Van 't Hoff Fund

The third of seven children, Jacobus Hendricus van 't Hoff was born in Rotterdam on 30 August 1852. He attended secondary school there and upon graduating at age 17, enrolled in the polytechnic school in Delft (which later became Delft University of Technology). He qualified as a chemical technologist two years later, in 1871. A summer job at a sugar factory, however, persuaded him that he was not cut out for chemical engineering. He decided to pursue a career in pure science instead.

After a year studying in Leiden, Van 't Hoff left for Bonn, where he worked in the famous chemical laboratory of August Kekulé (who discovered the structure of benzene in 1865). He also worked in Paris with Adophe Wurtz, another leading chemist of the time. In 1874, he obtained his PhD in Utrecht for his thesis Bijdrage tot de Kennis van Cyaanazijnzuren en Malonzuur (Contribution to the Knowledge of Cyanoacetic Acids and Malonic Acid).

Before receiving his PhD, however, Van 't Hoff had already published a much more important document than his thesis, namely a pamphlet laying the foundations of stereochemistry,  entitled Voorstel tot Uitbreiding der Tegenwoordige in de Scheikunde gebruikte Structuurformules in de Ruimte, benevens een daarmee samenhangende Opmerking omtrent het Verband tusschen Optisch Actief Vermogen en chemische Constitutie van Organische Verbindingen (Proposal for the Extension of Current Chemical Structural Formulas into Space, together with Related Observation on the Connection between Optically Active Power and the Chemical Constitution of Organic Compounds). Although only 13 pages long, the pamphlet would have an enormous impact on chemical theory. The French translation, Chimie dans l’Espace, was published in 1875 and a German translation two years later (the English translation did not appear until 1891).

Once he had obtained his PhD, Van 't Hoff struggled to find a job. He finally accepted a teaching post at the Veterinary College at Utrecht in 1876, but left a year later to become a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam, where he was appointed Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology in 1878. In that year, he married Johanna Francina Mees, with whom he would have two sons and two daughters.

Van 't Hoff's reputation grew thanks to his various publications and he received several interesting offers from abroad. In a bid to keep him at the University of Amsterdam, the municipal council agreed to build a new laboratory, equipped entirely to Van 't Hoff's specifications, which was completed in 1892. His fame attracted students from far and wide, however, and he found himself so busy teaching and setting tests and exams that he had very little time for research. As a result, in 1896 he accepted a job offer from the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences that would allow him to devote all his time to research.

Van 't Hoff received numerous awards and honorary titles throughout his career. The most important, however, was the very first Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded to him in 1901.

Van 't Hoff’s passion for chemistry was complemented by his great love of nature. He enjoyed going on botanical excursions in Amsterdam and during his time in Bonn went on long hikes in the surrounding countryside. He also had a great love of poetry and was especially fond of the work of Lord Byron.

Van 't Hoff died in Steglitz, near Berlin, on 1 March 1911.

Van 't Hoff looked at other researchers’ findings and drew conclusions from them that no one else had until then. His pioneering work in stereochemistry is considered his most important discovery.

Van 't Hoff studied other researchers' results and discovered that in the case of carbon atoms attached to other groups of atoms, fewer isomers could be demonstrated experimentally than could be worked out in formulas. Van 't Hoff explained this by assuming that molecules are not flat (the usual thinking at the time), but three-dimensional. He proposed using the tetrahedron as a model for a molecule, with the central carbon atom situated at its centre. In his pamphlet, he introduced the term ‘asymmetric carbon atom’ to refer to a carbon atom attached to four different groups of atoms.

Van 't Hoff suggested that only in the case of asymmetric carbon atoms could a compound have multiple isomers, and this immediately explained the optical activity of such compounds.

What did Van ’t Hoff receive the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry for?

Strangely enough, Van 't Hoff was awarded the very first Nobel Prize in Chemistry not for his most renowned discovery, stereochemistry or the study of the relative spatial arrangement of atoms, but rather for his discoveries of the laws of chemical equilibrium and chemical dynamics, and more specifically for his theory of osmotic pressure.

In brief, this theory states the following: When two saline solutions are separated by a semi-permeable membrane that allows the water molecules to pass through but not the salt molecules, the water molecules will move from the low salt concentration side of the membrane to the side with the higher salt concentration. This will cause the liquid to rise up higher on one side of the membrane than on the other. Equilibrium occurs when the extra water column reaches the same pressure as the force driving the water molecules through the membrane. The osmotic pressure is the pressure exerted by the water column in a state of equilibrium when salt is dissolved on only one side of the membrane.

Van 't Hoff proved that this pressure can be calculated using the formula p = cRT, where p is the osmotic pressure, c is the concentration of salt, R is the universal gas constant and T is the absolute temperature. His formula immediately demonstrated that the laws of thermodynamics that apply to gases also apply to solutions. After all, the general gas equation (or ideal gas law) is almost identical: pV = nRT, where p is the pressure, V is the volume and n is the amount of gas. For a saline concentration, it is defined as c = n/V.

What made Van 't Hoff unique as a chemist?

Van 't Hoff is, of course, important primarily because of his discoveries as a chemist. However, he also used exceptional methods in his work. In particular, he studied the results that others had obtained and saw connections in them that no one had noticed. He did not enjoy hands-on research himself. He is reported to have remarked to a colleague about conducting experiments, ‘How nice it is that there are people willing to do this kind of work for us’. Van 't Hoff was also unique in that he was one of the first chemists to focus primarily on the (physical) laws by which chemical processes can be described. In 1887, he joined Wilhelm Ostwald in founding the Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie. The two are regarded as the founding fathers of physical chemistry.

2024

Prof. John Hartwig, UC Berkeley, USA            

Prof. Dame Carol Robinson, University of Oxford, UK            

Prof. Makoto Fuijta, The University of Tokyo, Japan        

2023

Prof. Hiroaki Suga, Okayama University, Japan

2022

Prof. Ron Naaman, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Prof. Donna Blackmond, Scripps Research, La Jolla, California

Prof. Ben List,  The Max Planck Institute for Coal Research, Mülheim, Germany

2019

Prof. Frances H. Arnold, California Institute of Technology, USA

2017

Prof. Jacqueline Barton, California Institute of Technology, USA

2015

Prof. Klaus Müllen, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany

2013

Prof. Takuzo Aida, University of Tokyo, Japan

Prof. C.A. Mirkin, Northwestern University, USA

Prof. C. Robinson, Oxford University, UK

2011

Prof. T. Carell, Ludwigs-Maximillians-University Munich, Germany

Prof. J. Aizenberg, Harvard University, USA

Prof. B.L. Feringa, University of Groningen, the Netherlands

Prof. S.L. Schreiber, Harvard University, USA

2009

Prof. D.W.C. MacMillan, Princeton University, USA

2004

Prof. G.M. Whitesides, Harvard University, USA

Prof. J.M. Lehn, Collège de France Paris, France

Prof.  P.W. Atkins, Oxford University, UK

Prof. E.W. Meijer, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands

2001

Prof. M.T. Reetz, The Max Planck Institute for Coal Research, Mülheim, Germany

1998

Prof. E.N. Jacobsen, Harvard University, USA

1994

Prof. R. Breslow, Columbia University New York, USA

1988

Prof. J.M. Thomas, Royal Institute of Great Britain London, UK

1983

Prof.  M. Karplus, Harvard University, USA

1978

Prof.  E. Havinga, University of Leiden, the Netherlands

Prof. W.S. Johnson, Stanford University, USA

Prof.  J.M. Lehn, University of Strasbourg,  France

Prof. W.N. Lipscomb, Harvard University, USA

1974

Prof. L.J. Oosterhoff, University of Leiden, the Netherlands

1968

Prof. V. Prelog, Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland

1962

Prof. A.R. Ubbelohde, Imperial College of Science and Technology London, UK

1957

Prof. J.M. Bijvoet, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands