Haber, Fritz (1868–1934) GermanChemist Fritz
Haber was born on December 9, 1868, in Breslau, Ger-
many, to Siegfried Haber, a merchant and a member of
one of the oldest families of the town. He went to school
at the St. Elizabeth classical school at Breslau and con-
ducted many chemistry experiments while still a child.
Haber studied chemistry at the University of Hei-
delberg from 1886 until 1891, followed by stints at the
University of Berlin and at the Technical School at
Charlottenberg. He finally decided to devote himself to
chemistry in 1894 by accepting an assistantship at
Karlsruhe, where he remained until 1911.
In 1896 Haber qualified as a Privatdozent (lec-
turer) with a thesis on experimental studies of the
decomposition and combustion of hydrocarbons. In
1906 he became professor of physical chemistry and
electrochemistry and director of an institute established
at Karlsruhe to study these subjects.
In 1911 he became director of the Institute for
Physical and Electrochemistry at Berlin-Dahlem, and he
stayed there until 1933, when Nazi race laws forced
most of his staff to resign. Haber also resigned in
protest. He had a brief stint at Cambridge, England,
then moved to Switzerland.
In 1898 Haber published a textbook on electro-
chemistry and promoted his research to relate chemical
research to industrial processes, showing his results on
electrolytic oxidation and reduction. That same year he
explained the reduction of nitrobenzene in stages at the
cathode, which became the model for other similar
reduction processes. He continued electrochemical
research for the next decade, working on the electroly-
sis of solid salts (1904), the establishment of the
quinone–hydroquinone equilibrium at the cathode, and
inventing the glass electrode that led him to make the
first experimental investigations of the potential differ-
ences that occur between solid electrolytes and their
aqueous solutions.
Haber’s work on the fixation of nitrogen from air
(“for the synthesis of ammonia from its elements”)
earned him the Nobel Prize in chemistry for 1918.
Haber died on January 29, 1934, at Basle. The Insti-
tute for Physical and Electrochemistry at Berlin-Dahlem
was renamed the Fritz Haber Institute after his death.Haber process An industrial process for the cat-
alyzed production of ammonia from N 2 and H 2 at high
temperature and pressure.Haber-Weiss reaction The Haber-Weiss cycle con-
sists of the following two reactions:
H 2 O 2 + OH.→H 2 O + O 2 – + H+
H 2 O 2 + O 2 – →O 2 + OH–+ OH.
The second reaction achieved notoriety as a possible
source of hydroxyl radicals. However, it has a negligi-
ble rate constant. It is believed that iron(III) complexes
can catalyze this reaction: first Fe(III) is reduced by
superoxide, followed by oxidation by dihydrogenper-
oxide.
See alsoFENTON REACTION.121