Kekule dreams

G. Somsen, Kekule dreamed a splendid story , Chem. Mag. (Rijswijk), 1994,... 

Before Kekule dreamed of his structure for benzene, Josef Loschmidt proposed the ring structure of the molecule. Unfortunately, Loschmidt did not publish his theory in a widely read scientific journal. As a result, the credit for this revolutionary theory is hotly debated today. 

Addendum. Benzene taught us about vibronically allowed, electronically forbidden transitions about the role of symmetry in spectroscopy about superexcited states a orbitals coming before some tt orbitals about donor-acceptor complexes ... Quantum chemistry and molecular spectroscopy would be pover without this molecule. But let us let Kekule dream his eternal dream... 

Wotiz and Rudofsky, "Kekule s Dreams" (1984) anon., "Developer of Key Theory May Have Been a Fraud" (1984) Seltzer, "Influence of Kekul Dream Disputed" (1985) Wotiz, "Unknown Kekule" (1987) Rudofsky and Wotiz, "Psychologists" (1988) Wotiz and Rudofsky, "Herr Professor Doktor Kekule" (1993) Borman, "Kekul Charged with Scientific Misconduct" (1993). An early critique of these arguments is Ramsay and Rocke, "Kekule s Dreams" (1984). 

Seltzer, Richard. "Influence of Kekule Dream on Benzene Structure Disputed." Chemical Engineering News, 4 November 1985, 22-23. 

Phenolic resins were the first totally synthetic plastics invented. They were commercialized by 1910 [I]. Their history begins before the development of the structural theory of chemistry and even before Kekule had his famous dreams of snakes biting their tails. It commences with Gerhardt s 1853 observations of insoluble resin formation while dehydrating sodium salicylate [2]. These were followed by similar reports on the behavior of salicylic acid derivatives under a variety of reaction conditions by Schroder et al. (1869), Baeyer (1872), Velden (1877), Doebner (1896 and 1898), Speyer (1897) and Baekeland (1909-1912) [3-17]. Many of these early reports appear to involve the formation of phenolic polyesters rather than the phenol-aldehyde resins that we think of today. For... 

Mahdihassan, S. Kekule s dream of the Ouroboros and the significance of this symbol. Scientia 55 (1961) 187-195. 

Figure 2.5 Artist s depiction of Friedrich August von Kekule s dream of a snake eating its own taii, a dream that aided von Kekule in soivingthe probiem of the structure for the organic compound benzene, composed of a ring of carbon atoms.

Again, it was Kekule who offered the explanation. This time it came to him in a dream. He had been... 

AUGUST KEKULE HIT UPON THE STRUCTURE OF THE BENZENE MOLECULE IN A DREAM. A SNAKE SEEMED TO WHIRL IN A RING BEFORE HIS EYES. BY ARRANGING THE SIX CARBON ATOMS IN A RING, THE PROBLEM WAS SOLVED. 

The study of the structure, synthesis, and reactivity of aromatic compounds has been one of the cornerstones of the teaching of organic chemistry. An account of the historical and sometimes disputed dream of Kekule [1] is followed by the beautiful logic of electrophilic aromatic substitution rules [2], which allows students to predict syntheses of sparsely substituted aromatics. Aside from a brief diversion into reactions of halonitrobenzenes with nucleophiles [3], this topic constitutes a large chapter in our 1st year organic education but by the time we teach upper year organic majors and graduate students, aromatic chemistry... 

In 1065. August Kekule presented a paper at the Academie des Sciences in Paris suggesting a cyclic structure for benzene, the inspiration for which he ascribed to a dream. However, was Kekule the first to suggest that benzene was cyclic Some believe not, and credit an Austrian schoolteacher. Josef Loschmfdt with the first depiction of cyclic benzene structures. In 1061,4 years before Kekule s dream, Loschmidt published a book in / v... 

Wotiz, J. H, and Rudofsky, S, Kekule s dreams fact or fiction Chem. Britain 20, 720-723 (1984). 

Ramsay, O, B, and Rocke, A. J. Kekule s dreams. Separating the fiction from the fact. Chem. Britain 20, 1093-1094 (1984). 

Let us learn to dream, gentlemen, and then perhaps we shall learn the truth. — August Kekule, 1865. 

Kekule s dream In 1865, the German chemist Friedrich August Kekul6 (1829-1896) proposed a different kind of structure for benzene—a hexagon of carbon atoms with alternating single and double bonds. How does the molecular formula of this structure compare with that of benzene ... 

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