Carl Wilhelm Bernhard Scheibler (16 February 1827 – 2 April 1899) was a German chemist. Scheibler's research focused on sugar, including the technical chemistry of sugar production and the composition of

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

. Scheibler was the son of Friedrich August Theodor Scheibler (1788–1864) and Anna Gertrud Eschweiler (1806–1877) in Gemereth/

Eupen Eupen (, , ; ; ; former ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Liège Province, province of Liège, from the Germany, German border (Aachen ...

, at that time a small town close to the Belgian border. He went to school in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

and studied chemistry at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. He received his PhD for his work ''De Wolframiatibus''. Scheibler worked with Gustav Werther in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

and from 1858 at the ''Pommersche Provinzial-Zuckersiederei'' in

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

.Elisabeth Nay-Scheibler: ''Die Geschichte der Familie Scheibler'', in: ''Stiftung Scheibler-Museum Rotes Haus Monschau'' (Hg), Köln 1994Carl Johann Heinrich Scheibler: ''Geschichte und Geschlechtsregister der Familie Scheibler'', Cologne, 1895 In 1866 Scheibler founded the ''Zuckerchemische und technische Laboratorium'' (Laboratory for sugar chemistry and technology) in Berlin, which was financed by the Verein der Deutschen Zuckerrübenindustrie (Association of the German

Sugar Beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

Industry). It was one of the first institutes dedicated to the chemistry of sugar. In 1870 Scheibler became professor at the Gewerbeakademie Berlin and at the University of Agriculture Berlin and he also was a member of the imperial patent office in Berlin between 1877 and 1882. After a conflict with the Verein der Deutschen Zuckerrübenindustrie in 1882, he only worked privately at his institute, but he was able to patent several inventions in that time. For example, he helped his relative Carl Johann Heinrich Scheibler invent a

fertiliser A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

, and he also improved

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powder Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formula ...

for

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

in 1888. His most influential patents were based on the technical production of sugar from beets. The crystallisation of sugar from molasses was difficult and therefore the sugar had to be separated from the molasses. In 1863 Scheibler invented the

elution In analytical and organic chemistry, elution is the process of extracting one material from another by washing with a solvent: washing of loaded ion-exchange resins to remove captured ions, or eluting proteins or other biopolymers from an el ...

method. During his research on molasses he discovered several compounds in molasses, for example

betaine A betaine () in chemistry is any neutral chemical compound with a positively charged cationic functional group that bears no hydrogen atom, such as a Quaternary ammonium cation, quaternary ammonium or phosphonium cation (generally: Onium compou ...

, asparaginic acid,

glutamic acid Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; known as glutamate in its anionic form) is an α- amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is a non-essential nutrient for humans, meaning that the human body can ...

arabinose Arabinose is an aldopentose – a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms, and including an aldehyde (CHO) functional group. Properties For biosynthetic reasons, most saccharides are almost always more abundant in nature as the "D"-form, o ...

, arabinic acid,

dextran Dextran is a complex branched glucan (polysaccharide derived from the condensation of glucose), originally derived from wine. IUPAC defines dextrans as "Branched poly-α-d-glucosides of microbial origin having glycosidic bonds predominantly C-1 ...

phosphoglyceride Glycerophospholipids or phosphoglycerides are glycerol-based phospholipids. They are the main component of biological membranes in Eukaryotic cells, eukaryotic cells. They are a type of lipid, of which its composition affects membrane structure ...

and

cholesterol Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body Tissue (biology), tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in Animal fat, animal fats and oils. Cholesterol is biosynthesis, biosynthesized by all anima ...

. He improved the strontia saccharate process, in which

strontium hydroxide Strontium hydroxide, Sr(OH)2, is a caustic alkali composed of one strontium ion and two hydroxide ions. It is synthesized by combining a strontium Salt (chemistry), salt with a strong base. Sr(OH)2 exists in anhydrous, hydrate, monohydrate, or oct ...

is mixed with the molasses and strontium di-saccharate precipitates and can be separated from the molasses. Prior to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the beet sugar industry used 100,000 to 150,000 tons of strontium hydroxide for this process per year. Scheibler died in Berlin on 2 April 1899.

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Further reading