Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner
Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner (born December 13, 1780 in Hof ; † March 24, 1849 in Jena ) was a German chemist who is considered a pioneer in the creation of the periodic table and paved the way for catalysis with the study of platinum .
Life
As the son of a coachman, Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner grew up in poor circumstances on a manor in Bug near Weißdorf and received only moderate school lessons. He began an apprenticeship as a pharmacist in Münchberg in 1794 , which was followed by five years of wandering. He worked in pharmacies in Dillenburg , Karlsruhe and Strasbourg , and also acquired knowledge of chemistry , botany and mineralogy as an autodidact .
He returned in 1802, but did not manage to set up as a self-employed pharmacist.
Döbereiner drew attention to himself by investigating practical chemical problems. In 1810 he was given an extraordinary professorship for chemistry, pharmacy and technology at the University of Jena from Duke Carl August von Sachsen-Weimar .
Since he did not have an academic diploma, he was awarded the title of Dr. phil. granted because his previous publications "already bore the unmistakable stamp of genius and perfection."
For the faculty, the choice of Döbereiner was a stroke of luck, because in his person there was a combination of genius as a researcher, a very strong interest in technical processes and an excellent teaching qualification.
His lectures were very practically characterized by many experiments on inorganic and organic chemistry. In addition, there were numerous trips to chemical factories in the vicinity of Jena to show his students chemical technology and pneumatic chemistry in practice. One of his later also very successful students was Rudolf Christian Böttger , inventor of safety matches and further developer of electroplating .
As a chemical advisor to Duke Carl August, he worked on improving manufacturing processes and setting up various businesses that could be used profitably. He was asked for an expertise from Bad Berkaer Mineralquellen , participated in the establishment of a sulfuric acid factory and developed processes for the extraction and utilization of indigo instead of woad .
At the time of the continental dam, a factory for sugar production from starch was built in Tiefurt with Döbereiner's assistance , and the production of acetic acid using the rapid vinegar process through the oxidation of alcohol is also attributed to him. There were also distilleries and breweries .
Around 1818 he undertook at the suggestion of Goethe and the Grand Duke attempts to gas generation for lighting purposes, but he found that "coal and water yield the wohlfeilste and purest fire gas at their interaction in high temperature." That same year, 1818, he was a member of the Leopoldina selected .
In 1823, at Goethe's instigation, Döbereiner undertook melting experiments on augites and amphiboles that came from the Bohemian volcanic dome Wolfsberg (Vlčí hora). These experiments should provide information on the formation of the minerals.
In 1828 he led Melting attempts to produce Celestine - Barytglas through and examined fermentation processes .
He made his most important and best-known discoveries in the area of the catalytic effect of platinum metals and in finding similarities in the properties of the elements known at the time.
Döbereiner is less known as a pioneer of chemical internships in teaching at German universities. Even before Justus von Liebig in Gießen , Döbereiner held a chemical-practical colloquium in Jena in 1820 , which was extremely popular with students. Goethe supported this by purchasing a house in Jena and purchasing laboratory equipment . Despite financial problems, Döbereiner remained loyal to the Jena University out of gratitude, although he had received honorable appointments at other universities.
In 1818 he was accepted into the Leopoldina . Since 1820 he was a foreign member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences . The Prussian Academy of Sciences he belonged since 1835 as a corresponding member. In 1846, the year it was founded, he was elected a full member of the Royal Saxon Society of Sciences .
He died on March 24, 1849 in Jena and was buried in the Johannisfriedhof on Philosophenweg. The inscription on his gravestone reads: "Adviser to Goethe, creator of the theory of triads, discoverer of platinum catalysis".
Discoveries
Triad rule
Döbereiner is regarded as a thought leader for the structure of the periodic table of the elements . In 1816 he discovered a connection between the elements calcium , strontium and barium . They have very similar properties and the atomic mass of the middle element is the mean of the atomic masses of the other two elements.
| element | Dimensions | |
| Calcium approx | 40,078 u | |
| Strontium Sr | 87.62 u | Mean value of Ca and Ba = 88.7 u |
| Barium Ba | 137,327 u |
This finding was published in 1829 in his work attempt to group elementary substances according to their analogy . Döbereiner arranged 30 of the then 53 known elements in groups of three, the "triads".
The triad rule made it possible to make predictions about as yet unknown elements. So Döbereiner predicted the atomic weight of the bromine .
Döbereiner's triad rule formed an important basis for the periodic table of the elements developed around 1870 (see Periodic Table # History ).
Catalysis and the Döbereiner lighter
The investigation of the catalytic effect of the platinum metals made up a large part of his research. As early as 1816 he succeeded in oxidizing ethanol to acetic acid with the help of platinum black . A few years later he made one of the most important discoveries of early catalytic chemistry with the ignition of an oxyhydrogen gas mixture under the influence of a platinum sponge . It led to the invention of the Döbereiner platinum lighter , which became a sought-after commercial object. The largest manufacturer of these lighters was the Gottfried Piegler factory in Schleiz.
With the observation that oxyhydrogen gas by means of an iridium - osmium the solvent mixture explosion can be brought Döbereiner discovered in 1824 , the principle of the chemical later in large industry used mixed catalysts .
Function of the Döbereiner lighter
In a glass vessel there is diluted sulfuric acid and a piece of zinc in a bell jar immersed in it. At the upper end the bell jar is closed by a valve; if you open this by operating a lever, the gas in the bell jar flows out through a nozzle, the acid rises and reacts with the zinc, producing hydrogen gas H 2 . This flows through the nozzle onto a "platinum sponge" (finely divided platinum). This catalyzes the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen 2H 2 + O 2 → 2H 2 O ( oxyhydrogen reaction ); the heat released in the process ( exothermic reaction ) ignites the gas mixture.
If you let go of the lever, the valve is closed again, the hydrogen gas can no longer escape upwards and pushes the acid from the bell jar back into the storage vessel.
Honors
In Hof, Döbereinerstrasse is named after him. In his honor, a lecture hall of the Faculty of Chemical and Geosciences at the University of Jena bears the name Döbereiner-Hörsaal, which is only a few hundred meters away from his grave. There is a statue of Döbereiner in front of the building. The community of Weißdorf honored him with a plaque at the Bug manor , where he spent his childhood and youth. In 1965 a school founded ten years earlier in Schwarza was named after him. From May 20 to 22, 1980, an International Döbereiner Colloquium took place at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena on the occasion of his 200th birthday. The former headquarters of the Chemical Institute of the University of Jena under Döbereiner (from 1816) in Hellfeldschen Haus (Neugasse 23) in Jena was added to the Historic Sites of Chemistry in 2016 .
The asteroid (32853) Döbereiner was named after him on April 27, 2002. Furthermore, the Döbereinerstraße in Jena-Süd bears his name.
Fonts
- Correspondence between Goethe and Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner: (1810–1830) / ed. and ext. by Julius Schiff. Weimar: Böhlau, 1914.
- Letters from Grand Duke Carl August and Goethe to Döbereiner / ed. by Oskar Schade. Weimar: Böhlau, 1856.
- Collaboration on several parts of the "Deutsches Apothekerbuch / by JW Döbereiner and Franz Döbereiner", Stuttgart, Becher Verlag around 1842 ff. ( Digitized edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf )
- JW Döbereiner's contributions to fermentation chemistry: With woodcuts. 2nd, very verb. and probably ed. 1844, Jena: Hochhausen.
- JW Döbereiner's older and newer experiences about the production and improvement of natural and artificial wines, about brewing beer and making vinegar. Jena, 3rd edition 1850.
- Outline of general chemistry: designed for use in his lectures / by JW Döbereiner. Part: Suppl.-Vol. 3. verm. And verb. Edition Jena: Cröker; Stuttgart: Courtship, 1837.
- Grand Ducal School of Chemistry . By JWDöbereiner, in: Historisch-topographisches TASCHENBUCH VON JENA and its surroundings , edited. by Jonathan Carl Zenker with the assistance of Messrs. Brehm, Döbereiner et al. Jena: Frommann, 1836. Section III.4., Pp. 63–64. On-line
- On the chemistry of platinum in a scientific and technical relationship / by J [ohannes] W [olfgang] Döbereiner. Stuttgart: Courtship, 1836.
- The beginnings of chemistry and stoichiometry / by JW Döbereiner. 3. verm. And verb. Ed. 1826. Jena: Cröker, 1826. Extent: X, 358 p .: 4 illustrations (copperst.) .; Nebent .: Outline of general chemistry.
- Signs and numbers of elementary substances and the most important inorganic compounds of them. Author: Doebereiner, Johann Wolfgang. 2., verm. And verb. Ed. 1823. Jena: Cröker, 1823. Extent: 12 plates.
- Representation of the signs and ratios of the earthly elements to chemical compounds / by JW Doebereiner. Jena: Cröker, 1823.
- About newly discovered, highly remarkable properties of platinum and the pneumatic-capillary activity of cracked glasses: a contribution to the corpuscular philosophy / by JW Doebereiner. Jena: Schmid, 1823.
- About the chemical constitution of mineral water or proof that the law of certain chemical mixing ratios also applies in mineral water / Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner. Jena, 1821.
- The beginnings of chemistry and stoichiometry / by JW Döbereiner. Published: Jena, in der Crökerschen Buchhandlung, 1819. Extent: XIV, 424 S., [4] gef. Bl .: 4 ill. (Copperplate) .; 2. completely redesigned. Ed. By JW Döbereiner's 1816 published udT “Grundriß der Allgemeine Chemie”.
- Outline of general chemistry: designed for use in his lectures / by JW Döbereiner. Jena: Cröker, 1816. Extent: VIII, 279 pp.
- Representation of the signs and ratios of the earthly elements to chemical compounds / JW Döbereiner. 2nd edition Jena, 1813.
- Textbook of general chemistry: designed for the use of his lectures / by JW Döbereiner. Jena: Academische Buchhandlung, 1811–1812.
- Textbook of general chemistry: designed for the use of his lectures / by JW Döbereiner. Part: Vol. 1. Jena: Academische Buchhandlung, 1811. Extent: VI, 559 pp.
- Textbook of general chemistry: designed for the use of his lectures / by JW Döbereiner. Part: Vol. 2. Jena: Academische Buchhandlung, 1811. Extent: 428 pp.
- Textbook of general chemistry: designed for the use of his lectures / by JW Döbereiner. Part: Vol. 3. Jena: Academische Buchhandlung, 1812. Volume: 222 pp.
literature
- Baier, Johannes: Goethe and the Wolfsberg (Vlčí hora; Czech Republic). - Z. geol. Wiss., 41/42, 209-216; Berlin, 2013/14 ( summary ).
- Baier, Johannes: Goethe's mineralogical studies in Bohemia. - Geohistor. Leaves, 30, 29-47; Berlin, 2019.
- The chemist Döbereiner and his minister Goethe - A reception study. By Heinrich Arnold, in: Vitalprinzip Akademie , Festgabe for the 450th anniversary of the University of Jena, [Ed. Werner Köhler et al.] Erfurt: Akad. Gemeinnütziger Wiss., Sonderschriften 38/2008, pp. 211–232. - ISBN 978-3-932295-72-0 . Url
- Schwedt, Georg: Goethe as a chemist, Berlin a. Heidelberg 1998, pp. 141-162 and 350-351.
- International Döbereiner Colloquium: on the occasion of the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner from May 20 to 22, 1980 in Jena / Friedrich Schiller University Jena; [Ed .: Franz Bolck . Responsible editing: Günther Heublein, Eberhard Müller…]. Otherwise. People: Bolck, Franz * 1918- *; Heublein, Günther [arr.]; Müller, Eberhard [edit] Corporate body: Internationales Döbereiner Colloquium <1980, Jena>. University <Jena>. Published: Jena: Friedrich-Schiller-Univ., 1981. 174 p. With portrait.
- Rudolph Zaunick : Döbereiner, Johann Wolfgang. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 11 f. ( Digitized version ).
- "Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner". Published: [s. l.]: [sn], 1880. From: Weimar newspaper. Sunday supplement - 14 November 1880.
- In memory of Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner: For his friends and students near and far / [Ed .: F. Carl; MJ Schleiden; OLB Wolff; Fr. Racket]. Jena: Schreiber, 1849.
Web links
- Literature by and about Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Member entry of Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , accessed on January 26, 2017.
- ^ Members of the previous academies. Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner. Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities , accessed on January 26, 2017 .
- ↑ Frank Gnegel: Lighter . Ed .: Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe, Westf. Museumamt. Münster 1994, ISBN 3-927204-24-2 .
- ↑ Ostthüringer Zeitung of May 17, 2014 , accessed on April 22, 2018
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Döbereiner, Johann Wolfgang |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German chemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 13, 1780 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hof (Saale) |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 24, 1849 |
| Place of death | Jena |