Friedrich Wöhler (born the July 31st 1800 in Eschersheim which is Francfort-sur-le-Main today and deceased the September 23rd 1882 with Göttingen) was a German Chimiste .

He is mainly known to have synthesized the Urée in 1828 and thus to show that the organic compounds obeyed the same laws as the inorganic compounds. That marked the end of the Vitalisme in Biologie.

Biography

He was the son of August Anton Wöhler, veterinary surgeon, agronomist and pedagog. Since 1820 it started to study the Médecine with Marburg, then since 1821 medicine and the Chimie with Heidelberg, this last speciality near Leopold Gmelin. In 1823 it passed its doctorate in medicine to Heidelberg but, as it was especially interested by chemistry, it then studied during a year the analytical Chimie with Stockholm under the direction of Jöns Jacob Berzelius.

From 1825 to 1831 he taught at the vocational school with Berlin, as from 1828 with the title of a professor; from 1831 to 1836 he was professor at the higher Vocational school (Polytechnikum) of Cassel. After the death of Friedrich Stromeyer, in 1835, it succeeded to him in 1836 and was until its death, in 1882, full professor of medicine, chemistry and Pharmacie at the university of Göttingen.

Discovered

Wöhler is regarded as the pioneer of the Organic chemistry thanks to its synthesis (accidental) of the Urée starting from ammonium cyanate in 1828. This discovery opened the way with biochemistry since it showed that it is possible to produce in laboratory, under controlled conditions and starting from inorganic compounds, a compound known to be only produced by biological organizations. It thus made it possible to cancel the theory of the vital fluid, stated about 1600, and which was still taught: it was the end of the Vitalisme. Wöhler is regarded as the founder of the organic synthesis. The year of the synthesis of urea, Wöhler became professor at the 28 years age.

Already a year earlier, in 1827, it had developed a method of Réduction to manufacture pure Aluminum; the same process enabled him into 1828 to insulate the Béryllium and the Yttrium and later, in 1856, to produce crystalline Silicium . With his/her friend Justus Liebig, in Giessen, Wöhler establishes about 1830 the Théorie of the radicals thanks to which the great diversity of the Liaison S in Organic chemistry could for the first time being explained in a systematic way.

It is also known to have discovered the synthesis of the Carbure of calcium (1862, from which it also carried out the synthesis of the Acétylène (usual name of the éthyne), of the Oxalic acid starting from the Dicyane, of the Benzoic acid starting from the Benzaldéhyde, of the Hydroquinone starting from the Quinone. It succeeds in later extracting from the Nickel of the Chloanthite.

Besides finally Friedrich Wöhler highlighted the presence of molecules of organic chemistry in some Météorite S. It had a beautiful collection of meteorites.

Its work was worth to him the Médaille Copley in 1872.

External bond

• Bioscope

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