His father was the pharmacist, chemist, industrialist and politician Wilhelm Büchner.

In his dissertation, he addressed the issue of separation of Chlorbromanilins.

In 1882, Ernst Büchner took over the management of the family business.

In 1890 he divided the Pfungstadt operating in the "United ultramarine factories".

The creation of such an agreement was in response to the emerging "petrochemistry" whose further growth finally resulted in the extinction of the company in 1893.