Sabatier, << sah bah TYAY, >> Paul (1854-1941), was a French organic chemist who received the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1912 for discovering that nickel is a good hydrogenation catalyst. In other words, the presence of nickel activates or speeds up hydrogenation, a process that adds hydrogen to molecules of carbon compounds (see Hydrogenation ). Sabatier showed that ethylene gas could be converted to ethane gas by passing the ethylene over powdered nickel. Sabatier shared the prize with Francois Grignard, also of France (see Grignard, Francois Auguste Victor ).
Sabatier’s early research centered on the thermochemistry (relations between chemical reactions and heat) of sulfur, metallic sulfates, sulfides, chlorides, chromates, and compounds of copper.
Sabatier later moved on to studying catalysis, the process in which a substance speeds up a chemical reaction without being consumed by the reaction (see Catalysis ). His researches into metal hydrogenation catalysts formed the basis of many industries, including those of synthetic methanol, oil hydrogenation, and margarine. For example, margarine is produced from vegetable oils by catalytic hydrogenation (see Margarine ). Sabatier, though, showed little interest in the commercial application of his research. He also studied catalytic hydration and dehydration. An account of his research can be found in his La Catalyse en Chimie Organique (Catalysis in Organic Chemistry), published in 1913.
Sabatier was born in Carcassonne, France. He studied at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. He taught and researched at Bordeaux, and then at Toulouse, where he remained for the rest of his life.
