{"id":212743,"date":"2016-02-24T19:05:25","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T22:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=212743"},"modified":"2016-02-24T19:05:25","modified_gmt":"2016-02-24T22:05:25","slug":"history-in-flasks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/history-in-flasks\/","title":{"rendered":"History in Flasks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Original

FFCL \u2013 USP yearbook, 1937-1938 <\/span><\/a> Original building housing the chemistry program at the USP campus on Alameda Glete, S\u00e3o Paulo, 1938FFCL \u2013 USP yearbook, 1937-1938 <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In 1934, German chemist Heinrich Rheinboldt (1891-1955) arrived in Brazil with a mission to help implement the chemical sciences program at the former Faculty of Philosophy, Science and Languages (the FFCL, today\u2019s FFLCH) of the recently founded University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP). The nascent institution envisaged a strategy of finding competent European professionals willing to remain for some time in the capital city of the state of S\u00e3o Paulo to launch a teaching and research program in various fields of science. On his departure from Germany, Rheinboldt brought in his luggage glass flasks containing chemicals that had belonged to his grandfather, the chemist Heinrich Caro (1834-1910), considered a precursor of modern industrial chemistry. Rheinboldt, however, preserved his grandfather\u2019s chemicals for reasons other than mere nostalgia. In fact, he was a \u201cprofound student of history,\u201d writes Paschoal Senise (1917-2011), former professor emeritus at USP and Rheinboldt\u2019s student when the program that formed the current Institute of Chemistry (IQ) began, in 1935.\u00a0 To Henrique Eisi Toma, a professor at the IQ who maintains the vintage pieces in his USP laboratory, \u201cthe flasks recount some of the history of the chemical industry worldwide.\u201d Toma goes on to say, \u201cthey also served as a historical reference for Rheinboldt to promote a significant change in Brazilian chemistry, through research and the employment of new methods and common techniques practiced in laboratories in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caro\u2019s

Henrique Eisi Toma<\/span>Caro\u2019s flasks, still contain their alizarin and methylene blue dyesHenrique Eisi Toma<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Inside the little flasks, one finds samples of the very reagents and chemicals that made a mark on Caro\u2019s life. Caro began his career at Berlin\u2019s Friedrich Wilhelm University (founded in 1810, making it one of the oldest in the city), which changed its name in 1949 to Humboldt University of Berlin. In the 1850s, Caro discovered the world of business-based research after being introduced to the technique for printing calico (also known as chita<\/i><\/em>), a type of cotton fabric produced using natural dyes.\u00a0 Between 1895 and 1866, Caro lived in Manchester, England, where he worked in the textile industry developing new techniques for dying fabric with artificial colors.<\/p>\n

\"Heinrich

Wikimedia Commons <\/span>Heinrich Caro (1834-1910): precursor of modern industrial chemistryWikimedia Commons <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In their 2000 book, Carsten Reinhardt and Anthony Travis point out that Caro\u2019s ability to overcome problems in the application of new dyes allowed him to both establish relationships with academic chemists in the UK and promote exchanges between English researchers and his colleagues in Germany. Caro was \u201ca craftsman, businessman and scientist all in one,\u201d as the authors say. After returning to Germany, Caro began working in the 1880s at Basf (Badische Anilin & Soda Fabrik)\u2014then a small company of 166 employees\u2014where he was responsible for introducing alizarin, a red fabric dye that he had synthesized artificially in the late 1860s.\u00a0 In 1876, he synthesized methylene blue, a substance that went on to have numerous applications in medical research, particularly in the study of microorganisms. In 1882, for example, Nobel laureate Robert Koch announced his discovery of the tuberculosis bacillus using\u00a0 methylene blue as a marker dye. According to Toma, \u201cthe synthesis of dyes practically did away with the practice of extracting dyes from plants, marking the beginning of the modern chemical industry;\u201d and, because Caro was the first researcher to describe peroxysulphuric acid, the compound came to be known as \u201cCaro\u2019s acid,\u201d used in the industrial production of disinfectants and other cleaning agents.<\/p>\n

\"Heinrich

Origins of the IQ-USP, Paschoal Senise<\/span><\/a> Heinrich Rheinboldt, in 1939, (at head of table) at a luncheon with German professors at the Brasserie Paulista restaurant in S\u00e3o PauloOrigins of the IQ-USP, Paschoal Senise<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Historian and USP professor Shozo Motoyama tells us that Rheinboldt, unlike his grandfather and despite acknowledging the importance of basic research to the long-term advancement of industry, had no interest in industrial research. \u201cAlso,\u201d Motoyoma explains, \u201cwhen he arrived at USP, Rheinboldt introduced none of the cutting-edge chemistry that was in vogue at the time, unlike the Italian Gleb Wataghin in the Physics Department through his presentation of cosmic rays and other topics at the forefront of his field.\u201d Still, it is through the portrayal of both Rheinboldt and Caro as innovators that Motoyama says he finds the common denominator between the two. \u201cIn the long run, Rheinboldt\u2019s work in fields such as organic chemistry planted the seeds for the growth of Brazilian chemistry in various directions, like biochemistry, in which USP eventually excelled,\u201d Motoyama concludes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Glass flasks help tell the story of chemistry\u2019s beginnings at USP ","protected":false},"author":421,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[259,241],"coauthors":[740],"class_list":["post-212743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retrospect","tag-chemistry","tag-history"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/421"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212743"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=212743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}