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Otto Wallach
1847–1931 · Germany · Born in the 1800s
Nobel Chemistry 1910
German chemist who elucidated the structures of terpenes and alicyclic compounds, founding the scientific basis of the essential-oil and perfume industry.
Nobel Prize work
Wallach systematically analysed essential oils and showed that the many seemingly unrelated terpenes share a common isoprene-derived skeleton. His classification of alicyclic compounds turned the confusing chemistry of fragrant plant oils into an ordered science and fed directly into the synthetic perfume industry.
Fields
Related topics
Alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, arenes
Classify hydrocarbons by carbon framework and bonding, relate their formulas and structures to characteristic reactions, and compare the stability of aromatic rings.
Alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids
Three large families of natural products arise from different biosynthetic building blocks and show wide structural variety and biological activity.