Buchner

Buchner is a German surname. In German, the name is commonly written with an umlaut as Büchner, and in English-language usage the diacritic is often omitted, yielding Buchner. The name is associated with several notable individuals as well as with terms used in science.

The most prominent bearer of the name is Eduard Buchner (1860–1917), a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1907. His experiments demonstrated that fermentation could proceed in the absence of living cells, using cell-free extracts. This work showed that enzymes catalyze biochemical reactions and helped establish biochemistry and enzymology as experimental sciences. Buchner’s findings laid the groundwork for understanding metabolism and cellular processes beyond the role of intact organisms.

The surname is also linked to laboratory equipment named after Eduard Büchner. The Büchner funnel and Büchner flask are used in vacuum filtration and filtration-based separations in chemistry and biology laboratories. These devices, typically bearing the umlaut in their original spelling, remain common tools in laboratory practice and symbolize Buchner’s influence on experimental methods.

Beyond Eduard Büchner, individuals bearing the name Buchner have contributed across fields such as science, medicine, and the arts. The spelling variations and transliteration of the surname reflect regional and linguistic differences, but the name remains most closely associated with the German scientific heritage and its impact on modern biochemistry.