He was one of the youngest students of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, where he studied history and chemistry in 1825-1828. Subsequently he studied at Berlin University, receiving a Doctor of Philosophy with his dissertation On Combination of Oxalic Acid and Alkali.
He invented a process to distill kerosene from petroleum. Simultaneously he served as assistant to Professor Eilhard Mitscherlich. On the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising, he went to Warsaw and joined the Polish Army.
He served as adjutant to Colonel Samuel Różycki, commander of the 7th infantry regiment.
In 1831, aged 21, he was named professor of chemistry at the Jagiellonian University, but was granted a leave of absence and went to Germany and France to become acquainted with applied chemistry. In France he collaborated with the famous chemists, Jean Dumas and Pierre-Joseph Pelletier.
In sum, he isolated and studied 24 new chemical compounds, including toluene, biphenyl, nitrotoluene, cedrene, potassium hydroxide dihydrate, chromyl chloride, kumen, biphenyl, benzyl chloride, benzyl bromide, nitrotoluene, and menthene. In 1847 he was decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honour.
