Henry Hennell FRS (''c.'' 1797 – 4 June 1842) was an English chemist. Hennelll was one of the founders of the

Chemical Society of London The Chemical Society was a scientific society formed in 1841 (then named the Chemical Society of London) by 77 scientists as a result of increased interest in scientific matters. Chemist Robert Warington was the driving force behind its creation. ...

and was a member of the first elected Council of the Chemical Society. He was elected F.R.S. in 1829. He worked as Chemical Operator at

Apothecaries' Hall, London Apothecaries Hall is a scheduled monument at Black Friars Lane, London. It is the headquarters of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, one of the livery companies of the City of London. It is one of the largest livery companies ( ...

. In 1825

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

discovered that sulfuric acid could absorb large volumes of coal gas. He gave the resulting solution to Hennell, who found in 1826 that it contained "sulphovinic acid" ( ethyl hydrogen sulfate). Hennell's finding was a major breakthrough in the synthesis of

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a ...

and led to major developments in organic chemistry. Hennell's successor as Chemical Operator at Apothecaries' Hall was

Robert Warington Robert Warington FRS (7 September 1807 – 17 November 1867) was an English chemist considered the driving force behind the creation of the world's first enduring chemistry society, The Chemical Society of London, which later became the Royal Soci ...

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hennell, Henry 1797 births 1842 deaths 19th-century British chemists Fellows of the Royal Society