Life and achievements
Early life
Alfred Werner was born on December 12, 1866, in Mulhouse in Alsace, France. His father, Jean-Adam Werner, was a factory foreman, while his mother, Jeanne Tesche, was from a low-income family background. Werner was the youngest in the family of four children in a family that was very poor but encouraged the children to be intellectual. His school-based experiments in his early years led to his initial fascination with chemistry. Already at 18, Werner was engaged in chemical research on his own, which was a reasonable basis for his future academic career.
Werner's primary education was in Alsace, and for his further studies, he went to the Federal Technical High School in Zurich, Switzerland. He performed well in chemistry there, especially under the tutelage of professors such as Arthur Hantzsch. His aptitude for understanding chemical ideas advanced rapidly, and in 1889, he passed the diploma in Technical Chemistry. Werner went to the University of Zurich to complete his doctorate, which he did in 1890. His thesis was on the spatial organization of atoms in nitrogen compounds, which is the work that formed the basis of his future research in coordination chemistry.
Werner was interested in breaking limitations in his early years of education. In 1891, he went to Paris to work under the famous chemist Marcellin Berthelot at the Collège de France to develop himself more. During these formative years, Werner had already developed an interest in the geometrical arrangement of molecules to transform the study of inorganic chemistry.
Legacy
Alfred Werner's contribution to chemistry can be summed up as the shift of focus to coordination theory. This described how metal atoms formed bonds with ligands, altering the way chemists viewed chemical compounds and introducing new concepts into chemistry.
Before Werner's work, the bonding of transition metals needed to be better explained, and there was no way to describe the behavior of the metals in compounds. Werner's contribution that the metal atom is at the center of the ligands, and the ligands are arranged geometrically around the metal atom, introduced order into a somewhat disorganized study area.
Werner's theory of coordination, which he put forward in 1893, described how metal atoms could coordinate with other molecules to form stable complexes. His finding of the coordination numbers, including the number six as a typical number for the transition metals, paved the way for determining the geometric arrangements of these compounds. This was a significant leap in inorganic chemistry and paved the way for synthesizing and analyzing synthetic and natural products.
Werner did not limit himself to theoretical work; he synthesized many compounds he investigated, thereby supporting his theories with practice. His research included the discovery of optically active coordination compounds. He demonstrated that even metal complexes could exhibit properties previously believed to be characteristic of organic compounds only, such as chirality. This breakthrough was significant in fields such as pharmacology and material science.
Werner's influence did not end with his death. His coordination theory became a significant part of chemistry education in modern schools. The ideas he introduced have been developed further in fields such as bioinorganic chemistry. Other areas of Werner's accomplishments include several awards, such as the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1913. Today, his name is associated with coordination chemistry, and his work remains a source of knowledge in modern chemistry regarding molecular structures.
Milestone moments
Jul 24, 1890
Doctorate in Chemistry
Alfred Werner started his academic career with his PhD in 1890 from the University of Zurich. His doctoral thesis was on nitrogen-containing compounds and their spatial distribution of atoms, which was the first sign of his inclination toward molecular geometry.
This achievement paved the way for his subsequent work on coordination chemistry, highlighting his insight into how atomic structure determines chemical processes.
Werner's doctorate not only showed that it contained revolutionary ideas but also showed that Werner was capable of questioning the theories of the day.
His early work concerned the atomic valency theory, which was fashionable then, and this set the stage for his later work in coordination compounds.
This was the first significant step in a career that would revolutionize inorganic chemistry.
Sep 18, 1893
Introduction of Coordination Theory
In 1893, at 27, Werner came out with his theory of coordination compounds. This theory stated that metal atoms could coordinate with other molecules or ions in definite geometrical structures called coordination complexes.
This was revolutionary, given that previous models could not account for the behavior of transition metal compounds.
Werner's theory also added to understanding the coordination number, which refers to the number of ligands bonded to the central metal ion.
His ideas gave a systematic approach to anticipating and explaining the structures of even more elaborate metal compounds.
They directed new areas of research in both inorganic and organic chemistry.
This was the start of Werner's impact on the field of chemistry and laid the foundation for his work in the future.
Mar 11, 1913
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Alfred Werner was given the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1913 for his efforts on the structure of complex compounds. This recognition thus affirmed him as one of the pioneers in the field of inorganic chemistry and justified the worth of his coordination theory.
Notably, Werner was the first inorganic chemist awarded the Nobel Prize, which speaks volumes about his achievements in the field.
The Nobel Prize awarded Werner for his capacity to make order out of what was previously considered a chaotic chemistry sub-discipline.
His work helped understand the structures of metal complexes and laid a foundation for future chemists to use in synthesizing new compounds and materials.
This was the crowning moment of Werner's career and established him as one of the most essential chemists of the twentieth century.
Apr 16, 1914
The Discovery of Optically Active Complexes
Another milestone in Werner's career was achieved in 1914 when he identified optically active coordination compounds. These compounds, which do not contain carbon, proved that chirality, a property characteristic only of organic molecules, may manifest itself in inorganic complexes.
This discovery enriched the knowledge of molecular symmetry and stereochemistry and opened new possibilities for understanding the interaction with light.
Werner's work on the optical activity in coordination compounds significantly impacted chemistry and related fields.
It provided the opportunity to synthesize materials with desired optical characteristics.
It questioned the division between organic and inorganic chemistry.
This discovery also established Werner as a great visionary scientist among the people.