Adolf von Baeyer was born in 1835 in Berlin. He studied at the Friedrich-Wilhelms Gymnasium. He attended the University of Berlin where he studied physics and mathematics. He studied physical chemistry at Heidelberg under Robert Bunsen . Unsatisfied with the field of study, he transferred to the private laboratory of organic chemist August von Stradonitz Kekule, also in Heidelberg. While working with Kekule, Baeyer compiled enough data to support his thesis on organic arsenic compounds; based on that thesis he received his doctoral degree in 1858. Later that same year, Kekule move the lab activities to Ghent; Baeyer followed. En route to the new site, Baeyer met Adolf Schlieper, who had once worked on a uric acid research team and gave Baeyer one of his remaining samples of the substance. Through further investigation, Baeyer discovered barbituric acid , the basic compound of the barbiturate family. While in Ghent he earned the basic...