Editing Anselme Payen

{{Short description|French chemist (1795–1871)}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Anselme Payen
|image             = Anselme Payen.jpg
|image_size        = 150px
|caption           = 
|birth_date        = 6 January 1795
|birth_place       = [[Paris]], [[French First Republic|France]]
|death_date        = 12 May 1871 (aged 76)
|death_place       = Paris, [[French Third Republic|France]]
|residence         = 
|citizenship       = 
|nationality       = [[France|French]]
|alma_mater        = 
|doctoral_advisor  = 
|doctoral_students = 
|known_for         = Discovered [[diastase]] and [[cellulose]]
|author_abbrev_bot = 
|author_abbrev_zoo = 
|influences        = 
|influenced        = 
|signature         =
|footnotes         = 
|ethnicity         = 
|field             = [[Chemistry]]
|work_institutions = [[École Centrale Paris]]<br>CNAM
|prizes            = 
|religion          = 
}}
'''Anselme Payen''' ({{IPA|fr|pa.jɛ̃|lang}}; 6 January 1795 &ndash; 12 May 1871) was a French [[chemist]] known for discovering the enzyme [[diastase]], and the carbohydrate [[cellulose]].

==Biography==
Payen was born in [[Paris]]. He began studying science with his father when he was a 13-year-old, and later studied [[Chemistry]] at the [[École Polytechnique]] under the chemists [[Louis Nicolas Vauquelin]] and [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Encarta |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761589309/anselme_payen.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829032715/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761589309/Anselme_Payen.html |archive-date=2009-08-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

At the age of 23, Payen became manager of a [[borax]]-refining factory, where he developed a process for synthesizing borax from [[sodium|soda]] and [[boric acid]]. Previously, all borax had been imported from the [[East Indies]] exclusively by the [[Netherlands|Dutch]]. Payen's new method of synthesizing borax allowed him to sell the mineral at one third the going price, and break the Dutch monopoly.

Payen also developed processes for refining [[sugar]], along with a way to refine [[starch]] and [[ethanol|alcohol]] from [[potato]]es, and a method for determination of [[nitrogen]]. Payen invented a decolorimeter, which dealt with the analysis, decolorization, bleaching, and crystallization of sugar.

Payen discovered the first [[enzyme]], [[diastase]], in 1833.<ref>A. Payen and J.-F. Persoz (1833) "Mémoire sur la diastase, les principaux produits de ses réactions et leurs applications aux arts industriels" (Memoir on diastase, the principal products of its reactions, and their applications to the industrial arts), ''Annales de chimie et de physique'', 2nd series, vol. 53, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9I3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA73 pages 73–92].</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Fessner, W.D.| title = Biocatalysis: From Discovery to Application| year = 2000 | publisher = Springer-Verlag | location = Berlin | isbn = 3-540-66970-1 }}</ref> He is also known for isolating and naming the carbohydrate [[cellulose]].<ref>A. Payen (1838) "Mémoire sur la composition du tissu propre des plantes et du ligneux" (Memoir on the composition of the tissue of plants and of woody [material]), ''Comptes rendus'', vol. 7, pages 1052–1056.  Payen added appendices to this paper on 24 December 1838 (see: ''Comptes rendus'', vol. 8, page 169 (1839)) and on 4 February 1839 (see:  ''Comptes rendus'', vol. 9, page 149 (1839)).  A committee of the French Academy of Sciences reviewed Payen's findings in :  Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1839) "Rapport sur un mémoire de M. Payen, relatif à la composition de la matière ligneuse" (Report on a memoir of Mr. Payen, regarding the composition of woody matter), ''Comptes rendus'', vol. 8, pages 51–53.  In this report, the word "cellulose" is coined and the author points out the similarity between the empirical formula of cellulose and that of ''dextrine'' (starch).  The above articles are reprinted in:   Brongniart and Guillemin, eds., ''Annales des sciences naturelles''... , 2nd series, vol. 11 (Paris, France:  Crochard et Cie., 1839), [https://books.google.com/books?id=VDRsFWwgUo4C&pg=PA21 pages 21–31].</ref>

In 1835, Payen became a professor at [[École Centrale Paris]]. He was later elected professor at the [[Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers]]. He died in Paris on May 13, 1871.

==Legacy==
The [[American Chemical Society]]'s Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division has established an annual award in his honor, the [[Anselme Payen Award]].<ref name=ACS>{{cite web
| url =http://membership.acs.org/C/CELL/apayen.htm
| title =ACS Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division - Anselme Payen Award
| access-date =2007-07-08
| archive-date =2008-10-05
| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20081005204746/http://membership.acs.org/C/CELL/apayen.htm
| url-status =dead
}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payen, Anselme}}
[[Category:1795 births]]
[[Category:1871 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century French chemists]]
[[Category:French biochemists]]
[[Category:École Polytechnique alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Scientists from Paris]]