Ferdinand Tiemann

Johann Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Tiemann (June 10, 1848 – November 14, 1899) was a German chemist and together with Karl Reimer discoverer of the Reimer-Tiemann reaction.

Johann Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Tiemann
Ferdinand Tiemann c. 1880 in Berlin
Born	(1848-06-10)June 10, 1848 Rübeland (now part of Elbingerode), Kingdom of Hanover
Died	November 14, 1899(1899-11-14) (aged 51) Meran, Austria-Hungary
Alma mater	TU Braunschweig
Known for	Reimer-Tiemann reaction, Tiemann rearrangement
Scientific career
Institutions	University of Berlin
Doctoral advisor	August Wilhelm von Hofmann
Doctoral students	Julius Stieglitz, Carl Harries

Biography

Beginning in 1866, Tiemann studied pharmacy at the TU Braunschweig where he graduated in 1869. His professor in Brunswick wrote a letter of recommendation to August Wilhelm von Hofmann at the University of Berlin where Tiemann started as assistant of von Hofmann in 1869. In 1874 Wilhelm Haarmann and Tiemann started a company, after they discovered the synthesis of vanillin from coniferyl alcohol. The vanillin plant Holzminden was not very successful before Karl Reimer discovered the Reimer-Tiemann reaction which opened an alternative synthesis route to vanillin. In 1882 Tiemann became a professor at the University of Berlin.

He was involved in the first synthesis of Jonon a compound of the sweet violet (Viola odorata), which became a huge success for Harmann & Reimer company.

August Wilhelm von Hofmann married Berta the younger sister of Ferdinand Tiemann.

Works

• Tiemann-Gärtner's Handbuch der Untersuchung und Beurtheilung der Wässer : zum Gebrauch für Apotheker, Ärzte, Chemiker, Fabrikanten, Medicinalbeamte und Techniker ; mit 40 Holzstichen u. 10 Taf. . Vieweg, Braunschweig 4. Aufl. / bearb. von Georg Walter und August Gärtner 1895 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf