#benzene

Odds and Ends:

BENZENE OUROBOUROS

In 1865, German chemist Friedrich August Kekule was intensely seeking to understand the molecular structure of Benzene. To that date molecular structures had been thought of as lines, but a linear structure did not explain some of the properties that the compound, comprised of six carbon atoms and six hydrogen atoms, displayed. Exhausted, Kekule turned his comfortable leather chair to face the fireplace. Weary and ready to let go of the endeavor, he fell into a deep sleep, as the orange and gold flames danced before him. He had a dream. The blazing licks of fire turned themselves into atoms he had been studying. In his words:

Again the atoms were flitting before my eyes. Smaller groups now kept modestly in the background. My mind's eye, sharpened by repeated visions of a similar sort, now distinguished larger structures of varying forms. Long rows frequently rose together, all in movement, winding and turning like serpents.

Fascinated, he saw the snakes balance on their ends and then twist their bodies in such a way that they grasped the other's tail. Whirling and undulating, the chain danced about then formed an upright hexagon. An ourobouros, the ancient symbol of a dragon-snake with its tail in its mouth, gave Kekule his long eluded answer: "I came awake like a flash of lightning. This time also I spent the remainder of the night working out the consequences of the hypothesis."

Through his dream, Kekule realized that the formula structure of benzene was a ring—a molecular structure previously unheard of. His discovery became a vital piece of information for modern science.

Fox News Reporter: Mr. President, what is your opinion on Benzene being aromantic?