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 substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

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

Eupen Eupen (, ; ; formerly ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Liège, from the German border ( Aachen), from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the " High Fe ...

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

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick Will ...

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

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was na ...

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

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') 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 s ...

.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 which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet ('' Beta vulgaris''). Together ...

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 (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

, and he also improved

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powderSmokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to gunpowder ("black powder"). The combustion products are mainly gaseous, compared to ...

for

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...

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; as in washing of loaded ion-exchange resins to remove captured ions. In a liquid chromatography experiment, for exa ...

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, such as a quaternary ammonium or phosphonium cation (generally: onium ions) that bears no hydrogen atom and with a negatively char ...

, asparaginic acid,

glutamic acid Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; the ionic form is known as glutamate) 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 syn ...

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

, 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. Two major classes are known: those for bacteria and eukaryotes and a separate family for archaea. Structures The ...

and

cholesterol Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell membr ...

. 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 with a strong base. Sr(OH)2 exists in anhydrous A substance is anhydrous if it contains no ...

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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

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