Carl Gustaf Mosander

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Carl Gustaf Mosander
Lovö, Stockholm County
NationalitySwedish
Alma materKarolinska Institute
Known forlanthanum
erbium
terbium
Scientific career
Fieldschemistry
InstitutionsKarolinska Institute

Carl Gustaf Mosander (10 September 1797 – 15 October 1858) was a

rare earth elements lanthanum, erbium and terbium
.

Early life and education

Born in

Jöns Jakob Berzelius and became a close friend of fellow student Friedrich Wöhler.[1]
: 38 

Career

In 1832 Jöns Jakob Berzelius retired in favor of Mosander, his student, who succeeded him as professor of chemistry and pharmacy in the Karolinska Institute.[1]: 38  From 1845 Mosander was also a professor at and inspector for the Pharmaceutical Institute.

Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1819.[3][4] From 1825 he was the owner of a spa in Stockholm where people could go to drink the waters.[1]
: 38 

ytterbite (later named gadolinite
). Lanthanum can be obtained from the black portion.
A sample of the element lanthanum.

Mosander discovered

ceria. Mosander partially decomposed ceria by heating it and treating the resulting salt with dilute nitric acid.[5][6][7]
He was hesitant to report his results, both for fear of embarrassing his mentor Berzelius, by showing that his discovery cerium was not an element; and because he was uncertain that he himself had reduced cerium to all of its components. Berzelius eventually suggested the name "lanthan", for "hidden" for this new discovery.[8]

By 1840, Mosander had separated cerium oxide into yellow cerium oxide, white lanthanum oxide and a pinkish third component which he called "didymium" meaning "twin".[8][7] Didymium was accepted as an element for many years, appearing in Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic system as number 95, with the symbol Di. In 1874, Per Teodor Cleve predicted that didymium contained at least two elements.[9] In 1879, Lecoq de Boisbaudran isolated samarium,[9] while in 1885 Carl Auer von Welsbach separated the two remaining elements through repeated fractional crystallizations. Welsbach named them praseodidymium (green didymium) and neodidymium (new didymium). They came to be known as praseodymium and neodymium. [7]

A sample of the element terbium.
A sample of the element erbium.

In 1843 Mosander discovered

yttria.[1][10]: 701 [11][12][13][14]
[15] However, this discovery was hotly contested. Spectroscopist Nils Johan Berlin denied that two elements existed, failing to confirm the existence of "erbia" and suggesting that its name be applied to "terbia". In 1864, Marc Delafontaine used optical spectroscopy to conclusively prove that yttrium, terbium and erbium were separate elements.[16] Ironically, however, the confusion that had been introduced between the names continued. Mosander's proposed names were switched, giving the amethyst compound the name "erbium" oxide and the yellow substance the name "terbium" oxide, instead of the other way around as originally proposed.[17][15][16]

Mosander was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1833.

Personal life and final years

Mosander married Hulda Philippina Forsström on 20 December 1832. They had four children, two sets of twins.[1]: 38 

Mosander suffered from

cataracts in later life. He died in 1858, at his summer house on the island of Lovön, Stockholm County.[1]
: 38 

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9789400902879
    .
  2. ISBN 9780199383344
    .
  3. ^ Dahlgren, Erik Wilhelm (1915). Kungl. Svenska Vetenskapsakademien : Personförteckningar 1739–1915. Uppsala: Kungl. Svenska Vetenskapsakademien. p. 16.
  4. ISBN 9780486642352
    .
  5. ISBN 9781466564039
    .
  6. ISBN 978-3-527-30666-4
  7. ^
    PMID 28282053
    .
  8. ^
    PMID 30679779
    .
  9. ^ a b Helmenstine, Anne Marie (November 1, 2018). "Didymium Facts and Uses What You Need to Know About Didymium". Thought Co. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  10. ^ Weeks, Mary Elvira (1956). The discovery of the elements (6th ed.). Easton, PA: Journal of Chemical Education.
  11. doi:10.1021/ed009p1751
    .
  12. ISBN 9780841230200
    .
  13. ^ Marshall, James L. Marshall; Marshall, Virginia R. Marshall (2015). "Rediscovery of the elements: The Rare Earths–The Beginnings" (PDF). The Hexagon: 41–45. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  14. ^ Marshall, James L. Marshall; Marshall, Virginia R. Marshall (2015). "Rediscovery of the elements: The Rare Earths–The Confusing Years" (PDF). The Hexagon: 72–77. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  15. ^
    PMID 24651207
    .
  16. ^
    ISBN 9781130017649
    .
  17. ISBN 9781466576346
    .
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