Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville
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Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville (11 March 18181 July 1881) was a French
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 ...
. He was born in the island of St Thomas in the
Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...
, where his father was French consul. Together with his elder brother
Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
, he was educated in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
at the collège Rollin. In 1844, having graduated as a doctor of
medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
and doctor of science, he was appointed to organize the new faculty of science at
Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...
, where he acted as dean and professor of chemistry from 1845 to 1851. Returning to Paris in the latter year he succeeded
Antoine Jérôme Balard Antoine Jérôme Balard (; 30 September 1802 – 30 April 1876) was a French chemist and one of the discoverers of bromine. Career Born at Montpellier, France, on 30 September 1802, he started as an apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Ea ...
at the École Normale, and in 1859 became professor at the Sorbonne in place of J. B. A. Dumas, for whom he had begun to lecture in 1853. He died at
Boulogne-sur-Seine Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, located from the centre of Paris. It is a subprefecture of the Hau ...
. In 1841, he began his experiments with investigations of oil of
turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...
and
tolu balsam Tolu balsam or balsam of Tolu is a balsam that originates from South America (Colombia, Peru, Venezuela). It is similar to (and frequently confounded with) the balsam of Peru. It is tapped from the living trunks of '' Myroxylon balsamum var. b ...
, in the course of which he discovered
toluene Toluene (), also known as toluol (), is a substituted aromatic hydrocarbon with the chemical formula , often abbreviated as , where Ph stands for the phenyl group. It is a colorless, water Water is an inorganic compound with the c ...
. But his most important work was perhaps in inorganic and thermal chemistry. In 1849 he discovered anhydrous nitric acid ( nitrogen pentoxide), a substance interesting as the first obtained of the so-called "
anhydride An acid anhydride is a type of chemical compound derived by the removal of water molecules from an acid (chemistry), acid. In organic chemistry, organic acid anhydrides contain the functional group . Organic acid anhydrides often form when one ...
s" of the monobasic acids. In 1854, he succeeded in obtaining metallic
aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
, and ultimately he devised a method by which the metal could be prepared on a large scale by the aid of
sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...
, the manufacture of which he also developed. Together with
Friedrich Wöhler Friedrich Wöhler Royal Society of London, FRS(For) HonFRSE (; 31 July 180023 September 1882) was a German chemist known for his work in both organic chemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry, being the first to isolate the chemical elements be ...
, he discovered
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 ...
in 1857. With Jules Henri Debray (1827–1888) he worked at the
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 ...
metals, his object being on the one hand to prepare them pure, and on the other to find a suitable metal for the standard metre for the International Metric Commission then sitting at Paris. With Louis Joseph Troost (born 1825) he devised a method for determining vapour densities at temperatures up to 1400˚C, and, partly with F. Wöhler, he investigated the
allotropic Allotropy or allotropism () is the property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, in the same physical state, known as allotropes of the elements. Allotropes are different structural modifications of an element: the ...
forms of
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 ...
and
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 ...
. The artificial preparation of minerals, especially of
apatite Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite, with high concentrations of Hydroxide, OH−, Fluoride, F− and Chloride, Cl− ion, respectively, in the crystal. The formula of the admixture of ...
and isorhor-phous minerals and of crystalline oxides, was another subject in which he made many experiments. But his best known contribution to general chemistry is his work on the phenomena of reversible reactions, which he comprehended under a general theory of "dissociation". He first took up the subject about 1857, and it was in the course of his investigations on it that he devised the apparatus known as the "Deville hot and cold tube." Deville was elected to 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 ...
in 1860. In 1885, the ''rue Sainte-Claire-Deville'' in the 12th ''
arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...
de Paris'' was named in his honour.


See also

* Devilline * History of aluminium


Selected publications

* "De l'aluminium et de ses combinaisons chimiques", ''Comptes-rendus de l'Académie des sciences'' (1854), article analysé sur le sit
BibNum
* "Mémoire sur la fabrication du sodium et de l'aluminium", Annales de chimie et de physique, 46 (1856), 415-58 * "De l'aluminium, ses propriétés, sa fabrication et ses applications", 1 vol., in-8°, Paris, Mallet-Bachelier, 1859,176 pages * "L'état naissant des corps", la Revue scientifique, 22 janvier 1870. * "L'internat dans l'éducation", la Revue scientifique, 2 septembre 1871.


References



* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sainte-Claire Deville, Henri Etienne 1818 births 1881 deaths Academic staff of the University of Paris 19th-century French chemists Members of the Société Ramond People from the Danish West Indies Academic staff of the École Normale Supérieure Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery International members of the American Philosophical Society