Career
Gmelin was professor of chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Tübingen. In 1828 he was one of the first to devise a process for the artificial manufacture of ultramarine. In 1818, Gmelin was the first to observe that lithium salts give a bright red color in flame.
Gmelin was born in Tübingen.
He was a grandson of Johann Konrad Gmelin and a great-grandson of Johann Georg Gmelin. He died in Tübingen.