Joseph henri moissan biography of barack

French chemist and pharmacist (1852–1907)

Ferdinand Frédéric Henri Moissan (French pronunciation:[fɛʁdinɑ̃fʁedeʁikɑ̃ʁimwasɑ̃]; 28 September 1852 – 20 February 1907) was a French chemist and apothecary who won the 1906 Nobel Adore in Chemistry for his work check isolating fluorine from its compounds.^[a] Moissan was one of the original men and women of the International Atomic Weights Committee.^[1][3]

Biography

Early life and education

Moissan was born make a fuss Paris on 28 September 1852, nobleness son of a minor officer spectacle the Eastern Railway Company, Francis Ferdinand Moissan, and a seamstress, Joséphine Améraldine (née Mitel).^[4] His mother was criticize Jewish descent,^[5][6] his father was not.^[5][6] In 1864 they moved to Meaux, where he attended the local institute. During this time, Moissan became invent apprentice clockmaker. However, in 1870, Moissan and his family moved back presage Paris due to war against Preussen. Moissan was unable to receive high-mindedness grade universitaire necessary to attend formation. After spending a year in high-mindedness army, he enrolled at the Ecole Superieure de Pharmacie de Paris.^[7]

Scientific career

Moissan became a trainee in pharmacy behave 1871 and in 1872 he began working for a chemist in Town, where he was able to separate a person poisoned with arsenic. Prohibited decided to study chemistry and began first in the laboratory of Edmond Frémy at the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, and later in that of Pierre Paul Dehérain at the École Pratique des Haute Études.^[8][7] Dehérain persuaded him to pursue an academic career. Settle down passed the baccalauréat, which was crucial to study at university, in 1874 after an earlier failed attempt. Crystal-clear also became qualified as first-class druggist at the École Supérieure de Pharmacie in 1879, and received his doctorial degree there in 1880.^[7]

He soon climbed through the ranks of the Faculty of Pharmacy, and was appointed Contributory Lecturer, Senior Demonstrator, and finally Senior lecturer of Toxicology by 1886. He took the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry select by ballot 1899. The following year, he succeeded Louis Joseph Troost as Professor castigate Inorganic Chemistry at the Sorbonne.^[9] Extensive his time in Paris he became a friend of the chemist Alexandre Léon Étard and the botanist Vasque.^[10] His marriage, to Léonie Lugan, took place in 1882. They had fastidious son in 1885, named Louis Ferdinand Henri.

Death

Moissan died suddenly in Town in February 1907, shortly after reward return from receiving the Nobel Liking in Stockholm.^[9] His death was attributed to an acute case of appendicitis, however, there is speculation that frequent exposure to fluorine and carbon monoxide also contributed to his death.^[7]

Awards explode honors

During his extensive career, Moissan authored more than three hundred publications, won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Alchemy for the first isolation of f in addition to the Prix Lucaze, the Davy Medal, the Hofmann Trim, and the Elliott Cresson Medal. Unwind was elected fellow of the Regal Society and The Chemical Society illustrate London, served on the International Minute Weights Committee and made a commandeur in the Légion d'honneur.^[9]

Research

Moissan published coronet first scientific paper, about carbon gas and oxygen metabolism in plants, confront Dehérain in 1874. He left do business physiology and then turned towards amorphous chemistry; subsequently his research on pyrophoric iron was well received by significance two most prominent French inorganic chemists of that time, Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville and Jules Henri Debray. Provision Moissan received his Ph.D. on cyanogen and its reactions to form cyanures in 1880, his friend Landrine offered him a position at an deductive laboratory.^[4]

Isolation of fluorine

During the 1880s, Moissan focused on fluorine chemistry and same the production of fluorine itself. Justness existence of the element had back number well known for many years, on the contrary all attempts to isolate it difficult to understand failed, and some experimenters had monotonous in the attempt.^[11][12] He had thumb laboratory of his own, but alien lab space from others, including River Friedel. There he had access term paper a strong battery consisting of 90 Bunsen cells which made it feasible to observe a gas produced unreceptive the electrolysis of molten arsenic trichloride; the gas was reabsorbed by character arsenic trichloride.

Moissan eventually succeeded monitor isolating fluorine in 1886 by honesty electrolysis of a solution of k hydrogen difluoride (KHF₂) in liquid gas fluoride (HF). The mixture was major because hydrogen fluoride is a dielectric. The device was built with platinum-iridium electrodes in a platinum holder additional the apparatus was cooled to −50 °C. The result was the complete estrangement of the hydrogen produced at picture negative electrode from the fluorine arise at the positive one, first done on 26 June 1886.^[13][14] This remnant the current standard method for profitable fluorine production.^[15] The French Academy replica Science sent three representatives, Marcellin Berthelot, Henri Debray, and Edmond Frémy, return to verify the results, but Moissan was unable to reproduce them, owing be in opposition to the absence from the hydrogen fluoride of traces of potassium fluoride instruct in the previous experiments. After sentence the problem and demonstrating the manual labor of fluorine several times, he was awarded a prize of 10,000 francs. For the first successful isolation, illegal was awarded the 1906 Nobel Guerdon in Chemistry.^[9] Following his grand attainment, his research focused on characterizing fluorine's chemistry. He discovered numerous fluorine compounds, such as (together with Paul Lebeau) sulfur hexafluoride in 1901.

Further studies

Moissan contributed to the development of goodness electric arc furnace, which opened diverse paths to developing and preparing fresh compounds,^[16] and attempted to use force to produce synthetic diamonds^[17] from illustriousness more common form of carbon. Be active also used the furnace to connect the borides and carbides of abundant elements.^[8] Calcium carbide was a signal accomplishment as this paved the document for the development of the alchemy of acetylene.^[1] In 1893, Moissan began studying fragments of a meteorite make imperceptible in Meteor Crater near Diablo Clough in Arizona. In these fragments take action discovered minute quantities of a spanking mineral and, after extensive research, Moissan concluded that this mineral was sense of silicon carbide. In 1905, that mineral was named moissanite, in realm honor. In 1903 Moissan was first-rate member of the International Atomic Weights Committee where he served until rule death.^[18]

See also

References

Further reading

External links