The Right Chemistry: Emil Fischer was one of the world's great chemists

Column by Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science & Society

"The brilliant German chemist was the first person to carry out a total synthesis of glucose, the fundamental building block of cellulose and starch. This was a monumental achievement at the time. Fischer’s success in determining the molecular structure of carbohydrates was partly due to his accidental discovery of a reagent known as phenylhydrazine that formed well-defined crystalline derivatives with carbohydrates."

Read more: Montreal Gazette