Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Controversies, compromises and the common chemical language

Nature Chemistry volume 11, pages 853–856 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry — whose 100th anniversary fittingly falls during the International Year of the Periodic Table — is most recognized for its role in the naming of new elements. This is part of a wider effort to help create a common chemistry language for humans and machines alike.

From the late 19th century — a key moment in the development of the chemical industry — the need for the harmonization of chemical nomenclature was clear. An increasing number of elements were known, yet their names and symbols varied, typically because they were given different names by different discoverers1. Element 4, for example, was isolated in its elemental form and named beryllium in 1828, despite the fact that this element had already been known as glucinium since 1798, as a component of an oxide obtained in by Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin from emerald and beryl minerals. Similarly, niobium and columbium co-existed as alternative names for element 41. Beryllium and niobium were chosen in 1949, though glucinium lingered for a while longer, and columbium is still encountered today in metallurgy in the United States.

This is a preview of subscription content

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Fig. 1: List drawn up by F. A. Kekule of the diverse formulas for acetic acid that were used before 1861.
Fig. 2: Periodic tables published in 1919.
Fig. 3: The number of elements discovered since the 1600s has increased at a surprisingly regular pace.

References

  1. Meija, J. Chem. Int. 36, 18–20 (2014).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Mönnich, M. W. Chem. Int. 32, 10–14 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Meyer, L. Abriss eines Lehrganges der Theoretischen Chemie vorgetragen an der K. Universität Genua vor Prof. S. Cannizzaro Herausgegeben von Lothar Meyer Ostwald’s Klassiker der Exalten Wissenschaften, nº 90 (Leipzig, Verlag Engelmann, 1891).

  4. Ihde, A. J. J. Chem. Educ. 38, 83–86 (1961).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Evieux, E. A. J. Chem. Educ. 31, 326–327 (1954).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Scerri, E. The Periodic Table: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2011).

  7. Hackh, I. W. D. Sci. Am. 38, 146–149 (1919).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Langmuir, I. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 41, 868–934 (1919).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Fontani, M., Costa, M. & Orna, M. V. The Lost Elements: The Periodic Table’s Shadow Side. (OUP, USA, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Fennell, R. & Brown, S. S. History of IUPAC 1919–1999 (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2001).

  11. Hofmann, S. et al. Pure Appl. Chem. 90, 1773–1832 (2018).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Koppenol, W. H., Corish, J., García-Martínez, J., Meija, J. & Reedijk, J. Pure Appl. Chem. 88, 401–405 (2016).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ghiorso, A., Harvey, B., Chopin, G., Thompson, S. & Seaborg, T. G. Phys. Rev. 98, 1518–1519 (1955).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Choppin, G. R. Chem. Eng. News 81, 176–176 (2003).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kragh, H. From Transuranic to Superheavy Elements: A Story of Dispute and Creation (Springer Nature, 2018).

  16. Ghiorso, A., Hoffman, D. C. & Seaborg G. T. The Transuranium People: The Inside Story (World Scientific, 2000).

  17. Wapstra, A. H. Pure Appl. Chem. 63, 879–886 (1991).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Wilkinson, D. H. et al. Pure Appl. Chem. 65, 1757–1814 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Sargeson, A. M. et al. Pure Appl. Chem. 66, 2419–2421 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Ghiorso, A. et al. Pure Appl. Chem. 65, 1815–1824 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Sargeson, A. M. Pure Appl. Chem. 69, 2471–2474 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Ball, P. Nature 565, 552–555 (2019).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Zhou, Q. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 115, E6411–E6417 (2018).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Thornton, B. F. & Burdette, S. C. Nat. Chem. 5, 350–352 (2013).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Lemonick, S. The periodic table is an icon. But chemists still can’t agree on how to arrange it. Chemical & Engineering News https://cen.acs.org/physical-chemistry/periodic-table/periodic-table-icon-chemists-still/97/i1 (2019).

  26. Extance, A. Nature 561, 273–274 (2018).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  27. De Luna, P., Wei, J., Bengio, Y., Aspuru-Guzik, A. & Sargent, E. Nature 552, 23–27 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Fleming, N. Nature 557, S55–S57 (2018).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Li, Z., Wang, S. & Xin, H. Nat. Catal. 1, 641–642 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain

    Javier García-Martínez

Authors
  1. Javier García-Martínez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Javier García-Martínez.

Additional information

Twitter: @javiergarciamar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

García-Martínez, J. Controversies, compromises and the common chemical language. Nat. Chem. 11, 853–856 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0336-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0336-4

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing