The First Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
By signinng his last will on November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel donated the largest portion of his fortune to the Nobel Prizes, a series of awards in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace.
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was established by Sweden’s central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, in 1968. The Sveriges Riksbank
Prize in Economic Sciences and the Alfred Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences awarded 615 prizes to 989 people and organizations between 1901 and 2022. Each award comes with a medal, a unique diploma, and cash money.
The most significant area of science for Alfred Nobel’s own research was chemistry. His industrial processes and the development of his inventions were based on his understanding of chemistry. In his will, Nobel listed chemistry as the second prize subject after physics.
In this series of articles, we will try to give information about the scientists who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and their work. First Prize Awarded to Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff
The first Nobel Prize in Chemistry was given to Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff Jr. in 1901 “for his outstanding services in discovering the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions.”
Van ‘t Hoff was born in the Netherlands in 1852 and passed away in 1911. Van ‘t Hoff taught
chemistry, mineralogy, and geology at the University of Amsterdam from 1878 to 1896. Van ‘t Hoff, a pioneering theorist of theoretical chemistry in his day, contributed to the development of the modern theories of chemical affinity, chemical equilibrium, chemical kinetics, and chemical thermodynamics.
The tetrahedral theory of carbon atoms was developed by Van ‘t Hoff, who also laid the groundwork for stereochemistry. He calculated the axial chirality and correct structures of allens and cumenes. He is also credited with helping to found what is now known as physical chemistry.
Van ‘t Hoff had already published his ground-breaking theories on stereochemistry in a booklet prior to earning his doctorate. Although the booklet was only 13 pages long, it would have had a significant impact on chemical thought over time and helped to advance
stereochemistry.
The idea of the “asymmetric carbon atom” offered an explanation for the formation of
many isomers that the then-current structural formulas were unable to explain. Van ‘t Hoff also highlighted the connection between a compound’s optical activity and the presence of an asymmetric carbon atom in its molecular structure.
In the heart of the old city, at Groenburgwal 44, was Van ‘t Hoff’s first laboratory. In this location, he did research for his 1884 book Études de Dynamique chimique (Studies in Dynamic Chemistry). His earliest physical chemistry discoveries were included in the book.
The general thermodynamic relationship that Van ‘t Hoff established between the heat of transformation and the displacement of equilibrium as a result of temperature change was extremely significant. Le Chatelier expanded on this idea of moving equilibrium in 1885, resulting to its current name, the Van ‘t Hoff-Le Chatelier principle.
The theory of diluted solutions was covered in the 1885 publication L’Équilibre chimique dans les Systèmes gazeux ou dissous à I’État dilué by Van ‘t Hoff. The title translates to “Chemical equilibrium in gaseous systems or strongly diluted solutions.”
Here, he demonstrated that “osmotic pressure” is proportional to concentration and absolute temperature in sufficiently diluted solutions. He suggested that this pressure could be represented by a formula that only deviates from the gas pressure formula by the coefficient i, and he employed several methods to establish the value of i. Diluted solutions
are also subject to the laws of thermodynamics, as Van ‘t Hoff was able to show.
Sources:
• Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 1901-1921, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1966. Online available at Nobelprize.org.
• Wie was Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff? Biography published at the website of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• Van’t Hoff’s Molecular Paper Models at dataphys.org.
• Rijksmuseum Boerhaave
• https://hims.uva.nl/about-hims/who-was-van-t-hoff/jacobus-henricus-van-t-hoff.html?cb
• https://www.nobelprize.org/
Compilation and Translation by: B. Serhat Cengiz
