Ružička, Leopold

Ružička, Leopold

▪ Swiss chemist
in full  Leopold Stephen Ružička 
born Sept. 13, 1887, Vukovar, Croatia, Austria-Hungary [now in Croatia]
died Sept. 26, 1976, Zürich, Switz.

      Swiss chemist and joint recipient, with Adolf Butenandt (Butenandt, Adolf) of Germany, of the 1939 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on ringed molecules, terpenes (terpene) (a class of hydrocarbons found in the essential oils of many plants), and sex hormones.

      While working as an assistant to the German chemist Hermann Staudinger (Staudinger, Hermann), Ružička investigated the composition of the insecticides in pyrethrum (1911–16). Accompanying Staudinger to the Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, he became a Swiss citizen and lectured at the institute. In 1926 he became professor of organic chemistry at the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands, and three years later he returned to Switzerland to become professor of chemistry at the Federal Institute of Technology.

      Ružička's investigations of natural odoriferous compounds, begun in 1916, culminated in the discovery that the molecules of muskone and civetone, important to the perfume industry, contain rings of 15 and 17 carbon atoms, respectively. Before this discovery, rings with more than eight atoms had been unknown and indeed had been believed to be too unstable to exist. Ružička's discovery greatly expanded research on these compounds. He also showed that the carbon skeletons of terpenes and many other large organic molecules are constructed from multiple units of isoprene. In the mid-1930s Ružička discovered the molecular structure of several male sex hormones, notably testosterone and androsterone, and subsequently synthesized them.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ružička , Leopold — (1887–1976) Croatian–Swiss chemist Ružička was born in Vukovar, Croatia, the son of a cooper. He graduated in chemistry from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, in Germany, where he became assistant to Hermann Staudinger, following him to… …   Scientists

  • Ružička, Leopold — ► (1887 1976) Químico suizo. Fue premio Nobel de Química en 1939, compartido con A. Butenandt, por sus investigaciones sobre los polimitilenos …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Ružička's — Ružička , Leopold …   Scientists

  • Ružička — Ružička, Leopold …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Leopold Ružička — (Lavoslav Stjepan Ružička; * 13. September 1887 in Vukovar; † 26. September 1976 in Mammern, Kanton Thurgau) war ein Schweizer Chemiker kroatischer Abstammung …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Leopold Ružička — Leopold Ružička. Lavoslav (Leopold) Ružička (n. Vukovar, Croacia, 13 de septiembre de 1887 † Zúrich, 26 de septiembre de 1976) fue un químico y profesor universitario galardonado con el Premio Nobel de Química del año …   Wikipedia Español

  • Ruzicka — (Leopold) (1887 1976) chimiste suisse d origine croate. Ses travaux sur les hydrocarbures végétaux ont permis la synthèse de nombreux parfums. P. Nobel de chimie 1939 …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Leopold Ruzicka — Geburtshaus von Leopold Ružička Leopold Ružička (Lavoslav Stjepan Ružička; * 13. September 1887 in Vukovar; † 26. September 1976 in Mammern, Kanton Thurgau) war ein Schweizer Chemiker kroatischer Abstamm …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ruzicka — Růžička (tschech.) oder Ružička (slowak./kroat.) ˈruːʒiʧka, eingedeutscht Ruzicka, ist ein in Tschechien, der Slowakei und Kroatien weit verbreiteter Familienname. Es ist dies die Verkleinerungsform zu tschech. růže, slowak./kroat. ruže, dt.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ružička — Růžička (tschech.) oder Ružička (slowak./kroat.) ˈruːʒiʧka, eingedeutscht Ruzicka, ist ein in Tschechien, der Slowakei und Kroatien weit verbreiteter Familienname. Es ist dies die Verkleinerungsform zu tschech. růže, slowak./kroat. ruže, dt.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”