-rich organic molecules. It took him quite long to become accustomed to his new home in England, but the fact that he married in 1869 and founded a family made it clear that he did not intend to return to Germany, even though he was offered a position at the

BASF BASF SE () is a German multinational chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The BASF Group comprises subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries ...

. He left and started a position at the

Samuel Allsopp & Sons Samuel Allsopp & Sons was one of the largest breweries operating in Burton upon Trent, England. History Origins Allsopp's origins go back to the 1740s, when Benjamin Wilson, an innkeeper-brewer of Burton, brewed beer for his own premises and so ...

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

in 1862 where he worked until his retirement. His wife died after a long, severe illness in 1886; he survived her for two years and died on August 30, 1888. He is buried in

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...

Work

In 1858 he described the ''Griess

reaction'' which would form the basis for the

Griess test The Griess test is an analytical chemistry test which detects the presence of nitrite ion in solution. One of its most important uses is the determination of nitrite in drinking water. The Griess diazotization reaction, on which the Griess reagen ...

for detection of

Nitrite The nitrite ion has the chemical formula . Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is widely used throughout chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The nitrite anion is a pervasive intermediate in the nitrogen cycle in nature. The name nitrite also ...

. Most of his work related to brewing remained confidential, but his additional work on organic chemistry was published by him in several articles.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Griess, Peter 1829 births 1888 deaths People from Werra-Meißner-Kreis 19th-century German chemists 19th-century German inventors People from the Electorate of Hesse University of Marburg alumni University of Jena alumni BASF people Fellows of the Royal Society