Friedrich Wöhler
FRS(For) Hon
FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...
(; 31 July 180023 September 1882) was a German
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...
known for his work in both
organic and
inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry deals with chemical synthesis, synthesis and behavior of inorganic compound, inorganic and organometallic chemistry, organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subj ...
, being the first to isolate the
chemical element
A chemical element is a chemical substance whose atoms all have the same number of protons. The number of protons is called the atomic number of that element. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8: each oxygen atom has 8 protons in its ...
s
beryllium
Beryllium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, hard, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with ...
and
yttrium
Yttrium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanides and has often been classified as a "rare-earth element". Yttrium is almost a ...
in pure metallic form. He was the first to prepare several inorganic compounds, including
silane
Silane (Silicane) is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a colorless, pyrophoric gas with a sharp, repulsive, pungent smell, somewhat similar to that of acetic acid. Silane is of practical interest as a precursor to elemental ...
and
silicon nitride
Silicon nitride is a chemical compound of the elements silicon and nitrogen. (''Trisilicon tetranitride'') is the most thermodynamically stable and commercially important of the silicon nitrides, and the term ″''Silicon nitride''″ commonly re ...
.
Wöhler is also known for seminal contributions in
organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...
, in particular, the
Wöhler synthesis
The Wöhler synthesis is the conversion of ammonium cyanate into urea. This chemical reaction was described in 1828 by Friedrich Wöhler. It is often cited as the starting point of modern organic chemistry. Although the Wöhler reaction concerns ...
of
urea
Urea, also called carbamide (because it is a diamide of carbonic acid), is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two Amine, amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest am ...
.
His synthesis of the organic compound urea in the laboratory from inorganic substances contradicted the belief that organic compounds could only be produced by living organisms due to a "life force".
However, the exact extent of Wöhler's role in diminishing the belief in
vitalism
Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...
is considered by some to be questionable.
Biography
Friedrich Wöhler was born in
Eschersheim, Germany, and was the son of a
veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...
. As a boy, he showed interest in mineral collecting, drawing, and science. His
secondary education
Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education.
Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
was at the Frankfurt Gymnasium. During his time at the gymnasium, Wöhler began chemical experimentation in a home laboratory provided by his father. He began his higher education at
Marburg University
The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protes ...
in 1820.
On 2 September 1823, Wöhler passed his examinations as a Doctor of Medicine, Surgery, and Obstetrics at
Heidelberg University
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...
, having studied in the laboratory of chemist
Leopold Gmelin
Leopold Gmelin (2 August 1788 – 13 April 1853) was a German chemist. Gmelin was a professor at the University of Heidelberg. He worked on the Potassium ferricyanide, red prussiate and created Gmelin's test, and wrote his ''Handbook of Chemistry ...
. Gmelin encouraged him to focus on chemistry and arranged for Wöhler to conduct research under the direction of chemist
Jacob Berzelius in Stockholm, Sweden.
Wöhler's time in Stockholm with Berzelius marked the beginning of a long personal and professional relationship between the two scientists. Wöhler translated many of Berzelius's scientific writings into German for international publication.
In his lifetime, Wöhler wrote about 275 books, editions, and papers.
From 1826 to 1831, Wöhler taught chemistry at the
Gewerbeschule in Berlin. From 1831 until 1836, he taught at the ''Höhere Gewerbeschule'' at
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...
. In the spring of 1836, Wöhler became
Friedrich Stromeyer's successor as an
Ordinary Professor
Academic ranks in Germany are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
Overview
Appointment grades
* (Pay grade: ''W3'' or ''W2'')
* (''W3'')
* (''W2'')
* (''W2'', ...
of Chemistry at the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
, where he occupied the chair of chemistry for 46 years, until his death in 1882. During his time at Göttingen approximately 8000 research students were trained in his laboratory. In 1834, he was elected a foreign 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 ...
.
Contributions to chemistry
Inorganic chemistry

Wöhler investigated more than twenty‐five
chemical elements
A chemical element is a chemical substance whose atoms all have the same number of protons. The number of protons is called the atomic number of that element. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8: each oxygen atom has 8 protons in i ...
during his career.
Hans Christian Ørsted
Hans Christian Ørsted (; 14 August 1777 – 9 March 1851), sometimes Transliteration, transliterated as Oersted ( ), was a Danish chemist and physicist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields. This phenomenon is known as ...
was the first to separate the element aluminium in 1825, using a reduction of
aluminium chloride
Aluminium chloride, also known as aluminium trichloride, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It forms a hexahydrate with the formula , containing six water molecules of hydration. Both the anhydrous form and the hexahydrate are col ...
with a
potassium amalgam
An amalgam is an alloy of mercury (element), mercury with another metal. It may be a liquid, a soft paste or a solid, depending upon the proportion of mercury. These alloys are formed through metallic bonding, with the electrostatic attractive fo ...
.
Although Ørsted published his findings on the isolation of aluminium in the form of small particles, no other investigators successfully replicated his findings until 1936. Ørsted is now credited with discovering aluminium.
Ørsted's findings on aluminium preparation were developed further by Wöhler, with Ørsted's permission. Wöhler modified Ørsted's methods, substituting potassium metal for potassium amalgam for the reduction of aluminium chloride. Using this improved method, Wöhler isolated aluminium powder in pure form on 22 October 1827. He showed that the aluminium powder could convert to solid balls of pure metallic aluminium in 1845. For this work, Wöhler is credited with the first isolation of aluminium in pure form.
In 1828, Wöhler was the first to isolate the element
beryllium
Beryllium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, hard, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with ...
in pure metallic form (also independently isolated by
Antoine Bussy).
In the same year, he became the first to isolate the element
yttrium
Yttrium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanides and has often been classified as a "rare-earth element". Yttrium is almost a ...
in pure metallic form. He achieved these preparations by heating the anhydrous chlorides of beryllium and yttrium with
potassium
Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...
metal.
In 1850, Wöhler determined that what was believed until then to be metallic
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
was a mixture of titanium,
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
, and
nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...
, from which he derived the purest form isolated to that time.
(Elemental titanium was later isolated in completely pure form in 1910 by
Matthew A. Hunter
Matthew Albert Hunter (1878-1961) was a metallurgist and inventor of the Hunter process for producing titanium metal.
Hunter was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1878 and received his early education in local public schools. He completed his Secon ...
.)
He also developed a
chemical synthesis
Chemical synthesis (chemical combination) is the artificial execution of chemical reactions to obtain one or several products. This occurs by physical and chemical manipulations usually involving one or more reactions. In modern laboratory uses ...
of
calcium carbide
Calcium carbide, also known as calcium acetylide, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of . Its main use industrially is in the production of acetylene and calcium cyanamide.
The pure material is colorless, while pieces of technica ...
and
silicon nitride
Silicon nitride is a chemical compound of the elements silicon and nitrogen. (''Trisilicon tetranitride'') is the most thermodynamically stable and commercially important of the silicon nitrides, and the term ″''Silicon nitride''″ commonly re ...
.
Wöhler, working with French chemist
Sainte Claire Deville, isolated the element
boron
Boron is a chemical element; it has symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the boron group it has three ...
in a crystalline form. He also isolated the element
silicon
Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a membe ...
in a crystalline form. Crystalline forms of these two elements were previously unknown. In 1856, working with Heinrich Buff, Wöhler prepared the inorganic compound
silane
Silane (Silicane) is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a colorless, pyrophoric gas with a sharp, repulsive, pungent smell, somewhat similar to that of acetic acid. Silane is of practical interest as a precursor to elemental ...
(SiH
4). He prepared the first samples of
boron nitride
Boron nitride is a thermally and chemically resistant refractory compound of boron and nitrogen with the chemical formula B N. It exists in various crystalline forms that are isoelectronic to a similarly structured carbon lattice. The hexago ...
by melting together
boric acid
Boric acid, more specifically orthoboric acid, is a compound of boron, oxygen, and hydrogen with formula . It may also be called hydrogen orthoborate, trihydroxidoboron or boracic acid. It is usually encountered as colorless crystals or a white ...
and
potassium cyanide
Potassium cyanide is a compound with the formula KCN. It is a colorless salt, similar in appearance to sugar, that is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications include ...
. He also developed a method for the preparation of
calcium carbide
Calcium carbide, also known as calcium acetylide, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of . Its main use industrially is in the production of acetylene and calcium cyanamide.
The pure material is colorless, while pieces of technica ...
.
Wöhler had an interest in the chemical composition of
meteorite
A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...
s. He showed that some meteoric stones contain organic matter. He analyzed meteorites, and for many years wrote the digest on the literature of meteorites in the ''
Jahresberichte über die Fortschritte der Chemie''. Wöhler accumulated the best private collection of meteoric stones and irons that existed.
Organic chemistry
In 1832, lacking his own laboratory facilities at Kassel, Wöhler worked with
Justus Liebig in his
Giessen
Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...
laboratory. In that year, Wöhler and Liebig published an investigation of the oil of
bitter almonds. Through their detailed analysis of the chemical composition of this oil, they proved by their experiments that a group of
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
,
hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
, and
oxygen
Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
atom
Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...
s can behave chemically as if it were the equivalent of a single atom, take the place of an atom in a
chemical compound
A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...
, and be exchanged for other atoms in chemical compounds. Specifically, their research on the oil of bitter almonds showed that a group of elements with the chemical composition C
7H
5O can be thought of as a single functional group, which came to be known as a benzoyl radical. In this way, the investigations of Wöhler and Liebig established a new concept in organic chemistry referred to as
compound radicals, which had a profound influence on the development of organic chemistry. Many more
functional groups
In organic chemistry, a functional group is any substituent or moiety (chemistry), moiety in a molecule that causes the molecule's characteristic chemical reactions. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reactions r ...
were later identified by subsequent investigators with wide utility in chemistry.
Liebig and Wöhler explored the concept of
chemical isomerism, the idea that two chemical compounds with identical
chemical composition
A chemical composition specifies the identity, arrangement, and ratio of the chemical elements making up a compound by way of chemical and atomic bonds.
Chemical formulas can be used to describe the relative amounts of elements present in a com ...
s could be different substances because of different arrangements of the atoms in the
chemical structure
A chemical structure of a molecule is a spatial arrangement of its atoms and their chemical bonds. Its determination includes a chemist's specifying the molecular geometry and, when feasible and necessary, the electronic structure of the target m ...
.
Aspects of chemical isomerism originated in the research of Berzelius. Liebig and Wöhler investigated
silver fulminate
Silver fulminate (AgCNO) is the highly explosive silver salt of fulminic acid.
Silver fulminate is a primary explosive, but has limited use as such due to its extreme sensitivity to impact, heat, pressure, and electricity. The compound becomes p ...
and
silver cyanate. These two compounds have the same chemical composition yet are chemically different. Silver fulminate is explosive, while silver cyanate is a stable compound. Liebig and Wöhler recognized these as examples of structural isomerism, which was a significant advance in understanding chemical isomerism.
Wöhler has also been regarded as a pioneering researcher in
organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...
as a result of his 1828 demonstration of the laboratory synthesis of
urea
Urea, also called carbamide (because it is a diamide of carbonic acid), is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two Amine, amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest am ...
from
ammonium cyanate
Ammonium cyanate is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a colorless, solid salt.
Structure and reactions
The structure of this salt was verified by X-ray crystallography. The respective C–O and C–N distances are 1.174(8) and 1.192 ...
, in a chemical reaction that came to be known as the "
Wöhler synthesis
The Wöhler synthesis is the conversion of ammonium cyanate into urea. This chemical reaction was described in 1828 by Friedrich Wöhler. It is often cited as the starting point of modern organic chemistry. Although the Wöhler reaction concerns ...
".
[ — Available in English at: ] Urea and ammonium cyanate are further examples of structural isomers of chemical compounds. Heating ammonium cyanate converts it into urea, which is its isomer. In a letter to Swedish chemist
Jöns Jacob Berzelius
Baron Jöns Jacob Berzelius (; 20 August 1779 – 7 August 1848) was a Swedish chemist. Berzelius is considered, along with Robert Boyle, John Dalton, and Antoine Lavoisier, to be one of the founders of modern chemistry. Berzelius became a memb ...
the same year, he wrote, 'In a manner of speaking, I can no longer hold my chemical water. I must tell you that I can make urea without the use of kidneys of any animal, be it man or dog.'

Wöhler's demonstration of urea synthesis has become regarded as a refutation of
vitalism
Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...
, the hypothesis that living things are alive because of some special "vital force".
It was the beginning of the end for one popular vitalist hypothesis, the idea that "organic" compounds could be made only by living things.
In responding to Wöhler, Jöns Jakob Berzelius acknowledged that Wöhler's results were highly significant for the understanding of organic chemistry, calling the findings a "jewel" for Wöhler's "laurel wreath". Both scientists also recognized the work's importance to the study of
isomerism
In chemistry, isomers are molecules or polyatomic ions with identical molecular formula – that is, the same number of atoms of each element (chemistry), element – but distinct arrangements of atoms in space. ''Isomerism'' refers to the exi ...
, a new area of research.
Wöhler's role in overturning vitalism is said to have become exaggerated over time. This tendency can be traced back to
Hermann Kopp's ''History of Chemistry'' (in four volumes, 1843–1847). He emphasized the importance of Wöhler's research as a refutation of vitalism but ignored its importance in understanding chemical isomerism, setting a tone for subsequent writers.
The notion that Wöhler single-handedly overturned vitalism also gained popularity after it appeared in a popular history of chemistry published in 1931, which, "ignoring all pretense of historical accuracy, turned Wöhler into a crusader".
[Ramberg, Peter, "Myth 7. That Friedrich Wöhler's Synthesis of Urea in 1828 Destroyed Vitalism and Gave Rise to Organic Chemistry" eds. Numbers, Ronald L., and Kostas Kampourakis, ''Newton's apple and other myths about science.'' Harvard university press, 2015, 59–66.]
Contrary to what was thought in Wöhler's time, cyanate is not a purely inorganic anion, as it is formed in various metabolic pathways. Thus the conversion of ammonium cyanate into urea was not an example of production of an organic compound from an inorganic precursor.
Education reform
Once Wöhler became a professor at the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
, students traveled from around the world to be instructed by him. Wöhler saw particular success in his students after giving them hands-on experience in the lab. This practice was later adopted around the world, becoming the chemistry lab co-requisite that is required at most universities today.
Wöhler also allowed his students to participate and aid him in his research, which was not typical at the time. This practice became nearly universal, normalizing the undergraduate and graduate-level research that is a requirement for numerous degrees today.
Final days and legacy
Wöhler's discoveries had a significant influence on the theoretical basis of chemistry. The journals of every year from 1820 to 1881 contain his original scientific contributions. The ''
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'' supplement for 1882 stated that "for two or three of his researches he deserves the highest honor a scientific man can obtain, but the sum of his work is overwhelming. Had he never lived, the aspect of chemistry would be very different from that it is now".
Wöhler's notable research students included chemists
Georg Ludwig Carius,
Heinrich Limpricht,
Rudolph Fittig,
Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe,
Albert Niemann,
Vojtěch Šafařík
Vojtěch Šafařík (26 October 1829 in Újvidék, Bács-Bodrog County, Vojvodina, Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867), Hungary (today Serbia) – 2 July 1902 in Prague, Bohemia) was a Czech chemist, specialising in inorganic chemistry. Šafařík wa ...
,
Wilhelm Kühne, and
Augustus Voelcker.
[ ]
Wöhler was elected a
Fellow
A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
of the
Royal Society of London
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...
in 1854.
He was an
Honorary Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...
.
In 1862, Wöhler was elected a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
.
''The Life and Work of Friedrich Wöhler (1800–1882)'' (2005) by Robin Keen is considered to be "the first detailed scientific biography" of Wöhler.
On the 100th anniversary of Wöhler's death, the West German government issued a stamp depicting the structure of urea with its synthesis formula listed directly below.
Family
Wöhler's first marriage was in 1828, to his cousin Franziska Maria Wöhler (1811–1832). The couple had two children, a son (August) and a daughter (Sophie). After Franziska's death, he married Julie Pfeiffer (1813–1886) in 1834, with whom he had four daughters: Fanny, Helene, Emilie, and Pauline.
Further works
Further works from Wöhler:
* ''Lehrbuch der Chemie'', Dresden, 1825, 4 vols,
* ''Grundriss der Anorganischen Chemie'', Berlin, 1830,
* ''Grundriss der Chemie'', Berlin, 1837–185
Vol. 1 & 2 (digital edition)by the
University and State Library Düsseldorf
The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia.
...
''Grundriss der Organischen Chemie'' Berlin, 1840
* ''Praktische Übungen in der Chemischen Analyse'', Berlin, 1854,
* ''Early Recollections of a Chemist'', 1875
''Nuovo Cimento'', 1855-1868 Vol. 1-28
See also
*
Benzoin condensation
In organic chemistry, the benzoin addition is an addition reaction involving two aldehydes (). The reaction generally occurs between aromatic compound, aromatic aldehydes or glyoxals (), and results in formation of an acyloin (). In the classic ex ...
*
History of aluminium
*
Stanley Miller
*
Hilaire Marin Rouelle
*
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...
*
Structural Isomer
In chemistry, a structural isomer (or constitutional isomer in the IUPAC nomenclature) of a compound is a compound that contains the same number and type of atoms, but with a different connectivity (i.e. arrangement of bonds) between them. The ...
References
Further reading
*
* Johannes Valentin: ''Friedrich Wöhler''. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart ("Grosse Naturforscher" 7) 1949.
* Georg Schwedt: ''Der Chemiker Friedrich Wöhler''. Hischymia 2000.
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wohler, Friedrich
1800 births
1882 deaths
Discoverers of chemical elements
19th-century German chemists
University of Marburg alumni
Heidelberg University alumni
Academic staff of the University of Göttingen
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Scientists from Frankfurt
Foreign members of the Royal Society
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Rare earth scientists
Recipients of the Cothenius Medal
International members of the American Philosophical Society