ROUGH DRAFT
Carl Julius Fritzsche was the son of Dr. med. Christian Ferdinand Fritzsche, Office Physician at Stolpen and Hohenstein and Juliane Christiane Wilhelmine Struve the daughter of Ernst Friedrich Struve (1736 – 1806) and Rahel Dorothea Hentsch and the sister of Friedrich Adolph August Struve (1781-1840), owner of the Salomonis apotheke, later mineral water manufacturer in Dresden.
Carl Julius married twice:
First, the daughter of the St. Petersburg bookseller Wilhelm Gräff (1781-1839).
Second, Emma LERCHE (1822-1848), daughter of the lawyer Gustav Lerche (1789-1867), who worked in the Ministry of the Interior, married in 1846. There was one daughter from first marriage (* 10.3.1840). From the second was a son Karl Alfred Theodor Fritzsche (1846-1917), later head of the mineral water factory in Frankfurt / Main.
He received private lessons up to the age of 14 and pharmaceutical training for five years afterwards in the Salomonis apotheke in Dresden, which was owned by his uncle, Friedrich Adolph August STRUVE. He then moved to Berlin, and worked for two and a half years in the laboratory of Johann Gottfried August HELMING’s (1770-1830) pharmacy, before becoming an assistant in the laboratory of the famous Berlin chemist Eilhard MITSCHERLICH in 1830, with whom he had a lifelong friendship, but one that relied mainly on letters and rare visits to FRITZSCHE’s to Germany. It must be attributed to MITSCHERLICH’s influence that FRITZSCHE enrolled at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Berlin in 1831, after having attended lectures there for a year. After just one year of studying at the university, FRITZSCHE presented his first scientific publication in 1832 [GPV 1] and in 1833 he was awarded the Dr. phil. with a botanical work [GPV 2]. Only then did he publish his first chemical work [GPV 3, 4].
B. 1833 was a very important year for the scientific and personal development of the almost 25-year-old FRITZSCHE, because after his doctorate he was admitted to the academy on August 3. In addition, his uncle STRUVE, the founder of the method for the production of artificial mineral water, which was primarily intended to replicate the waters of the Bohemian medicinal springs in Marienbad and Karlsbad, made him the offer to take over the management of the newly founded institute for the production of artificial mineral water in St. Petersburg. After initial hesitation, he decided, supported by the advice of his teacher MITSCHERLICH, to accept his uncle’s offer and move to Russia.
Ten letters from FRITZSCHE in St. Petersburg to his teacher MITSCHERLICH in Berlin from the years 1833 to 1862, which are kept in the MITSCHERLICH estate, which is in the archive of the German Museum of Masterpieces of Natural Science and Technology in Munich (Q) is the only previously known German-language primary source on his life and work in St. Petersburg (published in: Pfrepper 2008, 41-75).
On January 12th, 1834, FRITZSCHE describes his four-day trip that started in October 1833 and brought him from Lübeck by steamship to St. Petersburg (Q, HS 00447, letter no. 1). FRITZSCHE also reports that a letter of recommendation from the Russian Finance Minister Count Georg von CANKRIN (1774-1845) freed him from the harassment of the customs officers, and he also writes about the very friendly, collegial reception in St. Petersburg by Hans Rudolf HERMANN, the technical director of the STRUVEschen Mineralwasseranstalt in Moscow, and Martin MEYER, the senior physician of the St. Petersburg Mineralwasseranstalt. FRITZSCHE mentions that he quickly settled in in St. Petersburg and that a laboratory is available to him for chemical experiments in his apartment, which he will set up based on the model of the MITSCHERLICH laboratory. He is confident that the new mineral water establishment will be a great success, as it will be furnished in a great style and, above all, as both Emperor NIKOLAJ I (1796-1855, ruled from 1825) and Empress ALEKSANDRA FЁDOROVNA (1798- 1860, born Friederike Luise Charlotte Princess of Prussia) and the Tsar’s court are interested in the institution and want to use it.
FRITZSCHE’s confidence in the success of the work ahead of him in Russia was entirely justified, because the mineral water establishment in St. Petersburg, founded by his uncle Struve in 1833 and equipped with imperial funds, was the largest of the fourteen establishments in Europe that lasted until the middle of the 19th century.
Before his research on organic chemistry, FRITZSCHE had mainly dealt with inorganic and analytical chemistry, which was directly related to his work as director of the mineral water factory, since the production of artificial mineral water required large quantities of different mineral salts that had to be produced and analyzed. The carbon dioxide added to all mineral water bottles was produced on site by the decomposition of calcium or magnesium carbonate, which occur in large quantities in nature, with sulfuric acid.
The investigations of double salts occupied FRITZSCHE for more than 30 years. The first work he published in 1833 on the compounds of calcium chloride with acetic and oxalic lime, the last work on double salts in 1864. The formation of the double salts of iron (III) chloride with potassium and ammonium chloride, of sodium bromide and sodium bromate were examined in detail , of sodium and calcium sulfate, of calcium chloride and calcium carbonate and the formation of artificial gay lussite, a double salt of sodium and calcium carbonate [GPV 3 (1833), 18 (1840), 53 (1857), 54 (1858), 61 (1861), 68, 70 (1864)]. In some cases, the crystal parameters were also determined in cooperation with the mineralogists Nils Gustav NORDENSKIÖLD (1792-1866) and Nikolaj Ivanovič KOKŠAROV.
In August 1842, FRITZSCHE traveled to the Caucasus as a member of an imperial commission to research Caucasian mineral waters; the Russian government had appointed him to this commission as a specialist in the analysis of mineral water. Half a year later, FRITZSCHE MITSCHERLICH describes in great detail his impressions of the trip to the Caucasus. At first he was frightened by the unpleasant dissipation, a large number of mineral water analyzes (he examined the composition of 25 mineral springs in total). to have to do, but accepted the offer. He hoped to come into contact with government representatives and get to know a large part of Russia in the process.
The good fulfillment of this important government mandate, which was of great importance for the further economic development of the rich mineral springs of the Caucasus, was very useful for his further career in Russia.
FRITZSCHE’s work in the field of organic chemistry has not lost its importance to this day [GPV 15 (1839), 22 (1840), 24 (1841), 28, 30 (1843), 32 (1844)]. In his investigations into indigo, he found aniline and anthranilic acid, which today play a major role in organic syntheses in the chemical industry, and spent almost 30 years studying aromatic hydrocarbons.
FRITZSCHE’s first work on organic chemistry is devoted to studying the reaction of uric acid with nitric acid. In the winter of 1837/38 FRITZSCHE dealt with the analysis of the decomposition products of uric acid and discovered uroxin (alloxantin), which he described in his publication of 1838 [GPV 12 (1838)]. In the letter to MITSCHERLICH dated April 1838, he is a little concerned that Justus LIEBIG and Friedrich WÖHLER, who are also working on the decomposition products of uric acid, might not receive his publication in time.
The publication on Uroxin later sparked a heated controversy with LIEBIG, but FRITZSCHE’s letter proves that LIEBIG was wrong in alleging that FRITZSCHE had taken up the results of other chemists. On March 5, 1841, FRITZSCHE gave a lecture in the physico-mathematical class of the academy, which he began as follows:
“In my treatise on aniline [GPV 22 (1840)] I unfortunately overlooked the crystalline discovered by Unspoiled, otherwise [sic!] A look at its properties would have been sufficient and it would be without further ado identical to that of me Aniline is in fact nothing else than uncorrupted crystalline, but if I nevertheless keep the new name for it, it is because it is undoubtedly more suitable, as the starting point for the nomenclature of the bodies related to it serve as the old one, whom Berzelius mentions not well chosen “[GPV 24 (1841)].
Otto Linné ERDMANN (1804-1869), the editor of the Journal of Practical Chemistry, pointed out the possible identity of crystalline and aniline in a note on FRITZSCHE’s work as early as 1840. The base “Aniline” was called “Krystallin” by Otto UNVERDORBEN (1806-1873), “Kyanol” by Friedlieb Ferdinand RUNGE (1794-1867) and “Benzidam” by Nikolaj Nikolaevič ZININ. August Wilhelm HOFMANN was able to prove in LIEBIG’s laboratory in 1843 that all these substances are identical to FRITZSCHE’s aniline, the name of which is still used today (Pfrepper 2008, 29).
Another important result of FRITZSCHE’s investigations into the chemistry of indigo is the discovery of anthranilic acid, which he obtained from the action of potassium hydroxide on indigo [GPV 24 (1841)]. LIEBIG wrote about this work:
“With regard to the discovery of anthranilic acid and its behavior in dry distillation, I consider the above experiments by Fritzsche to be particularly interesting and their confirmation seemed to me so important and necessary for establishing the constitution of indigo […] that This determined me to make a few experiments (Liebig 1841).
For almost 25 years of his life, from 1840 to 1863, FRITZSCHE dealt with alkaloid research, especially with studies on the seeds of the Turkestan rue (Peganum harmala) and published ten papers on it [GPV No. 36, 38, 39, 40 (1848), 42 (1849), 43 (1850), 47 (1853), 48, 49 (1854), 63 (1863)]. In 1840 FRITZSCHE was commissioned by the ministries of finance and the imperial domains to examine these seeds and provided them with the necessary material. The order dealt specifically with the development of a process for the extraction of the red dye from the colorless seed, because as early as 1837 reports about a red dye obtained from these seeds had appeared in the Russian and foreign specialist press. At the conference of the academy on June 26, 1840, however, FRITZSCHE only gave verbal information about the experiments he had carried out. FRITZSCHE’s first publication on this topic appeared in 1848, and MITSCHERLICH describes his results in advance. His treatise on harmala seeds is already in print [GPV 36 (1848)], but harmalin has a different formula than that given by Franz VARRENTRAPP (1815-1877) and Heinrich WILL (1812-1890) and is C27H28N4O2.
The value found by FRITZSCHE for the composition of harmaline comes very close to the theoretical value of C26H28N4O2 (today C13H14N2O), considering that the analysis data were based on the atomic weights of BERZELIUS at the time (later analyzes have confirmed the values by FRITZSCHE). The values of C24H26N4O given by VARRENTRAPP and WILL are clearly too high for nitrogen, the authors blame the lack of purity of the harmalin analyzed. It should be noted that the applicability of this method of nitrogen determination for heterocyclic compounds has also been questioned from other sources.
In addition to the harmalin, FRITZSCHE isolated another alkaloid from the seed of the steppe rue, which he named harmine and characterized in its chemical properties. The pharmacological effect of both alkaloids was later examined in detail. His experiments on harmala red could not clarify the chemistry of the formation of the red dye, but his numerous experiments on the preparation of derivatives through the addition of hydrocyanic acid, nitration and salt formation helped to elucidate the chemical character of the new alkaloids.
Another focus of FRITZSCHE’s scientific work in the field of organic chemistry is a total of fourteen papers on the chemistry of hydrocarbons that he published between 1858 and 1869 [GPV 55, 56, 57 (1858), 58, 59 (1859), 60 (1861), 72, 73 (1866), 75, 76 (1867), 77, 78 (1868), 79, 80 (1869)] and partly in parallel to his studies on the Harmala alkaloids.
Continuously advancing, he was honored for his achievements and his commitment in 1847 with his appointment as a councilor, in 1848 he became a councilor of state, ten years later he was a real councilor. FRITZSCHE was knight of the Imperial Russian Order of St. Anne, second class, with the Imperial Crown, received the Imperial and Royal Order of St. Stanislaus, second class, was holder of the Knight’s Cross of the Royal Russian Order of Albrecht and the Imperial Russian Medal on St. Andrew’s Band for the war years 1853 to 1856 (Fritzsche, who had not actively participated in the Crimean War 1853-1856, received the medal for his Sunday lectures. At the beginning of the Crimean War, he approached the Ministry of Public Enlightenment with the request to allow him to give public chemistry lectures on Sundays , in order to donate the proceeds completely to the fund “Special expenses in case of war”).
In recognition of his contribution to the chemical knowledge of minerals, a rare uranite mineral that occurs in the Saxon Ore Mountains was named “Fritzscheit” (Fritzscheit is a manganese uranium with the composition Mn (UO2) 2 [(P, V ) O4] 2x10H2O, first described by the Freiberg mineralogist August BREITHAUPT (1791-1873), in the Berg- und Huettenmännische Zeitung 24 (1865), 302-303).
FRITZSCHE was loyal to Russia; his scientific achievements and collegiality earned him the respect of leading Russian chemists. He was actively involved in social activity and at the end of his life took Russian citizenship. In 1870 he was given the Russian hereditary nobility, at a time when the nationalistic tendencies in chemistry were increasing in Germany and France, but also in Russia.
Nikolaj Nikolaevič BEKETOV, BUTLEROV’s successor as Academician for Chemistry since 1886, commented in a commemorative publication on the 150th anniversary of the founding of the first chemical laboratory in Russia, in particular about FRITZSCHE’s relationship with the Russian chemists of his time:
In 1869 FRITZSCHE suffered a stroke from which he did not recover properly. Despite one-sided paralysis, which also affected the language, he continued his scientific work and finished his investigations on tin [GPV 81 (1870)]. He seldom attended the academy meetings and traveled to Germany in 1870, where he lived on 13./20. June 1871 died with his family in Dresden and was buried there as well. In the necrology, which his successor presented to the BUTLEROV Academy on December 29, 1871 at the annual meeting of the Academy, it says:
“His relationships with his colleagues and acquaintances were always the most untroubled, and they all keep him a friendly, enviable memory, as a person of amiable character and good heart who always tried to do good” (Butlerow 1872, 135).
As the extensive list of publications (GPV) shows, at the end of his life FRITZSCHE was able to look back on a rich scientific work of 81 publications from various fields of chemistry, which he created alongside his work as head of the mineral water factory in St. Petersburg. The focus of his experimental work is undoubtedly the investigations in the field of chemistry of organic substances, which during this time has made its mark as an independent branch of chemistry, particularly through the work of LIEBIG.
From the letters to MITSCHERLICH it becomes clear that during the first years of his stay in St. Petersburg, FRITZSCHE also dealt intensively with methodical studies of elemental analysis, especially with the combustion apparatus developed by HESS. The comparison with analysis data from other authors in his work shows that FRITZSCHE has mastered this analysis technique in a masterly manner, which, according to LIEBIG, is one of the fundamental prerequisites for successful organic preparative work.
In this way, always following the trend of current chemical research, FRITZSCHE has made a number of important experimental contributions to the understanding of the conversion of organic substances. For example, he found the aniline during the reaction of indigo with nitric acid, discovered the anthranilic acid, the isomeric nitrophenols and the Reaction of aromatic hydrocarbons with picric acid.
“In all these investigations Fritzsche showed himself to be an extremely industrious and skillful observer, whose attention even insignificant phenomena did not escape. What would have gone unnoticed by many other observers sometimes served him as the starting point for new discoveries. […] facts on the basis Every chemist can predict a finished theory and only needs less time and effort – but the factual justification or refutation of such a prognosis often requires months or even years of physical and mental effort. These precious qualities of a natural scientist. Fritzsche possessed these qualities in full measure, and they led him to the discovery of some particularly interesting facts, which up to now stand in isolation and await explanation “(Butlerow 1872, 134).
FRITZSCHE was undoubtedly one of the leading chemists of his time in Russia, one can place him in a row with the important Russian chemists Aleksandr Abramovič VOSKRESENSKIJ and Nikolaj Nikolaevič ZININ, who after studies in Western Europe, including at LIEBIG in Giessen, since the 1840s the universities of St. Petersburg and Kazan ‘founded the first Russian schools of chemistry, and their leading representatives such as BUTLEROV and BEKETOV were accepted as full members of chemistry in the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg after 1871. BUTLEROV, FRITZSCHE’s direct successor as academician for Chemie was one of the creators of the modern structural theory of organic compounds. With FRITZSCHE’s death, the tradition, which had existed since the 18th century, of appointing primarily German chemists and pharmacists as full members for chemistry at the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg ended.