François Stanislas Cloez (24 June 1817 – 12 October 1883) was a French

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

, who authored both as "''F. S. Cloez''" and "''S. Cloez''", and is known for his pioneering role in analytical chemistry during the 19th century. He was a founder and later president of the Chemistry Society of France. In 1851, Cloez and Italian chemist

Stanislao Cannizzaro Stanislao Cannizzaro ( , also , ; 13 July 1826 – 10 May 1910) was an Italian chemist. He is famous for the Cannizzaro reaction and for his influential role in the atomic-weight deliberations of the Karlsruhe Congress in 1860. Biography ...

, working on collaborative research, prepared

cyanamide Cyanamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula carbon, Cnitrogen, N2hydrogen, H2. This white solid is widely used in agriculture and the production of pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds. It is also used as an alcoho ...

by the action of

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

cyanogen chloride Cyanogen chloride is a highly toxic chemical compound with the formula CNCl. This linear, triatomic pseudohalogen is an easily condensed colorless gas. More commonly encountered in the laboratory is the related compound cyanogen bromide, a room-tem ...

ethereal Ethereal may refer to: * Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 *Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music *Wireshark, formerly named Ethereal, a free and open-source pac ...

solution. In the 1870s, he commenced the identification of the constituents of individual

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

s and their classification into groups according to their suitability for

medicinal Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

and

perfumery Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

purposes. He identified the major constituent of

eucalyptus oil Eucalyptus oil is the generic name for distilled oil from the leaf of ''Eucalyptus'', a genus of the plant family Myrtaceae native to Australia and cultivated worldwide. Eucalyptus oil has a history of wide application, as a pharmaceutical, ant ...

, which he called "''

eucalyptol Eucalyptol is a monoterpenoid. A colorless liquid, it is a bicyclic ether. Eucalyptol has a fresh mint-like smell and a spicy, cooling taste. It is insoluble in water, but miscible with organic solvents. Eucalyptol makes up ~70% - 90% of eucaly ...

''" (now generally known as

cineole Eucalyptol is a monoterpenoid. A colorless liquid, it is a bicyclic ether. Eucalyptol has a fresh mint-like smell and a spicy, cooling taste. It is insoluble in water, but miscible with organic solvents. Eucalyptol makes up ~70% - 90% of eucal ...

). In honour of his work on eucalyptus oil ''

Eucalyptus cloeziana ''Eucalyptus cloeziana'', commonly known as Gympie messmate or dead finish, is a species of tree that is endemic to Queensland. It has rough, flaky to fibrous bark on its trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves that are much ...

'' (Gympie messmate) is named after him. Cloez also played a role in developing a theory on the origin of life elsewhere in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

.Franco Cataldo. "Organic matter formed from hydrolysis of metal carbides of the iron peak of cosmic elemental abundance". ''International Journal of Astrobiology'' (2003), vol. 2, pp 51-6

/ref> In 1864, Cloez was the first scientist to examine a

carbonaceous chondrite Carbonaceous chondrites or C chondrites are a class of chondritic meteorites comprising at least 8 known groups and many ungrouped meteorites. They include some of the most primitive known meteorites. The C chondrites represent only a small prop ...

, the

Orgueil meteorite Orgueil is a scientifically important carbonaceous chondrite meteorite that fell in southwestern France in 1864. History The Orgueil meteorite fell on May 14, 1864, a few minutes after 20:00 local time, near Orgueil in southern France. About 20 s ...

, after it had fallen in France. Cloez said that its content "would seem to indicate the existence of organized substances in celestial bodies." The Orgueil meteorite was subject to a hoax, when a sample of the meteorite was contaminated with a

rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

seed. The hoax was discovered in the 1960s when the meteorite was being examined for evidence of extraterrestrial biological material. There is no suggestion in literature that Cloez was party to this hoax.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cloez, F. S. 19th-century French chemists Organic chemists 1817 births 1883 deaths