Taming the Beast

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Inorganic Stamp Corner by Daniel Rabinovich Taming the Beast The French chemist Henri Moissan (1852-1907) was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for two rather different areas of scientific endeavor, namely the isolation of elemental fluorine and the introduction of the electric furnace in the preparation of metal carbides and other refractory materials. The selection committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences had a particularly difficult task that year, and Moissan edged out by a single vote (5-4) no one less than Dmitri Mendeleev, of periodic table fame. Unfortunately the renowned Russian chemist, who was considered an eccentric genius but an outsider in the European establishment, never got a chance to be nominated again since he died of influenza on February 2, 1907. As bad luck would have it, Moissan himself died from acute appendicitis only 18 days later, shortly after returning to Paris from his trip to Stockholm. The isolation of fluorine in 1886 was a remarkable achievement given the extreme reactivity of this element. Moissan succeeded by electrolyzing at -25 °C a solution of potassium hydrogen fluoride (KHF2) dissolved in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, using special platinum– iridium electrodes in a platinum U-shaped vessel capped with fluorite (CaF2) stoppers. Not exactly an experiment undergraduate students conduct today in a laboratory course! In any event, Moissan’s electrolytic cell is depicted on the two French stamps shown herein. Interestingly, the stamp on the left, released in 1986 to commemorate fluorine’s centennial, displays the incorrect (reverse) chemical equation, i.e., hydrogen does react with fluorine to yield hydrogen fluoride, but that is evidently not how the lightest halogen was isolated in the first place! .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Historical Group
Historical Group NEWSLETTER and SUMMARY OF PAPERS No. 64 Summer 2013 Registered Charity No. 207890 COMMITTEE Chairman: Prof A T Dronsfield | Prof J Betteridge (Twickenham, 4, Harpole Close, Swanwick, Derbyshire, | Middlesex) DE55 1EW | Dr N G Coley (Open University) [e-mail [email protected]] | Dr C J Cooksey (Watford, Secretary: Prof. J. W. Nicholson | Hertfordshire) School of Sport, Health and Applied Science, | Prof E Homburg (University of St Mary's University College, Waldegrave | Maastricht) Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 4SX | Prof F James (Royal Institution) [e-mail: [email protected]] | Dr D Leaback (Biolink Technology) Membership Prof W P Griffith | Dr P J T Morris (Science Museum) Secretary: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, | Mr P N Reed (Steensbridge, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ | Herefordshire) [e-mail [email protected]] | Dr V Quirke (Oxford Brookes Treasurer: Dr J A Hudson | University) Graythwaite, Loweswater, Cockermouth, | Prof. H. Rzepa (Imperial College) Cumbria, CA13 0SU | Dr. A Sella (University College) [e-mail [email protected]] Newsletter Dr A Simmons Editor Epsom Lodge, La Grande Route de St Jean, St John, Jersey, JE3 4FL [e-mail [email protected]] Newsletter Dr G P Moss Production: School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS [e-mail [email protected]] http://www.chem.qmul.ac.uk/rschg/ http://www.rsc.org/membership/networking/interestgroups/historical/index.asp 1 RSC Historical Group Newsletter No. 64 Summer 2013 Contents From the Editor 2 Obituaries 3 Professor Colin Russell (1928-2013) Peter J.T.
[Show full text]
Fluorine Gas F Is the Most Powerful Oxidizing Agent Known, Reacting
Fluorine gas F2 is the most powerful oxidizing agent known, reacting with practically all organic and inorganic substances. Except compounds formed already by its reaction Fluorine ignites on contact with ammonia, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur, copper wire, acetone etc and many organic and inorganic compounds. It reacts with most compounds and often, violently. Fluorine gas is corrosive to exposed tissues and to the upper and lower respiratory tract. It can penetrate deeply into body tissues and will continue to exert tissue damaging effects unless neutralized. Fluorine reacts violently and decomposes to hydrofluoric acid on contact with moisture. The name fluorine was coined by the French chemist amperé as ‘le fluor’ after its ore fluorspar. •Since F2 reacts with almost all the elements except a few rare gases, storage and transport of F2 gas was also a challenge. •Teflon is the preferred gasket material when working with fluorine gas. •Equipments have to be kept dry as F2 oxidizes water giving a mixture of O2, O3 and HF. •The reaction between metals and fluorine is relatively slow at room temperature, but becomes vigorous and self-sustaining at elevated temperatures. •Fluorine can be stored in steel cylinders that have passivated interiors, or nickel or Monel metal cylinders at temperatures below 200 °C (392 °F). •Frequent passivation, along with the strict exclusion of water and greases, must be undertaken. •In the laboratory, glassware may carry fluorine gas under low pressure and anhydrous conditions Attempts to isolate fluorine gas (F2) was one of the toughest tasks handled by chemists. Scientists who were maimed and mauled to death by the tiger of chemistry F2 Humphrey Davy of England: poisoned, recovered.
[Show full text]
Nobel Prize Awards in Radiochemistry
Radiochim. Acta 100, 509–521 (2012) / DOI 10.1524/ract.2012.1953 © by Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, München Nobel Prize awards in Radiochemistry By J.-P. Adloff∗ University of Strasbourg, 63 Rue Saint Urbain, 67100 Strasbourg, France Dedicated to the memory of late Karl H. Lieser, Gerhard L. Stöcklin and Alfred P. Wolf with whom the author shared the editorial work of Radiochimica Acta from 1977 to 1995 (Received October 10, 2011; accepted in revised form January 19, 2012) (Published online March 26, 2012) Nobel Prize / Chemistry / Physics Summary. In 1996 the Editors of Radiochimica Acta brought out a special volume of the journal to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the discovery of radioactivity [1]. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Radiochimica Acta, which follows closely upon the centenary of Marie Curie’s second Nobel Prize in 1911, the author has the privilege to informally review “Radiochemistry and Nobel Prize Awards”, including discoveries of radioelements and new ﬁelds in chemistry based on radiochemical methods. 1. The beginning The Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry were estab- lished in 1901, six years after the discovery of radioactivity and three years after the discoveries of the elements polo- Fig. 1. Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852–1908). nium and radium. They are awarded by Kungliga Veten- skapakademien (the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) on the basis of proposals made by respective Committees rays when he thought the subject was exhausted. By the end on Physics and Chemistry, which receive recommendations of 1897 radioactivity was something of a dead horse: it was from Swedish and foreign scientists [2].
[Show full text]
List of Nobel Laureates 1
List of Nobel laureates 1 List of Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes (Swedish: Nobelpriset, Norwegian: Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institute, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in the fields of chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine.[1] They were established by the 1895 will of Alfred Nobel, which dictates that the awards should be administered by the Nobel Foundation. Another prize, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, was established in 1968 by the Sveriges Riksbank, the central bank of Sweden, for contributors to the field of economics.[2] Each prize is awarded by a separate committee; the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Economics, the Karolinska Institute awards the Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Prize in Peace.[3] Each recipient receives a medal, a diploma and a monetary award that has varied throughout the years.[2] In 1901, the recipients of the first Nobel Prizes were given 150,782 SEK, which is equal to 7,731,004 SEK in December 2007. In 2008, the winners were awarded a prize amount of 10,000,000 SEK.[4] The awards are presented in Stockholm in an annual ceremony on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death.[5] As of 2011, 826 individuals and 20 organizations have been awarded a Nobel Prize, including 69 winners of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.[6] Four Nobel laureates were not permitted by their governments to accept the Nobel Prize.
[Show full text]
The Early History of Radioactivity (1896-1904) Thesis Presented For
The Early History of Radioactivity (1896-1904) Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Field of History of Science by Stephen Brian Sinclair Department of History of Science and Technology Imperial College of Science and Technology University of London May 1976 2 ABSTRACT Both the beginning and end of this history are ostensibly well defined. Becquerel's quiet discovery of uranium rays came to fruition in the appearance of the first standard textbooks on radioactivity, with their claims for an independent subject area. One may see in the intervening period the progressive construction of a new bridge between physics and chemistry founded on a coherent theory of atomic transmutation and disintegration. My examination of the scene from the viewpoints of several interested parties reveals an alternative picture comprising complex linked series of discoveries, experiments and hypotheses of various levels. At the moving boundaries of research the results and conclusions of individuals were always subject to reinterpretation in their adoption by others. This study thus proceeds in the light of three main considerations. These are, firstly, parallel investigations in radioactivity by different workers; secondly, contemporary related areas of physical science such as X-rays, cathode rays, corpuscular theory; and thirdly, the relevant concepts developed earlier, during the nineteenth century. The introductory chapter concentrates upon the last of these, considering some long-standing hopes and unanswered questions concerning, for example, the unification of matter, ether, and electricity, and the relations between the chemical elements. This forms an essential part of the background to radioactivity. Chapter two describes the opening of the radiochemical field by the Curies, following Becquerel's original discovery, and discusses the blending of these results with Rutherford's earliest radiation studies.
[Show full text]
24 August 2013 Seminar Held
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NOBEL PRIZE SEMINAR 2012 (NPS 2012) 0 Organized by School of Chemistry Editor: Dr. Nabakrushna Behera Lecturer, School of Chemistry, S.U. (E-mail: [email protected]) 24 August 2013 Seminar Held Sambalpur University Jyoti Vihar-768 019 Odisha Organizing Secretary: Dr. N. K. Behera, School of Chemistry, S.U., Jyoti Vihar, 768 019, Odisha. Dr. S. C. Jamir Governor, Odisha Raj Bhawan Bhubaneswar-751 008 August 13, 2013 EMSSSEM I am glad to know that the School of Chemistry, Sambalpur University, like previous years is organizing a Seminar on "Nobel Prize" on August 24, 2013. The Nobel Prize instituted on the lines of its mentor and founder Alfred Nobel's last will to establish a series of prizes for those who confer the “greatest benefit on mankind’ is widely regarded as the most coveted international award given in recognition to excellent work done in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. The Prize since its introduction in 1901 has a very impressive list of winners and each of them has their own story of success. It is heartening that a seminar is being organized annually focusing on the Nobel Prize winning work of the Nobel laureates of that particular year. The initiative is indeed laudable as it will help teachers as well as students a lot in knowing more about the works of illustrious recipients and drawing inspiration to excel and work for the betterment of mankind. I am sure the proceeding to be brought out on the occasion will be highly enlightening.
[Show full text]
Marie Skłodowska Curie a Special Issue Commemorating the 100Th Anniversary of Her Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The News Magazine of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) CHEMISTRY International January-February 2011 Volume 33 No. 1 Marie Skłodowska Curie a special issue commemorating the 100th anniversary of her Nobel Prize in Chemistry ii CHEMISTRY International September-October 2003 January 2011 cover.indd ii 1/3/2011 3:53:43 PM From the Editor CHEMISTRY International Special The News Magazine of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) s we embark on the International Year of Chemistry, it is hard to Aimagine a more fitting symbol of chemistry’s potential, power, and www.iupac.org/publications/ci peril than Madame Marie Skłodowska Curie. For this one pathbreaking woman embodies all of the goals of our year-long celebration of chem- Managing Editor: Fabienne Meyers istry. Her story illustrates the role of chemistry in meeting world needs, it Production Editor: Chris Brouwer can help encourage interest in chemistry among young people, and can Design: pubsimple generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry. And, quite obvi- ously, in Marie Curie we have an opportunity All correspondence to be addressed to: to celebrate the contributions of women to Fabienne Meyers science and to highlight the benefits of inter- IUPAC, c/o Department of Chemistry national scientific collaboration. Boston University In preparing this special issue of Chemistry Metcalf Center for Science and Engineering International devoted entirely to Marie Curie, 590 Commonwealth Ave. guests editors Robert Guillaumont, Jerzy Kroh, Boston, MA 02215, USA Stanislaw Penczek, and Jean-Pierre Vairon made a point of celebrating not only her sci- E-mail: [email protected] entific achievements, but also the person and Phone: +1 617 358 0410 the woman.
[Show full text]
The Discovery of Elements
THE DISCOVERY OF ELEMENTS Dr. K. Guruswamy National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune. http://www.excitingscience.org SUPPORTED BY: What are ELEMENTS? PURE chemical substances having ONE type of ATOM Examples: Hydrogen, Carbon, Iron, Gold, Oxygen, Calcium, Zinc, Copper, etc. (Which is the lightest?) 118 elements discovered until now, of which 94 occur naturally on our planet. Did we always know all 118? Not really… 1869 Ca Ni Fe 1875 1886 K Co Li Na DMITRI MENDELEEV (1834 – 1907) http://www.wikipedia.org But first, some even older history… Let us start at the very beginning: All elements are born in stars Nucleosynthesis in stars http://planck.cf.ac.uk/files/Timeline_portrait.jpg Fast forward to a few thousand years ago: The ANCIENT times “Elements” in the Ancient World India/Greece/.. Prithvi akash vayu Jal agni The Ancients Knew Some Elements Gold, Silver, Copper, Carbon,Carbon Sulphur, Mercury, Tin, Lead, Iron, Known to Greeks, Romans, Egyptians/Middle East, Chinese, Indians CARBON – LIFE IS CARBON-BASED THE CHEMISTRY OF CARBON-CARBON BONDS Chemists want to control making/breaking C-C bonds Many NOBEL PRIZES for learning to make/break C-C bonds Nobel prize – MOST prestigious science prize POLYMERS – from C-C bonds PROTEINS, DNA are polymers SYNTHETIC POLYMERS Polythene Nylon Rubber C-C BOND FORMATION IN NYLON DEMONSTRATION: Synthesis of NYLON POLYACRYLIC ACID: Gelation DEMONSTRATION: Gelation CARBON COMPOUNDS/CO2 Oil: The starting point for polymers Why I chose to get into science… CO2: Problems due to our extreme reliance on carbon
[Show full text]
May 07 NUCLEUS Proof 3
DED UN 18 O 98 F N Y O T R E I T H C E N O A E S S S L T A E A C R C I N S M S E E H C C TI N O CA September 2008 Vol. LXXXVII, No. 1 N • AMERI September Meeting NESACS Members Medicinal Chemistry Symposium at Boston College Honored at NERM “New Developments in Anti-Infective Research” Book Review Interviewing in the “A Scientist's Guide to Talking with the Media” Bio-Pharma Industry Reviewed by Dennis J. Sardella Part 4 - “The Offer Stage” by Megan Driscoll 2 The Nucleus Summer 2008 The Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society, Inc. Contents Office: Marilou Cashman, 23 Cottage St., Natick, MA 01360. 1-800-872-2054 Announcements 4,6 (Voice or FAX) or 508-653-6329. ______________________________________ e-mail: mcash0953(at)aol.com Gustavus J. Esselen Award Nominations, ACS Northeast Regional Any Section business may be conducted via the business office above. Undergraduate Day, Grants-in-Aid to Undergraduates, Call for Papers for NESACS Homepage: UndergraduateResearch Poster Session, NSYCC September Activities http:/ /www.NESACS.org Monthly Meeting 5 David Cunningham , Webmaster _______________________________________ ACS Hotline, Washington, D.C.: Joint with the Medicinal Chemistry Section, A Symposium on "New 1-800-227-5558 Developments in Anti-Infective Research " at Boston College Officers 2008 Preliminary Annoucements 6,7 Chair: _____________________________ Marietta Schwartz Chemistry Department, UMASS-Boston NSYCC/NESACS-JCF/GDCh Exchange to Germany, Boston, MA 02125 Connections to Chemistry 2008 617-287-6146; marietta.schwartz(at)umb.edu National Chemistry Week Events 9 Chair-Elect: __________________________ Dr.
[Show full text]
Nobel Prizes List from 1901
Nature and Science, 4(3), 2006, Ma, Nobel Prizes Nobel Prizes from 1901 Ma Hongbao East Lansing, Michigan, USA, Email: [email protected] The Nobel Prizes were set up by the final will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, industrialist, and the inventor of dynamite on November 27, 1895 at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, which are awarding to people and organizations who have done outstanding research, invented groundbreaking techniques or equipment, or made outstanding contributions to society. The Nobel Prizes are generally awarded annually in the categories as following: 1. Chemistry, decided by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2. Economics, decided by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 3. Literature, decided by the Swedish Academy 4. Peace, decided by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget 5. Physics, decided by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 6. Physiology or Medicine, decided by Karolinska Institutet Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the highest prize in the world today. As of November 2005, a total of 776 Nobel Prizes have been awarded, 758 to individuals and 18 to organizations. [Nature and Science. 2006;4(3):86- 94]. I. List of All Nobel Prize Winners (1901 – 2005): 31. Physics, Philipp Lenard 32. 1906 - Chemistry, Henri Moissan 1. 1901 - Chemistry, Jacobus H. van 't Hoff 33. Literature, Giosuè Carducci 2. Literature, Sully Prudhomme 34. Medicine, Camillo Golgi 3. Medicine, Emil von Behring 35. Medicine, Santiago Ramón y Cajal 4. Peace, Henry Dunant 36. Peace, Theodore Roosevelt 5. Peace, Frédéric Passy 37. Physics, J.J. Thomson 6. Physics, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen 38.
[Show full text]
Henri Moissan 1906 Nobel Prize on Chemistry
MILESTONES IN CHEMISTRY Walter Navarrini Henri Moissan 1906 Nobel Prize on Chemistry WALTER NAVARRINI Politecnico di Milano Via Macinelli 7 Milano, 20131, Italy rofessor H. Moissan made that at that time his research was considered difficult and exotic and outstanding contributions to the Moissan could not imagine the number of breakthrough innovations Pdevelopment of applied chemistry in that were going to take place one century later starting from his the late XIX and early XX century. For the pioneer studies. Before Moissan, many researchers, starting with the first time he obtained fluorine in free English chemist G. Davy, had made unsuccessful attempts to obtain state, studied a number of fluorine fluorine. In 1886, Moissan was able to succeed were others had compounds, designed an electric failed. He isolated fluorine by electrolysis of an anhydrous mixture of arc furnace and set the foundation hydrofluoric acid and potassium fluoride. The French academy of of high-temperature chemistry. science sent three representatives, M. Berthelot, H. Debray and E He synthesized many high-melting Frémy, to prove the results. At the beginning Moissan was unable to compounds and isolated boron and reproduce his results, due to the fact that in the repeated experiments other elements by reducing their oxides, finally hydrogen fluoride did not contain any traces of the necessary he theorised and attempted the preparation of artificial diamond potassium fluoride, as in the previous experiment. After resolving the (1). He was awarded with the Nobel Prize (1906) in recognition to the problem and demonstrating the production of fluorine several times, 4 isolation of fluorine and for his studies on high-temperature chemistry.
[Show full text]
The Contribution of Nobel Laureates to Chemistry - Ferruccio Trifiro
FUNDAMENTALS OF CHEMISTRY – Vol. I - The Contribution of Nobel Laureates to Chemistry - Ferruccio Trifiro THE CONTRIBUTION OF NOBEL LAUREATES TO CHEMISTRY Ferruccio Trifirò Dipartimento di Chimica Industriale e dei Materiali, University of Bologna, Italy Keywords: analytical methods, catalysis, DNA-based chemistry, elements, enzymes, isotopes, kinetics, molecules, natural products, Nobel laureates, organic chemistry, quantum chemistry, quantum mechanics, spectroscopic analysis, synthesis, thermodynamic Contents 1. Introduction 2. The Discovery of New Elements 2.1. The Filling and Expansion of the Periodic Table 2.2. The Isotopes 3. The Properties of Atoms 3.1. The Birth of Nuclear Chemistry 3.2. The Development of Quantum Mechanics 4. The Properties of Molecules 4.1. The Discovery of Coordination and Metallorganic Compounds 4.2. The Discovery of New Organic Molecules 4.3. The Emergence of Quantum Chemistry 5. The Expansion of Thermodynamics 5.1. Equilibrium Thermodynamics 5.2. Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics 6. The Dynamics of Chemical Reactions 6.1. Kinetics of Heterogeneous and Homogeneous Processes 6.2. The Identification of the Activated State 7. New Synthetic Routes for Useful Products 7.1. Via Catalysis 7.2. Via Synthesis in Extreme Experimental Conditions 7.3. Natural Products via Multistep Synthesis 7.4. Via New Synthetic Strategies 7.5. Via NewUNESCO Reactants or Reagents – EOLSS 8. The Understanding of Natural Processes 8.1. From Ferments to Enzymes 8.2. Understanding the Mechanism of Action of Enzymes 8.3. MechanismsSAMPLE of Important Natural Processes CHAPTERS 8.4. Characterization of Biologically Important Molecules 8.5. The Development of DNA-Based Chemistry 9. The Identification of Chemical Entities 9.1. Analytical Methods 9.2.
[Show full text]