Knowra Paul Karrer Paul Karrer Paul Karrer (1889–1971) was a Swiss organic chemist whose work elucidated the structures of carotenoids, flavins, and vitamins A and B₂. He shared the 1937 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Carotenoids : Carotenoids are pigments made by plants, algae, and some microorganisms, including carotenes and xanthophylls. Their molecular structures were a central subject of Karrer’s early research.
Chemical degradation : Chemical degradation breaks a molecule into smaller products whose identities reveal features of its structure. Karrer used reaction products to infer the structures of complex natural pigments.
Richard Kuhn : Richard Kuhn was an Austrian-German chemist who studied carotenoids and vitamins and shared the 1938 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Kuhn pursued closely related pigment and vitamin problems, often in scientific competition with Karrer.
Vitamin chemistry : Vitamin chemistry studies the molecular structures, reactions, and biological functions of vitamins. Karrer’s findings helped establish this field through detailed structural work on several vitamins.
Vitamin A : Vitamin A is a group of fat-soluble compounds needed for vision, growth, and tissue maintenance. Karrer helped establish its structure and its relationship to carotene.
Stereochemistry : Stereochemistry studies the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in molecules and its effects on properties and reactions. Carotenoid structures raised questions about molecular arrangement as well as connectivity.
Otto Isler : Otto Isler was a Swiss chemist who developed industrial methods for producing vitamins, including vitamin A. Isler’s later industrial work extended the vitamin chemistry Karrer helped establish.
Vitamin deficiency : Vitamin deficiency is a condition caused by insufficient intake or absorption of one or more essential vitamins. Identifying vitamin structures supported research into their biological roles and deficiency diseases.
Riboflavin : Riboflavin, or vitamin B₂, is a water-soluble vitamin used to make coenzymes involved in oxidation-reduction reactions. Karrer’s structural work clarified the chemistry of this vitamin.
Carotene : Carotene is an orange carotenoid pigment, including beta-carotene, that can be converted into vitamin A in animals. Karrer’s structural studies of carotenes helped connect plant pigments to vitamin A.
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