buildup of a polyglucoside with many glucose residues.”
7 Apostates were not taken
seriously and were often ridiculed. An often quoted letter of the Chemistry Nobel
prizewinner of 1927, Heinrich Wieland, to Herrmann Staudinger reads: “Dear
colleague, abandon this idea of large molecules; organic molecules with molecular
weight above 5,000 do not exist! Purify your products and they will crystallize and
reveal themselves as low-molecular-weight compounds”
8 [64]. Another colleague
is reported to have written: “Dear colleague, you used to do such beautiful work in
the classical organic field; return to this and don’t waste your time with gunk
chemistry”
9 [64].
3 The Big Deal
There were several scientists who had obtained results that were clearly in
disagreement with colloid theory, but their contributions were ignored [1, 3,
65, 66]. A person was needed of high achievement in classical chemistry,
convinced of the macromolecular hypothesis (developed and expressed in the
several decades before), of unbendable conviction that he was correct, and with
the strong, even irascible character of a warrior. Herrmann Staudinger was
this hero.
When Herrmann Staudinger, then “Extraordinary Professor” at the Institute of
Technology at Karlsruhe, Germany, was appointed to the faculty of the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (eidgeno ¨ssische Technische Hochschule
in Zu ¨rich, ETH) on 2 April 1912, the regents of that institute of technology probably
did not anticipate what impact this act would have on chemistry, on science in
general, and on the civil atmosphere in the academic circles in Zurich (Fig. 1).
Staudinger was convinced of the fallacy of the general notion that polymeric
substances had to be association compounds held together by partial valences. At
the outset of his quest he was mainly interested in caoutchouc, polystyrene
(“metastyrene”), and polyoxymethylene (paraformaldehyde). He first stated his
7 “Man muss sich fu ¨glich wundern, dass die Anschauung, es seien Dutzende oder Hunderte von
Glucosemolekeln beim Aufbau der Sta ¨rke glucosidisch zu langen Reihen miteinander verbunden,
jahrzehntelang sich fast unerschu ¨ttert halten konnte. Denn bei dem steten Auf- und Abbau der
Sta ¨rke in den Pflanzen, bei den enzymatischen und Sa ¨ure-Spaltungen, ha ¨tte man in solchem Fall
doch ab und zu wohlcharakterisierte ho ¨here Zwischenprodukte antreffen mu ¨ssen. Auch ist es recht
unwahrscheinlich, dass die Pflanze beim U ¨ berfu ¨hren des Zuckers in den Reservestoff Sta ¨rke, der
vielleicht sehr bald wieder zuru ¨ckverwandelt werden muss, so komplizierte Arbeit leisten wird,
wie sie der Aufhau eines Polyglucosides mit sehr zahlreichen Glucoseresten wa ¨re.”
8 “Lieber Herr Kollege, lassen Sie doch die Vorstellung mit den großen Moleku ¨len; organische
Moleku ¨le mit einem Molekulargewicht u ¨ber 5,000 gibt es nicht! Reinigen Sie Ihre Produkte, dann
werden diese kristallisieren und sich als niedermolekulare Stoffe erweisen.”
9 “Herr Kollege, Sie haben fru ¨her so scho ¨ne Arbeiten auf dem klassisch-organischen Gebiet
gemacht, nehmen Sie diese wieder auf und vergeuden Sie Ihre Zeit nicht mit der
Schmierenchemie.”
Why Was the Macromolecular Hypothesis Such a Big Deal?
69
7 Apostates were not taken
seriously and were often ridiculed. An often quoted letter of the Chemistry Nobel
prizewinner of 1927, Heinrich Wieland, to Herrmann Staudinger reads: “Dear
colleague, abandon this idea of large molecules; organic molecules with molecular
weight above 5,000 do not exist! Purify your products and they will crystallize and
reveal themselves as low-molecular-weight compounds”
8 [64]. Another colleague
is reported to have written: “Dear colleague, you used to do such beautiful work in
the classical organic field; return to this and don’t waste your time with gunk
chemistry”
9 [64].
3 The Big Deal
There were several scientists who had obtained results that were clearly in
disagreement with colloid theory, but their contributions were ignored [1, 3,
65, 66]. A person was needed of high achievement in classical chemistry,
convinced of the macromolecular hypothesis (developed and expressed in the
several decades before), of unbendable conviction that he was correct, and with
the strong, even irascible character of a warrior. Herrmann Staudinger was
this hero.
When Herrmann Staudinger, then “Extraordinary Professor” at the Institute of
Technology at Karlsruhe, Germany, was appointed to the faculty of the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (eidgeno ¨ssische Technische Hochschule
in Zu ¨rich, ETH) on 2 April 1912, the regents of that institute of technology probably
did not anticipate what impact this act would have on chemistry, on science in
general, and on the civil atmosphere in the academic circles in Zurich (Fig. 1).
Staudinger was convinced of the fallacy of the general notion that polymeric
substances had to be association compounds held together by partial valences. At
the outset of his quest he was mainly interested in caoutchouc, polystyrene
(“metastyrene”), and polyoxymethylene (paraformaldehyde). He first stated his
7 “Man muss sich fu ¨glich wundern, dass die Anschauung, es seien Dutzende oder Hunderte von
Glucosemolekeln beim Aufbau der Sta ¨rke glucosidisch zu langen Reihen miteinander verbunden,
jahrzehntelang sich fast unerschu ¨ttert halten konnte. Denn bei dem steten Auf- und Abbau der
Sta ¨rke in den Pflanzen, bei den enzymatischen und Sa ¨ure-Spaltungen, ha ¨tte man in solchem Fall
doch ab und zu wohlcharakterisierte ho ¨here Zwischenprodukte antreffen mu ¨ssen. Auch ist es recht
unwahrscheinlich, dass die Pflanze beim U ¨ berfu ¨hren des Zuckers in den Reservestoff Sta ¨rke, der
vielleicht sehr bald wieder zuru ¨ckverwandelt werden muss, so komplizierte Arbeit leisten wird,
wie sie der Aufhau eines Polyglucosides mit sehr zahlreichen Glucoseresten wa ¨re.”
8 “Lieber Herr Kollege, lassen Sie doch die Vorstellung mit den großen Moleku ¨len; organische
Moleku ¨le mit einem Molekulargewicht u ¨ber 5,000 gibt es nicht! Reinigen Sie Ihre Produkte, dann
werden diese kristallisieren und sich als niedermolekulare Stoffe erweisen.”
9 “Herr Kollege, Sie haben fru ¨her so scho ¨ne Arbeiten auf dem klassisch-organischen Gebiet
gemacht, nehmen Sie diese wieder auf und vergeuden Sie Ihre Zeit nicht mit der
Schmierenchemie.”
Why Was the Macromolecular Hypothesis Such a Big Deal?
69