Henri Moissan Research Articles

Recent Advances in C—F Bond Formation from Carbon‐Centered Radicals

Comprehensive SummaryConstruction of C—F bonds is a direct and efficient method for introducing fluorine into pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and materials. Strategies such as nucleophilic, electrophilic, radical, and transition‐metal catalyzed fluorination have been developed to meet the demand of diverse C—F bond formation. Among them, radical fluorination has been witnessed with substantial advancement in a recent decade. Herein, we reviewed methods for formation of C—F bonds with carbon‐centered radicals as key intermediates, especially in recent five years. We introduce in the paper with different fluorinating reagents, strategies for radical generation, and application in late‐stage functionalization and synthesis of PET tracers. We also indicate the current limitations and propose the direction of the field for the future development. Key ScientistsRadical fluorination was recognized as an old and uncontrolled reaction that may date back to the time when element fluorine was first mixed with organic compounds by Henri Moissan in 1891. The development of the field was slow in combination with discovery of new fluorinating reagents. Substantial changes took place in 2012, when the first example of carbon radical fluorination with robust and mild fluorinating reagents, such as NFSI and Selectfluor, was reported by the Sammis group. In the same year, Groves, Lectka, Li, and Boger led the pioneering works on aliphatic C—H fluorination, decarboxylative fluorination, and fluorofunctionalization of alkenes in a radical manner. Photoredox catalysis was introduced to radical fluorination in 2013 by the Chen group, which opens up a new avenue for diverse fluorinative transformations. Most of the previous works focus on radical fluorination to form C(sp3)–F bonds. In 2018, the challenging non‐directed aromatic C—H fluorination was solved by Ritter and coworkers. Direct arene fluorination with fluoride ion was later disclosed by the Nicewicz group in 2019. There are many other scientists that have also made tremendous contribution to the development of radical fluorination, with too limited space to list them all. We only list those with first discoveries that may point to the new direction of radical fluorination.

Marcel Proust: In Search of Chemistry in His Work. The Author and His Great Chemical Novel

The article analyzes the use of chemistry as a means of communication and imagination in the writings of the famous French writer Marcel Proust (1871−1922). The oldest work in which Proust uses chemistry is the unfinished novel Jean Santeuil from 1895−1900. The author demonstrated a remarkable knowledge of the possibilities of analytical chemistry, including spectral analysis, and drew attention to the risk of morphine addiction. In a collection of texts Pastiches et mélanges from 1919, Proust describes the period Lemoine's affair with the alleged production of artificial diamonds (unrealizable at that time), in which the name of the French chemist and Nobelist Henri Moissan (1852−1907) also appeared. However, we find the greatest representation of chemistry in his life's work, the novel À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time). Proust – walking in the footsteps of Johann von Goethe – literally created a great chemical novel. First, we analyze the chemical nature of the so-called Proust phenomenon based on the sensory effect of substances on memory. We identify the volatile organic compounds that are responsible for the effect in the novel. Next, we note all references to chemistry and chemists as such, including alchemy. Third, we observe how the writer masterfully used chemical phenomena and concepts as a metaphorical means to express the feelings and motives of the actions of the novel's characters. Fourth, we provide an annotated overview of chemicals that are introduced in the novel as drugs: acetylsalicylic acid, aminophenazone, atropine, barbital, caffeine, quinine, cocaine, ethanol, morphine, opium, pepsin, phenol, trional, veronal. Proust's personal experience with them is demonstrated by the remarkable details about their effects mentioned in the novel. Finally, we mention the reception of Proust's work by chemists. In addition to reading for pleasure, Proust's work can also play an important communication and inspirational role in chemistry teaching in schools, as well as in the education of the public, and thus help to manage chemophobia. At the same time, it can further strengthen the identity of chemists as an essential part of human culture.

Prix International Henri Moissan: G. K. S. Prakash / Edith‐Flanigen‐Preis: C. Chizallet / Chemeca‐Medaille: S. K. Bhargava

Angewandte ChemieVolume 127, Issue 49 p. 14825-14825 Nachrichten Prix International Henri Moissan: G. K. S. Prakash / Edith-Flanigen-Preis: C. Chizallet / Chemeca-Medaille: S. K. Bhargava First published: 11 November 2015 https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201509974Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionAdd to favorites ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Graphical Abstract Volume127, Issue49December 1, 2015Pages 14825-14825 This is the German version of Angewandte Chemie. Note for articles published since 1962: Do not cite this version alone. Take me to the International Edition version with citable page numbers, DOI, and citation export. We apologize for the inconvenience. RelatedInformation

First Fluorine Gas Found In Nature

Fluorine gas (F2), which has been called chemistry’s hellcat, is so reactive that chemists have long assumed it does not occur in nature. Now researchers in Munich have evidence that the gas exists naturally, trapped inside a dark purple fluorite mineral called antozonite (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., DOI: 10.1002/anie.201203515). The discovery resolves a nearly 200-year-old debate about why the mineral, known as “stinkspar” or “fetid fluorite,” smells so bad when it is crushed. Since antozonite was documented in 1816 as making fluorite miners in Bavaria sick to their stomachs, chemists have blamed the stench on several compounds, including I2, Cl2, and ozone. F2 was suspected as the smelly component in 1891 by the French scientist Henri Moissan, who later won the Nobel Prize for isolating the element. But many chemists at the time responded that “it can’t be true,” says Florian Kraus, a fluorine researcher at the Technical University of ...

L’analyse de l’art préhistorique

For a long time, the analysis of prehistoric art was based only on the stylistic study of the representations in caves or on mobiliary artefacts. Nevertheless, chemical analyses were undertaken early in the 20th Century at the invention of the prehistoric art: Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel prize in chemistry, for his fluorine discovery, analysed the paintings of Font-de-Gaume and la Mouthe (Périgord). The results were obvious: iron oxides for the red pigments, manganese oxides for the black, less often carbon (charcoal or mineral). So archaeologists proposed general conclusions for the painting composition, and André Leroi-Gourhan claimed with reason that stylistic analysis was the main issue to promote the knowledge of the prehistoric art, “the older one and the one which had the longer history”. After 1990, new physico-chemical characterisations were undertaken, and they gave significant results, which enabled us to describe the “chaîne opératoire” followed by the first artists. Through chemical analyses of pictorial matter, of tools, of colours, one wish to characterise precisely the pigments, their provenance, the way they have been worked (choosing, grinding, mixing…), the way the painting matter has been spread on the support, the different colour hues. The development of the methods of the chemical analysis has reinforced another possibility to understand the prehistoric artistic activity, with the final goal to bring to light the strategy, the intention of Upper Palaeolithic cultures.

V. Gouverneur

Abstract„The biggest challenge facing scientists is finding a way to make clean energy. If I could have dinner with three famous scientists from history, they would be Marie Curie, Dmitri Mendeleev, and Henri Moissan. …︁“ This and more about Véronique Gouverneur can be found on page 3559.magnified image

De l’apprentissage au Prix Nobel : le fabuleux destin d’Henri Moissan

Born in Paris on September 28, 1852, son of an eastern railways' employee and of a dressmaker, Henri Moissan's secondary schooling in Meaux did not allow him to get access to the sesame diploma "baccalauréat" (GCE). In 1869, he did obtain a special certificate of secondary schooling so that he could become an apprentice in watch making. That could have been the end of the story, but dreadful event for France appeared to have beneficial effects for Moissan. Under the threat of the Prussian army, Moissan's family took refuge near Paris. This gave the young Henri the opportunity to register as a student for the second-class pharmacy diploma, which did not need, at the time, the GCE. Moissan became then a trainee in pharmacy in 1871. Meanwhile, he followed the special schooling of "Ecole de chimie" founded by E. Frémy, and then joined the laboratory of Dehérain at the Museum, where he worked in plant physiology. He finally obtained the famous "baccalauréat" (GCE) and could register as a student in first-class pharmacy. He became a pharmacist as well as a doctor in sciences. In 1883, Moissan was named professor at the school of pharmacy in Paris. In 1886, he isolated fluorine by electrolysis of fluorhydric acid, in the presence of potassium fluoride, at a low temperature. He then studied diamond synthesis and gave a start to high temperature chemistry, designing his famous furnace. These findings and many others allowed Moissan to rise to membership in many learned academies around the world. Crowning achievement, Moissan won the Nobel Prize in 1906. A man of culture, collector of autographs and paintings, he died in 1907. Nothing of that would have been possible if there had not been a second-class pharmacist diploma. The history of Henri Moissan is one of a rise from apprenticeship to the Nobel Prize.

Henri Moissan : l’homme, le collectionneur, l’enseignant

On December 10 1906, Henri Moissan was in Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize for chemistry for his isolation of fluorine in 1886 and for his electric arc furnace he described for the first time in 1892 then later improved and which opened the way to the new field of high-temperature chemistry. This was the first Nobel Prize for chemistry awarded to a Frenchman and Moissan was the only French pharmacist to have received this high distinction. He died suddenly at the age of 54 years, two months after receiving his Nobel Prize. In this presentation, we report the main elements of his biography, recalling the man, the teacher and the great collector of paintings and autographs, particularly from the period of the French revolution. We have used several unpublished or little known documents concerning this great scientist who with is broad culture and malicious humor always found the time, despite his many obligations, to satisfy his literary and artistic tastes.

ChemInform Abstract: Following in the Footsteps of Henri Moissan. Unexpected Discoveries Ranging from NF4+ to the Chemical Synthesis of Fluorine and Polynitrogens

AbstractChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

Vive la Chimie

Vive la Chimie

Henri Moissan: Winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1906

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Henri Moissan: Winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1906

A Frenchman's revolution: The Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1906 was awarded to Frenchman Henri Moissan, the first chemist to isolate fluorine and introduce the electrical furnace. A hundred years on, we remember these and other important breakthroughs that Moissan made during his career and discuss their impact on modern-day chemistry.

Fluorinated organic chemicals: Prospects in New Electrochemical Energy Technologies

This contribution has been partly adapted from a special lecture intended to commemorate the Nobel prize, awarded one century ago, to Henri Moissan. It, is focused on fluorinated and perfluorinated molecules and macromolecules used in electrochemical energy sources, i.e. storage and conversion of energy. The latter, which figure indisputably among New Energy Technologies, include lithium batteries and fuel cells based on polymeric membranes both of which have tremendous development potential in terms of performances, safety and cost reductions. The advantages inherent in fluorine, in particular its electron-withdrawing effect and the oxidation stability that it provides to the carbon–fluorine bond, make it an asset in the search for new organic molecular and macromolecular anions with extensive delocalization of the negative charge, usable both in lithium batteries and fuel cells. As for fluorinated and perfluorinated macromolecule backbones, they are currently the reference material in fuel cell ionomeric membranes but some of them are also good candidates for use in lithium-ion batteries. This paper, far from being exhaustive, also emphasizes the economic aspects that influence material selection and also govern the future of basic research.

The "Rocky" Road to Literary Fame: Marcel Proust and the Diamond Synthesis of Professor Moissan.

What connects the author Marcel Proust, the Chemistry Nobel Laureate Henri Moissan, and the fraudulent engineer Henri François Lemoine? Moissan was obsessed with the idea of preparing artificial diamonds, Lemoine alleged that he had improved the Moissan technique, which only produced diamond dust, and Proust first invested a part of his wealth in the alleged diamond synthesis and then exploited the scandal in a literary work.

HAZEN, R. M. 1999. The Diamond Makers. A Compelling Drama of Scientific Discovery. xiv + 244 pp. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. Price £9.95, US $15.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 521 65474 2.

Since Smithson Tennant, in 1791, showed that diamonds were very nearly pure carbon, a new alchemist’s dream of turning coal or graphite into diamonds has driven scientists and charlatans in this quest. Robert Hazen, a leading researcher in high-pressure mineralogy and crystallography, has written a fascinating and very readable account of the history of the synthesis of diamond. He traces the early experiments of James Ballantyne Hannay and Henri Moissan, the Nobel-prize-winning …

A polysilazane precursor for Si-C-N-O matrix composites

This paper reports the ability to use a commercial polysilazane † † PYROFINE PV from Elf Atochem. Centre de Recherche Rhône-Alpes, rue Henri Moissan, 69310 Pierre-Bénite, France. as matrix precursor for the manufacture of ceramic matrix composites. By pyrolysis under nitrogen in the temperature range 1000–1400 °C this polysilazane leads to an amorphous silicon carbonitride with a ceramic yield around 65 wt%. The rheological behaviour and the thermal decomposition of the polysilazane have been studied. Parameters for the impregnation and pyrolysis cycles required by the manufacture of composites are also proposed.

Fluorophosphine Complexes of the Platinum Group Metals

Dedicated to Henri Moissan on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of his discovery of the first fluorophosphine platinum complex, this review describes the recent interest, and developments in fluorophosphines as ligands for platinum group metals. The synthesis, structure, reactions, stability, and the potential of these compounds as homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts are the main features of this article.

The life and scientific work of Henri Moissan

The life and scientific work of Henri Moissan

A Monument to Henri Moissan

HENRI MOISSAN was born in Paris on Sept. 28, 1852, and died there, at the age of fifty-four, on Feb. 20, 1907. He is remembered to-day for his successful work on the isolation of fluorine, his experiments on the manufacture of artificial diamonds and the development of the electric furnace.

XI. Electric furnace reactions under high gaseous pressures

Some ten years ago the classical work of Henri Moissan laid the foundations of the scientific study of high-temperature chemical reactions. It is hardly necessary to recall the rapid and extensive development which the subject has since experienced; it must, however, be remembered that the progress has been almost exclusively along technical lines, and even at the present time very little detailed work on the chemical and physical sides of the question has been published.