Moses Gomberg

Moses Gomberg (1866–1947) was a chemist.

Related Topics:
1866 - 1947 - Chemist

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He was born in Elizabetgrad in Russia (now in the Ukraine). In 1884, the family emigrated to Chicago to escape the pogroms following the assasination of czar Alexander II. In 1886, Moses entered the University of Michigan, where he obtained his B.Sc in 1890 and his doctorate in 1894 under the supervision of A. B. Prescott. He remained at the University of Michigan for the rest of his life.

Related Topics:
Elizabetgrad - Russia - Ukraine - Chicago - Pogrom - Alexander II - University of Michigan - A. B. Prescott

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In 1896?1897 he took a year's leave to work as a postdoctoral researcher to work with Baeyer and Thiele in Munich and with Victor Meyer in Heidelberg, where he successfully prepared the long-elusive tetraphenylmethane.

Related Topics:
Postdoctoral researcher - Baeyer - Thiele - Victor Meyer - Heidelberg

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During attempts to prepare the even more sterically congested hydrocarbon hexaphenylethane he correctly identified the triphenylmethyl radical, the first persistent radical to be discovered, and is thus known as the founder of radical chemistry. The work was later followed up by Wilhelm Schlenk.

Related Topics:
Sterically congested - Radical - Wilhelm Schlenk

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