Maximilian Nierenstein

{{Short description|German biochemist (1877–1946)}}

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{{Infobox scientist

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|birth_date = 1877

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|death_date = 1946

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|field = Biochemistry

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|alma_mater = University of Bristol

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|known_for = Nierenstein reaction

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Maximilian Nierenstein (also known as Moses Max Nierenstein or Max Nierenstein; 1877–1946) was a professor of biochemistry at the University of Bristol.

He is known for the Nierenstein reaction, an organic reaction describing the conversion of an acid chloride into an haloketone with diazomethane.

In 1912, Polish biochemist Casimir Funk isolated a complex of micronutrients and proposed the complex be named "vitamine" (a portmanteau of "vital amine"), a name reportedly suggested by friend Max Nierenstein.{{cite book |last = Combs|first = Gerald|title = The vitamins: fundamental aspects in nutrition and health|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1CMHiWum0Y4C&pg=PA16 |isbn = 9780121834937 |year = 2008| publisher=Elsevier }}{{Cite book|last1=Funk|first1= C. |first2= H. E. |last2=Dubin|title=The Vitamines|location= Baltimore|publisher= Williams and Wilkins Company|year= 1922|url=https://archive.org/details/vitamines00funk|quote=The Vitamines.}}

He also studied natural phenols and tannins{{Cite journal

| last1 = Drabble | first1 = E.

| last2 = Nierenstein | first2 = M.

| title = On the Rôle of Phenols, Tannic Acids, and Oxybenzoic Acids in Cork Formation

| journal = Biochemical Journal

| volume = 2

| issue = 3

| pages = 96–102.1

| year = 1907

| pmid = 16742048

| pmc = 1276196

| doi=10.1042/bj0020096

}} found in different plant species. He showed in 1945 that luteic acid, a molecule present in the myrobalanitannin, a tannin found in the fruit of Terminalia chebula, is an intermediary compound in the synthesis of ellagic acid.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Nierenstein | first1 = M.

| last2 = Potter | first2 = J.

| title = The distribution of myrobalanitannin

| journal = The Biochemical Journal

| volume = 39

| issue = 5

| pages = 390–392

| year = 1945

| pmid = 16747927

| pmc = 1258254

| doi=10.1042/bj0390390

}} Working with Arthur George Perkin, he prepared ellagic acid from algarobilla and certain other fruits in 1905.{{Cite journal | last1 = Perkin | first1 = A. G. | last2 = Nierenstein | first2 = M. | doi = 10.1039/CT9058701412 | title = CXLI.—Some oxidation products of the hydroxybenzoic acids and the constitution of ellagic acid. Part I | journal = Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions | volume = 87 | pages = 1412–1430 | year = 1905 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1657036 }} He suggested its formation from galloyl-glycine by Penicillium in 1915.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Nierenstein | first1 = M.

| title = The Formation of Ellagic Acid from Galloyl-Glycine by Penicillium

| journal = The Biochemical Journal

| volume = 9

| issue = 2

| pages = 240–244

| year = 1915

| pmid = 16742368

| pmc = 1258574

| doi=10.1042/bj0090240

}} Tannase is an enzyme that Niederstein used to produce m-digallic acid from gallotannins.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Nierenstein | first1 = M.

| title = A biological synthesis of m-digallic acid

| journal = The Biochemical Journal

| volume = 26

| issue = 4

| pages = 1093–1094

| year = 1932

| pmid = 16744910

| pmc = 1261008

| doi=10.1042/bj0261093

}} He proved the presence of catechin in cocoa beans in 1931.{{Cite journal | last1 = Adam | first1 = W. B. | last2 = Hardy | first2 = F. | last3 = Nierenstein | first3 = M. | title = The Catechin of the Cacao Bean| journal = Journal of the American Chemical Society | volume = 53 | issue = 2 | pages = 727–728 | year = 1931 | doi = 10.1021/ja01353a041 }}

He also worked on milk and caseinogen.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Geake | first1 = A.

| last2 = Nierenstein | first2 = M.

| title = The Action of Diazomethane on Caseinogen: Preliminary Communication

| journal = The Biochemical Journal

| volume = 8

| issue = 4

| pages = 287–292

| year = 1914

| pmid = 16742318

| pmc = 1276579

| doi=10.1042/bj0080287

}} He reviewed the discovery of lactose in 1936.{{Cite journal|title=The Discovery of Lactic Sugar|first= M.|last= Nierenstein|journal= Isis|date=February 1936| volume =24|issue= 2| pages =367–369|jstor=225293|doi=10.1086/347034|s2cid= 143519796}}