Fischer, Ernst Otto (1918–2007)

German inorganic chemist. He showed that transition metals can bond chemically to carbon. He and English chemist Geoffrey Wilkinson shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1973 for their work on organometallic compounds, which they carried out independently.

Investigating a synthetic compound called ferrocene, both Fischer and Wilkinson separately came to the conclusion that each molecule of ferrocene consists of a single iron atom sandwiched between two five-sided carbon rings – an organometallic compound. A combination of chemical and physical studies, finally confirmed by X-ray analysis, showed the compound's structure. With this work came the general realization that transition metals can bond chemically to carbon, and other ring systems were then studied. All the elements of the first transition series have now been incorporated into molecules of this kind and all except that of manganese have the ferrocene-type structure. Only ferrocene, however, is stable in air, the others being sensitive to oxidation.

Fischer was born in Munich and educated at the Munich Technical University. He remained there, becoming professor in 1959.