Baltic German chemist · 1796–1864
Karl Ernst Claus
Karl Ernst Claus discovered ruthenium in 1844, the last of the platinum group metals to be found.
How Ruthenium was found
Russian platinum came from the Ural Mountains, and the residues from refining it were sent to Kazan University. Claus worked through them and isolated a new metal that others had overlooked.
He named it ruthenium, after Ruthenia, the Latin name for Russia. Gottfried Osann had claimed a new metal from the same ore in 1828 but could not confirm it; Claus’s careful work settled the matter.
Life and career
Born 1796 · Died 1864
Claus was born in Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) and worked as a pharmacist before studying chemistry. He became professor at Kazan and later returned to Dorpat as professor of pharmacy.
Discovered in the same era
Other elements identified within ten years of 1844.