Tomáš Hermann – Vladimír Karpenko:
From Whale Oil to a Cornerstone of Organic Chemistry: The Double Anniversary of Benzene

Abstract

This article commemorates two milestones in the history of chemistry – the isolation of benzene by Michael Faraday in 1825 and its structural elucidation by August Kekulé in 1865; previous attempts are briefly mentioned. It explores how these events shaped modern organic chemistry and scientific imagination.

Language: czech

Keywords: benzene; Michael Faraday; August Kekulé; history of chemistry; aromatic compounds