Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Stamp Vignette on Medical Science

2000; Elsevier BV; Volume: 75; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4065/75.10.990

1942-5546

Marc A. Shampo, Robert A. Kyle,

History and advancements in chemistry

Richard Kuhn, German-Austrian biochemist, was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on carotenoids and vitamins. He investigated the structure of compounds related to the carotenoids (the fat-soluble yellow pigment agents that are important components of living cells). He discovered at least 8 carotenoids, prepared them in pure form, and determined their composition. He also described the structure of vitamin B and contributed to the isolation of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). Kuhn was born on December 3, 1900, in Vienna, Austria. His father was an engineer, and his mother was an elementary schoolteacher. He was taught at home until he was 9 years old and then studied at the Dobling Gymnasium in Vienna for 8 years. In 1917, he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army and served in World War I (1914-1918). After the war, Kuhn enrolled at the University of Vienna, where he studied for 3 semesters before transferring to the University of Munich (Germany). He received a PhD degree from the University of Munich in 1922. His doctoral thesis was on the specificity of enzymes in carbohydrate metabolism. This work was supervised by the famous German chemist Richard Willstatter (1872-1942). Kuhn continued his studies at the University of Munich until 1926, when he accepted an offer to join the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, and became professor of chemistry at the Swiss Technical School. In 1929, he was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Heidelberg (Germany), where he became director of the new Chemistry Institute of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Scientific Research. He became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in 1937 and was instrumental in having its name changed to the Max Planck Institute for the Advancement of Science. In his work on carotenoids, Kuhn discovered carotene (the pigment in carrots) and, independently of Swiss chemist and Nobel laureate Paul Karrer (1889-1971), found 2 distinct compounds in carotene: β-carotene and α-carotene. Later, Kuhn found a third carotene, which he called γ-carotene, and learned that carotene is a precursor of vitamin A. After studying carotenoids, he turned his attention to the water-soluble vitamin B groups and isolated vitamin B6 in 1938. Although Kuhn was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize as a German citizen he was forbidden by the Nazi government to go to Stockholm, Sweden, to accept it. He had to wait until 1949, after the war was over and the Nazi government was no longer in power, to accept the honor. After 1950, Kuhn made many important contributions to medicine. He identified para-aminobenzoic acid (a compound that proved useful in the synthesis of anesthetics) and pantothenic acid (an important agent in hemoglobin formation and release of energy from carbohydrates). He was most interested in the practical application of his work to agriculture and medicine and focused his efforts on the study of organic substances that are instrumental in the body's resistance to infection. His investigations of influenza, cholera, and the potato beetle larva led to valuable insights into the molecular interaction between an organism and its assailant. Kuhn received many awards and honors besides the Nobel Prize. He became editor of the prestigious journal Liebig's Annalen der Chemi in 1946, and he wrote more than 700 scientific articles. He died in Heidelberg on July 31, 1967, at the age of 66 years. He was honored on a stamp issued by Guyana in 1992.