August Sigmund Frobenius (earliest date mentioned 1727, died 1741),
FRS,
[Royal Society Selected Fellows' details](_blank)
/ref> also known as Sigismond Augustus Frobenius, Joannes Sigismundus Augustus Frobenius, and Johann Sigismund August Froben, was a German-born chemist in the 18th century who is known for the first detailed description of the properties of diethyl ether
Diethyl ether, or simply ether, is an organic compound with the chemical formula , sometimes abbreviated as . It is a colourless, highly Volatility (chemistry), volatile, sweet-smelling ("ethereal odour"), extremely flammable liquid. It belongs ...
and the naming of this substance (''Spiritus Vini Æthereus'').
Not much is known about his life. He worked in London, Paris, Germany, and Italy. In the laboratory or Ambrose Godfrey in London he produced ether, following a method of Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...
. His first article about ether was published 1729 in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the second journ ...
under the title ''An Account of a Spiritus Vini Æthereus, Together with Several Experiments Tried'' and sparked a new scientific interest in this substance. This article contains an extensive description of the properties of ether but did not include experimental procedures. These missing details were, however, deposited at the Royal Society and were published in 1741 after his death by Cromwell Mortimer. At this time, the procedure had already been discovered and published by other chemists, including Georg Ernst Stahl
Georg Ernst Stahl (22 October 1659Stahl's date of birth is often given erroneously as 1660. The correct date is recorded in the parish register of St. John's church, Ansbach. See – 24 May 1734) was a German chemist, physician and philosopher. ...
, Friedrich Hoffmann
Friedrich Hoffmann or Hofmann (19 February 1660 – 12 November 1742) was a German physician and chemist. He is also sometimes known in English as Frederick Hoffmann.
Life
His family had been connected with medicine for 200 years before him. Bo ...
, Johann Heinrich Pott
Johann Heinrich Pott (6 October 1692 – 29 March 1777) was a Prussian physician, chemist, and a glass and porcelain technologist. He is considered a pioneer of pyrochemistry. He examined the elements bismuth and manganese apart from attempting im ...
, Grosse, Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau
Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau (; 20 July 170013 August 1782) was a French physician, naval engineer and botanist.
Biography
Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau was born in Paris in 1700, the son of Alexandre Duhamel, lord of Denainvilliers. I ...
, Schulze, and Jean Hellot.
See also
* Diethyl ether
Diethyl ether, or simply ether, is an organic compound with the chemical formula , sometimes abbreviated as . It is a colourless, highly Volatility (chemistry), volatile, sweet-smelling ("ethereal odour"), extremely flammable liquid. It belongs ...
External links
* Frobenius, August Sigmund (German Wikisource, transcription of [
])
Articles authored by Frobenius
in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the second journ ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frobenius, August Sigmund
18th-century German chemists
Fellows of the Royal Society
1740s deaths
Year of birth missing
18th-century German writers
18th-century German male writers