Gustav Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm Haarmann (24 May 1847 – 6 March 1931) was a German chemist and together with Karl Reimer and Ferdinand Tiemann as scientific consultant founded the

Haarmann & Reimer Symrise AG is a major producer of flavours and fragrances with sales of €3.154 billion in 2018. Major competitors include Döhler, Firmenich, Givaudan, International Flavors and Fragrances, and Takasago International. Symrise is a member of th ...

chemical plant for the production of

vanillin Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin is now u ...

. Beginning in 1866, Haarmann studied at the Mining academy Clausthal later he changed to the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. He joined

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 ...

1869 at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. He received his PhD in Göttingen 1872. Together with Ferdinand Tiemann, both working with Hoffmann, Haarmann founded 1875 Haarmann's Vanillinfabrik, producing

from

coniferin Coniferin is a glucoside of coniferyl alcohol. This white crystalline solid is a metabolite in conifers, serving as an intermediate in cell wall lignification, as well as having other biological roles. It can also be found in the water root extrac ...

. The Reimer-Tiemann reaction discovered by Karl Reimer opened an alternative path to vanillin and Reimer joined the company which was renamed to Haarmann & Raimer. Haarmann & Raimer was bought by the

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

in 1953 and became an independent company again in 2003 under the name Symrise.

References

* 1847 births 1931 deaths 19th-century German chemists 20th-century German chemists {{Germany-chemist-stub