Louis Bouveault (11 February 1864 – 5 September 1909) was a French scientist who became professor of organic chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences of the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. He is known for the

Bouveault aldehyde synthesis The Bouveault aldehyde synthesis (also known as the Bouveault reaction) is a one-pot substitution reaction that replaces an alkyl or aryl halide with a formyl group using a ''N'',''N''-disubstituted formamide. For primary alkyl halides this produc ...

and the

Bouveault–Blanc reduction The Bouveault–Blanc reduction is a chemical reaction in which an ester is reduced to primary alcohols using absolute ethanol and sodium metal. It was first reported by Louis Bouveault and Gustave Louis Blanc in 1903. Bouveault and Blanc demons ...

Life

Louis Bouveault was born on 11 February 1864 in

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the principal city of the ...

. He obtained doctorates in Paris in medicine and physical sciences. Bouveault defended his thesis on β-keto nitriles and their derivatives in Paris in 1890. He taught for a short period at the Medical Faculty in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, then became a lecturer in general chemistry in Lyon. He influenced

Victor Grignard Francois Auguste Victor Grignard (6 May 1871 – 13 December 1935) was a French chemist who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the eponymously named Grignard reagent and Grignard reaction, both of which are important in the formation of c ...

to take up chemistry in 1894. In Lyon he investigated syntheses with

camphor Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel ('' Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the k ...

and

terpene Terpenes () are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n > 1. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predominantly by plants, particularly conifers. Terpenes ar ...

s. He worked with

Philippe Barbier Philippe Antoine Francoise Barbier (2 March 1848 – 18 September 1922) was a French organic chemist. He is best known for his two named reactions in organic synthesis, the Barbier reaction and the Barbier-Wieland degradation, as well as for his r ...

on terpene derivatives used in the manufacture of perfumes like

citral Citral is an acyclic monoterpene aldehyde, and being a monoterpene, it is made of two isoprene units. Citral is a collective term which covers two geometric isomers that have their own separate names; the ''E''-isomer is named geranial (''trans ...

, rhodinal and

geraniol Geraniol is a monoterpenoid and an alcohol. It is the primary component of citronella oil and is a primary component of rose oil, palmarosa oil. It is a colorless oil, although commercial samples can appear yellow. It has low solubility in water ...

. Bouveault moved on from Lyon to Lille, Nancy and finally to Paris. He was appointed professor of organic chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences of the

. In 1903 Bouveault and Gustave Louis Blanc described the

for reduction of esters to the corresponding alcohols in an alcoholic solvent. In 1904 he described the

, a formylation of an alkyl or aryl halide to the homologous aldehyde or carbaldehyde. In 1907 he was elected president of the French Chemical Society. He died on 5 September 1909. Bouveault was both an inspiring teacher and a strong researcher. Albin Haller wrote that he "often takes pleasure in the most daring conceptions, the most risky hypotheses, without being afraid to excite objections, indeed believing in the value of the most lively critiques.

Publications

Bouveault was a prolific author, who published many papers in his short career. Two longer works: * *

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bouveault, Louis 1864 births 1909 deaths 19th-century French chemists 20th-century French chemists University of Paris faculty