Sophus Mads Jørgensen (4 July 1837 – 1 April 1914) was a Danish chemist. He is considered one of the founders of

coordination chemistry A coordination complex is a chemical compound consisting of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of chemical bond, bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ' ...

, mainly by being one of the pioneers of chain theory, and is known for the debates which he had with

Alfred Werner Alfred Werner (12 December 1866 – 15 November 1919) was a Swiss chemist who was a student at ETH Zurich and a professor at the University of Zurich. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1913 for proposing the octahedral configuration ...

during 1893–1899. While Jørgensen's theories on coordination chemistry were ultimately proven to be incorrect, his experimental work provided much of the basis for Werner's theories. Jørgensen also made major contributions to the chemistry of

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

and

rhodium Rhodium is a chemical element; it has symbol Rh and atomic number 45. It is a very rare, silvery-white, hard, corrosion-resistant transition metal. It is a noble metal and a member of the platinum group. It has only one naturally occurring isot ...

compounds. Jørgensen was a board member of the

Carlsberg Foundation Carlsberg Foundation () is a not-for-profit organization that was founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1876, by allocating some of his shares in the Carlsberg Brewery to fund and operate the Carlsberg Laboratory and the Museum of National History at ...

from 1885 until his death in 1914, and was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

in 1899. His son, Ove Jørgensen, became a classical scholar and later an authority on ballet, and co-edited Jørgensen's posthumously-published monograph, (''Development History of the Chemical Concept of Acid until 1830'').

References

* * * George B. Kauffman. Sophus Mads Jørgensen, A Danish platinum metals pioneer. ''Platinum Metals Review'' 1992, ''36'', 217-223

*H. Kragh. S. M. Jørgensen and his controversy with A. Werner: a reconsideration. ''British Journal for the History of Science'' 1997, ''30'', 203-219. . * * * *https://thatscienceguy.co.ke/co-ordination-chemistry-chain-theory-of-blomstrand-ergensen/ * * Inorganic chemists Danish chemists 1837 births 1914 deaths Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences {{chemist-stub