Kekule, August

Name:
Kekule, August
Detailed information:
(1829–1896). Born in Darmstadt, Germany, Kekule laid the basis for the ensuing development of aromatic chemistry. His idea of a hexagonal structure for benzene in 1865 was a monumental contribution to theoretical organic chemistry. “This had been preceded in 1858 by the remarkable notion that carbon was tetravalent and that carbon atoms could be joined to each other in molecules.” The theory of the benzene ring has been called the “most brilliant piece of scientific prediction to be found in the whole field of organic chemistry, for besides promulgating the idea, he had predicted the number and types of isomers which might be expected in various substitutions on the ring” (L. B. Clapp).