Ferdinand Münz (1888-1969) was an Austrian chemist who first synthesized EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) at IG Farben in 1935, patented both in Germany (anonymously) and in the USA [1] (with his name), with the aim of producing a citric acid substitute, in order to reduce the German government's dependence on imports of chemical products from abroad. Münz noted that an aminocarboxylic acid worked much better as a chelating agent than citric acid and therefore thought that a polyaminopolycarboxylic acid would have worked even better.[2]

Ferdinand Münz
Born(1888-06-23)23 June 1888
Died16 August 1969(1969-08-16) (aged 81)
Glashütten, Germany
NationalityAustrian
Alma materTechnische Universität Wien
Known forEDTA synthesis
Scientific career
FieldsOrganic chemistry
InstitutionsIG Farben

In 1945 he worked closely with the future Nobel laureate Kurt Alder (1902-1958). In 1949 they published a paper together on diene synthesis and additions.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ US 2130505, Münz, Ferdinand, "Polyamino carboxylic acids and process of making same", published 1938-09-20, assigned to General Analine Works, Inc. 
  2. ^ Paolieri, Matteo (December 2017). "Ferdinand Münz: EDTA and 40 years of inventions". Bull. Hist. Chem. 42 (2). ACS: 133–140.
  3. ^ Münz, Ferdinand; Alder, Kurt (1949). "Diensynthese und substituierende Addition beim Divinyl-methan-typus Addition von Maleinsäure-anhydrid an Pentadien-1,4 und an 1,4-Dihydro-benzol". Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem. 565: 126–135. doi:10.1002/jlac.19495650113.