How a Daydream on a Bus Revolutionized Chemistry

"Organic chemistry focuses on carbon, and the remarkable variety of molecules it can form by sharing electrons with other atoms in what are known as covalent bonds. These can include other carbon atoms, as well as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and a variety of others. Organic substances comprise the majority of all types of molecules, and indeed carbon-based molecules are more common than the sum total of those from other elements."

"By the mid-19th century, scientists recognized a number of the basic chemical elements, and had learned how to measure the quantities of each in organic carbon-based molecules, but the way in which they attached to each other to form specific structures had not yet been very well formulated. The first major steps in clarifying how they are formed came from two competing chemists, Auguste Kekulé and Archibald Scott Couper, and how the former achieved everlasting fame, while the latter ended up being psychiatrically hospitalized."

By the mid-19th century, chemists had identified many elements and learned how to measure their quantities in organic molecules, but lacked a clear theory of how atoms connected to form specific structures. Organic chemistry centers on carbon and its ability to form diverse covalent bonds with elements like hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, producing the majority of known molecules. Major advances in structural theory arose from competing chemists Auguste Kekulé and Archibald Scott Couper; Kekulé achieved lasting fame while Couper suffered psychiatric hospitalization. Kekulé's chain and benzene ring concepts made the synthesis of complex compounds, including drugs such as chlorpromazine, technically possible.

Read at Psychology Today