Born 16 Jun 1897; died 26 Aug 1987 at age 90.
#German #chemist whose studies of #organic #phosphorus #compounds won him a share (with Herbert C. Brown) of the #NobelPrize for #Chemistry in 1979. In 1953, he discovered how a family of organic compounds called #ylides could form the basis of the #WittigReaction, which easily and predictably joins two #carbon atoms from different #molecules to form a double bond. The Wittig reaction's reliability enabled other chemists to pursue and publish findings on thousands of applications for linking large carbon molecules. The process was used for #synthesizing complex compounds such as #vitaminA, #vitaminD derivatives, #steroids, and biological #pesticides. www.masterdoctorclinic.com