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 consists of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ''ligands'' or complexing agents. Many ...

, 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 of ...

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 with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

and

rhodium Rhodium is a chemical element with the 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 isoto ...

compounds. Jørgensen was a board member of the

Carlsberg Foundation Carlsberg Foundation ( da, Carlsbergfondet) 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 Frederiksborg Palace. ...

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 ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) 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 ...

in 1899.

References

George B. Kauffman George Bernard Kauffman (September 4, 1930 – May 2, 2020) was an American chemist. Life Kauffman was born in Philadelphia, the son of Laura (Fisher) and Joseph Philip Kauffman. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsy ...

. 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. . * * * * * Inorganic chemists Danish chemists 1837 births 1914 deaths Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences {{chemist-stub