Nikodem Caro
Encyclopedia
Nikodem Caro is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) was an industrial chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
and entrepreneur. Caro was born in Łódź, and studied chemistry in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
at the Royal Technical College of Charlottenburg (now Technical University of Berlin
Technical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
) and got his doctorate from Rostock University. From 1895 on he worked in the Deutsche Dynamit AG with Adolf Frank on the development of calcium cyanamide
Calcium cyanamide
Calcium cyanamide or CaCN2 is a calcium compound used as fertilizer, first synthesized in 1898 by Adolph Frank and Nikodem Caro . It is formed when calcium carbide reacts with nitrogen. It is commercially known as Nitrolime....
as a means of fixing nitrogen, hence the Frank-Caro process
Frank-Caro process
The Frank–Caro process, also called cyanamide process, is the nitrogen fixation reaction of calcium carbide and nitrogen gas in an electric furnace heated at about 1,000°C. The synthesis produces calcium cyanamide and carbon.-History:...
. Caro became an important figure in the nitrogen fixation
Nitrogen fixation
Nitrogen fixation is the natural process, either biological or abiotic, by which nitrogen in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia . This process is essential for life because fixed nitrogen is required to biosynthesize the basic building blocks of life, e.g., nucleotides for DNA and RNA and...
industry and a rival of Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber was a German chemist, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his development for synthesizing ammonia, important for fertilizers and explosives. Haber, along with Max Born, proposed the Born–Haber cycle as a method for evaluating the lattice energy of an ionic solid...
.
Caro also contributed to the production of combat gases used by German troops during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. After the war he became the first president of Bayrische Stickstoffwerke AG.
Caro is the author of many works about various elements, synthesis a chemical compounds actions e.g. Gewinnung von Chlor und Salzaeure (1893), Landwirtschaftliche Untersuchungen (1895), Handbuch für Azetylin (1904), Die Torflager als Kraftquellen (1907).
After Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's rise to power he left Berlin, emigrating through Switzerland to Italy. Caro died in 1935 and was buried in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
.
See also
- Heinrich CaroHeinrich CaroHeinrich Caro , was a German chemist.He started his study of chemistry at the Friedrich Wilhelms University and later chemistry and dyeing in Berlin at the Royal Trades Institute...
, inventor of the "Caro's acid" (peroxymonosulfuric acidPeroxymonosulfuric acidPeroxymonosulfuric acid, also known as persulfuric acid, peroxysulfuric acid, or as Caro's acid, is H2SO5, a liquid at room temperature. In this acid, the S center adopts its characteristic tetrahedral geometry; the connectivity is indicated by the formula HO-O-S2-OH...
) - Poison gas in World War IPoison gas in World War IThe use of chemical weapons in World War I ranged from disabling chemicals, such as tear gas and the severe mustard gas, to lethal agents like phosgene and chlorine. This chemical warfare was a major component of the first global war and first total war of the 20th century. The killing capacity of...