Ruthenium
Rutenio (Ru, Z=44)
- Date
- 1844 · confidence high
- Place
- Kazan, Russia
- Credited to
- Karl Ernst Claus
- People
- 👤 Karl Ernst Claus1796–1864
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Claus isolated ruthenium from platinum residues from the Urals and showed it was a new metal of the platinum group.
Osann had announced three new metals in 1828; only Claus's turned out to be real.
What it led to
- Grubbs metathesis catalysts (Nobel 2005)
- Electrical contacts and thick-film resistors
- Perpendicular-recording hard drives
Built on
- Śniadecki's vestium (an early claim to ruthenium)1807-1808
- Platinum mining in the Urals
- Platinum chemistry
Made possible
- Olefin metathesis (Chauvin, Schrock, Grubbs)1971-1992
- Grubbs catalyst
- Dye-sensitised solar cell