Friedrich Wöhler

Friedrich Wöhler
Born	(1800-07-31)31 July 1800 Eschersheim, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Holy Roman Empire
Died	23 September 1882(1882-09-23) (aged 82) Göttingen, German Empire
Nationality	German
Fields	Organic chemistry Biochemistry
Institutions	Polytechnic School in Berlin Polytechnic School at Kassel University of Göttingen
Doctoral advisor	Leopold Gmelin Jöns Jakob Berzelius
Doctoral students	Heinrich Limpricht Rudolph Fittig Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe Georg Ludwig Carius Albert Niemann Vojtěch Šafařík Carl Schmidt Theodor Zincke
Other notable students	Augustus Voelcker[1] Wilhelm Kühne
Known for	Wöhler synthesis of urea

Friedrich Wöhler (31 July 1800 – 23 September 1882) was a German chemist, best known for his synthesis of urea, but also the first to isolate several chemical elements.

Biography

He was born in Eschersheim, which belonged to Hanau at the time but is nowadays a district of Frankfurt am Main. In 1823 Wöhler finished his study of medicine in Heidelberg at the laboratory of Leopold Gmelin, who arranged for him to work under Jöns Jakob Berzelius in Stockholm. He taught chemistry from 1826 to 1831 at the Polytechnic School in Berlin until 1839 when he was stationed at the Polytechnic School at Kassel. Afterwards, he became Ordinary Professor of Chemistry in the University of Göttingen, where he remained until his death in 1882. In 1834, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Contributions to chemistry

Wöhler is regarded as a pioneer in organic chemistry as a result of his (accidentally) synthesizing urea in the Wöhler synthesis in 1828.^[2] This discovery has become celebrated as a refutation of vitalism, the hypothesis that living things are alive because of some special "vital force". However, contemporary accounts do not support that notion. This Wöhler Myth, as historian of science Peter J. Ramberg called it, originated from a popular history of chemistry published in 1931, which, "ignoring all pretense of historical accuracy, turned Wöhler into a crusader who made attempt after attempt to synthesize a natural product that would refute vitalism and lift the veil of ignorance, until 'one afternoon the miracle happened'".^[3][4] Nevertheless, it was the beginning of the end of one popular vitalist hypothesis, that of Jöns Jakob Berzelius that "organic" compounds could only be made by living things.

Major works, discoveries and research

Wöhler was also known for being a co-discoverer of beryllium, silicon and silicon nitride,^[5] as well as the synthesis of calcium carbide, among others. In 1834, Wöhler and Justus Liebig published an investigation of the oil of bitter almonds. They proved by their experiments that a group of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms can behave like an element, take the place of an element, and can be exchanged for elements in chemical compounds. Thus the foundation was laid of the doctrine of compound radicals, a doctrine which had a profound influence on the development of chemistry.

Friedrich Wöhler circa the 1850s.

Since the discovery of potassium by Humphry Davy, it had been assumed that alumina, the basis of clay, contained a metal in combination with oxygen. Davy, Oerstedt, and Berzelius attempted the extraction of this metal, but failed. Wöhler then worked on the same subject, and discovered the metal aluminium in 1827. To him also is due the isolation of the elements yttrium, beryllium, and titanium, the observation that "silicium" (silicon) can be obtained in crystals, and that some meteoric stones contain organic matter. He analyzed a number of meteorites, and for many years wrote the digest on the literature of meteorites in the Jahresberichte über die Fortschritte der Chemie; he possessed the best private collection of meteoric stones and irons existing. Wöhler and Sainte Claire Deville discovered the crystalline form of boron, and Wöhler and Heinrich Buff discovered silane in 1857. Wöhler also prepared urea, a constituent of urine, from ammonium cyanate in the laboratory without the help of a living cell.

Final days and legacy

Wöhler's discoveries had great influence on the theory of chemistry. The journals of every year from 1820 to 1881 contain contributions from him. In the Scientific American supplement for 1882, it was remarked that "for two or three of his researches he deserves the highest honor a scientific man can obtain, but the sum of his work is absolutely overwhelming. Had he never lived, the aspect of chemistry would be very different from that it is now".^[6]

Wöhler had several students who became notable chemists. Among them were Georg Ludwig Carius, Heinrich Limpricht, Rudolph Fittig, Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe, Albert Niemann, and Vojtěch Šafařík.

Further works

Further works from Wöhler:

• Lehrbuch der Chemie, Dresden, 1825, 4 vols.
• Grundriss der Anorganischen Chemie, Berlin, 1830
• Grundriss der Organischen Chemie, Berlin, 1840
• Praktische Übungen in der Chemischen Analyse, Berlin, 1854

See also

• Justus von Liebig
• Silver cyanate
• Silver fulminate
• Isomerism
• Hilaire Marin Rouelle
• Stanley Miller

Notes

References

• Cheng, Anthony M. (Spring 2005). "The Real Death of Vitalism: Implications of the Wöhler Myth". Penn Bioethics Journal 1 (1). 
• Goddard, Nicholas (2004). "Voelcker, (John Christopher) Augustus (1822–1884)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28345.  (subscription or UK public library membership required) The first edition of this text is available as an article on Wikisource:  "Voelcker, John Christopher Augustus". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.  Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Ramberg, Peter J. (2000). "The Death of Vitalism and the Birth of Organic Chemistry". Ambix 47 (3): 170–195. 
• Schummer, Joachim (2003). "The notion of nature in chemistry". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 34: 705–736. 
• Wöhler, Friedrich (1828). "Ueber künstliche Bildung des Harnstoffs". Annalen der Physik und Chemie 88 (2): 253–256. Bibcode:1828AnP....88..253W. doi:10.1002/andp.18280880206.  — Available in English at: "Chem Team". 

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Friedrich Wöhler.

• Johannes Uray: “Mythos Harnstoffsynthese”, Nachrichten aus der Chemie 57 (2009) 943−944.
• Johannes Uray: Die Wöhlersche Harnstoffsynthese und das wissenschaftliche Weltbild. Graz, Leykam, 2009.
• Robin Keen: The Life and Work of Friedrich Wöhler. Bautz 2005.
  • Brigitte Hoppe (2007). "Review of The life and work of Friedrich Wohler (1800-1882) by Robin Keen, edited by Johannes Buttner". Isis 98 (1): 195–196. doi:10.1086/519116. 
• Johannes Valentin: Friedrich Wöhler. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart (“Grosse Naturforscher” 7) 1949.
• Georg Schwedt: Der Chemiker Friedrich Wöhler. Hischymia 2000.
• John H. Brooke: “Wöhler's Urea and its Vital Force – a verdict from the Chemists.” In: Ambix 15 (1968) 84.114.
• George B. Kauffman; Steven H. Chooljian (2001). "Friedrich Wöhler (1800–1882), on the Bicentennial of His Birth". The Chemical Educator 6 (2): 121–133. doi:10.1007/s00897010444a. 
• Douglas McKie: “Wöhler's syntethic Urea and the rejection of Vitalism: a chemical Legend.” In: Nature 153 (1944) 608-610. doi:10.1038/153608a0
• Peter J. Ramberg: “The Death of Vitalism and the Birth of organic Chemistry. Wöhler's Urea Synthesis and the disciplinary Identity of organic Chemistry.” In: Ambix 47 (2000) 170-215.
• Johannes Uray: “Die Wöhlersche Harnstoffsynhtese und das Wissenschaftliche Weltbild – Analyse eines Mythos.” In: Mensch, Wissenschaft, Magie 27 (2010) 121-152.
•  Charles A. Joy (August 1880). "Biographical Sketch of Frederick Wöhler". Popular Science Monthly 17. 
•  "Wöhler, Friedrich". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911 
•  "Wöhler, Friedrich". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.