Image Credit: Downloaded from Pexels

This morning was one of those rare occasions where I had just the right amount of coffee. I usually over do it just a little bit and end up a little jittery or lack concentration. On this morning, however, I'm as chill as the other side of the pillow. Not even my Friday morning duty in a lunchroom full of insane 7th graders could get me off of my game.

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It was a good feeling!

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Then, when I got to class, I noticed today's (2/8/19) Google Doodle celebrating the 225th birthday of German analytical chemist Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge. Like most of you, I had absolutely no idea who this dude was or why he was important, but the chemical structure depicted in the picture looked awfully familiar. Then, when I noticed the dark brown liquid in the cartoon and the coffee beans that made up the "G", I had a pretty good idea of what he must be famous for:

Caffeine!

Image Credit: NEUROtiker [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

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Who Is Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge?

I have already written a couple of articles about this life-changing wonder drug (Part 2, Part 2), so I was kind of interested in learning a little bit about the scientist who discovered it.

Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge was born near Hamburg Germany on February 8, 1795. His father was a Lutheran pastor, and he was the third of seven children in his family. Unfortunately, his mother died when he was only 12 years old. Furthermore, economic sanctions forced his family into poverty. But, Runge enjoyed the sciences. He was especially fond of chemistry, which may be what drove him to overcome his situation and succeed in studying medicine at several different universities including in Jena where he studied chemical analysis under a scientist named Johan Döbereiner.

This Is Why We Wear Safety Goggles, Kids

One of Runge's earliest discoveries occurred by accident. While trying to isolate a medicinal extract of belladonna from the deadly nightshade plant, it is reported that he splashed some in his eye. It caused his pupil to dilate, and his vision blurred. To this day, if you have your eyes dilated at the optometrist, it was probably done using belladonna or some derivative of it. Runge noted this curious effect. It would be the key that opened the door to his discovery of caffeine.

In 1819, Runge's mentor, Döbereiner, introduced him to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Runge was asked to demonstrate the curious characteristic of belladonna that he had discovered. He did so by dilating the pupil of a cat's eye. Goethe was so impressed by this young chemist that he asked him to do a chemical evaluation of some coffee beans; a relative novelty at that time and place. Runge took Goeth up on his offer and ended up discovering kaffein, or caffeine as it would come to be spelled throughout Europe.

Other Major Contributions

Runge later took a job working for a chemical manufacturing company in Berlin with the hope that it would lead to a position in academia. While there, he became disinterested in most of the products that the company was working on; instead, focusing components of coal tar. His company saw this as a waste of time; and, even after Runge ended up synthesizing phenol, aniline, and rose the first ever synthesized dyes, they pensioned him off. But, Runge would continue his experimentation in his own home. He lacked the equipment to make many of the observations that he wished to acquire, so he decided to try carrying out some of his chemical reactions on blotting paper. He would put drops of one reactant on the paper, let it dry, and then put drops of another reactant in the same spot. The result was a multicolored ring patter that spread outward from the initial drop point. This science experiment-turned-art-project caught on with the general public to the point where school children were making them. While Runge didn't know what caused the phenomenon, it would be the basis of what we now call paper chromatography.

In The End

Unfortunately, Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge never received his position in academia. In fact, even after all of his contributions to science, he reportedly lived the last 15 years of his life in poverty and relative obscurity before dying in 1867 at the age of 73. However, I found other articles that report Runge was given high tribute honors by the Industrial Congress in London, received honorary degrees, and was given honorary membership into chemical societies as late as 1862, a mere 5 years before his death. Personally, I hope for the latter. Either way, we should all pour out a cup (I'll be pouring mine out directly into my mouth) for the man who discovered the life-giving molecule that makes our morning commutes tolerable. Thank you, Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge.