List of important chemists (chronological)

This list of eminent chemists represents a selection of people who have made significant discoveries or developments in the field of chemistry . Many discoverers (for example in the field of dyeing or metallurgy ) remained unknown. This list of chemists noted in Wikipedia cannot be complete either. Help to expand it!

This list is sorted by date of birth and contains key words on work in the field of chemistry.

Table of contents Up to 1750 • 1751–1775 • 1776–1800 • 1801–1825 • 1826–1850 • 1851–1875 • 1876–1900 • From 1901

Until 1750

Tapputi , 1200 century BC Chr., First woman chemist in the world
Leukippus , in the 5th century BC BC, idea of the atomistic structure of matter
Democritus , 460–371 BC BC, founder of atomism
Maria the Jewess , between the 1st and 3rd centuries, founder of alchemy , inventor of the ash bath , the bain-marie , the pressure cooker and the first distillation apparatus
Zosimos from Panopolis , approx. 350 – approx. 420, metal dissolution by sulfuric acid , oxygen release from red mercury oxide
Jabir ibn Hayyan , (giver) around 721 to around 815, father of chemistry
Albertus Magnus , around 1200–1280, 'De Rebus Metallicis et de Mineralibus'
Arnaldus de Villanova , 1235–1311, inventor of the Vin Doux Naturel , litmus as an indicator , maceration
Georgius Agricola , 1490–1555, writings on mineralogy, mining and smelting
Theophrast von Hohenheim , 1493–1541 (known as Paracelsus), doctor and chemist; Chemicals as medicine ( iatrochemistry )
Leonhard Thurneysser , 1531–1596, alchemist, chemical urine analysis by distillation
Johan Baptista van Helmont , 1580–1644, doctor and chemist
Johann Rudolph Glauber , around 1604–1670, medicinal properties / technical production of Glauber's salt
Otto Tachenius , 1610–1680, iatrochemist, pharmacist and doctor
Robert Boyle , 1627–1692, co-founder of the modern concept of element
Hennig Brand , around 1630–1692, discovery of phosphorus
Johann Joachim Becher , 1635–1682, preliminary work on the phlogiston theory
Georg Ernst Stahl , 1659–1734, Phlogiston theory,
Johann Friedrich Böttger , 1682–1719, alchemist , porcelain manufacture
Georg Brandt , 1694–1768, discovery of cobalt
Joseph Black , 1728–1799, discoverer of carbon dioxide and the element magnesium
Henry Cavendish , 1731–1810, Discovery of Hydrogen , Air Composition
Joseph Priestley , 1733-1804, Oxygen Discovery
Carl Wilhelm Scheele , 1742–1786, investigation of combustion, discovery of oxygen , chlorine , molybdenum , tungsten
Nicolas Leblanc , 1742–1806, Production of soda using the Leblanc process he developed

Martin Heinrich Klaproth , 1743–1817, discovery of cerium , uranium and zirconium as zirconium dioxide

Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier , 1743–1794, interpretation of combustion as oxygen uptake

Claude Louis Berthollet , 1748–1822, the bleaching effect of chlorine

Daniel Rutherford , 1749–1819, discoverer of nitrogen

1751-1775

Joseph-Louis Proust , 1754–1826, Law of constant proportions, beginning of stoichiometry
Marie Lavoisier , 1758–1836, Memoires de Chimie
Johan Gadolin , 1760–1852, rare earths, gadolinium
Smithson Tennant , 1761–1815, discovery of osmium and iridium
Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin , 1763–1829, discovery of chrome , beryllium , osmium and asparagine
John Dalton , 1766–1844, modern atomic theory, first table with relative atomic masses
William Hyde Wollaston , 1766–1828, discovery of palladium and rhodium , spatial arrangement of atoms, cysteine
Wolfgang Caspar Fikentscher , 1770–1837, founded the chemical factory in Marktredwitz , Germany's first chemical factory

1776-1800

Amedeo Avogadro , 1776-1856, Avogadro's Gas Act
Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac , 1778–1850, pipette , burette , titration ; Gas law, litmus paper , isolation of boron
Sir Humphry Davy , 1778–1829, discovery of sodium , potassium , calcium , strontium , barium, and magnesium
Jöns Jacob Berzelius , 1779–1848, discovery of zirconium , titanium , silicon , selenium , thorium , cerium ; Formula notation
Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner , 1780–1849, catalysis by platinum, triad rule
Joseph von Fraunhofer , 1787–1826, investigation of the solar spectrum
Nils Gabriel Sefström , 1787–1845, discovery of vanadium
John Mercer , 1791–1866, Discovery of Mercerization
Michael Faraday , 1791–1867, discovery of benzene and butylene, charge in electrolysis
Johan August Arfwedson , 1792–1841, discovery of lithium
Eilhard Mitscherlich , 1794–1863, empirical formula of benzene
Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge , 1795–1867, paper chromatography ; Aniline , caffeine
Carl Gustav Mosander , 1797–1858, rare earths, erbium , lanthanum , terbium
Edward Turner , 1798–1837, spread the idea that atomic weights were not multiples of the atomic weight of hydrogen
Christian Friedrich Schönbein , 1799–1868, ozone , gun cotton
Charles Goodyear , 1800–1869, inventor of vulcanization
Friedrich Wöhler , 1800–1882, beginning of synthetic organic chemistry with urea synthesis

1801-1825

Justus von Liebig , 1803–1873, mineral fertilizers , chloroform , baking powder , silver mirror reaction

Thomas Graham , 1805-1869, Colloid Chemistry

Auguste Laurent , 1807–1853, organic syntheses, anthracene , core theory

Robert Wilhelm Bunsen , 1811–1899, Bunsen burner , spectral analysis

Jean Servais Stas , 1813-1891, atomic weight of carbon

Franz Leopold Sonnenschein , 1817–1879, analytical and forensic chemistry

Charles Adolphe Wurtz , 1817–1884, Wurtz-Fittig synthesis , synthesis of ethylamine , discovery of glycol and phosphorus oxychloride

Carl Remigius Fresenius , 1818–1897, Journal for Analytical Chemistry

Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe , 1818–1884, synthesis of acetic acid from inorganic substances

August W. von Hofmann , 1818–1892, Hofmann's rule for elimination

Johann Josef Loschmidt , 1821–1895, Loschmidt number , benzene structure , composition of ozone

Louis Pasteur , 1822–1895, first resolution

Adolph Strecker , 1822–1871, Strecker synthesis

Gustav Robert Kirchhoff , 1824–1887, spectral analysis , discovery of cesium and rubidium

Emil Erlenmeyer , 1825–1909, structural theory, structural formulas , Erlenmeyer flasks

1826-1850

Aleksandr Michajlowitsch Butlerow , 1828–1886, structural formula, sugar synthesis
Joseph Wilson Swan , 1828–1914, synthetic fiber production : nitrocellulose is pressed through a spinneret, photography : dry method using bromide paper
August Friedrich Kekulé von Stradonitz , 1829–1896, benzene structure , representation of bonds as lines
Lothar Meyer , 1830–1895, first periodic table
Hans Heinrich Landolt , 1831–1910, luminescence of gases, physical chemistry , atomic weight , editor of Landolt-Börnstein
Charles Friedel , 1832-1899, Friedel-Crafts reaction
Alfred Nobel , 1833–1896, Dynamit, Nobel Prize Foundation
Peter Waage , 1833–1900, law of mass action
Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe , 1833–1915, Discovery of Vanadium
Hugo Schiff , 1834–1915, Schiff sample , biuret reaction
Dmitri Iwanowitsch Mendelejew , 1834–1907, first periodic table
Carl Schorlemmer , 1834–1902, Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry , Research into Hydrocarbons
Adolf von Baeyer , 1835–1917, chemical bond, synthesis of dyes
Rudolph Fittig , 1835–1910, synthesis of methacrylic acid and pinacol from acetone ; Explanation of the structure of benzoquinone, Wurtz-Fittig synthesis
Johannes Diderik van der Waals , 1837–1923, gas equation
Clemens Alexander Winkler , 1838–1904, discovery of indium and germanium
Friedrich Konrad Beilstein , 1838–1906, editor of Beilstein's Handbook of Organic Chemistry
William Henry Perkin , 1838–1907, first dye synthesis
Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran , 1838–1912, discovery of gallium , samarium , dysprosium
Wladimir Wassiljewitsch Markownikow , 1838–1904, Regioselectivity in addition
Ernest Solvay , 1838-1922, Solvay Process
James Mason Crafts , 1839-1917, Friedel-Crafts reaction
Georges Leclanché , 1839–1882, zinc-brownstone cell (Leclanché element)
Sir James Dewar , 1842-1923, Low Temperature Experiments, Dewar Vacuum Flask
Carl Engler , 1842–1925, indigo research, founder of petroleum chemistry, Engler viscometer
Ellen Swallow Richards , 1842–1911, one of the founders of ecology ("environmental hygiene")
Joseph König , 1843–1930, founder of German food chemistry
Ludwig Boltzmann , 1844–1906, frequency distribution of kinetic energy
Ernst Schmidt , 1845–1921, 1888 discovery of scopolamine , 1917 synthesis of ephedrine
Carl Josef Bayer , 1847–1904, Bayer process for aluminum production
Otto Wallach , 1847–1931, terpenes
Victor Meyer , 1848–1897, determination of molar mass
Georg Krause , 1849–1927, founder of the "Chemiker-Zeitung"
Johan Kjeldahl , 1849–1900, development of a method for the determination of proteins
Henry Le Chatelier , 1850–1936, discovery of the principle of the smallest constraint (principle of Le Chatelier)

1851-1875

Walther Hempel , 1851–1916, technical gas analysis
Hermann Frasch , 1851–1914, Frasch process for sulfur production
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff , 1852–1911, Chirality of the carbon atom, pressure and temperature dependencies of reactions
Richard Anschütz , 1852–1937, synthesis of anthracene
Emil Fischer , 1852–1919, chemistry and constitution of carbohydrates, Fischer projection, sugar and purine synthesis, NP 1902
Ferdinand Frédéric Henri Moissan , 1852–1907, element fluorine , Moissan furnace, NP 1906
Sir William Ramsay , 1852–1916, discovery of helium , neon , krypton , xenon, and argon
Ernst Otto Beckmann , 1853–1923, rearrangements, Beckmann thermometer
Wilhelm Ostwald , 1853–1932, Production of nitric acid from ammonia , NP 1909
Rudolf Leuckart , 1854–1889, Leuckart-Wallach reaction
Carl Auer von Welsbach , 1858–1929, discovered neodymium , praseodymium , ytterbium and lutetium , industrial use of rare earths (mantle, "flint")
Amé Pictet , 1857–1937, synthesis of phenanthridine (1889), nicotine (1895), laudanosine and papaverine (1909), sucrose (1928)
Pierre Curie , 1859–1906, discovery of radium and polonium , NP 1903
Svante Arrhenius , 1859–1927, electrolytic dissociation , concept of acid
Julius Tafel , 1862–1918, developer of the Tafel equation for electrochemical kinetics named after him
Leo Hendrik Baekeland , 1863–1944, inventor of Bakelite
Walther Nernst , 1864–1941, Thermodynamics, NP 1920
Oskar Dressel , 1865–1941, discoverer of the drug Germanin
Emil Knoevenagel 1865–1921, syntheses of cyclohexane , benzene and pyridine derivatives from diketones
Richard Adolf Zsigmondy , 1865–1929, Colloid Chemistry , NP 1925
Heinrich Biltz 1865–1943, proof of the oxidative degradation of uric acid with different oxidizing agents
Roland Scholl , 1865–1945, vat dyes , polyaromatic hydrocarbons
Marie Curie , 1867–1934, discovery of radium and polonium , NP 1903 and NP 1911
Georg Bredig , 1868–1944, catalysis
Fritz Haber , 1868–1934, Ammoniaksynthese, NP 1919 , husband of Clara Immerwahr
Søren Sørensen , 1868–1939, pH concept
Fritz Pregl , 1869–1930, Microanalysis of Organic Substances, NP 1923
Max Bodenstein , 1871–1942, founder of kinetics
Francois Auguste Victor Grignard , 1871–1935, Magnesiumorganyle, NP 1912
Sir Ernest Rutherford , 1871–1937, atomic model, NP 1908
Morris William Travers , 1872–1961, discovery of neon , krypton , xenon
Georges Urbain , 1872–1938, discovery of ytterbium and lutetium
Carl Bosch , 1874–1940, technical ammonia synthesis, high pressure process, NP 1931
Gilbert Newton Lewis , 1875–1946, Theory of Covalent Bonding (Octet Rule)

1876-1900

Otto Diels , 1876–1954, Diene Synthesis, NP 1950

Alfred Stock , 1876–1946, borohydrides, silanes, mercury

Adolf Windaus , 1876–1959, sterols, vitamins

Francis William Aston , 1877–1945, mass spectrometry , NP 1922

Wilhelm Biltz , 1877–1943, Colloid Chemistry; thermal, caloric and radiographic analysis methods

Carl Mannich , 1877–1947, inventor of the Mannich reaction

Frederick Soddy , 1877-1956, Isotopie

Lise Meitner , 1878–1968, Protactinium , first physical interpretation of nuclear fission together with Otto Robert Frisch

Otto Hahn , 1879–1968, pioneer of radiochemistry, founder of nuclear chemistry , discoverer of protactinium , nuclear isomerism and nuclear fission of the uranium atom, NP 1944

Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted , 1879–1947, proton theory ( Brønsted-Lowry concept ) on acids and bases

Anne Shymer , 1879–1915, discovery of a bleaching agent for textiles

Hans Fischer , 1881–1945, hemin and chlorophyll

Irving Langmuir , 1881–1957, Langmuir torch, tungsten incandescent lamp, NP 1932

Hermann Staudinger , 1881–1965, Polymers, NP 1953

Friedrich Bergius , 1884–1949, technical processes for carbohydrate and wood saccharification

Barend Coenraad Petrus Jansen , 1884–1962, first isolation of vitamin B ₁

Theodor Svedberg , 1884–1971, Kolloidchemie, NP 1926

Peter Josephus Wilhelmus Debye , 1884–1966, molecular dipole moments

Niels Bohr , 1885–1962, atomic model

James Riddik Partington , 1886–1965, chemical historian

Henry Moseley , 1887–1915, method for the unambiguous determination of the atomic number of an element

Leopold Ružička , 1887–1976, Synthesis of Flavorings, NP 1939

Walter Kossel , 1888–1956, Ionic bond theory (octet rule)

Paul Karrer , 1889–1971, structure elucidation of carotenoids , flavins as well as vitamins A ₁ , B ₂ and E

William Justin Kroll , 1889–1973, technical titanium manufacture

Walter Fuchs , 1891–1957, researcher into coal formation

Harold C. Urey , 1893–1981, Isotope Chemistry, The Origin of Life, Nobel Prize

Sir Christopher Kelk Ingold , 1893–1970, nomenclature: R / S naming of enantiomers

Alexander Pawlowitsch Winogradow , 1895–1975, determination of the age of the earth

Ida Tacke , 1896–1978, discovery of rhenium

Erich Hückel , 1896–1980, Hückel rule

Irène Joliot-Curie , 1897–1956, Discovery of artificial radioactivity , NP 1935

Georg Wittig , 1897–1987, Olefinsynthese mit Phosphoryliden, NP 1979

Karl Ziegler , 1898–1973, catalytic polymerisation

Erika Cremer , 1900–1996, development of gas chromatography

From 1901

Linus Carl Pauling , 1901–1994, chemical bond, hybrid orbitals, NP 1954
Kurt Alder , 1902–1958, Diene Synthesis, NP 1950
Bernd Eistert , 1902–1978, chain extension reaction of carboxylic acids
Fritz Straßmann , 1902–1980, nuclear fission , together with Otto Hahn
Giulio Natta , 1903–1979, catalytic polymerisation, NP 1963
Adolf Butenandt , 1903–1995, isolation and structure determination of sex hormones
Richard Müller , 1903-1999, Müller-Rochow synthesis of silanes
Gerhard Schrader , 1903–1990, organic phosphoric acid esters, insecticides such as parathion , chemical warfare agents such as tabun and sarin
Albert Hofmann , 1906–2008, discovery of LSD
Willard Frank Libby , 1906-1980, radiocarbon dating , NP 1960
Vladimir Prelog , 1906–1998, Stereochemistry of Organic Molecules
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin , 1910-1994, Structural Analyzes
Herbert C. Brown , 1912-2004, Hydroboration, Organoborane, NP 1979
Glenn T. Seaborg , 1912-1999, Plutonium and Other Transuranics
Wilhelm Nils Fresenius , 1913–2004, “father” of German analytical chemistry
Francis Harry Compton Crick , 1916–2004, discoverer of the molecular structure of DNA
Helmut Zahn , 1916–2004, protein chemistry, first synthesis of insulin
Robert B. Woodward , 1917–1979, organic synthesis: cholesterol , strychnine , chlorophyll , vitamin B12 , NP 1965
Ernst Otto Fischer , 1918–2007, organometallic compounds, sandwich compounds, NP 1973
Wolfgang Walter , 1919–2005, "Textbook of Organic Chemistry"
Robert Ghormley Parr , 1921-2017, molecular orbital calculations
Gilbert Stork , 1921-2017, Total Synthesis of Quinine
Robert Bruce Merrifield , 1921-2006, Solid Phase Synthesis
Rudolph Pariser , * 1923, molecular orbital calculations
Ulrich Wannagat , 1923–2003, organosilicon chemistry
John Anthony Pople , 1925–2004, molecular orbital calculations, ab initio calculation methods, Gaussian program
Manfred Eigen , 1927–2019, Investigation of Extremely Rapid Reactions, NP 1967
George A. Olah , * 1927, Carbocations, NP 1994
Ivar Ugi , 1930-2005, Multicomponent Reactions, Combinatorial Chemistry
Harald Günther , * 1935, structure elucidation using NMR
Gerhard Ertl , * 1936, father of modern surface chemistry , NP 2007