A Century of Chemical Dynamics Traced through the Nobel Prizes. 1909: Wilhelm Ostwald

Abstract

This, the third of a series of thirteen articles on Nobel Laureates in chemical dynamics, features the work of Wilhelm Ostwald, who won the Nobel Prize in 1909 for his work on catalysis, equilibria, and reaction rates. The first two articles in this series discussed two of Ostwald's students--Jacobus van't Hoff (Nobel 1901) and Svante Arrhenius (Nobel 1903). Ostwald's own studies of catalysis were guided by the work of those two former students. Ostwald's name remains associated with the catalytic process used to manufacture nitric acid from ammonia.

Towards understanding the role of carbon atoms on transition metal surfaces: Implications for catalysis

“…Among the TMs used in heterogeneous catalysis, those with face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure are prominent, e.g. in the hydrogen production, catalyzed by Ni [4], the generation of nitric acid through the Ostwald process using Pt or Rh as catalysts [5], methanol synthesis using large supported Cu nanoparticles [6], or the partial oxidation of methane to carbon monoxide, achievable using Ni, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, or Pt [7].…”

The Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation: Its History and Limitations

“…This law is one of the basic laws of chemical equilibrium and was crucial to the subsequent development of both physical and analytical chemistry. All three early Nobel laureates recently featured in this Journal (3)(4)(5), van't Hoff, Arrhenius, and Ostwald, specifically mentioned Guldberg and his work in their Nobel acceptance speeches (6). Guldberg, its longer-surviving author, died in 1902, a century ago; his law remains one of the foundations of modern chemistry and is an essential part of all chemistry curricula.…”

A Century of Chemical Dynamics Traced through the Nobel Prizes. 1986: Dudley Herschbach, Yuan Lee, and John Polanyi

“…His first attempt to study molecularscale chemical dynamics involved the reaction between potassium atoms and bromine molecules that had been studied in flame diffusion experiments by John Polanyi's father, Michael, about 30 years earlier. 1 Lee established himself as an independent leader in the field of molecular beam reaction dynamics. He then turned to the reaction K + CH 3 I → KI + CH 3 with a much better outcome.…”