Ring structure of benzene
Estructura cíclica del benceno
- Date
- 1865 · confidence high
- Place
- Ghent, Belgium
- Credited to
- August Kekulé
- People
- 👤 August Kekulé1829–1896
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Kekulé proposes that benzene's six carbons form a hexagonal ring with alternating single and double bonds. It explains aromatic chemistry and its substitution isomers.
Loschmidt had drawn a circular representation in 1861; the anecdote of the dream of the snake is Kekulé's own (1890).
What it led to
- Aromatic chemistry
- Dye and drug industry
- Concept of resonance
Built on
Made possible
- Organic free radicals (Gomberg)1900
- synthesis of alizarin and indigo
- aromatic explosives (TNT)
- aromatic polymers