chemistry

Otto Wallach

Otto Wallach is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Otto Wallach rather than just read about it. In short: Otto Wallach (German pronunciation: [ˈɔto ˈvalax] ; 27 March 1847 – 26 February 1931) was a German chemist and recipient of the 1910 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on alicyclic compounds. Biography Wallach was born in Königsberg, the son of a Prussian civil servant.

Key takeaways

Otto Wallach belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Otto Wallach to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Otto Wallach from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Otto Wallach (German pronunciation: [ˈɔto ˈvalax] ; 27 March 1847 – 26 February 1931) was a German chemist and recipient of the 1910 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on alicyclic compounds.

Biography Wallach was born in Königsberg, the son of a Prussian civil servant. His father, Gerhard Wallach, descended from a Jewish family that had converted to Lutheranism. His mother, Otillie (Thoma), was an ethnic German of Protestant religion. Wallach's father was transferred to Stettin (Szczecin) and later to Potsdam. Otto Wallach went to school, a Gymnasium, in Potsdam, where he learned about literature and the history of art, two subjects he was interested his whole life. At this time he also started private chemical experiments at the house of his parents. In 1867 he started studying chemistry at the University of Göttingen, where at this time Friedrich Wöhler was head of organic chemistry. After one semester at the University of Berlin with August Wilhelm von Hofmann, Wallach received his Doctoral degree from the University of Göttingen in 1869, and worked as a professor in the University of Bonn (1870–89) and the University of Göttingen (1889–1915). Two of his doctoral students were Adolf Sieverts and Walter Haworth. Wallach died at Göttingen. In 1912, he was awarded the Davy Medal. He died on 26 February 1931, and was buried in the Göttingen.

Major works During his work with Friedrich Kekulé in Bonn he started a systematic analysis of the terpenes present in essential oils. Up to this time only a few had been isolated in pure form, and structural information was sparse. Melting point comparison and the measurement of mixtures was one of the methods to confirm identical substances. For this method the mostly liquid terpenes had to be transformed into crystalline compounds. With stepwise derivatisation, especially additions to the double bond present in some of the terpenes, he achieved the goal of obtaining crystalline compounds. The investigation of the rearrangement reactions of cyclic unsaturated terpenes made it possible to obtain the structure of an unknown terpene by following the rearrangement to a known structure of a terpene. With these principal methods he opened the path to systematic research on terpenes.

He was responsible for naming terpene and pinene, and for undertaking the first systematic study of pinene. He wrote a book about the chemistry of terpenes, "Terpene und Campher" (1909). Otto Wallach is known for Wallach's rule, Wallach degradation, the Leuckart-Wallach reaction (which he developed along with Rudolf Leuckart) and the Wallach rearrangement.

Works Tabellen zur chemischen Analyse. Weber, Bonn 1880. Digital edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf. 1. Verhalten der Elemente und ihrer Verbindungen. 1880 2. Methoden zur Auffindung und Trennung der Elemente. 2. Aufl. von "Hülfstabellen für den chemisch-analytischen Unterricht" 1880 Terpene und Campher : Zusammenfassung eigener Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiet der alicyclischen Kohlenstoffverbindungen. 2. Aufl. Leipzig : von Veit, 1914. Digital edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Otto Wallach

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Otto Wallach claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Otto Wallach before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Otto Wallach ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Otto Wallach

In research: Otto Wallach appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Otto Wallach in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Otto Wallach is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1847 births, 1931 deaths, 19th-century German chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Otto Wallach outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Otto Wallach in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Otto Wallach in simple terms?

Otto Wallach (German pronunciation: [ˈɔto ˈvalax] ; 27 March 1847 – 26 February 1931) was a German chemist and recipient of the 1910 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on alicyclic compounds. Biography Wallach was born in Königsberg, the son of a Prussian civil servant.

Why does Otto Wallach matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Otto Wallach?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Otto Wallach.