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Friedricfi W o f t e
1800-188,'

BUNDESPOST!

Early German Physician First To Synthesize Urea

Marc A. Shampo, Ph.D., and Robert A. Kyle, M.D.

Friedrich Wöhler was the first to synthesize an organic compound from an inorganic substance. In 1828, he
synthesized urea by slowly evaporating a water solution of ammonium cyanate, which he had prepared by
adding silver cyanate to ammonium chloride. Urea is important in physiologic chemistry because it is the
principal end product of the metabolism of nitrogenous foods in the body and is found in the urine. Before this
experiment, most investigators believed that a "life force" motivated or influenced all substances found in
plants and animals. They therefore contended that any substance produced by a life process could not be made
from inorganic chemicals. Wöhler's experiment ushered in the era of synthetic organic compounds, which led
to the production of dyes, dynamite, plastics, sulfa drugs, and synthetic fibers and to the process of petroleum
cracking. Wöhler also demonstrated that when benzoic acid is taken orally, hippuric acid (benzoic acid
combined with a compound called glycine) is detected in the urine. This discovery marked the beginning of the
study of chemical changes within the body (metabolism).
Wöhler was born on July 3 1 , 1800, in Eschersheim, a village near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. By the time
he received his medical degree in 1823, he was deeply interested in chemistry. Consequently, he left the field of
medicine and became a student of the famous chemist Jons Jacob Berzelius in Stockholm. Wöhler returned to
Germany in 1825 and taught chemistry at the municipal technical school in Berlin until 1831. During that time,
he not only synthesized urea but also developed a method for the preparation of aluminum.
About 1832, Wöhler began his collaboration with Justus von Liebig, who taught at Giessen. Their most
important work probably was the study of bitter almond oil (benzaldehyde), a substance in which the same
chemical group was found to pass unchanged in a great variety of reactions. Such a group is called a radical, and
the radical theory that Liebig did much to develop was the first major attempt at systematization in organic
chemistry. Wöhler also investigated compounds of physiologic importance, such as uric acid and cocaine, and
was among the first to isolate beryl Mum, to observe isomerism, and to devise a process for manufacturing nickel.
In 1836, Wöhler was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Göttingen, where he remained for
the rest of his life. He was an excellent lecturer and an outstanding teacher who took a personal interest in the
lives and problems of his students. In addition, Wöhler made notable contributions to the scientific literature: he
translated the major works of Berzelius into German and wrote several important textbooks on organic,
inorganic, and analytic chemistry. He served as one of the editors of Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie, the
major chemical journal of its day.
Wöhler died in Göttingen, Germany, on Sept. 23, 1882. He was honored on a stamp issued by West
Germany in 1982 on the 100th anniversary of his death. The stamp depicts a structural model of urea and the
equation for its preparation from ammonium cyanate.