Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus
Oxford Dictionary of Scientists:
Top
Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus
German chemist (1876–1959)
Windaus studied medicine at the university in his native city of Berlin and at Freiburg University, where he changed to chemistry under the influence of Emil Fischer. After holding chairs in Freiburg and Innsbruck he became, in 1915, professor of chemistry at Göttingen, where he remained until his retirement in 1944.
In 1901 Windaus began his study of the steroid cholesterol, a compound of considerable biological significance. Over the years he threw considerable light on its structure and in 1928 was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry for this work and for showing the connection between steroids and vitamins.
It was known that cod-liver oil prevents rickets because it contains vitamin D. It was also known that sunlight possesses antirachitic properties and, further, that mere exposure of certain foods to sunlight could make them active in preventing rickets. Clearly something in the food is converted photochemically into vitamin D but nobody knew what.
As vitamin D is fat soluble, the precursor of vitamin D (the provitamin) was not surprisingly found to be a steroid. In 1926 Windaus succeeded in showing that the provitamin is present as an impurity of cholesterol, ergosterol, which is converted into vitamin D by the action of sunlight.
Oxford Food & Nutrition Dictionary:
Top
Adolf Windaus
(1876-1959) German chemist; discovered formation of ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) by uv irradiation of ergosterol; Nobel Prize 1928.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
Top
Adolf Windaus
Windaus, Adolf (ä'dôlf vĭn'dous), 1876-1959, German chemist. He was professor of chemistry and director of the chemistry laboratories at the Univ. of Göttingen (1915-44). For his research on sterols, especially in relation to vitamins, he received the 1928 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He later discovered and synthetically prepared vitamin D3, the component of vitamin D that is most important in preventing the bone disease rickets.
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus
| Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 25 December 1876 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | 9 June 1959 (aged 82) Göttingen, Germany |
| Nationality | Germany |
| Fields | Organic chemistry biochemistry |
| Doctoral students | Adolf Butenandt |
| Notable awards | Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1928) |
Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus (25 December 1876 – 9 June 1959) was a German chemist who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1928 for his work on sterols and their relation to vitamins. He was the doctoral advisor of Adolf Butenandt who also won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939.
Adolf Windaus was born in Berlin. His interest in chemistry was raised by lectures of Emil Fischer. He started studying medicine and chemistry in Berlin and later in Freiburg. He got his PhD in early 1900 and focused on cholesterol and other sterols at the University of Freiburg. In 1913 he became professor for chemistry at the University of Innsbruck[chronology citation needed] and in 1915 he changed to the University of Göttingen[chronology citation needed] where he stayed until his retirement in 1944[chronology citation needed].
He was involved in the discovery of the transformation of cholesterol through several steps to vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol). He gave his patents to Merck and Bayer and they brought out the medical Vigantol in 1927.[1]
|
|
References
- Karl Dimroth (1976). "Das Portrait: Adolf Windaus 1876-1959". Chemie in unserer Zeit 10 (6): 175–179. doi:10.1002/ciuz.19760100603.
- H. H. Inhoffen (97–99). "Adolf Windaus zum Gedächtnis". Naturwissenschaften 47 (5): 1960. doi:10.1007/BF00628571.
- George Wolf (2004). "The Discovery of Vitamin D: The Contribution of Adolf Windaus". J. Nutr. 134 (6): 1299–1302. PMID 15173387. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/134/6/1299.pdf.
- Adolf Butenandt (1960). "Zur Geschichte der Sterin- und Vitamin-Forschung. Adolf Windaus zum Gedächtnis". J. Nutr. 72 (18): 645–651. doi:10.1002/ange.19600721802.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus |
|
||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
Oxford Dictionary of Scientists
A Dictionary of Scientists. Copyright © Market House Books Ltd 1993, 1999, 2003. All rights reserved.
Read more
Oxford Food & Nutrition Dictionary
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.
Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
Read more
