Claude Louis Berthollet (, 9 December 1748 – 6 November 1822) was a Savoyard-French
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 t ...
who became vice president of the
French Senate
The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...
in 1804. He is known for his scientific contributions to theory of chemical equilibria via the mechanism of reverse chemical reactions, and for his contribution to modern chemical nomenclature. On a practical basis, Berthollet was the first to demonstrate the bleaching action of chlorine gas, and was first to develop a solution of
sodium hypochlorite
Sodium hypochlorite (commonly known in a dilute solution as bleach) is an inorganic chemical compound with the formula NaOCl (or NaClO), comprising a sodium cation () and a hypochlorite anion (or ). It may also be viewed as the sodium s ...
as a modern bleaching agent.
Biography
Claude Louis Berthollet was born in
Talloires
Talloires (; frp, Talouères) is a former commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Talloires-Montmin. Due to its setting on ...
, near Annecy, then part of the Duchy of Savoy, in 1749.
He started his studies at Chambéry and then in Turin where he graduated in medicine. Berthollet's great new developments in works regarding chemistry made him, in a short period of time, an active participant of the Academy of Science in 1780.
Berthollet, along with
Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), CNRS (
dyes and bleaches, being first to introduce the use of
chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine i ...
gas as a commercial bleach in 1785. He first produced a modern bleaching liquid in 1789 in his laboratory on the quay Javel in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, France, by passing
chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine i ...
gas through a solution of sodium carbonate. The resulting liquid, known as "''Eau de Javel''" ("Javel water"), was a weak solution of sodium hypochlorite. Another strong chlorine oxidant and bleach which he investigated and was the first to produce, potassium chlorate (KClO3), is known as ''Berthollet's Salt''.
Berthollet first determined the elemental composition of the gas
ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wa ...
, in 1785.
Berthollet was one of the first chemists to recognize the characteristics of a reverse reaction, and hence,
chemical equilibrium
In a chemical reaction, chemical equilibrium is the state in which both the Reagent, reactants and Product (chemistry), products are present in concentrations which have no further tendency to change with time, so that there is no observable chan ...
.
Berthollet was engaged in a long-term battle with another French chemist,
Joseph Proust
Joseph Louis Proust (26 September 1754 – 5 July 1826) was a French chemist. He was best known for his discovery of the law of definite proportions in 1794, stating that chemical compounds always combine in constant proportions.
Life
Joseph L. ...
, on the validity of the
law of definite proportions
In chemistry, the law of definite proportions, sometimes called Proust's law, or law of constant composition states that a given
chemical compound always contains its component elements in fixed ratio (by mass) and does not depend on its source an ...
. While Proust believed that chemical compounds are composed of a fixed ratio of their constituent elements irrespective of the methods of production, Berthollet believed that this ratio can change according to the ratio of the reactants initially taken. Although Proust proved his theory by accurate measurements, his theory was not immediately accepted partially due to Berthollet's authority. His law was finally accepted when Berzelius confirmed it in 1811, but it was found later that Berthollet was not completely wrong because there exists a class of compounds that do not obey the law of definite proportions. These
non-stoichiometric compound
In chemistry, non-stoichiometric compounds are chemical compounds, almost always solid inorganic compounds, having elemental composition whose proportions cannot be represented by a ratio of small natural numbers (i.e. an empirical formula); m ...
s are also named ''berthollides'' in his honor.
Berthollet was one of several scientists who went with
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
to Egypt and was a member of the physics and natural history section of the
Institut d'Égypte
The Institut d'Égypte or Egyptian Scientific Institute is a learned society in Cairo specializing in Egyptology. It was established in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte to carry out research during his Egyptian campaign and is the oldest scientific inst ...
.
Awards and honours
In April, 1789 Berthollet was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 1822.
Claude-Louis Berthollet's 1788 publication entitled ''Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique'', published with colleagues
Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), CNRS (
Louis Bernard Guyton de Morveau, and
Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy
Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin.
The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...
, was honored by a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award from the Division of History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, presented at the Académie des Sciences (Paris) in 2015.
A French High School located in Annecy is named after him (Lycée Claude Louis Berthollet).
File:Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique-1.jpg, 1787 copy of "Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique"
File:Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique-2.jpg, Title page of "Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique"
File:Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique-3.jpg, Table of contents for "Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique"
carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...
via
charcoal-burning suicide
Charcoal-burning suicide is suicide by burning charcoal in a closed room or area. Death occurs by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Mechanism of action
As the charcoal burns, the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO), produced by the incomplete combus ...
in which he had recorded his physiological and psychological experiences as a final scientific contribution before losing consciousness and succumbing to the fumes.
Berthollet was accused of being an atheist."
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
replies: "How comes it, then, that Laplace was an atheist? At the Institute neither he nor Monge, nor Berthollet, nor Lagrange believed in God. But they did not like to say so." Baron
Gaspard Gourgaud
Gaspard, Baron Gourgaud (September 14, 1783 – July 25, 1852), also known simply as Gaspard Gourgaud, was a French soldier, prominent in the Napoleonic wars.
Biography
He was born at Versailles; his father was a musician of the royal chapel. At s ...
, ''Talks of Napoleon at St. Helena with General Baron Gourgaud'' (1904), page 274.
He died in
Arcueil
Arcueil () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.
Name
The name Arcueil was recorded for the first time in 1119 as ''Arcoloï'', and later in the 12th ...
, France in 1822.
See also
*
Society of the Friends of Truth
The Society of the Friends of Truth (Amis de la Verité), also known as the Social Club (French:
''Cercle social''), was a French revolutionary organization founded in 1790. It was "a mixture of revolutionary political club, the Masonic Lodge, ...