Curtius, Theodor
Curtius, Theodor
Born May 27, 1857, in Duisberg; died Feb. 8, 1928, in Heidelberg. German chemist. Professor at the universities of Kiel (from 1889), Bonn, and Heidelberg.
Curtius obtained the first synthetic peptide (benzoylglycylgly-cine) in 1882. He proposed methods for the synthesis of peptides from esters (1883) and from the azides of amino acids (1902). In 1894 he discovered the conversion of carboxylic acid azides into primary amines. While studying diazo esters in 1887–90, Curtius was the first to obtain hydrazine, hydrazides, azides, and hy-drazoic acid.
REFERENCES
Smith, P. A. S. “Reaktsiia Kurtsiusa.” In the book Organicheskie reak-tsii, collection 3. Moscow, 1951. Pages 322–426. (Translated from English.)“Theodor Curtius.” Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft, 1927, vol. 60, Abt. A, no. 7.