- German chemist
who produced synthetic sugars and, from these, various enzymes. His
descriptions of the chemistry of the carbohydrates and peptides laid
the foundations for the science of biochemistry. Nobel prize 1902.
About 1882, Fischer began working on a group of compounds that included
uric acid and caffeine. He realized that they were all related to a
hitherto unknown substance, which he called purine. Over the next few
years he synthesized about 130 related compounds, one of which was the
first synthetic nucleotide. These studies led to the synthesis of powerful
hypnotic drugs derived from barbituric acids (barbiturates).
Fischer was born near Bonn and educated there and at Strasbourg and
Munich. He held professorships at Erlangen 1882-85, Würzburg 1885-92,
and Berlin from 1892.
In 1884, Fischer discovered a key reaction in the study of sugars. He
went on to determine the structures of glucose, fructose, mannose, and
the group of sugars known collectively as hexoses.
Fischer's investigations into the chemistry of proteins began 1899.
He synthesized the amino acids ornithine (1,4-diaminopentanoic acid)
1901, serine (1-hydroxy-2-aminobutanoic acid) 1902, and the sulphur-containing
cystine 1908. He then combined amino acids to form polypeptides.
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