Billy Delfs

Billy Delfs, the author, with a VERY pretty lady!

Welcome to History of Chemistry 297!

Please excuse any and all imperfections, I'm new to this!

As an introduction, read these pieces excerpted from my Mid-Term exam:

-"Bucky Ball" Buckminster-Fullerene

I. Arabic Influences

In ancient times, the science of chemistry was the methods used by those practicing alchemy. "Modern Chemistry" did not exist until the time of Lavoisier. Alchemy, the pursuit of the transmutation of metals into gold, was the science of the time for centuries until the Renaissance.

Alchemy was born in Egypt. It was centered in Alexandria. By trade and conquest, it was passed on to the Arabs. References to the Arabs as nomads and camel herders of northern Arabia appear in Assyrian inscriptions from the ninth century BC. The Arabs had conquered Syria in the 3rd century AD, but no great empire emerged until Islam appeared in the 7th century.

The Arabs were a zealous and violent people. They ravaged nations as they, a very barbaric nation, conquered much higher civilized societies. Islam was founded by Muhammed (571-632), and became the national religion. One way which the Arabs used to keep their armies strong, was to grant salvation to anyone who dies in a Holy War. Islam provided a common language and religion to the Arab peoples scattered across Asia.

By 733 AD, much territory had been conquered. The fall of Spain was in 711 AD. This marked Islam’s strong foothold in Europe. Part of being conquered by the Arabs was to have your culture completely assimilated by them. In Spain, once an arm of the Roman Empire, the Arabs were able to translate Greek and Roman works into Islam, as well as learn engineering and architectural secrets of the Romans.

Arabs were active in doing experiments, and used experimentation as their approach to science, instead of prayer. Arabic was the scientific language of this period. Gunpowder and medicines were developed by the Arabs. Obviously, they were never able to transmute gold, but there were many derivations of their attempts.

During their attempts at transmutation, the Arabs came across many things. For example, filtration, distillation, and sublimation. They produced sulfuric and nitric acids, as well as stronger alcohols.

Since the Arabs were centered so much on conquest and war, they did not have many "original" components of their culture. Through their assimilations, the Arabic people kept the ancient world preserved.

II. Development of Chemical Technology

Distillation is one aspect of chemical technology which has been around for centuries. Distillation is the main process from purifying liquids. It works by the compound being vaporized, condensation of the vapor, and then the collection of the condensation. It is very useful for separating liquids that have different boiling points, separating impurities, and removing volatile components of compounds. When nonvolatile products are isolated by evaporation, it is possible to recover the solvent by condensing it.

To distill a liquid, it needs to be heated to boiling. As the liquid is heated, its vapor pressure increases until the point at which it equals the applied, usually atmospheric, pressure.

Distillation was perfected by the Arabs and stems from the science of alchemy. It was used during the middle ages to produce aqua vitae, water of life. Alcohols of higher concentration, purified liquids, and medicines were all aims of ancient distillation.

Today, distillation is still in constant and widespread use. It is both a simple, and effective procedure. Two derivatives of it, fractionation and pyrolisis are also in use.

Fractionation is a process that separates a mixture of chemical substances into its individual fractions. The word is a contraction of fractional distillation. This is used for the express purpose of separating and isolating volatile liquids with different boiling points. It is known as "cracking" in the petroleum industry.

Pyrolysis is known as "destructive" distillation. It is the decomposition of a substance using heat alone, with no access to air or oxygen. The earliest use of pyrolysis was to produce coke. Coal was heated to a high temperature and then the volatile products were known as "coal tar" were distilled. Pyrolysis is the major step in "cracking", of the petroleum industry. Through pyrolysis, the quality of gasoline is improved by producing low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons.

Distillation is centuries old. It’s significance can easily be seen by noting its applications. It was initially used for purifying alcohol and making medicines for horse bound travelers, and now is used to produce better gasoline for our automobiles.

Here is my FIRST term paper for Dr. Viste's History of Chem class!

Billy Delfs

Chem 297-B

"Alchemy"

October 15, 1998

Alchemy

Alchemy was a science studied by peoples from the first century to the seventeenth. It involved many mystical and strange, from today’s viewpoint, ideas, which would culminate into the transformation of base metals into gold. By products of this movement were the Philosopher’s Stone, gunpowder, and the "Elixir of Life". The science of alchemy gained its foothold in ancient Egypt, and was spread greatly by the Arabs. The word is most likely derived from the Arabic prefix al- from Allah, and the Egyptian word khemeia, meaning black ore, or powder. This comes from the fundamental idea of an outside, magical compound needed to work the processes of this "science".

The complete topic of alchemy originally started as something that combined what was on Earth, with what was above. We identify the earthly component as transmutation. This is the conversion of one element into another. The alchemists’ goal was to transmutate base metals into gold. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle said that there were four elements on Earth; air, water, earth and fire. Aristotle maintained that these elements could be converted into each other, and that substances on Earth were composed of different amounts of these four things. Thus, transmutation entailed changing the amounts of these four elements to produce a different substance. The idea of transmutation was a good one, just not possible with the processes and theories of ancient times. The first transmutation of an element took place in 1919 by Ernest Rutherford using alpha particle emissions. Transmutation is now a common process because of the availability of powerful particle accelerators and nuclear reactors, and virtually every element has been prepared artificially.

Gold was thought of as the purest and best element on Earth. Another Aristotlean theory dealt with the formation of metals. He believed that metals were formed from exhalations. The two exhalations were one of moisture and vapor, formed by the sun’s rays falling on the water, and a dry, smoky one, which came from the land. When these two exhalations were trapped in the Earth, elements were formed. Later it was added that when astrological conditions were perfect, gold was formed, if not, some other element was formed. In fact, the chemical elements of the most common metals were derived astrologically; the Sun for gold, the Moon for silver, Mercury for mercury, Venus for copper, Mars for iron, Jupiter for tin, and Saturn for lead. For example, the formation of silver by exhalations occurred at a time when the Moon was the strongest astrological component at the time and place where the exhalations occurred.

Alchemy spans many centuries. It was definitely in place in Egypt c. 400 AD when the works of Zosimos were believed to be written. The first name in Alchemy was that of Hermes Trismegistos. He was a role model for alchemists in the centuries to come. The alchemists themselves supposed him to have been an Egyptian living about the same time as Moses. Today, he is mostly thought of as mythical figure, a personification of Toth, the Egyptian God of learning. However, someone or some group must have written the works currently attributed to him. Hermes is such an important figure, that he is still referred to today, for example, hermetically sealing jars, etc.

Zosimos, fully known as Zosimos of Panopolis, was said to have written twenty-eight volumes on the subject. Of those, only fragments remain. His works contain descriptions of apparatus, furnaces, minerals, alloys, glass making, mineral waters, as well as many elements of mysticism and transmutation.

In the seventh century, the Arabians conquered Egypt and alchemy flourished under them. The most famous of the Arabian alchemists was Geber. Nothing definite of his life is known, but he is said to have lived about the ninth century. The Arabs obviously failed in their quest to convert metals to gold; however, many essential procedures of modern chemistry were discovered and refined by the Arabs. These are sublimation, distillation, filtration, and also crystallization. Some of the apparatuses involved were also constructed first by the Arabs; like the water bath and improved furnaces. Notable "scientists" Avicenna, Mesna, and Rhasis followed Gerber.

After the Arabs conquering of Egypt, came the conquest of Europe and the colonization of Spain by the Arabs. This was what brought alchemy to Europe. In fact, the European centers of Alchemy were at the Universities of Seville, Granada, and Cordoba. The introduction of Arab science to Europe came after the fall of Rome, when Greek philosophy and tradition were declining in the West. Alchemy quickly spread outward from Spain, and gained a strong hold in Paris.

Albertus Magnus was a famous Parisian alchemist. He entered the Dominican order, taught publicly at Cologne, Paris, and elsewhere. Magnus defined a flame as ignited smoke and postulated that like seeks like. Bernard Trevian was also a notable French alchemist, born about 1460. After Bernard Trevian, the center of alchemical interest shifted to Germany and England. England was the source for many great chemical minds like Roger Bacon. Bacon published a recipe for gunpowder and directions for constructing a telescope.

Parcelsus was probably, publicly the most famous of the European alchemists during his time. Parcelsus founded the division of alchemy known as iatrochemistry. He lived from 1493-1541. He came at the end of the era of alchemy. Parcelsus frequently attacked the church. He was a renowned medical doctor and practicing surgeon. He frequently denounced authority, and was forced to flee Basel where he held a government position as a doctor. Parcelsus’s time was one of great religious and political strife as well, and one such as himself who denounced authority and spoke out on religion did not fit in well. His main goal was to shift alchemy from a science of metal transmutation to one of medical significance, emphasizing the "elixir of life". He spent the last 15 years of his life or so wandering the countryside, putting his ideas into long-winded and obscure writings.

Alchemy reached its end in the seventeenth century. This was the final chapter in a story spanning at least 1400 years. In Michael Maier’s book Atlanta fugiens, he dictates a process for purifying gold in the anecdotal form of a wolf eating a King, and then being burned, restoring the king. This process of purifying gold rather than spontaneously producing it or even transmutating it illustrates the shift from alchemy to modern chemistry. The initial subject however was to cure disease and propagate the study of medicine.

In conclusion, most of what is known as modern chemistry would not be possible without the derivations of the alchemists in their quest for riches and immortality.

Here is my SECOND term paper for Dr. Viste!

-Kekule's Structure

Billy Delfs

A Pair of Chemists

History of Chemistry 297 B

11/19/98

A significant pair of chemists to me are Friedrich Kekule and Adolf von Baeyer. They were both involved in the study of organic chemistry, especially aromatic compounds. Kekule discovered the structure of benzene and published it in 1865. Kekule influenced many. In fact, three of the first five Nobel Prizes in Chemistry were awarded to his former students. These are Jacobus van’t Hoff (1901), Emil Fischer (1902), and Adolf von Baeyer(1905). This paper will focus on Baeyer who won his prize for his extensive work with dyes.

Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz, was born in Darmstadt, Germany on Sept. 7, 1829. His family was German of Czech descent. He entered the University of Giessen in 1848 as a student of architecture. This is the field which his parents desired him to enter. Shortly after being there, he was lured to the field of chemistry through the lectures of Justis Liebig, an extremely significant 19th century chemist.

After leaving Giessen with a doctorate degree in chemistry, he studied with Jean Baptiste Dumas and Charles Gerhardt in Paris. Gerhardt was a former student of Liebig. Both Dumas and Gerhardt had established their own teaching laboratories, following the example of Liebig, and these laboratories were often supervised by a former student of Liebig’s(Hudson, p.107). Kekule studied also in Switzerland and England.

Kekule first significant work was done in London in 1854, when he found thioacetic acid, the first known organic acid containing sulfur. In 1857, he deduced the key concept of carbon’s tetravalency and also the ability of carbon atoms to bond with each other. At an 1890 celebration in his honor, Kekule told the story of how he came to his ideas of carbon tetravalency and bonding. The story is set a top of a bus in London in 1855. Kekule said,

I fell into a reverie, and lo, the atoms were gamboling before my eyes!...
A larger one embraced the two smaller ones; ...still larger ones kept hold
of three or even four of the larger smaller; whilst the whole kept swirling
in a giddy dance. I saw how the larger ones formed a chain, dragging the
smaller ones after them, but only at the ends of the chain...The cry of the
conductor: "Clapham Road," awakened me from my dreaming; but I spent
a part of my night in putting on paper at least sketches of these dream
forms. This was the origin of the "Structural Theory."

(Nye, p. 128). The theory was not published however until 1858. Archibald Cooper independently proposed the same ideas at the same time as Kekule.

Soon after he published his paper on carbon in 1858, Kekule began writing his textbook entitled Liebich der organischen Chemie (Hudson p. 122). Also in this year, Kekule was granted a professorship at the University of Ghent in Belgium. One afternoon in 1865 in Ghent, Kekule was napping in front of a fire while he was working on his textbook. He saw dancing strings of carbon atoms. However, this time he observed that one of the snake-like creatures took its tail into its own mouth. He described the instance as thus:

"I was sitting, writing at my text book; but the work did not progress;
my thoughts were elsewhere. I turned my chair to the fire and dozed.
Again, the atoms were gamboling before my eyes. This time the smaller
groups kept modestly in the background. My mental eye,
rendered more acute by repeated visions of this kind, could now
distinguish larger structures, of manifold conformation: long rows
sometimes more closely fitting together; all twining and twisting
in snake-like motion. But look! What was that? One of the snakes
had seized hold of its own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before
my eyes. As if by a flash of lightning I awoke; and this time also I spent
the rest of the night working out the consequences of the hypothesis".

This gave him the idea of the cyclic structure of the benzene molecule(Bowden, p.93; Hudson, p.140).

The most famous paper by Kekule was on benzene and was published in 1865(Nye, p.132). It was entitled, "On the Constitution of Aromatic Substances". He proposed that all aromatic compounds, including benzene the simplest, contained a six carbon ring as a "nucleus". In 1866, he added the alternating double and single bonds of the ring to his theory.

In 1865, Kekule gained a professorship at Bonn, where he remained until his death. He was granted the position of rector at Bonn in 1877(Nye, p.141). Due to the great advances of organic chemistry, much was learned about things outside of aromatic compounds. As far back as 1820, experimentation was being done which bridged organic chemistry to biological processes. Kekule’s influence on this can be drawn from his inaugural address as rector at Bonn. Kekule suggested that starches, proteins, and cellulose may consist of long chains. He said, "A considerably large number of single molecules may, through polyvalent atoms, combine to net-like, and if we like to say so, sponge-like masses, in order thus to produce those molecular masses which resist diffusion, and which... are called colloidal ones." (Nye, p.141).

Kekule died in Bonn on July, 13, 1896 (Grolier’s).

Johann Adolf von Baeyer was born on October 31, 1835, in Berlin. He came from a family distinguished both in literature and the natural sciences. His father, a lieutenant-general, was the originator of the European system of geodetic measurement. Even as a child, Baeyer was interested in chemical experiments(Grolier’s).

Baeyer entered the University of Berlin in 1853, and devoted his first two years to physics and mathematics. By 1856 his original love for chemistry was rekindled and he was motivated to take a position in Bunsen’s Laboratory in Heidelberg. His studies on methyl chloride resulted in his first published work. It was published in 1857. During 1858, he worked in Kekule’s lab in Heidelberg and contributed to Kekule’s structural theory. Baeyer’s life’s work was about to bring the structural theory much success. He was granted a doctorate for his work on cocadyl compounds which had been done in Kekule’s laboratory(Farber, p.182).

For the next year or two, Baeyer was again working with Kekule, who had in the meantime gained his professorship at Ghent. A study of uric acid, which in turn led to the discovery of barbituric acid, provided the thesis which qualified Baeyer to become a university teacher in 1860. This led to a job as a lecturer at the "Gewerbe-Akademie", or Trade Academy, in Berlin. He received little pay, but was provided with a spacious laboratory. Six years later, the University of Berlin bestowed upon him a senior lectureship on the recommendation of A.W. Hoffman. This position however was unpaid(Nye, p. 85).

During this Berlin period, Baeyer began most of the work which brought him fame later. In 1865, he began his work with indigo. The blue-purple die had fascinated Baeyer since his youth. This work led to the discovery of indole and the partial synthesis of indigotin. His students Graebe and Liebermann used Baeyer’s zinc-dust distillation process to clarify the structure of alizarin. Baeyer went to Strassburg as professor in the newly established University of Strassburg in 1871. Studies were started on condensation reactions which isolated phthaliens, an essential category of dyes. Also done during this time, was Baeyer’s theory of carbon dioxide assimilation in formaldehyde (Farber, p.273).

On the death of Justus von Liebig in 1873, Baeyer was called to replace him as Chair of Chemistry in the University of Munich (over the next few years, he built up an excellent new chemical lab(Farber, p.211). During his time at Munich came the total synthesis of indigo, as well as work on acetylene and polyacetylene (Nye, p.139). From this was derived Baeyer’s famous strain theory of carbon rings. These were studies on the constitution of benzene as well as thorough investigations into cyclic turpene(Nye, p.138). Baeyer collaborated with Villiger and discovered the oxidation of ketones by per-acids. These brought about a connection between constitution and color(Grolier’s).

Baeyer’s work was at once pioneering and multifaceted. With perseverance, forward direction, and great skill he was able to continue in his field well into his seventies. He was careful to never overestimate the value of a theory. Kekule had a tendency to approach his work with preconceived notions and biases, Baeyer would say, "I have never set up an experiment to see whether I was right, but to see how the materials behave"(Moore, p.220).

Like Berzelius and Justis Liebig, Baeyer distinguished himself by forming a school which singly produced fifty future university teachers. He received many honors, the greatest of which was the Nobel Prize in 1905. He was granted the prize "For his researchers on organic dyestuffs and hydroaromatic compounds."(Hudson, p.261).

The impact of Baeyer’s work was immense. At the time that he was awarded the prize, he was too ill to accept it in person. At the presentation of the award, the address was given by Professor A. Lindstedt, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Lindstedt discussed how the expansion of organic chemistry as a science had overflowed into industry, accounting for many new advancements in technology. Lindstedt said, "One such new branch which was hardly dreamed of fifty years ago, but which now provides work for many thousands and spreads its products all over the world, is the preparation of organic dyestuffs from coal tar.". He went on to discuss the history of indigo (Lindstedt).

Indigo, the pigment of the indigo plant was considered the most important of all natural, organic dyes and colors, both for its beauty and permanence. It was previously available predominantly from India, where the price was extremely high due to the monopoly. These were major reasons for undertaking the study of indigo (Lindstedt).

Lindstedt talked of Baeyer’s success and methods. By using orth-nitrophenylacetic acid, ortho-nitrocinnamic acid, and acetone, indigo in raw form can be obtained from coal tar. Lindstedt said, "And if the problem of producing indigo industrially has now been solved from the technical as well as the economic point of view, this is entirely due to Baeyer’s basic work in the fields in question." (Lindstedt).

After Baeyer’s discovery, the price of indigo fell to less than 1/3 of its original price, and Germany began to export a product valued at 25 million marks (1905). Also at this time, India’s agriculture was concentrated on the growth of indigo, and its citizens were starving due to a lack of agricultural food product (Lindstedt).

Baeyer’s work created many derivatives as well. He isolated the phthaleins, a group of vibrantly colored chemicals, used in substitution for the eosin pigments. Also, his work with triphphenylmethane helped to expose some of the connection between the physical, visual properties of dyes and their internal chemical structure and make-up (Lindstedt).

Lindstedt made a very significant statement about research science as a whole in his address. He said, "The researcher-worker’s way to a discovery varies according to the nature of his goal. He may, after quite a short period of trial-and-error, see unsuspected vistas open up before him, but he may as well have to cut a slow and certain path to his goal by stubborn persistance" (Lindstedt).

In conclusion, Kekule and Baeyer were two significant chemists to come from a long line of "descendants". Above Kekule are greats such as Liebig, Dumas, and their "family trees", and alongside Baeyer are van’t Hoff and Fischer (Hudson, p.118). This pair made significant and essential advances in the field of organic chemistry and established a strong and important bridge from the 19th to the 20th centuries.

Bibliography

Bowden, Mary Elizabeth. Chemical Achievers. Chemical Heritage Foundation. 1997.

Farber, Eduard. The Evolution of Chemistry. Ronald Press Company, New York. 1952.

Hudson, John. The History of Chemistry. Chapman & Hall, New York. 1992.

Lindstedt, A. "Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1905". URL: Nobel.sdsc.edu

Moore, F. J. A History of Chemistry. McGraw-Hill, New York. 1918.

Nye, Mary Jo. Before Big Science. Twayne Publishers, New York. 1996.

Thomson, Thomas. History of Chemistry. Colburn & Bentley, London. 1975.

Billy Delfs' Personal History of Chemistry-