Śniadecki's vestium (an early claim to ruthenium)
Vestio de Śniadecki (primer aislamiento del rutenio)
- Date
- 1807-1808 · confidence medium
- Place
- Vilnius, Vilnius County, Lithuania
- Credited to
- Jędrzej Śniadecki
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
The Polish chemist announced a new metal, 'vestium', in the residues of treating platinum ores from Colombia. It may have been the first isolation of the element later called ruthenium.
Śniadecki withdrew the claim when other chemists could not confirm it. Osann (1828) also proposed a 'ruthenium' without confirmation. Most historians credit the definitive discovery to Karl Claus (1844); whether Śniadecki really isolated the element remains unknown.
What it led to
- debate over whether vestium was really ruthenium
- withdrawal of his claim when other chemists could not confirm it
- the definitive discovery of ruthenium by Claus at Kazan (1844)