Károly Antal Than de Apát – also called as Carl von Than – (20 December 1834 – 5 July 1908) was a Hungarian

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 ...

who discovered

carbonyl sulfide Carbonyl sulfide is the chemical compound with the linear formula OCS. It is a colorless flammable gas with an unpleasant odor. It is a linear molecule consisting of a carbonyl group double bonded to a sulfur atom. Carbonyl sulfide can be consi ...

in 1867.

Life

AKároly Than was born in Óbecse,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

(today

Bečej Bečej ( sr-cyrl, Бечеј, ; hu, Óbecse, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 23,895, while the municipality has 37,351 inhabitants. I ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

). His mother was Otillia Setényi. He interrupted his education and joined the Hungarian army in the

war of independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List of ...

1848 at the age of 14. On his return, he found his mother dead and his father ruined. Than worked in several pharmacies to earn money form completing his education. After attending a school in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...

, Than started to study medicine and later chemistry at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...

. He received his PhD for work with

Josef Redtenbacher Josef Redtenbacher (March 13, 1810 – March 5, 1870) was an Austrian chemist born in Kirchdorf an der Krems, Upper Austria. He was a brother to entomologist Ludwig Redtenbacher (1814–1876). He studied medicine and botany at the Universi ...

in 1858. After working for some time as assistant of Redtenbacher, he left to study with

Robert Bunsen Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (; 30 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bu ...

at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

and with

Charles-Adolphe Wurtz Charles Adolphe Wurtz (; 26 November 181710 May 1884) was an Alsatian French chemist. He is best remembered for his decades-long advocacy for the atomic theory and for ideas about the structures of chemical compounds, against the skeptical opinio ...

at 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 ...

. On his return to Redtenbacher in 1859, he worked as lecturer at the University of Vienna. The

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

was in need of Hungarian-speaking professors due to a change from German to Hungarian teaching language in 1860. Theodor Wertheim changed to the

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The univers ...

and Than was offered the vacant position which he occupied until his retirement in 1908. Than married in 1872 and had five children. He published the first Hungarian chemistry journal (Magyar Chémiai Folyóirat) and was the president of the Hungarian Society of Natural Science from 1872 until his death. He was made baron in 1908, and died, suddenly, the same year.

Discovery of carbonyl sulfide

Than was aware of existence of the two compounds

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...

(CO₂) and

carbon disulfide Carbon disulfide (also spelled as carbon disulphide) is a neurotoxic, colorless, volatile liquid with the formula and structure . The compound is used frequently as a building block in organic chemistry as well as an industrial and chemical n ...

(CS₂) and so he tried to synthesize COS. In his first experiments he reacted

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide ( chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simpl ...

(CO) with

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...

. The reaction yielded some product which Than was unable to purify. The second approach to create the COS was by hydrolysis of

thiocyanic acid Thiocyanic acid is a chemical compound with the formula HSCN and structure , which exists as a tautomer with isothiocyanic acid (HNCS). The iso- form tends to dominate with the material being about 95% isothiocyanic acid in the vapor phase. : I ...

. The reaction of

potassium thiocyanate Potassium thiocyanate is the chemical compound with the molecular formula KSCN. It is an important salt of the thiocyanate anion, one of the pseudohalides. The compound has a low melting point relative to most other inorganic salts. Use in che ...

and

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular fo ...

yielded a gas containing significant amount of byproducts ( HCN, H₂O and CS₂) and required purification. :KSCN + 2 H₂SO₄ + H₂O → KHSO₄ + NH₄HSO₄ + COS Than was able to characterize most of the properties of carbonyl sulfide and also tried to determine the chemical reactions of carbonyl sulfide. For these achievements, he received the

Lieben Prize The Ignaz Lieben Prize, named after the Austrian banker , is an annual Austrian award made by the Austrian Academy of Sciences to young scientists working in the fields of molecular biology, chemistry, or physics. Biography The Ignaz Lieben P ...

in 1868.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Than 1834 births 1908 deaths Hungarian chemists Hungarian scientists University of Vienna alumni