Fluorine joseph henri moissan rabat

Moissan’s Isolation of Fluorine

The French chemist Henri Moissan received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1906 for his isolation and investigation of the element fluorine and for his introduction of the electric furnace in the preparation of metal carbides and other refractory materials.

Fluorine joseph henri moissan rabat

The competition to earn the favor from the members of the chemical section of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was particularly tough that year: Moissan edged out by only one vote (5–4) no one less than Dmitri Mendeleev! Unfortunately, the famous Russian chemist never got another chance to win the coveted prize since he died of influenza on 2 February 1907, and Moissan himself passed away from acute appendicitis 18 days later, shortly after returning to Paris from his trip to Stockholm.

The synthesis of elemental fluorine in 1886 was no small feat and Moissan succeeded where many before him had failed.

The key to the isolation of this most reactiv