Auguste André Thomas Cahours facts for kids
Auguste André Thomas Cahours (born 1813, died 1891) was a French chemist and scientist. He made huge contributions to organic chemistry, which is the study of chemicals found in living things.
He found new ways to make many important chemical molecules. These included toluene, xylene, and special compounds called organo-magnesiums. He also worked with chemicals related to phosphine and arsine.
Cahours taught at important schools like the École Polytechnique and the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. In 1868, he became a member of the Académie des sciences (Academy of Sciences) in the chemistry group. Later, in 1880, he received a high honor, becoming a commander of the Légion d'honneur.
Early Life
Auguste Cahours was born in Paris, France, on October 2, 1813. He was the first of two children. His father, André Cahours, worked for the French government before becoming a tailor. His mother was Rose Adelaide Cartront. Auguste had a younger brother named Louis.
Auguste went to high school in his neighborhood. In 1833, he was accepted into the École Polytechnique, a famous engineering school. He graduated in 1835. Later, he returned to this school as a chemistry professor.
Career in Science
After graduating, Auguste Cahours joined the French Army. However, he soon left the army to focus on his love for science. He became a student of the famous chemist Michel Eugene Chevreul. From 1836, Cahours worked as Chevreul's "preparer" for four years at the National Museum of Natural History.
In 1839, he moved to the lab of Jean Baptiste André Dumas. Dumas quickly made him a "repeater" at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. This meant he helped students learn and practice. Dumas also put him in charge of the student labs.
A year later, Cahours became a volunteer "assistant tutor" at the École Polytechnique. He held this job for 11 years. In 1851, he became an "exit examiner" at the same school. His job was to check how well students were doing and rank them when they finished their studies. At the same time, he joined the School Improvement Council. He took over from his old teacher, Chevreul, who had left.
In 1845, Cahours earned his Doctor of Science degree from the Faculty of Science in Paris. In the same year, he took over Dumas's job as the head of General Chemistry Courses at the Ecole Centrale. He kept this important teaching role until 1870.
Throughout his career, he taught chemistry many times. In 1851, he became a chemistry professor at the School of Application of the Manufacture of Tobacco. He even filled in for Dumas twice in his chemistry classes. First, at the Sorbonne, and then at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufacture. He officially left the Ecole Polytechnique in 1888.
Personal Life
Auguste Cahours married Maria Robillard, who was born in 1821. They had two sons, Georges and André. Between 1867 and 1871, Cahours went through a very difficult time. He lost his wife, his brother, and both of his sons. His younger son was killed during the Franco-German war.
In 1881, when he was 68 years old, he married again to Madeleine Levant. He passed away ten years later, on March 17, 1891, in Paris. He was 78 years old.
Amazing Discoveries
Auguste Cahours made many important discoveries in different areas of chemistry. He worked with other famous scientists like Bineau, Hofmann, and Gerhardt.
With Bineau, Cahours figured out how to measure the density of vapor under normal air pressure. Working with August Wilhelm von Hofmann, he discovered allylic alcohol. Cahours's work focused on three main areas:
- Finding New Products: He discovered and created many new chemicals. These included amyl and allyl alcohols, toluene, xylene, and special compounds called organometallics. He also worked with acids like cuminic and anisic acids.
- Developing New Methods: He created new ways to do chemical reactions. For example, he found new ways to add chlorine to chemicals using PCl5. He also developed methods for making phenol esters and for identifying chemicals.
- Helping Develop Theories: His work helped improve important chemistry ideas. He contributed to the understanding of how atoms connect (valence). He also helped explain how different forms of chemicals (isomers) are structured. His work on vapor densities helped support the atomic theory. He also helped define how chemicals can be grouped into "series" and "functions," like alcohols.
In Dumas’s lab, Cahours studied a substance from potatoes. From just a small, impure sample, he was able to identify it as an alcohol. He named it amyl alcohol. At that time, scientists didn't have easy ways to tell different types of alcohols apart. Amyl alcohol became the fourth known alcohol, joining ethanol, methanol, and cetyl alcohol.
Cahours also worked with other scientists to make big steps in classifying known and unknown compounds. For example, he worked with Gerhardt to discover cumene. They did a similar reaction that Mistcherlich used on benzoic acid, but they used cuminic acid instead. Their interest in benzoic compounds led to the discovery of many aromatic compounds. These included cumene, cymene, and cinnamene (which is also called styrene).
Cahours also did a lot of research on salicylic acid. He got this acid from "essence of wintergreen," which comes from a plant. The way he got this acid was used by many other scientists. Later, an industrial process called Kolbe's reaction replaced his method. Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe developed this reaction between 1843 and 1845. This process uses a special ion from phenol, which, when treated with CO2 under high pressure and sulfuric acid, forms salicylic acid.
Later, Cahours studied phosphorus perchloride. His work set an important example for how to make acid chlorides. This was based on a reaction that Liebig and Wöhler had found.
Auguste Cahours also studied organometallics. He showed that some substances, like tin, naturally try to form a stable structure (SnX4).
Awards and Honors
Cahours received the Jecker Prize from the Academy of Sciences twice. The first time was in 1860 for his work on Radicals. He shared this award with Wurtz. He won it again seven years later, in 1867, for his discoveries about steam densities.
He also received several honors from the Legion of Honor. He was named Knight in 1846, Officer in 1843, and Commander in 1880.
In 1870, after the Franco-German War, Cahours was the first French scientist to be invited to join the German Chemical Society. He was also a member of many other important scientific groups, including:
- The Philatelic Society
- The Academy of Sciences and Belles-Lettres of Rouen
- The Academy of Sciences
- The Academy of Cherbourg
- The Academy of Dijon
- The Chemical Society of London
- The Berlin Academy (as a correspondent)
- The Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg
See Also
In Spanish: Auguste André Thomas Cahours para niños
