Rolf Appel (25 February 1921 – 30 January 2012) was an inorganic chemist who worked in the area of organophosphorus chemistry
Appel received his PhD at age 30.[1] He was appointed in 1962 to both the University of Bonn along with the inorganic chemical institute in 1962 from the University of Heidelberg.[2] He was a research assistant in Chemistry at Bonn University in Bonn, when he developed the Appel reaction.[3] For his discovery, Appel received the Liebig Medal. In 1986, he retired from the inorganic institute.[4] He was succeeded by Edgar Niecke.[5]
The Appel reaction is an organic reaction that converts an alcohol into an alkyl chloride using triphenylphosphine and carbon tetrachloride.[3]