Ernst Otto Fischer

Facts

Ernst Otto Fischer

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Ernst Otto Fischer
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1973

Born: 10 November 1918, Munich, Germany

Died: 23 July 2007, Munich, Germany

Affiliation at the time of the award: Technical University, Munich, Germany

Prize motivation: “for their pioneering work, performed independently, on the chemistry of the organometallic, so called sandwich compounds”

Prize share: 1/2

Work

The world around us is made up of atoms that are assembled in molecules. Even though there is an enormous number of molecules in nature, it is possible to synthesize molecules in the laboratory that are not found in nature. In 1952 Ernst Otto Fischer and Geoffrey Wilkinson, working independently of one another, revealed a new type of chemical compound consisting of a carbon compound and a metallic atom. In these sandwich structures, which do not exist in nature, two ring-shaped carbon compounds enclose a metallic atom on each side.

To cite this section
MLA style: Ernst Otto Fischer – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Sat. 9 Nov 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1973/fischer/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.

See them all presented here.

Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.