Georg Wittig (June 16, 1897 - August 26, 1987) reported a method for synthesis of alkenes from aldehydes and ketones using compounds called phosphonium ylides. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1979.

CH3C(-)H-P-Ph3 + PhCHO → PhCH=CHCH3 + Ph3PO

  Yllide   Aldehyde     Alkene

Wittig's contributions also include the preparation of phenyllithium and the discovery of the [1,2] and the [2,3] Wittig Rearrangements.

Wittig was well known in the chemistry community for being a consummate experimentalist and observer of chemical transformations, while caring very little for the theoretical and mechanistic underpinnings of the work he produced.