Theodor Förster (May 15, 1910 – May 20, 1974) was a German physical chemist known for theoretical work on light-matter interaction in molecular systems such as fluorescence and resonant energy transfer.
Theodor Förster | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 15, 1910 Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
| Died | May 20, 1974 (aged 64) Stuttgart, Germany |
| Education | University of Frankfurt |
| Known for | Förster resonance energy transfer Förster cycle Förster coupling |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Leipzig University Poznań University Max Planck Institute University of Stuttgart |
| Thesis | Zur Polarisation von Elektronen durch Reflexion (1933) |
| Doctoral advisor | Erwin Madelung |
| Other academic advisors | Karl-Friedrich Bonhoeffer |
| Notable students | Hermann Schmalzried |
Education and career
editFörster was born in Frankfurt am Main and studied physics and mathematics at the University of Frankfurt from 1929 to 1933.[1] He received his Ph.D. at the age of only 23 under Erwin Madelung in 1933. In the same year he joined the Nazi Party and the SA.[2] He then joined Karl-Friedrich Bonhoeffer as a research assistant at the Leipzig University, where he worked closely with Peter Debye, Werner Heisenberg, and Hans Kautzky. Förster obtained his habilitation in 1940 and became a lecturer at the Leipzig University.[3] Following his research and teaching activities in Leipzig, he became a professor at the Poznań University in occupied Poland (1942).[3][4]
From 1947 to 1951 he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Physical Chemistry in Göttingen as a department head. In 1951, he became a professor at the University of Stuttgart.[3] He passed away due to a heart attack in 1974.[4]
Research
editAmong Förster's greatest achievements is his contribution to the understanding of FRET (Förster resonance energy transfer). The term Förster radius, which is related to the FRET phenomenon, is named after him.[3] He also proposed the Förster cycle to predict the acid dissociation constant of a photoacid.[3] He also discovered excimer formation in solutions of pyrene.[3][5]
Work
editBook
edit- Förster, Theodor: Fluoreszenz organischer Verbindungen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1950. – Unveränd. Nachdr. d. 1. Aufl., im Literaturverz. erg. um spätere Veröff. d. Autors. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982 – ISBN 3-525-42312-8*
Papers
edit- Förster, Theodor (1949-05-01). "Experimentelle und theoretische Untersuchung des zwischenmolekularen Übergangs von Elektronenanregungsenergie". Zeitschrift für Naturforschung A. 4 (5): 321–327. Bibcode:1949ZNatA...4..321F. doi:10.1515/zna-1949-0501. ISSN 1865-7109. S2CID 102175097.
- Förster, Theodor (1975), "Excimers and Exciplexes", The Exciplex, Elsevier, pp. 1–21, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-290650-3.50007-5, ISBN 978-0-12-290650-3, retrieved 2022-11-29
Literature
edit- A. Weller: Nachruf auf Theodor Förster. In: Berichte der Bunsengesellschaft für Physikalische Chemie 78 (1974) p. 969 [with Porträt].
- George Porter: Some reflections on the work of Theodor Förster. In: Die Naturwissenschaften 63 (1976) 5, p. 207–211.
References
edit- ^ "Förster, Theodor (1910-1974), Physiker, Physikochemiker". www.kipnis.de. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
- ^ Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Zweite aktualisierte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 158.
- ^ a b c d e f Kramer, Horst E. A.; Fischer, Peter (9 November 2010). "The Scientific Work of Theodor Förster: A Brief Sketch of his Life and Personality". ChemPhysChem. 12 (3): 555–558. doi:10.1002/cphc.201000733. PMID 21344592.
- ^ a b Weller, A. (1976-03-01). "Memorial for the late Professor Theodor Förster". Journal of Luminescence. Proceeding of the 1975 International Conference on Luminescence. 12–13: 8–12. Bibcode:1976JLum...12....8W. doi:10.1016/0022-2313(76)90060-0. ISSN 0022-2313.
- ^ Förster, Theodor (May 1969). "Excimers". Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English. 8 (5): 333–343. doi:10.1002/anie.196903331.