Aspects of at UZH from Werner to the Present Day CHIMIA 2009, 63, No. 9 563 doi:10.2533/chimia.2009.563 Chimia 63 (2009) 563–567 © Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft UZH’s Chem MusEum e-Learning Concept

Heidi C. Weber* and Marina Macrina

Abstract: The Chem MusEum of the University of Zurich is the latest project of the Chemical Institutes for living history in terms of an interactive online exhibition. Keywords: Chemical Museum · e-Learning concept · · UZH

Introduction into the fascinating field of chemistry and A Chair for chemistry was established, its historical content, in a visual, interac- together with a laboratory and a small an- The Chemistry Institutes of the Univer- tive way. nual budget for equipment. The first occu- sity of Zurich enjoy a rich chemical his- The virtual tour will guide visitors pant of this Chair was a pharmacist, only 30 tory and possess an enormous collection through four exhibition halls: an online years old, Professor Carl Jacob Löwig.[2] of historical instruments and chemical gallery of the principal scientists (History) It is from this point our journey through memorabilia to document significant mile- with adjacent cinema, a unique collection the intellectual work spanning the last stones achieved through ground-breaking of Chemistry archives (Historical Instru- 176 years begins. An online gallery of the research done at UZH over the past 176 ments), a more modern view of techniques principal players in the Chemical Insti- years. The UZH Chem MusEum presents of measurement (Modern Instruments), tutes will present the historical sights of an online interactive exhibit of this trea- and an experimental lab (Experiments) the research groups as well as their dis- sury accessible to a broad audience. with neighboring video room. coveries. Chem MusEum will show, in an inter- The Chem MusEum can be found on Carl Jacob Löwig was an excellent active way, the research at the Chemical the Internet, at http://www.oci.uzh.ch/gen- lecturer, internationally known for his re- Institutes from its beginnings up to the eral/OCIMuseum/index.html markable textbook on .[3] present day. The implementation will be He first focused on the analysis of local realized with an Internet platform where mineral waters. For this work he received an we will present videos, interactive tools, History honorary degree from the faculty of medi- and graphical 3D animations. The differ- cine in Bonn. Later, he turned to organic ent sections will include an overview of the and physiological research problems. His research groups from the foundation of the discovery of cellulose in tunicates received University in 1833 to the newest research Cinema wide attention. To his discoveries belongs results now published in our institutes, Experiments the pioneering work in organo-main group including the methods and measurement Cinema chemistry of the preparation of triethyl stil- techniques from then and now. This online History Experiments bane and tetraethyl lead, once a common museum provides interesting and under- antiknocking agent in gasoline. Among el- standable insights into the chemistry and emental detectives, he was the co-discov- history of the generations of scientists, erer of bromine. Löwig was also the tutor Modern History thereby providing inspiration to the cur- Instruments of Hans Heinrich Landolt, the founder of rent generation of students. Selected on- in Germany.[2,4] Thus, line experiments and well-documented de- Historical from the very beginning, one sees that scriptions will help students reflect on their Instruments chemistry at UZH has been pursued broadly current content of curriculum. The Chem over a wide number of disciplines and with MusEum provides an opportunity to delve ramification to neighboring fields, such as medicine. The associated professors have On April 29, 1833, the ‘Universitas always been generalists recruited interna- Turicensis’ was founded. The Univer- tionally, and the earliest alumni were the sity ceremoniously opened under the vice founders of great movements in chemistry chancellor Lorenz Oken with 55 tutors beyond the Swiss borders. and 161 students. It was the first univer- Following the chronology, the Profes- sity in Europe to be founded by the state sor Georg Städeler was recruited to a UZH rather than by a monarch or church.[1] It position in chemistry in 1853. When the was envisioned that the University of Zu- Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule, rich should become a model for a Swiss known as the ETH, opened its doors on National University, and signaled a social October 15, 1855, Städeler also became liberalism that created great prosperity and a professor in there. *Correspondence: Dr. H. C. Weber Institute of a high standard of living in Switzerland. He is known for a) his work on the amino University of Zurich Over the years, many great thinkers have acids, leucin and tyrosine, important in the Winterthurerstrasse 190 taken creative refuge in Zurich. From the detection of liver disease, b) his research CH-8057 Zurich Tel.: +41 44 635 42 29 beginning of this movement, an important on allantoin, an accompanying excretion E-mail: [email protected] role has been given to chemistry. with uric acid as end product of nucleic 564 CHIMIA 2009, 63, No. 9 Aspects of Chemistry at UZH from Werner to the Present Day

http://www.oci.uzh.ch/general/OCIMuseum/Geschichte.php

acid metabolism in mammals, and c) his perfectly, both were chosen for the open museum Internet site. In 1913, Alfred Wer- work on creatine, an organic acid that UZH position.[2,4] ner was honored as the first Swiss helps to supply the muscles in vertebrates With Alfred Werner the ‘Erziehungs- with the Nobel Prize as the founder of Co- with energy. In addition, Städeler worked direktion’ had chosen one of the most tal- ordination Chemistry, with the following on chitin, a polysaccharide that occurs in ented of the last century. At the citation: “in recognition of his work on the mushrooms, mollusca, and articulata, and age of 27, Alfred Werner became successor linkage of in by which he on fibroin, a type of protein excreted by of Victor Merz. He was gifted as a lecturer, has thrown new light on earlier investiga- silkworms for the production of silk. He often filling the lecture halls well past ca- tions and opened up new fields of research determined the correct empirical formula pacity. The conditions in the laboratories especially in ”.[2,5] of lactose, an important sugar in milk, and were intolerable, and the large number of Despite his unparalleled success in of xanthine, a purine base found in most students utilized every corner of the insti- inorganic chemistry, Werner’s contribu- human tissues and fluids as well in other tute. The museum still has some statements tion to organic chemistry should not be organisms. He also synthesized pinacones of Werner’s students, describing the envi- underestimated. His work on aromatic from ketones by means of reductive cou- ronmental condition of their job in the old compounds, for example phenathrene de- pling with active metal and protic acid. In laboratories in Rämistrasse 45. The labora- rivates, was highly respected and he was autumn of 1870, he left his post at UZH tories in the basement of the main building keenly interested in Kekule’s theory on the due to health problems.[2,4] are described to be without ventilation and structure of benzene. In April 1871, Städeler’s famous stu- natural light, forcing students to work un- Following the advice of Alfred Werner, dent, Johannes Wislicenus, extended the der artificial light even on sunny days. The Paul Karrer was appointed as his succes- work of his mentor, and became full pro- students themselves named these laborato- sor in 1920. It was the time after the First fessor at UZH, and eventually also became ries the ‘catacombs’ because of this. World War and the institute was nearly or- Städeler’s successor at the ETH, continu- In 1909, the Institute of Chemistry phaned. In his early years as a director of ing the double-professorship between UZH moved to the new building on Rämistrasse the institute, Karrer focused on the system- and ETH. Wislicenus founded the Che- 76. The new building was designed ac- atic assembling of new instruments, and mische Harmonika in the 1860’s, which cording to Alfred Werner’s wishes. The built up the new microanalysis laboratories since 1870 has been called the Zürcher old building plans are one of the treasures as a service. In the beginning, Karrer fo- Chemische Gesellschaft (Zurich Chemical of our archives. One can see that, from cused his research on polysaccharides and Society). One of his scientific topics con- Werner’s office, he could directly access polymeric carbohydrate structures, con- centrated on expansion of Kekule’s struc- the small lecture hall, the laboratory, and centrating specifically on anthocyanines, tural theory of organic molecules. Lactic the library, over small iron spiral staircases water-soluble vacuolar pigments in plants. acid played a central role in this pursuit of going down to the students’ lab and going He was internationally known as a master Wislicenus, and he determined its structure up to the preparation room of the old lec- of natural products. In 1931, Karrer was in 1873. Wislicenus left Zurich for the Uni- ture hall. able to isolate vitamin A and determine versity of Wurzburg in 1872.[2,4] Coming from organic chemistry, Alfred its chemical structure. In 1935, he synthe- Through the time period of the dual Werner evolved his research direction into sized vitamin B2 (riboflavin), and in 1939 mandate of Städeler and Wislicenus, the inorganic chemistry, for which he is credit- he isolated vitamin K, analyzed flavine, laboratories at the University and the ed as the father of coordination chemistry. which is the common name for a group ETH did not always see eye-to-eye. The Werner was the first to propose a correct of organic compounds based on pteridine, University of Zurich evaluated two candi- geometry for transition metal coordination and worked on the structure elucidations dates for the open position in chemistry, complexes (the octahedral geometry), and of carotenoids. Later, Karrer concentrated Victor Merz and Wilhem Weith. Victor he also observed many different isomers. his work on the curare alkaloids. Kar- Merz obtained his PhD under the super- He was the first to synthesize a full inor- rer’s interests were always related to the vision of Städeler during his habilitation ganic chiral compound. The chemical ar- biological activity of natural products. His years. However, due to a disagreement chive holds an enormous cache of Werner’s research also had, in contrast to Alfred with Städeler, he switched to the group of original samples, preserved in sealed glass Werner, a large influence on the chemical Wislicenus, where he met Weith. As Merz ampoules, many as pure as the day they industry.[2] For his work on carotenoids,

and Weith complemented one another were made. These can be viewed on the flavinoids and vitamins A and B2, Paul Aspects of Chemistry at UZH from Werner to the Present Day CHIMIA 2009, 63, No. 9 565

Karrer was honored with the Nobel Prize without the need for the formal splintering was the research on the Spanish fly, which in 1937.[6] Numerous artifacts of the Kar- into institutes. Indeed, Gerold Schwarzen- some of his researchers collected in Sicily rer era fill the archive, making for a wealth bach, and Paul Pfeiffer before him, more and brought back to raise in the laboratory. of online viewing material. The collections closely represented the growing area of in- Cantharidin, a terpenoid, which became of Karrer’s samples are also still available organic chemistry founded by Werner, than later important for biochemical research in our museum and can be viewed online. did Karrer. Both left UZH to pursue major was extracted and its structure elucidated.[2] In the old days, there was no separa- careers in inorganic chemistry. Had there After Hans Schmid’s sudden death in tion in ‘physical, inorganic, and organic been greater parallel growth in the chemis- 1976, a collective Directorship was estab- chemistry’. Already under Alfred Werner try faculty, UZH might have been a leading lished with an alternate rotated leader posi- a new Department of Physical Chemistry house across an even broader spectrum of tion. In 1978, the new chemistry buildings was established, and Victor Henri, a fa- chemistry. at the Irchel Campus were inaugurated. In mous scientist of molecular Ernst Schumacher, a former student of the years that followed, several indepen- and , was chosen as the first Klaus Clusius, was the first director of the dent research groups were established. Professor of Physical Chemistry in 1920. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry in 1959. Max Viscontini (biogenesis research stud- In 1931, with the approval of Paul Kar- He pointed the research focus in the insti- ies in microorganisms), André Dreiding rer, the Institute of Physical and Organic tute more towards problems in physical-in- (Dreiding models) Conrad Eugster (phyto- Chemistry became two separate entities, organic chemistry. In 1964 he left the Uni- chemistry), Wolfgang von Philipsborn (nu- and Hans von Halban, who established the versity, and in 1966 his successor became clear magnetic resonance) Manfred Hesse independent Institute of Physical Chemis- Hans R. Oswald. Two years later a new (), and in 1981 Andrea try, became the first director. Recently, the chair was established and was occupied by Vasella (sugar chemistry). Physical Chemistry Institute celebrated Helmut Werner, an organometallic chem- Max Viscontini became the first Direc- this happening on its 75th anniversary. The ist building bridges between the classical tor of the collective directorship, followed successor of von Halban, Klaus Clusius, an disciplines of organic and inorganic chem- by André Dreiding, Conrad Eugster, Wolf- international and well-known established istry. John Ammeter joined the institute gang von Philipsborn, Manfred Hesse and scientist, was appointed in 1947. Under from 1978 to 1985 as Associate Professor. Andrea Vasella. Due to some inauspicious the directorship of Heinrich Labhart, the John Günter joined the institute as Assis- decisions from the university leadership successor of Prof. Clusius after his sudden tant Professor in 1981, became Associate the collective directorship formally de- death in 1963, two more faculty positions Professor in 1990, and retired in 1999. In clined to three Professors in 2000. In 1989, were established. Georges Wagnière, an 1988, Heinz Berke became full Professor, only two of the three retired chairs, Max expert on semi-empirical calculations of and subsequently took over as Chairman Viscontini, André Dreiding and Conrad the molecular structure and spectroscopic of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry in Eugster, were newly occupied by Hans- properties of molecules, joined the insti- 1991. Berke’s major research field con- Jürgen Hansen and John Robinson. tute in 1965. Hanns Fischer, an expert in cerned mainly In 1993, Andrea Vasella responded free chemistry, joined the institute related to the exploration and exploita- to a call at the ETH. In 1997, Wolfgang in 1969. In 1979 Robert Huber became tion of physical properties of organome- von Philipsborn retired, in 2002 Manfred successor of Heinrich Labhart, after Lab- tallic compounds as molecular materials Hesse, and in 2004 Hans-Jürgen Hansen. hart’s unexpected death in 1977. Two years and metal of organic reactions. To bring a fresh new start to the Institute later, Karl Lendi and Henning Paul joined Roger Alberto, the successor of Hans R. of Organic Chemistry, a special committee the institute as ‘Privatdozenten,’ and later Oswald in 1999, is working in the fields of was formed to seek out the best candidates, as ‘Titularprofessoren’. Prof. Lendi’s re- coordination and organometallic transition resulting in the recruitments of Jay Siegel search focused in the area of irreversible metal compounds and their application to in 2003, and Kim Baldridge in 2004. The quantum dynamics in open systems, in- radiopharmacy. In 2003 Roland Sigel and subsequent years re-established the insti- cluding interaction with an environment. in 2007 Greta Patzke entered the institute tute’s international leading reputation in Henning Paul focused on chemistry, as Assistant Professors. Most recently, in both research and teaching.[3] specifically the question of how chemical 2008, Eva Freisinger joined the institute as reactions are influenced by magnetic fields an Assistant Professor.[8] using time-resolved ESR methods. Marco Hans Schmid became the first Direc- Unique Collections in the Nonella joined the team as ‘Bundesprofes- tor of the Institute of Organic Chemistry. Chemistry Archive sor’ of computational science from 1992 He studied and finished his dissertation in to 1996. Currrently, the physical chemistry chemistry at the Chemical Institute at the institutes comprises Stefan Seeger, Peter University of Vienna. Hans Schmid reflect- [7] Hamm and Jürg Hutter. The historical ed his personality in many fields of organic Cinema artifacts in this area of chemistry are pres- chemistry. The first of his research topics Experiments ent in the online museum. was natural substances. He continued Kar- Cinema When Karrer retired in 1959, inde- rer’s work on curare, but focused more on History Experiments pendent Organic and Inorganic Chemistry isolation and structure problems than on the Institutes were established. The historical organism itself. In 1949, a research visit in collections of the Chemical Institutes were Berkeley in the group of Professor Mel- Modern 14 History placed under the auspices of the Institute vin Calvin, introduced Schmid to the C Instruments of Organic Chemistry, OCI. Up until that technique. It was the time after the Second time, Karrer was considered to be ex- World War and information exchange, and Historical pert in both areas, albeit weighted heav- therefore such visits became quite produc- Instruments ily towards organic chemistry. The record tive. The 14C technique became later es- would indicate that an establishment of a sential for his mechanistic research, where more egalitarian administrative structure he concentrated on the exact determination earlier on might have led to a more col- of the process of molecular transformation The enormous collection of curiosities legial growth of the Chemical Institutes, in the living cell. One of his famous topics stored in the Chemistry Institutes archive 566 CHIMIA 2009, 63, No. 9 Aspects of Chemistry at UZH from Werner to the Present Day

gives the visitor the opportunity to emerge chive collection can be chosen according When Hans Schmid became Director, not into the long-term history of the Chemistry to different search criteria stored in a da- only were the elemental analysis services Institutes. tabase structure. A short description to the expanded, but a new NMR service was Highlights from the earlier days in- historic pieces will be shown to the visitor. founded. Manfred Hesse brought the mass clude the well-preserved microbalances, spectrometry service to the Institute of Or- the oldest one in our archive is from 1870, ganic Chemistry. With the move in 1978 to and the laboratory burner from Johann Modern Measurement Techniques the Irchel Campus, the X-ray crystallogra- Wolfgang Doebereiner, one of the first phy service was established. The computa- burners from 1829. A unique collection of tional hands-on classroom was initiated by preserved samples builds another highlight Roland Kunz, and later extended by Kim of the archive. An important piece of evi- Cinema Baldridge to include a Grid Competence dence of Professor Werner’s work on phen- Experiments Center. All of these infrastructure services anthrene derivatives is still present in our Cinema have been expanded to the highest research archive. His laboratory notebook contains History Experiments standards and are available to internal and all the preparations of these different salts. external scientists. The Chemistry Insti- The sealed tubes with phenanthrene and its tutes now offer infrastructure services on derivatives were synthesized by Werner’s nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Modern History students. An enormous number of alkaloid Instruments mass spectrometry, X-ray , samples from Paul Karrer, and later from absorption/emission spectroscopy, micro- [9] Hans Schmid and their groups, are stored Historical analysis, and . in the archive. In the period from 1918 to Instruments The instrumentation of these services is 1959, 76 prepared sealed test tubes con- open to the classes taken by the students. taining alkaloid and curare derivates were synthesized. One of a kind is the Kugel- rohr-distillation apparatus fabricated by The chemistry institutes are supported No Chemistry without Experiments Emil Kohler, the mechanic in Professor with a wide range of state-of-the-art tech- Karrer’s group under guidance of Hans nologies, which results in a variety of high- Schmid, who learned this technique in level sub-disciplines of research. As a re- Vienna. The fraction collectors were also sult, an increasing number of international Cinema very useful instruments in Hans Schmid’s young scientists come to study chemistry Experiments group. Professor Hansen remembers one in at our institutes. To facilitate first-year Cinema particular that was made by Dr. Hans Häs- students, the Chem MusEum provides an History Experiments li, that was so robust that it was called the easily accessible guide to the different ‘Military Version’. A very complicated but measurement techniques, as well as an very important apparatus was the counter- overview of the main laboratory equip- Modern History current chromotography system, used for ment they may be exposed to, as well as the Instruments separation of alkaloid mixtures. This appa- historical background of the equipment. ratus, which was very complicated to use In addition to the basic instruments Historical but cutting edge for the time, is a testament from the laboratory of the first-year chem- Instruments to the frontier research in the area of chro- istry, such as chemical balances, coolers, motography science, pioneered by the Kar- heaters, columns, spectrometers, gas chro- rer–Schmid research groups. Remarkable matography systems, distillation systems, time records from the establishment of the and many more, students will be provided The Chem MusEum will present a NMR services include the water-cooled an overview of all of the instruments of- large number of exciting experiments, magnets of the earlier NMR magnets, es- fered in the chemical services. The Chem- which will enable students as well as all tablished also in the Institute of Organic istry Institutes have a long tradition of other interested parties, to review and ob- Chemistry. having a well-established infrastructure, tain a basic knowledge in experimental These and many more treasuries will offered for chemical research. Already un- procedures. The various experiments are be made accessible to a broad audience der Professor Karrer, the first service labo- meant to align with the various lectures through the museum website. Entering the ratory for micro-analysis was established. offered to first-year students. Each of the collection by way of the chemistry hall in At the suggestion of Hans Schmid, the first experiments will have an introduction of the online museum, the examples of the ar- IR spectrometer was purchased in 1955. the basic theory involved, a description

http://www.oci.uzh.ch/general/OCIMuseum/InstrumenteHistorisch.php http://www.oci.uzh.ch/general/OCIMuseum/InstrumenteModern.php Aspects of Chemistry at UZH from Werner to the Present Day CHIMIA 2009, 63, No. 9 567

http://www.oci.uzh.ch/ general/OCIMuseum/ Experimente.php of equipment used in that experiment, tionally, due to the fact that all information information concerning the chemicals content will be stored in a database that and safety, a video tutorial or a computer will be updated regularly by the various simulation, and additional information group contributors themselves, the latest concerning disposal safety. changes can be integrated into the museum The 3D animations are intended to pro- in an automatic way. vide additional understanding and insight into the molecules involved in the experi- The Chem MusEum will be imple- ments, including the formation, the bond- mented in different phases and will be fully ing, and the structure, in a concrete way. operational in August 2011. Such simulations highlight some of the im- portant characteristics of the experiments. The online chemical experiments Acknowledgements laboratory provides an additional benefit, The author gratefully acknowledges Profs particularly for experiments that are very Kim K. Baldridge and Jay S. Siegel for their complex, expensive, or even dangerous to valuable contribution and insight into this carry out in real time. However, the online articles. The author also is thankful to Dr. Christa Werner for carefully reading this piece, experiments are not meant to completely to Steve Ellington for photography and film replace the work in the laboratory, but digitization, and to Armin Guggisberg for are intended as a supplement, and to bet- many helpful suggestions. ter prepare the student for the real experi- ments. Additional exercises to the experi- Received: August 19, 2009 ments, as well as an online forum will also be available. [1] http://www.uzh.ch/about/portrait/history.html [2] C. Eugster, Chimia 2008, 62, 75. [3] J. S. Siegel, Chimia 2008, 62, 68. [4] ‘75 Jahre chemischer Forschung an der Outlook Universität Zürich’, Festschrift zur Eröffnung des neuen Chemischen Instituts verfasst von The Chem MusEum is an IIL (initia- den Studierenden der Chemie. tive interactive learning) project, with the [5] http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/ laureates/1913/ aim of providing a supplement to how the [6] http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/ process of learning takes place in the real laureates/1937/karrer-bio.html classroom situation. The museum will be [7] J. R. Huber, Chimia 2008, 62, 103. realized, particularly in the experimental [8] R. Alberto, G. R. Patzke, R. K. O. Sigel, H. G. Berke, Chimia 2006, 62, 111. component, in close collaboration with the [9] J. S. Siegel, H. Heimgartner, Chimia 2008, 62, lecturers of the first-year students. Addi- 114.