Thursday, December 3, 2009

Dr. Ernst König

Rosen, 1905


[Obituary]The death on October 29 of Dr. Ernst Konig, of the famous dyeworks at H6chst-am-Main (formerly Meister, Lucius, and Bruning) at the early age of fifty-five, is recorded by the Chemiker - Zeitung. Konig's reputation rests securely upon his well-known researches in the field of photochemistry. Born at Flensburg in Schleswig, he graduated at the University of Leipzig, where for a very brief period he acted as assistant to Prof. Stohmann. In 1893 he entered the service of the dyeworks at Hochst, where he eventually attained a position of the highest responsibility. At first he undertook the investigation of new coal-tar colours, but his chief interest lay in their application to photographic processes. In 1902 a photographic department of the works was formed under his direction, and two years later a new kind of three-colour collodion process, the pinachrome process, was invented. This was followed by the application of dyes to chromate-gelatin emulsions and the development of the pinatype process. He also devoted much attention to the production of various light-filters and desensitisers. One of the most important of his discoveries was that of the panchromatic plate. The problem of extending the region of sensitiveness of the emulsion beyond the yellow into the red and even far down into the infrared region was solved by employing as sensitisers derivatives of quinoline, containing auxochromic groups in the benzene nucleus. Konig was also the author of numerous scientific papers and books on photographic subjects. 

No comments: