Hofmann, August Wilhelm von

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Hofmann, August Wilhelm von (1818-1892), German chemist, born in Giessen, and educated at the University of Giessen. From 1845 to 1864 he was director of the Royal College of Chemistry in London. In 1865 he accepted a professorship in chemistry at the University of Berlin. He founded the German Chemical Society in 1868.

Hofmann was one of the great organic chemists of his time. He worked with coal-tar products, from which he isolated benzene and aniline, and which he used in the synthesis of artificial dyes that formed the basis for a new industry. He studied and clarified the chemistry of amines, and his method for converting amides to amines is now called the Hofmann reaction. He also discovered many organic chemicals, including allyl alcohol and formaldehyde.

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