Victor Grignard

@Scientists, Facts and Personal Life ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ François Auguste Victor Grignard was a French chemist who developed the synthetic reaction, the ‘Grignard reaction’ French Scientists Chemists Organic Chemists Taurus Celebrities François Auguste Victor Grignard was a French chemist who developed the synthetic reaction that came to be known as the ‘Grignard reaction’. The discovery, which was part of his doctoral thesis relating to organomagnesium compounds, opened a wide spectrum of organic synthesis. It earned him the ‘Nobel Prize in Chemistry’ in 1912 that he shared with another French organic chemist Paul Sabatier. He served as a teacher of chemistry at the ‘University of Lyon’. He also remained a Professor of ‘Organic Chemistry’ and Professor of ‘General Chemistry’ at the ‘University of Nancy’ and at the ‘University of Lyon’ respectively. He served as Director of ‘École de Chimie Industrielle de Lyons’ for over a decade. During the ‘First World War’, he examined the chemical warfare agents, especially the production of phosgene and also detected dichloroethyl sulfide that is mustard gas for its application as chemical weaponry. His other studies include ozonization of unsaturated compounds and condensation of ketones and aldehydes. He received several awards including ‘Cahours Prize’ in 1901 and 1902; ‘Berthelot Medal’ in 1902; ‘Prix Jecker Prize’ in 1905 and ‘Lavoisier Medal’ in 1912. He was honoured with the order of ‘French Legion of Honor’ as Chevalier in 1912 and as Officer in 1920 and as Commander in 1933. He received honorary doctorates from universities of Louvain and Brussels. He was foreign member of ‘Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ and Honorary Fellow of ‘Chemical Society’ of London.

Personal Details

Birthday: May 6, 1871 Died on: December 13, 1935 Nationality: French Famous: Scientists, Chemists, Organic Chemists Spouses: Augustine Marie Boulant Universities: University of Lyon Birth Place: Cherbourg-Octeville, France Information Detail Birthday May 6, 1871 Died on December 13, 1935 Nationality French Famous Scientists, Chemists, Organic Chemists Spouses Augustine Marie Boulant Universities University of Lyon Birth Place Cherbourg-Octeville, France Gender Male Sun Sign Taurus Born in Cherbourg-Octeville, France Famous as Chemist Died at Age 64

Cherbourg-Octeville, France

Victor Grignard born at Unsplash Birth Place

In 1910, he married Augustine Marie Boulant and the couple together had a son and a daughter. Unsplash Personal Life

His son, Roger Grignard, born in 1911, was also a chemist. Unsplash Personal Life

On December 13, 1935, he died in Lyon, France. Unsplash Personal Life

He was born on May 6, 1871, in Cherbourg, France in the family of a marine carpenter, Théophile Henri Grignard. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

From 1883 to 1887 he studied in local schools. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

After earning a scholarship, he joined the ‘École Normale Spécial’ school in Cluny in 1889. The objective of the school was to prepare modern secondary school teachers. However, after a couple of years the school was closed following conflict between proponents of classic and modern methods of secondary education. The students were transferred to other schools to complete their scholarship education. This is how Grignard joined the ‘University of Lyons’ in its ‘Faculté des Sciences’ department. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He could not succeed in the licentiate examination in mathematics. Then from 1892 till the end of 1893 he went to fulfil his military service and thereafter came back to Lyons. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

In 1894 he earned his ‘Licencié ès Sciences Mathématiques’ degree. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He joined the ‘Faculté des Sciences’ at the ‘University of Lyon’, in a junior position in December 1894, where he worked with French scientist Louis Bouveault, who convinced him to take up chemistry. Unsplash Career

After some time he was promoted to préparateur, and from that time he became associated with French organic chemist Philippe Barbier, who is considered as father of organometallic chemistry. Unsplash Career

He became ‘chef des travaux pratiques’ in 1898 and the same year penned down his first paper along with Philippe Barbier. Unsplash Career

His first research works were related to examination of branched unsaturated hydrocarbons and also on ethyl -isopropylacetobutyrate and the stereoisomeric diisopropylbutenedicarboxylic acids. Unsplash Career

Upon advice of Philippe Barbier, he researched on organomagnesium compounds, while his invention of the composition of magnesium alkyl halides was conveyed first to the Académie des Sciences on May 11, 1900, by French chemist Henri Moissan. Unsplash Career

His most remarkable work was discovering a new process of developing carbon-carbon bonds applying magnesium to couple ketones and alkyl halides, which was famously known as the ‘ Grignard reaction’. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	May 6, 1871
Died on	December 13, 1935
Nationality	French
Famous	Scientists, Chemists, Organic Chemists
Spouses	Augustine Marie Boulant
Universities	University of Lyon
Birth Place	Cherbourg-Octeville, France
Gender	Male
Sun Sign	Taurus
Born in	Cherbourg-Octeville, France
Famous as	Chemist
Died at Age	64

Victor Grignard

French

May 6, 1871

Biography

Personal Details

Cherbourg-Octeville, France