Journal Article: A. B. Macallum (1928) "The Centenary of the Synthesis of Urea" in The Canadian Medical Association Journal
For my very first journal article discussion, I would like to talk about a discovery that revolutionized our understanding of biology and chemistry: the synthesis of urea by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828. Don't check out just yet (even if history and chemistry aren't your favorite things, I promise it gets interesting)!
The problem with discussing a discovery from about 200 years ago is that there was no internet back then, and records of these discoveries is difficult to access without visiting an archive collection in Europe or something. However, I have been able to access several reviews of his discovery which are available online (I'd like to point out how ironic it is that Wöhler's own writings and data are difficult to access considering without his discovery, the study of biology at any level of depth would be impossible).
Let's talk about what it was like to be a 19th century scientist. Macallum discusses the "viewpoint of the chemists of that time," citing the idea of vitalism as the popular theory of organic chemistry. Scientists believed that all organic molecules present in living things were formed by a "vital force" contained in all living things. This vital force was able to synthesize the organic molecules that were observed in organisms. It was believed that this force was unable to be emulated; in the words of Macallum, "it was believed [that the vital force] had no peer in the laboratory." He indicates that chemists were confined to study the synthesis and reactions of only the inorganic compounds. At the time, only a select few organic compounds were isolated to purity, one of which was urea, found in the urine.
Wöhler, reacting ammonia and cyanic acid, in an attempt to produce ammonium cyanate, produced the organic compound urea. In defense of this outrageous discovery, the proponents of vitalism asserted that urea is a waste product of living things and consequently should be classified somewhere between organic and inorganic. I additionally recall a protest suggesting that some of the vital force from the hands of the chemist must have contaminated the sample and caused the production of the organic compound. Despite these arguments, the data was irrefutable and soon after (about 20 years later) chemists began synthesizing other "organic" compounds in the laboratory. The idea of the vital force was destroyed and out of its ashes was born the new fields of biochemistry and organic synthesis chemistry. For this we can thank Friedrich Wöhler and his supportive colleagues!
Note to reader: If anyone has managed to access an online version of Wöhler's original work, please contact me! I would love to read over it.
To review the paper I have discussed in this post, click here (provided by the PMC, the US National Library of Medicine).
Additional readings I found interesting on this topic:
*FG Hopkins (1928) "The Centenary of Wöhler's Synthesis of Urea (1828-1928)" in Biochemical Journal 22(6): 1341-1348. Which you can view here (also through PMC).
*Bernard Jaffe Crucibles: The Story of Chemistry from Ancient Alchemy to Nuclear Fission published in 1976 by Dover Publications revised and expanded from the 1930 edition published by Simon and Schuster. This book is awesome and I will soon do a whole post on it at some point.
**Picture from http://www.chemistryland.com/ElementarySchool/BuildingBlocks/BuildingOrganic.htm
The problem with discussing a discovery from about 200 years ago is that there was no internet back then, and records of these discoveries is difficult to access without visiting an archive collection in Europe or something. However, I have been able to access several reviews of his discovery which are available online (I'd like to point out how ironic it is that Wöhler's own writings and data are difficult to access considering without his discovery, the study of biology at any level of depth would be impossible).
Let's talk about what it was like to be a 19th century scientist. Macallum discusses the "viewpoint of the chemists of that time," citing the idea of vitalism as the popular theory of organic chemistry. Scientists believed that all organic molecules present in living things were formed by a "vital force" contained in all living things. This vital force was able to synthesize the organic molecules that were observed in organisms. It was believed that this force was unable to be emulated; in the words of Macallum, "it was believed [that the vital force] had no peer in the laboratory." He indicates that chemists were confined to study the synthesis and reactions of only the inorganic compounds. At the time, only a select few organic compounds were isolated to purity, one of which was urea, found in the urine.
Wöhler, reacting ammonia and cyanic acid, in an attempt to produce ammonium cyanate, produced the organic compound urea. In defense of this outrageous discovery, the proponents of vitalism asserted that urea is a waste product of living things and consequently should be classified somewhere between organic and inorganic. I additionally recall a protest suggesting that some of the vital force from the hands of the chemist must have contaminated the sample and caused the production of the organic compound. Despite these arguments, the data was irrefutable and soon after (about 20 years later) chemists began synthesizing other "organic" compounds in the laboratory. The idea of the vital force was destroyed and out of its ashes was born the new fields of biochemistry and organic synthesis chemistry. For this we can thank Friedrich Wöhler and his supportive colleagues!
Note to reader: If anyone has managed to access an online version of Wöhler's original work, please contact me! I would love to read over it.
To review the paper I have discussed in this post, click here (provided by the PMC, the US National Library of Medicine).
Additional readings I found interesting on this topic:
*FG Hopkins (1928) "The Centenary of Wöhler's Synthesis of Urea (1828-1928)" in Biochemical Journal 22(6): 1341-1348. Which you can view here (also through PMC).
*Bernard Jaffe Crucibles: The Story of Chemistry from Ancient Alchemy to Nuclear Fission published in 1976 by Dover Publications revised and expanded from the 1930 edition published by Simon and Schuster. This book is awesome and I will soon do a whole post on it at some point.
**Picture from http://www.chemistryland.com/ElementarySchool/BuildingBlocks/BuildingOrganic.htm