German chemist · 1803–1890
Carl Jacob Löwig
Carl Jacob Löwig isolated bromine in 1825, a year before Antoine-Jérôme Balard. Because his work was delayed, Balard published first, and the two now share the credit.
How Bromine was found
As a student, Löwig examined the water of a mineral spring at Bad Kreuznach, near his home town. Treating it with chlorine produced a red-brown liquid, which he extracted with ether.
His professor, Leopold Gmelin, asked him to produce more of it for study. While he was doing so, Balard’s paper appeared. Löwig published his own results in 1827.
Shared the credit
The discovery is credited jointly to these scientists.
Life and career
Born 1803 · Died 1890
Löwig was born in Kreuznach and studied in Heidelberg. He became professor of chemistry at Zurich and later at Breslau.
He made important contributions to organic chemistry, including some of the first organometallic compounds of tin, lead and antimony, and he was an early proponent of chemical structures.
Discovered in the same era
Other elements identified within ten years of 1826.