Lazăr Edeleanu (; 1 September 1861,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

– 7 April 1941, Bucharest) was a Romanian

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 ...

of Jewish origin.The Romanian Jewish Community
at www.romanianjewish.org He is known for being the first chemist to synthesize

amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...

at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

and for inventing the modern method of refining crude oil.

Research activity in England and Romania

After completing

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the ...

at Saint Sava High School, he went to study at the

. He obtained his doctorate in Chemistry in 1887, with thesis "About some derivatives of phenyl methacrylic acid and phenyl isobutyric acid" written under the direction of

August Wilhelm von Hofmann August Wilhelm von Hofmann (8 April 18185 May 1892) was a German chemist who made considerable contributions to organic chemistry. His research on aniline helped lay the basis of the aniline-dye industry, and his research on coal tar laid the ...

. After that, Edeleanu worked for some time at the Royal College of Artillery in London as a lecturer and as an assistant to Professor Hodgkinson. During this period, he collaborated with

Charles Frederick Cross Charles Frederick Cross FRS (11 December 1855 – 15 April 1935) was a British chemist. Born in Brentford, Middlesex, his fatherCharles James Cross (14 October 1827 - 19 November 1910) was a schoolmaster turned soap manufacturer. After graduatin ...

and Edward John Bevan to create a certain type of artificial fireproof silk. With

Raphael Meldola Raphael Meldola FRS (19 July 1849 – 16 November 1915) was a British chemist and entomologist. He was Professor of Organic Chemistry in the University of London, 1912–15. Life Born in Islington, London, he was descended from Raphael ...

he created

oxazine Oxazines are heterocyclic compounds containing one oxygen and one nitrogen atom in a doubly unsaturated six-membered ring. Isomers exist depending on the relative position of the heteroatoms and relative position of the double bonds. By extension ...

-based

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...

s. Back in Romania, he was hired by the chemist Constantin I. Istrati as an assistant and then as a lecturer at the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Sciences. in the Organic Chemistry Department. In 1906 he was appointed Head of the Chemistry Laboratory at the Geology Institute, founded that year, and director of Vega Refinery near

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commun ...

, a refinery owned at that time by the German company Diskont). In 1907, along with Ion Tănăsescu, he co-organized the Petroleum Congress in Bucharest and co-authored a monograph on the physical and technical properties of Romanian crude oil. His most significant invention, was the Edeleanu process (1908). It is a process in which petroleum is refined with liquid sulfur dioxide to selectively extract

aromatic hydrocarbons Aromatic compounds, also known as "mono- and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons", are organic compounds containing one or more aromatic rings. The parent member of aromatic compounds is benzene. The word "aromatic" originates from the past grouping ...

(

benzene Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms ...

, toluene,

xylene In organic chemistry, xylene or xylol (; IUPAC name: dimethylbenzene) are any of three organic compounds with the formula . They are derived from the substitution of two hydrogen atoms with methyl groups in a benzene ring; which hydrogens are su ...

, etc.). The procedure was first applied experimentally in Romania at the Vega Refinery and later spread to France (notably Rouen), Germany, and subsequently throughout the world.

Research and business in Germany

In 1910, Edeleanu settled in Germany where he founded a company called "Allgemeine Gesellschaft für Chemische Industrie". Due to the success of the name "Edeleanu", the company changed its name to Edeleanu GmbH in 1930. During the Nazi regime, it was bought by the Deutsche Erdöl-AG. Several ownership changes later it was acquired by Uhde GmbH in 2002, which is owned by the Thyssenkrupp trust. The name Edeleanu is still used for the refinery department until this day. Edeleanu returned to Romania, where he died in Bucharest in April 1941.

Heritage

By 1960, there were 80 Edeleanu facilities worldwide. The Edeleanu Method is still used today, in its many variations, and remains the basic process for manufacturing high quality oils. Edeleanu obtained 212 patents for inventions in Romania, the United States, Germany, France, Austria, Sweden, and Holland.

Prizes and honors

* 1910 – Member of the Society of Natural Sciences in Moscow * 1925 – Honorary Member of the Institution of Petroleum Technologists in London (1925) * 1932 –

Theophilus Redwood Theophilus Redwood (9 April 1806 – 5 March 1892) was a Welsh pharmacist who was one of the founding members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. He was born in Boverton, Llantwit Major. In 1820 he was apprenticed to his brothe ...

Medal for lifetime scientific achievement in

analytic chemistry Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separati ...

References

Sources

*FCER - ''Contribuția evreilor din România la cultură și civilizație'', Editura Hasefer, 2004 p. 215-216 (Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania - Contributions of Romanian Jews to culture and civilization, Hasefer Publishing House, Bucharest 2004, in Romanian 215–216) *''Allgemeine deutsche Biographie & Neue deutsche Biographie'' Bd.4,Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959 * Magdalene Moureau, Gerald Brace, ''Dictionnaire du petrole et d'autres sources d'energie –anglais- français'' Ed. Technip 2008 * E H J Rosenberg- ''The History of selective solvents'', 1st World Petroleum Congress, 18–24 July 1933, London, UK *''Dr. L. Edeleanu'' – Ludovic Marzec, in the Monit. Petr. Roumanie, obituary article – 1941

External links

biography – in Romanian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edeleanu, Lazar 1861 births 1941 deaths Scientists from Bucharest Romanian Jews Romanian chemists Saint Sava National College alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Bucharest faculty