In 1916 he was arrested on allegations of espionage in connection with World War I and imprisoned from July 1916 until March 1917 in Saint Petersburg.

In 1918 Antropoff was appointed to the Technical College in Karlsruhe, from where he went to serve in Bonn as a full professor and department head for physical chemistry from 1924.

Antropoff became dean of the faculty of mathematics and natural sciences in Bonn University and a member of the Senate.

[5][6][7] He first published his periodic table in the article "Eine neue Form des periodischen Systems der Elemente" in the Zeitschrift für angewandte Chemie in 1926.

[9][10] His periodic table was in widespread use in German schools until 1945 and soon disappeared after von Antropoff's Nazi affiliations came to light.