Editing Analytical chemistry (section)

== History ==
[[File:Bunsen-Kirchhoff.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Gustav Kirchhoff]] (left) and [[Robert Bunsen]] (right)]]
Analytical chemistry has been important since the early days of chemistry, providing methods for determining which elements and chemicals are present in the object in question. During this period, significant contributions to analytical chemistry included the development of systematic [[elemental analysis]] by [[Justus von Liebig]] and systematized organic analysis based on the specific reactions of functional groups.

The first instrumental analysis was flame emissive spectrometry developed by [[Robert Bunsen]] and [[Gustav Kirchhoff]] who discovered [[rubidium]] (Rb) and [[caesium]] (Cs) in 1860.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Arikawa|first=Yoshiko|title=Basic Education in Analytical Chemistry|journal=Analytical Sciences|year=2001|volume=17|issue=Supplement|pages=i571–i573|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/analscisp/17icas/0/17icas_0_i571/_pdf|access-date=10 January 2014|format=pdf}}</ref>

Most of the major developments in analytical chemistry took place after 1900. During this period, instrumental analysis became progressively dominant in the field. In particular, many of the basic spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques were discovered in the early 20th century and refined in the late 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0039-9140(99)00358-6 |title=Review of analytical measurements facilitated by drop formation technology |year=2000 |last1=Miller |first1=K |journal=Talanta |volume=51 |issue=5 |pages=921–33 |pmid=18967924 |last2=Synovec |first2=RE}}</ref>

The [[separation processes|separation sciences]] follow a similar time line of development and also became increasingly transformed into high performance instruments.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0165-9936(02)00806-3 |title=History of gas chromatography |year=2002 |last1=Bartle |first1=Keith D. |last2=Myers |first2=Peter |journal=TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry |volume=21 |issue=9–10 |pages=547}}</ref> In the 1970s many of these techniques began to be used together as hybrid techniques to achieve a complete characterization of samples.

Starting in the 1970s, analytical chemistry became progressively more inclusive of biological questions ([[bioanalytical chemistry]]), whereas it had previously been largely focused on inorganic or [[Small molecule|small organic molecules]]. Lasers have been increasingly used as probes and even to initiate and influence a wide variety of reactions. The late 20th century also saw an expansion of the application of analytical chemistry from somewhat academic chemical questions to [[Forensic chemistry|forensic]], [[Environmental chemistry|environmental]], [[Chemical industry|industrial]] and [[clinical chemistry|medical]] questions, such as in [[histology]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0039-9140(89)80077-3 |title=History of analytical chemistry in the U.S.A |year=1989 |last1=Laitinen |first1=H.A. |journal=Talanta |volume=36 |pages=1–9 |pmid=18964671 |issue=1–2}}</ref>

Modern analytical chemistry is dominated by instrumental analysis. Many analytical chemists focus on a single type of instrument. Academics tend to either focus on new applications and discoveries or on new methods of analysis. The discovery of a chemical present in blood that increases the risk of cancer would be a discovery that an analytical chemist might be involved in. An effort to develop a new method might involve the use of a [[tunable laser]] to increase the specificity and sensitivity of a spectrometric method. Many methods, once developed, are kept purposely static so that data can be compared over long periods of time. This is particularly true in industrial [[Quality Assurance|quality assurance]] (QA), forensic and environmental applications. Analytical chemistry plays an increasingly important role in the pharmaceutical industry where, aside from QA, it is used in the discovery of new drug candidates and in clinical applications where understanding the interactions between the drug and the patient are critical.