Georg Wittig
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Georg Wittig (June 16, 1897 in Berlin (Germany) - August 26, 1987) was a German chemist who reported a method for synthesis of alkenes from aldehydes and ketones using compounds called phosphonium ylides in the Wittig reaction. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1979.
CH3C(-)H-P-Ph3 + PhCHO → PhCH=CHCH3 + Ph3PO
Ylide (or betaine) + Aldehyde -> Alkene
Wittig's contributions also include the preparation of phenyllithium and the discovery of the 1,2-Wittig rearrangement and the 2,3-Wittig rearrangement.
Wittig was well known in the chemistry community for being a consummate experimentalist and observer of chemical transformations, while caring very little for the theoretical and mechanistic underpinnings of the work he produced.
- their development of the use of boron- and phosphorus-containing compounds, respectively, into important reagents in organic synthesis. (http://uk.geocities.com/hertouyt/qsd/wittig-cv.html)