WERNER, ALFRED

born Dec. 12, 1866, Mulhouse, France died Nov. 15, 1919, Zrich, Switz. Alfred Werner, 1913. Swiss chemist and recipient of the 1913 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his research into the structure of coordination compounds. Werner earned a Ph.D. from the University of Zrich (1890) for work with Arthur Hantzsch on a class of organic nitrogen compounds known as oximes. His exploration of the three-dimensional arrangement of the oxime molecule proved to be a valuable contribution to stereochemistry. He subsequently worked with Marcellin Berthelot at Paris, returning in 1891 to Zrich, where he taught from 1893 until his death. He was reputed to be an excellent teacher. In 1891 Werner presented his great contribution, coordination theory, which permitted a simple classification of inorganic compounds and extended the concept of isomerism. He and his students prepared many new series of compounds and fitted them into the new system. Though his views have been modified slightly, they are fundamental to modern inorganic chemistry and prepared the way for modern concepts of chemical bonding.