Friedrich Konrad Beilstein (17 February 1838 – 18 October 1906) was a Russian empire chemist and founder of the famous Handbuch der organischen Chemie (Handbook of Organic Chemistry).
School period
College/University
Gallery of Friedrich Beilstein
University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Friedrich Beilstein studied chemistry under the tuition of Robert Bunsenleft at the University of Heidelberg.
Gallery of Friedrich Beilstein
Friedrich Konrad Beilstein in his youth.
Gallery of Friedrich Beilstein
University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
In 1858 he received the doctorate at the University of Göttingen.
Gallery of Friedrich Beilstein
Friedrich Konrad Beilstein in younger years.
Career
Gallery of Friedrich Beilstein
1868
Founders of the Russian Chemical Society (1868). F. Beilstein stands fourth from right.
Gallery of Friedrich Beilstein
1900
The 200th anniversary of the Berlin Academy (1900). From left to right: A. Landenburg, S. Jorgenson, E. Held, G. Landolt, C. Winkler, T. Thorpe, are sitting: J. Van't Hoff, F. F. Beilstein, U. Ramzai, D. And Mendeleev, A. Bayer, A. Koss.
The 200th anniversary of the Berlin Academy (1900). From left to right: A. Landenburg, S. Jorgenson, E. Held, G. Landolt, C. Winkler, T. Thorpe, are sitting: J. Van't Hoff, F. F. Beilstein, U. Ramzai, D. And Mendeleev, A. Bayer, A. Koss.
Friedrich Konrad Beilstein was a Russian Empire prominent chemist. He is noted as the founder of the famous Handbuch der organischen Chemie. He is also regarded for being the developer of the Beilstein test, an elemental test used to detect the presence of halogens.
Background
Friedrich Konrad Beilstein was born on February 17, 1838, in Saint St. Petersburg. Beilstein’s parents, Friedrich Beilstein and Catharine Margaret Rutsch, were German. His father, a salesman, and tailor from Lichtenberg near Darmstadt was related to Justus Liebig. His mother came from a farming and weaving family, and her uncle, Johannes Conrad Rutsch, was court tailor to the czar.
Education
Beilstein’s uncle Rutsch took an interest in Beilstein and sent him, at the age of fifteen, to Germany for study. At the age of 15, he left for the University of Heidelberg where he studied chemistry under the tuition of Robert Bunsen. In 1858 he received the doctorate at Göttingen, then continued his studies with Wurtz and Charles Friedel in Paris, and with Löwig in Breslau.
In 1860 Beilstein began to teach at Göttingen, and in 1865 was appointed extraordinary professor. As a result of family difficulties following his father’s death, Beilstein moved to the Technical Institute of St. Petersburg in 1866 and remained there the rest of his life. From 1865 to 1871 he, Hübner, and Fittig edited the Zeitschrift für Chemie. He belonged to the Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft, In 1881 Beilstein became a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a position associated with a good income, a private dwelling and a laboratory.
In 1860, he showed that ethylidene chloride, obtained by Wurtz in 1858, was identical with the éther hydrochlorique monochloridée of Régnault. With F. Reichenbach he showed in 1864 that Kolbe and Lautemann’s salicylic acid was only impure benzoic, and with J. Wilbrand he showed in 1863 that dracylic acid from nitrodracylic acid was also identical with benzoic acid.
He himself had prepared pure hydracrylic acid in 1862, only to see the formula he had assigned to this compound overturned two years later by the work of Moldenhauer. In 1866, through his work with P. Geitner on the chlorination of benzene compounds, he became more convinced of the importance of Kekule’s ideas. They had investigated when chlorination would occur on a side chain and when in the nucleus. He also worked on aromatic compounds in various petroleum fractions.
At Gottingen, Beilstein had attempted to bring order into organic chemistry and had started his Handbuch der organische Chemie, which superseded Gmelin’s textbook. In Beilstein’s handbook, material that had previously been included in textbooks in an abbreviated form was now expanded into a new form of chemical literature. The first edition (1880-1882) described 15,000 compounds. The rapid growth of organic chemistry made new editions imperative. By the end of the century, the magnitude of the task was too great for one man. The Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft agreed to prepare a supplement to the third edition.
After Beilstein’s death, they began to prepare a fourth edition, which would survey the literature to 1910. This edition appeared in 1937. The following year a supplement of equal length appeared, covering the decade 1910-1919. Work continued on a second supplement.
Beilstein’s work with many of the leading chemists of the day impressed him with the differences and difficulties in organic chemistry. Some chemists were guided by dualistic electrochemical notions and the older radical theory, while others viewed compounds as substitution products of several basic types of molecules. In addition, ideas about valence and the geometrical arrangement of bonds in structural formulas were being put forth. Beilstein was aware of all these views. He was attracted by Kekulé’s ideas, for they seemed to provide a possible solution to the difficulties and to permit the writing of specific formulas for compounds. His own work heightened his awareness of the need for specific formulas.
Membership
In 1881 Beilstein was elected to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
Personality
Beilstein was very fond of traveling and was spending several months per year in Europe.
Interests
traveling
Connections
Beilstein remained a bachelor all his life but adopted a daughter who was his companion in later years.