Editing Friedrich Wöhler (section)

===Inorganic chemistry===
[[File:Aluminium-4.jpg|right|thumb|A sample of aluminium]]
[[File:Beryllium metal.jpg|thumb|right|A sample of beryllium in elemental form]]
[[File:Yttrium sublimed dendritic and 1cm3 cube.jpg|thumb|right|Samples of yttrium in elemental form]]
[[File:August Anton Wöhler.jpg|thumb|August Anton Wöhler, father of Friedrich Wöhler]]
Wöhler investigated more than twenty‐five [[chemical elements]] during his career.<ref name="Hoppe" /> [[Hans Christian Ørsted]] was the first to separate the element aluminium in 1825, using a reduction of [[aluminium chloride]] with a [[potassium amalgam]].<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |title=Aluminum |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/aluminum |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. |access-date=19 May 2020|date=14 October 2019}}</ref> Although Ørsted published his findings on the isolation of aluminium in the form of small particles, no other investigators successfully replicated his findings until 1936. Ørsted is now credited with discovering aluminium.<ref name="Skrabec">{{cite book|author=Quentin R. Skrabec|title=Aluminum in America: A History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r8zTDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11|date=6 February 2017|publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2564-5 |pages=10–11}}</ref> Ørsted's findings on aluminium preparation were developed further by Wöhler, with Ørsted's permission. Wöhler modified Ørsted's methods, substituting potassium metal for potassium amalgam for the reduction of aluminium chloride. Using this improved method, Wöhler isolated aluminium powder in pure form on 22 October 1827. He showed that the aluminium powder could convert to solid balls of pure metallic aluminium in 1845. For this work, Wöhler is credited with the first isolation of aluminium in pure form.<ref name="Smelting">{{cite web |title=Aluminum Discovery and Extraction – A Brief History |url=http://www.aluminum-production.com/aluminum_history.html |website=The Aluminum Smelting Process |access-date=18 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="RUSAL">{{cite web |title=ALUMINIUM HISTORY |url=https://www.aluminiumleader.com/history/industry_history/ |website=All about aluminium |publisher=UC RUSAL |access-date=18 May 2020}}</ref>

In 1828, Wöhler was the first to isolate the element [[beryllium]] in pure metallic form (also independently isolated by [[Antoine Bussy]]).<ref name="Weeks">{{cite book |last1=Weeks |first1=Mary Elvira |title=The discovery of the elements |date=1956 |publisher=Journal of Chemical Education |location=Easton, PA |url=https://archive.org/details/discoveryoftheel002045mbp |edition=6th }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Beryllium |url=https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/4/beryllium |website=Royal Society of Chemistry |access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref> In the same year, he became the first to isolate the element [[yttrium]] in pure metallic form.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yttrium |url=https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/39/yttrium |website=Royal Society of Chemistry |access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref> He achieved these preparations by heating the anhydrous chlorides of beryllium and yttrium with [[potassium]] metal.<ref name="Partington" />

In 1850, Wöhler determined that what was believed until then to be metallic [[titanium]] was a mixture of titanium, [[carbon]], and [[nitrogen]], from which he derived the purest form isolated to that time.<ref name="Saltzman">{{cite web |last1=Saltzman |first1=Martin D. |title=Wöhler, Friedrich |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/chemistry-biographies/friedrich-wohler |website=encyclopedia.com |access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref> (Elemental titanium was later isolated in completely pure form in 1910 by [[Matthew A. Hunter]].)<ref name="Titanium">{{cite web |title=Titanium |url=https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/22/titanium |website=Royal Society of Chemistry |access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref> He also developed a [[chemical synthesis]] of [[calcium carbide]] and [[silicon nitride]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Deville |first1=H. |last2=Wohler |first2=F. | year =1857| title= Erstmalige Erwähnung von Si3N4| journal = Liebigs Ann. Chem. | volume = 104| page = 256}}</ref>

Wöhler, working with French chemist [[Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville|Sainte Claire Deville]], isolated the element [[boron]] in a crystalline form. He also isolated the element [[silicon]] in a crystalline form. Crystalline forms of these two elements were previously unknown. In 1856, working with Heinrich Buff, Wöhler prepared the inorganic compound [[silane]] (SiH<sub>4</sub>). He prepared the first samples of [[boron nitride]] by melting together [[boric acid]] and [[potassium cyanide]]. He also developed a method for the preparation of [[calcium carbide]].<ref name="Partington" />

Wöhler had an interest in the chemical composition of [[meteorite]]s. He showed that some meteoric stones contain organic matter. He analyzed meteorites, and for many years wrote the digest on the literature of meteorites in the ''[[Jahresberichte über die Fortschritte der Chemie]]''. Wöhler accumulated the best private collection of meteoric stones and irons that existed.<ref name="Partington" />