Photo credit: Nobel Foundation — File:Heinrich Wieland.jpg (Wikimedia Commons) · Public domain
Heinrich Otto Wieland
1877–1957 · Germany · Born in the 1800s
Nobel Chemistry 1927
German chemist who unravelled the structure of bile acids and thereby laid the foundations of steroid chemistry.
Nobel Prize work
Wieland determined the carbon skeleton of the bile acids, showing that cholic acid and its relatives are built on a fused four-ring system related to cholesterol. This work opened the entire field of steroid chemistry and revealed the molecular family later found to include the sex hormones and vitamin D.
Fields
Related topics
Structural and stereoisomerism (cis–trans, enantiomers)
Distinguish constitutional isomers from stereoisomers, then analyze geometric and optical stereochemistry using molecular connectivity and three-dimensional arrangement.
Lipids and fats
Fats and oils are esters of glycerol with fatty acids; they store energy, do not mix with water, and can be turned into soap.