Grignard, << gree NYAHR, >> Francois Auguste Victor (1871-1935), a French organic chemist, discovered the most widely used method for making carbon compounds. He shared the 1912 Nobel Prize in chemistry with Paul Sabatier. Grignard’s work made possible new medicines, perfumes, and detergents. In 1900, following the lead of his professor, Philippe Barbier, Grignard found that magnesium combines with a large number of complex compounds. When he treated these combinations with water, he obtained new substances.
Grignard spent most of his life working out the details of his method, which chemists in all parts of the world adopted. By the time he died, scientists had published about 6,000 papers on his work.
Grignard was born in Cherbourg, France. He taught at the universities of Lyon and Nancy.
