On July 3rd1800, Willer was born in Frankfurt, and his father was a famous local doctor. As a child, Willer had many interests, especially poetry and collecting mineral specimens. When he was in middle school, chemistry was his favorite subject in all sciences. He likes chemistry best, and his room is full of experimental instruments. But as a doctor's father wants him to inherit his career, so they often quarrel. However, he got the support of his father's good friend, Dr. Buhe. With his support and encouragement, Willer read many textbooks and monographs on chemistry, which laid the foundation for future chemical research.
According to the opinions of the whole family, in the autumn of 1820, Wheeler chose the Medical University in Marburg to study medicine. He is a good student in the class and is devoted to all his lessons. But as soon as he returned to the dormitory, he threw away the medical books and devoted himself to the chemical experiment almost every day. His first scientific paper, On the Properties of Mercury Thiocyanate, was completed in that humble university dormitory.
This paper published in Gilbert Yearbook attracted the attention of the famous chemist Bethelius at that time. After that, Wheeler went to the University of Heidelberg and devoted himself to studying chemistry under the guidance of the famous chemist gmelin and the physiologist Thiedemann. After receiving a doctor's degree in surgical medicine from 65438 to 0823, he was recruited into his laboratory by Bethelius, who admired him for a long time. This has always been Wheeler's wish.
From18th century to the beginning of19th century, a theory of vitality prevailed in scientific circles: people can only synthesize inorganic substances, but can't synthesize organic substances, especially it is impossible to synthesize organic substances from inorganic substances. This was also the standard for distinguishing inorganic matter from organic matter at that time. However, after a long-term experiment, Wheeler discovered the method of artificially synthesizing urea with inorganic compound ammonium cyanate. 1828, he wrote a paper entitled "On the Artificial Manufacture of Urea", which was published in the Yearbook of Physical Chemistry.
The publication of this paper can be said to be a breakthrough, breaking the vitality theory that has occupied the field of organic chemistry for many years and causing a shock in the field of chemistry. Many people cheered and congratulated them. For this discovery, Engels once commented that Weiler synthesized urea and swept away the mysterious residue of so-called organic matter. Of course, Wheeler's discovery was also opposed by many people. When his teacher Bethelius first heard the news, he said humorously and sarcastically, "Can you make a child in the laboratory?" . Synthetic urea is like a fuse, detonating the "big bomb" of organic synthesis. Soon, organic compounds such as acetic acid and tartaric acid were synthesized like mushrooms after rain, which opened a new era of organic synthesis.
In addition to synthesizing organic compounds, Willer also made many contributions in the field of inorganic chemistry. He discovered aluminum and beryllium in 1827 and 1828 respectively, made extensive research on the compounds of boron, titanium and silicon, and discovered the hydride of silicon. These are of great significance in the history of chemistry.