A tribute to Stanislao Cannizzaro, chemical informationist and photochemist

Abstract

Stanislao Cannizzaro is known widely for the Cannizzaro reaction, the “disproportionation” of benzaldehyde upon reaction with alkali, for his approach to teaching chemistry, “Sunto di un corso di filosofia chimica”, which he presented at the Karlsruhe Congress of 1860, and for his work on the photochemistry of santonin. In Cannizzaro's laboratory two research associates, Giacomo Ciamician and Paul Silber, and a senior colleague, Emanuele Paternó, became acquainted with the basic methods of sunlight-inducd photochemistry.