Editing Friedrich Wöhler (section)

===Organic chemistry===
In 1832, lacking his own laboratory facilities at Kassel, Wöhler worked with [[Justus Liebig]] in his [[Giessen]] laboratory. In that year, Wöhler and Liebig published an investigation of the oil of [[bitter almonds]]. Through their detailed analysis of the chemical composition of this oil, they proved by their experiments that a group of [[carbon]], [[hydrogen]], and [[oxygen]] [[atom]]s can behave chemically as if it were the equivalent of a single atom, take the place of an atom in a [[chemical compound]], and be exchanged for other atoms in chemical compounds. Specifically, their research on the oil of bitter almonds showed that a group of elements with the chemical composition C<sub>7</sub>H<sub>5</sub>O can be thought of as a single functional group, which came to be known as a benzoyl radical. In this way, the investigations of Wöhler and Liebig established a new concept in organic chemistry referred to as [[Radical theory|compound radicals]], which had a profound influence on the development of organic chemistry. Many more [[functional groups]] were later identified by subsequent investigators with wide utility in chemistry.<ref name="Partington" />

Liebig and Wöhler explored the concept of [[Isomer|chemical isomerism]], the idea that two chemical compounds with identical [[chemical composition]]s could be different substances because of different arrangements of the atoms in the [[chemical structure]].<ref name="SHI" /> Aspects of chemical isomerism originated in the research of Berzelius. Liebig and Wöhler investigated [[silver fulminate]] and [[silver cyanate]]. These two compounds have the same chemical composition yet are chemically different. Silver fulminate is explosive, while silver cyanate is a stable compound. Liebig and Wöhler recognized these as examples of structural isomerism, which was a significant advance in understanding chemical isomerism.<ref name="JChemEd">{{cite journal |last1=Esteban |first1=Soledad |title=Liebig–Wöhler Controversy and the Concept of Isomerism |journal=Journal of Chemical Education |date=2008 |volume=85 |issue=9 |page=1201|doi=10.1021/ed085p1201 |bibcode=2008JChEd..85.1201E }}</ref>

Wöhler has also been regarded as a pioneering researcher in [[organic chemistry]] as a result of his 1828 demonstration of the laboratory synthesis of [[urea]] from [[ammonium cyanate]], in a chemical reaction that came to be known as the "[[Wöhler synthesis]]".<ref name="Weeks"/><ref name="Rabinovich">{{cite journal |last1=Rabinovich |first1=Daniel |title=Wöhler's Masterpiece |url=http://publications.iupac.org/ci/2007/2905/si.html |journal=Chemistry International | volume =  29| issue= 5 |date= 2007 |access-date=18 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="Urea">{{Cite journal |last=Wöhler  |first=Friedrich |year=1828 |title=Ueber künstliche Bildung des Harnstoffs |journal=[[Annalen der Physik und Chemie]] |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages=253–256 |doi=10.1002/andp.18280880206  |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k15097k/f261.chemindefer|bibcode = 1828AnP....88..253W}} — Available in English at:  {{cite web |url=http://www.chemteam.info/Chem-History/Wohler-article.html |title=Chem Team}}</ref> Urea and ammonium cyanate are further examples of structural isomers of chemical compounds. Heating ammonium cyanate converts it into urea, which is its isomer. In a letter to Swedish chemist [[Jöns Jacob Berzelius]] the same year, he wrote, 'In a manner of speaking, I can no longer hold my chemical water. I must tell you that I can make urea without the use of kidneys of any animal, be it man or dog.'<ref>Chemie heute, Schroedel Verlag, Klasse 9/10. Chapter 3: Chemie der Kohlenwasserstoffe. Excursus pg. 64, {{ISBN|978-3-507-86192-3}}. Translated from original: "Ich kann, so zu sagen, mein chemisches Wasser nicht halten und muss ihnen sagen, daß ich Harnstoff machen kann, ohne dazu Nieren oder überhaupt ein Thier, sey es Mensch oder Hund, nöthig zu haben."</ref>

[[File:Urea Synthesis Woehler.png|thumb|center|Wöhler synthesis of urea by heating ammonium cyanate. The Δ sign indicates the addition of heat.]]
Wöhler's demonstration of urea synthesis has become regarded as a refutation of [[vitalism]], the hypothesis that living things are alive because of some special "vital force".
It was the beginning of the end for one popular vitalist hypothesis, the idea that "organic" compounds could be made only by living things.
In responding to Wöhler, Jöns Jakob Berzelius  acknowledged that Wöhler's results were highly significant for the understanding of organic chemistry, calling the findings a "jewel" for Wöhler's "laurel wreath". Both scientists also recognized the work's importance to the study of [[isomerism]], a new area of research.<ref name="Rocke"/>

Wöhler's role in overturning vitalism is said to have become exaggerated over time. This tendency can be traced back to [[Hermann Franz Moritz Kopp|Hermann Kopp]]'s ''History of Chemistry'' (in four volumes, 1843–1847). He emphasized the importance of Wöhler's research as a refutation of vitalism but ignored its importance in understanding chemical isomerism, setting a tone for subsequent writers.<ref name="Rocke">{{cite book|last=Rocke |first=Alan J. | title=The Quiet Revolution: Hermann Kolbe and the Science of Organic Chemistry |editor=University of California Press | location=Berkeley |date=1993 | isbn=978-0520081109 |pages=239– |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5evb11uV078C&pg=PA396 }}</ref>
The notion that Wöhler single-handedly overturned vitalism also gained popularity after it appeared in a popular history of chemistry published in 1931, which, "ignoring all pretense of historical accuracy, turned Wöhler into a crusader".<ref name="Ambix">{{cite journal|doi=10.1179/amb.2000.47.3.170|pmid=11640223|title=The Death of Vitalism and the Birth of Organic Chemistry: Wohler's Urea Synthesis and the Disciplinary Identity of Organic Chemistry|journal=Ambix|volume=47|issue=3|pages=170–195|year=2000|last1=Ramberg|first1=Peter J.|s2cid=44613876}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = McKie | first1 = Douglas | year = 1944 | title = Wöhler's syntethic Urea and the rejection of Vitalism: a chemical Legend | journal = Nature | volume = 153 | issue = 3890| pages = 608–610 | doi = 10.1038/153608a0 |bibcode = 1944Natur.153..608M | s2cid = 4086935 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Brooke | first1 = John H. | year = 1968 | title = Wöhler's Urea and its Vital Force – a verdict from the Chemists | journal = Ambix | volume = 15 | issue = 2| pages = 84–114 | doi=10.1179/000269868791519757}}</ref><ref name="Schummer">{{cite journal |last=Schummer  |first=Joachim  |year=2003 |url=http://www.joachimschummer.net/papers/2003_NatureChemistry_SHPS.pdf |title=The notion of nature in chemistry |journal=Studies in History and Philosophy of Science |volume=34|issue=4 |pages=705–736 |doi=10.1016/s0039-3681(03)00050-5|bibcode=2003SHPSA..34..705S }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Uray | first1 = Johannes | year = 2009 | title = Mythos Harnstoffsynthese | journal = Nachrichten aus der Chemie | volume = 57 | issue = 9| pages = 943–944 | doi=10.1002/nadc.200966159}}</ref><ref>Johannes Uray: ''Die Wöhlersche Harnstoffsynthese und das wissenschaftliche Weltbild''. Graz, Leykam, 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Uray | first1 = Johannes | year = 2010 | title = Die Wöhlersche Harnstoffsynhtese und das Wissenschaftliche Weltbild – Analyse eines Mythos | journal = Mensch, Wissenschaft, Magie | volume = 27 | pages = 121–152 }}</ref><ref name="Ramberg">Ramberg, Peter, "Myth 7. That Friedrich Wöhler's Synthesis of Urea in 1828 Destroyed Vitalism and Gave Rise to Organic Chemistry" eds. Numbers, Ronald L., and Kostas Kampourakis, ''Newton's apple and other myths about science.'' Harvard university press, 2015, 59–66.</ref>

Contrary to what was thought in Wöhler's time, cyanate is not a purely inorganic anion, as it is formed in various metabolic pathways.<ref>{{cite journal | doi= 10.1038/s43247-021-00235-2 | first1 = Maria  | last1 = Mooshammer|first2 = Wolfgang  | last2 = Wanek | first3 = Stephen H. |last3 = Jones| first4 = Andreas |last4 = Richter | first5 = Michael |last5 = Wagner| title = Cyanate is a low abundance but actively cycled nitrogen compound in soil | journal = Communications Earth & Environment | year= 2021 | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | pages= 161| bibcode = 2021ComEE...2..161M | s2cid = 236993568 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Thus the conversion of ammonium cyanate into urea was not an example of production of an organic compound from an inorganic precursor.