In Organic Chemistry, there is the famous story about the chemist Kekule, who had been trying to discover what made compounds like benzene so different from the others. In a dream, he had a vision of a snake catching ahold of its tail, and forming a ring. Suddenly he realized that benzene
could be a ring. And so it turned out to be.
Kekulé von Stradonitz, Friedrich August (1829-1896), German chemist, best known for proposing the ring structure of the benzene molecule. Kekulé was born in Darmstadt. He studied architecture at the University of Giessen but turned to chemistry after he heard the lectures of the German chemist Justus von Liebig. In 1856 he became assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Heidelberg and in 1858 was appointed to a similar position at the University of Ghent. From 1865 until his death, Kekulé was professor of chemistry at the University of Bonn.
The results of Kekulé's research on the linking of carbon atoms were of great importance in the development of organic chemistry. He introduced the concept of tetravalent carbon atoms joining with each other and with other atoms to form the molecules of organic compounds. See Aromatic Compounds; Chemistry; Chemistry, Organic.
"Kekulé von Stradonitz, Friedrich August," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
