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(Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent, 1743–1794) and two years before them, discovered oxygen (1772), describing its properties in detail. At the same time, he obtained oxygen in many ways: by calcining mercury oxide (as Priestley and Lavoisier did), heating mercury carbonate and silver carbonate, etc. Undoubtedly, Scheele was the first to “hold” pure oxygen in his hands.
BIOGRAPHY OF KARL WILHELM SCHEELE (1742-1786).
Karl Wilhelm Scheele(C.W.Scheele, 1742-1786) was born on December 9, 1742 in Stralsund (Pomerania), which then belonged to the Kingdom of Sweden, in the family of a small merchant. As a child, he attended a private boarding school and studied at a gymnasium. Having entered an apprenticeship at the Bauch pharmacy in Gothenburg (1756), he mastered the basics of pharmacy and laboratory practice, and diligently studied (mainly at night) the works of chemists I. Kunkel, N. Lemery, G. Stahl. The apprenticeship, according to the customs of that time, should have lasted about ten years. After six years, Karl Scheele successfully passed the exams and received the title of pharmacist. Having mastered his profession perfectly and moved to Stockholm, Scheele began independent scientific research. He worked in pharmacies in Stockholm (1768–1769), Uppsala (1770–1774), and Köping (1775–1786).
Scheele's works and discoveries covered all the chemistry of that time: the study of gases, chemical analysis, the chemistry of minerals, the beginnings of organic chemistry (which had not yet become an independent science).
His first work was devoted to tartaric acid, acid C 2 H 2 (OH) 2 (COOH) 2, isolated by him in 1769 from a salt - “tartar” (potassium hydrogen tartrate), and hydrofluoric (hydrogen fluoride) HF, isolated from fluorspar - calcium fluoride CaF2. In 1774, while studying pyrolusite (“black magnesia”), he showed that it was a compound of an unknown metal, later named manganese. In the same study, he discovered “heavy earth” - barium oxide. Acting on “black magnesia” with hydrochloric acid, Scheele discovered a greenish asphyxiating gas, which he called "dephlogisticated hydrochloric acid"
. Its nature was later established by other scientists, and it was given the name chlorine.
After moving first to Uppsala, where Scheele also had a large pharmacy waiting for him, and then to the small and quiet town of Köping, the scientific research of the inquisitive pharmacist continued and yielded amazing results. The Swedish chemist turned out to be the author of so many discoveries that they would be enough for a good dozen scientists, and many of these discoveries related to the production and purification of acids.
In 1775, Scheele prepared arsenic acid H 3 AsO 4, in 1782-1783. - hydrocyanic acid HCN, in the period from 1776 to 1785. - a whole set of organic acids: uric C 5 (NH) 4 O 3, oxalic H 2 C 2 O 4, lactic C 2 H 4 (OH)COOH, citric C 3 H 4 (OH)(COOH) 3, malic C 2 H 3 (OH)(COOH) 2, gallic C 6 H 2 (OH) 3 COOH, as well as glycerol C 3 H 5 (OH) 3 ...
He showed that lactic acid isolated from sour milk is somewhat different from similar acid from other sources. This difference was explained only a century later, after the discovery of isomers. Of particular interest is Scheele's production of hydrocyanic acid from carbonic anhydride, coal and ammonia. Some authors consider this experiment as the first organic synthesis, carried out forty years before Wöhler. In the course of work on the production of hydrocyanic acid, Scheele isolated a paint called “Prussian blue”.
Scheele was the first to obtain and study potassium permanganate KMnO4 - the well-known “potassium permanganate”, which is now widely used in chemical experiments and in medicine, developed a method for obtaining phosphorus P from bones, and discovered hydrogen sulfide H2S. By oxidation of the mineral molybdenite, “molybdenum earth” was obtained, i.e. molybdenum anhydride. By treating the mineral tungsten with acids, he obtained “tungsthenic acid” - tungsten anhydride. Subsequently, mineralogists named calcium wolframite scheelite in honor of the scientist.
The most significant work of Karl Wilhelm Scheele is Chemical treatise on air and fire
(Chemische Abhandlung von der Luft und dem Feuer, 1777). This book contains the results of his many experiments from 1768–1773. on the study of gases and combustion processes. From the Treatise it is clear that Scheele - independently of Priestley and Lavoisier and two years before them - discovered oxygen and described its properties in detail. At the same time, he obtained oxygen in many ways: by calcining mercury oxide (as Priestley and Lavoisier did), heating mercury carbonate and silver carbonate, etc. Undoubtedly, Scheele was the first (1772) to “hold in his hands” pure oxygen.
How it was? While living in Uppsala, Scheele began to study the nature of fire, and he soon had to think about the role of air in combustion. He already knew that a hundred years ago Robert Boyle (1627-1691) and other scientists proved that a candle, coal and any other combustible body can burn only where there is enough air. No one in those days could, however, really explain why everything was happening this way and why, in fact, a burning body needed air.
Air was then considered an element - a homogeneous substance that cannot be split into even simpler components by any force. Scheele also had this opinion at first. But soon he had to change it after he began to conduct experiments with various chemicals in vessels tightly closed on all sides. Whatever substances Scheele tried to burn in closed vessels, he always discovered the same curious phenomenon: the air that was in the vessel necessarily decreased by one-fifth during combustion, and at the end of the experiment, water necessarily filled one-fifth of the volume of the flask, which is clearly visible in the figure below from the Scheele manuscript. And he was struck by the insight that the air is not homogeneous.
Next, he began to study the decomposition by heating of many substances (among which was saltpeter KNO3) and obtained a gas that supported respiration and combustion. According to some data, already in 1771, Karl Scheele, when heating pyrolusite with concentrated sulfuric acid, observed the release "virtual air"
, supporting combustion, i.e. oxygen.
Karl Scheele wanted to solve the mystery of fire and at the same time unexpectedly discovered that air was not an element, but a mixture of two gases, which he called air "fiery" and air "unfit". This was the greatest of all Scheele's discoveries.
But in reality, the mystery of fire and the “fiery” air it received remained a mystery to him. It was all the fault of the dominant force in those days. phlogiston theory
, according to which it was believed that any substance can burn only if it contains a lot of special combustible matter - phlogiston, and combustion is the decomposition of a complex combustible substance into a special fiery element - phlogiston - and other components. Karl Scheele was also a proponent of this theory, so he explained that "fiery air"
has a great affinity (attraction) for phlogiston, which is why it burns in it so quickly, and "waste" air has no attraction to phlogiston, which is why all fire goes out in it. It was quite plausible, but there remained one big mystery that seemed completely inexplicable. Where did the “fiery” air go during combustion from a closed vessel? Finally he came up with this explanation. When a body burns, he said, the phlogiston released from it combines with the “fiery” air, and this invisible compound is so volatile that it seeps through the glass imperceptibly, like water through a sieve.
Another great chemist of the 18th century, the Frenchman Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent, 1743–1794), put an end to phlogiston. And when this was done, then a strange disappearance "fiery air"
and many other incomprehensible phenomena immediately lost all their mystery.
Scheele was indeed the first researcher to obtain a relatively pure sample of oxygen (1772). However, he published his results in 1777, later than Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), so he cannot formally be considered the discoverer of oxygen. But in many academic publications and reference books on chemistry, priority is given to Karl Wilhelm Scheele. In addition, he has the undeniable priority of discovering the chemical elements chlorine Cl, fluorine F, barium Ba, molybdenum Mo, tungsten W...
Despite the fact that Scheele did not have a higher education and was an ordinary pharmacist, at the age of 32 he was elected a member of the Stockholm Academy of Sciences. He was offered a chair at Uppsala University, a job in the center of the Swedish mining and metallurgical industry in Falun, a chair at the University of Berlin, but the scientist rejected all offers, preferring to engage in his own experiments.
Years of hard, dedicated work unfortunately undermined the health of this amazingly determined man, and he lived to only be 44 years old. In the history of chemistry, another myth is associated with Scheele’s discovery of hydrogen cyanide: supposedly its discoverer died at the moment of discovery. This is, so to speak, a half-truth. In fact, Scheele first obtained hydrocyanic acid from yellow blood salt in 1782, and died in 1786, at the age of 44. However, there is no doubt that Scheele was ruined by organoleptic research methods. In the 18th century, it was customary to taste the reaction products, and Scheele, in addition to cyanides, worked with mercury and arsenic compounds... K.V. Scheele died in Köping on May 21, 1786.
Carl Wilhelm Scheele is considered one of the greatest chemists of all time, but he paid a terrible price for this status. People are gradually forgetting about the contribution that the scientist made to the development of the food, medical and dental industries. What exactly were the discoveries that Karl Wilhelm made, why did he not receive the recognition he deserved, and what caused his death?
short biography
Karl Wilhelm was born in 1742 in Germany. As a child, he learned about chemicals and pharmaceuticals from his parents. When he was 14 years old, he was sent to Gothenburg to become an apprentice to a family friend who was a pharmacist in that city. There, Karl spent eight years studying chemistry and conducting experiments under the cover of darkness.
In 1767 he moved to Stockholm, where he discovered tartaric acid, one of the two compounds that make up modern baking powder. After three years of work in this city, Karl became director of the laboratory of the large Locke pharmacy. It was there that a chemist analyzed the strange reaction between molten saltpeter and acetic acid. After some time, Karl realized that the product of the compound was oxygen.
The chemist called this element “fire air” because he believed, based on the theory of his time, that the substance that constituted fire was released from objects when they burned. Scheele believed that oxygen is a separate substance, and not just an element that facilitates a chemical reaction during the combustion process.
Karl Wilhelm did not receive any awards or merit for this discovery, because the English scientist Joseph Priestley was the first to publish findings on oxygen. Although all the facts point to one thing: Scheele found the “fiery air” much earlier.
Great contribution to science
Nevertheless, the chemist continued to work not for the sake of recognition of his merits. Over the next few years, he discovered elements such as barium, manganese, molybdenum, tungsten and chlorine. He also discovered the chemical compounds of citric acid, lactic acid, glycerol, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen sulfide. Many of these compounds have become integral to innovations in the food, medical and dental sciences.
The price is too high
Unfortunately, at the time Karl Wilhelm was working, tools and methods for testing connections were not available. Like all chemists, he studied all the elements by tasting them. Scheele often had to sniff them, thereby exposing himself to numerous hazardous materials such as arsenic, mercury, lead and hydrofluoric acid.
The toxic properties of these chemicals had a cumulative effect on the chemist, and he eventually died of kidney failure at the age of just 43.
Despite his many achievements and the fact that he devoted his life to chemistry, Karl Wilhelm is often forgotten in the history of science. Although he discovered many elements before other, more famous scientists, many chemists took credit for Scheele's discoveries. The fact that Karl Wilhelm is forgotten is his own fault, since he did not want to attend meetings of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and publish his works.
Karl-Wilhelm Scheele
(Scheele C. W.)
(9.XII.1742 - 21.V.1786)
Karl-Wilhelm Scheele was born in the town of Stralsund in the family of a successful merchant, when Pomerania was part of the Kingdom of Sweden. He turned fifteen years old, and his childhood dream came true: his father sent him as an apprentice to his friend the pharmacist Bauch from Gothenburg. The apprenticeship, according to the customs of that time, should have lasted about ten years. After six years, Karl Scheele successfully passed the exams and received the title of pharmacist. Having mastered his profession perfectly and moved to Stockholm, Scheele began independent scientific research.
His very first scientific achievements were associated with the isolation and characterization of tartaric acid C 2 H 2 (OH) 2 (COOH) 2, which he obtained from its salt - tartar (potassium hydrogen tartrate), and hydrofluoric acid HF from fluorspar - calcium fluoride CaF 2.
After moving first to Uppsala, where Scheele also had a large pharmacy waiting for him, and then to the small and quiet town of Köping, the scientific research of the inquisitive pharmacist continued and yielded amazing results. The Swedish chemist turned out to be the author of so many discoveries that they would be enough for a good dozen scientists, and many of these discoveries related to the production and purification of acids.
Judge for yourself. In 1775, Scheele prepared arsenic acid H 3 AsO 4, in 1782-1783 - hydrocyanic acid HCN, in the period from 1776 to 1785 - a whole set of organic acids: uric acid C 5 (NH) 4 O 3, oxalic H 2 C 2 O 4, milk C 2 H 4 (OH)COOH, lemon C 3 H 4 (OH)(COOH) 3, apple C 2 H 3 (OH)(COOH) 2, gallic C 6 H 2 (OH) 3 COOH, as well as glycerol C 3 H 5 (OH) 3 ...
Scheele was the first to obtain and study potassium permanganate KMnO 4 - the well-known “potassium permanganate”, which is now widely used in chemical experiments and in medicine, developed a method for obtaining phosphorus P from bones, and discovered hydrogen sulfide H 2 S.
Finally, it was Karl Wilhelm Scheele who had the priority of discovering the chemical elements oxygen O, chlorine Cl, fluorine F, barium Ba, molybdenum Mo, tungsten W...
Years of hard, dedicated work unfortunately undermined the health of this amazingly determined man, and he lived to only be 44 years old.
So, the path to chemistry as a science some two or three hundred years ago most often ran through a pharmacy - a place for obtaining, storing and researching not only medicines, but also all other chemicals, the center of new ideas and methods, the abode of inquisitive minds. ..
German Emperor (Kaiser) from January 18, 1871, regent of the Prussian kingdom from October 7, 1858, King of Prussia from January 2, 1861. Prussian Colonel General with the rank of Field Marshal (1854). The first ruler of the united German Empire.
Second son Frederick William III. In his youth, he was not considered a potential heir to the throne and therefore received a mediocre education. He devoted himself to a military career: he served in the army from 1814, fought against Napoleon, and on August 3, 1814 he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th class. The Prince also showed excellent diplomatic skills, participating in diplomatic missions after 1815. On June 20, 1817, he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. In 1848 he successfully suppressed a rebellion against his elder brother, King Frederick William IV. In 1857, Frederick William IV suffered a stroke and was incapacitated for the rest of his life. In October 1858, William assumed the duties of Prince Regent under his brother.
Frederick William IV died on January 2, 1861, and William ascended the throne as William I of Prussia, being crowned in Königsberg. He inherited from his brother the king a political confrontation with the liberal parliament. It was believed that Wilhelm adhered to neutral political views, since he took little part in the political life of the country. However, the new king resolved the conflict using a conservative method, appointing Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck, which, according to the Prussian constitution, was subject exclusively to the king and not to parliament. Although Bismarck considered his activities in this post a vassal duty in relation to the lord, it was he who carried out the real policy, both internal and external, seeking Wilhelm’s consent, sometimes under the threat of his own resignation.
After the Franco-Prussian War, on January 18, 1871, Wilhelm was proclaimed German Emperor in France, in the King's Palace of Versailles Louis XIV. Following this, the North German Confederation (1867-1871) was transformed into the German Empire. The German Empire was a federation; the emperor was the head of state and president (first among equals) of the federal monarchs (the kings of Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, the Grand Dukes of Baden and Hesse, including the senates of the free cities of Hamburg and Bremen). Wilhelm accepted the title of German Emperor reluctantly; he would have preferred to be called Emperor of Germany, but this title did not suit the federal monarchs. In his memoirs, Bismarck described Wilhelm as an old-fashioned, polite and courteous gentleman and a true Prussian officer, with a great sense of common sense, but susceptible to "female influence." In the last years of his life, the Kaiser enjoyed great popularity among the people and embodied the image of “old Prussia.” Died after a short illness.
Swedish chemist, discoverer of many organic and inorganic substances.
Scheele was a pharmacist by profession. He amazed his contemporaries with his masterful conduct of chemical experiments. They said that this pharmacist had golden hands; he could not touch any substance without making a discovery. Scheele was able to obtain numerous new substances, although he worked with very primitive laboratory instruments. Using homemade devices from flasks, retorts, bottles, and bull bladders, Scheele was able for the first time to obtain substances such as potassium permanganate, ethyl ether, benzoic acid, glycerin, and described the properties of ethyl esters, nitric, hydrochloric, acetic acids, and sulfuric anhydride. He discovered many inorganic acids: hydrofluoric (fluoric), hydrocyanic, phosphoric, arsenic; first isolated organic acids: tartaric, citric, malic, oxalic, etc.
In 1772, for the first time in history, Scheele managed to obtain pure oxygen in the laboratory, which he called “fire air.” However, J. Priestley (1774) is considered the discoverer of oxygen, since the results of Scheele’s work were published only in 1777 in the book “Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire.” This book also presented the results of numerous air analyzes carried out by Scheele in the 60s and 70s. XVIII century In addition to oxygen, Scheele discovered elements later named chlorine and manganese, and for the first time obtained barium oxide, tungsten and molybdenum trioxides, hydrogen sulfide and other compounds of sulfur, fluorine, and phosphorus. Almost all the elements known to chemists in the 18th century were studied by Scheele.
He first drew attention to the fact that iron, copper and mercury have variable valency. This observation was explained much later (see Valency, Oxidation State).
At the age of 32, Scheele was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and his research was recognized by chemists in different countries. The humble pharmacist was invited to head chemistry departments at famous universities. Scheele refused tempting offers. After all, working in a pharmacy alleviated people’s suffering and allowed them to carry out their favorite experiments. He devoted all his free time to them, and then, according to the scientist, he became so happy that “his heart laughed.”
In one of the squares of Stockholm there is an old laboratory furnace. The figure of a chemist froze near her: in his right hand there were tongs with a sample of the mineral being studied. This is a monument to Scheele, who revealed many secrets of nature.