September 15th is Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Butlerov's birthday. Butlerov was the Russian chemist who established the first modern theory of chemical structure. He believed a molecule's nature is determined not only the type and number of atoms, but their arrangement and relationship to each other. He demonstrated the existence of isomers where molecules could have the same molecular formula, but different structures. He also was the first to recognize some organic compounds contain double bonds.
Butlerov was also the first to produce formaldehyde. Formaldehyde (CH2O) is the simplest aldehyde and is used as a basic building block in several organic chemical syntheses. It is also used as a stabilizer in photography and histology and as a biocide to kill bacteria and fungi.
Find out what else occurred on this day in science history.
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