Diels, Otto

Diels, << deels, >> Otto (1876-1954), a German chemist, shared the 1950 Nobel Prize for chemistry with his former pupil Kurt Alder. They discovered and developed a process called diene synthesis for joining molecules containing carbon atoms. It yields complex natural molecules, such as vitamins and hormones, and synthetic materials, such as synthetic rubber and fuels. Diels was born in Hamburg, Germany.