Reppe, Walter Julius

20th Century
Born: Göringen near Eisenach (Germany), 1892 
Died: Heidelberg (Germany), 1969 
After studying in Jena and München in 1921 Reppe joined the main laboratory of the chemical company BASF. In 1928 he started research on acetylene reactions under high pressure (‘Reppe chemistry’). He studied the vinylisation of alcohols, carboxylic acids and nitrogen compounds and developed the technical means for all theses processes. He also found a process for the catalytic hydration of acetaldehyde.