Archibald Scott Couper – The Star That Went Out Too Soon

In the mid-nineteenth century Archibald Scott Couper within less than two years developed the very first structural formulae of organic compounds, introduced to this day used symbol of chemical bonds, was the first to predict and depict the cyclic structure, at the same time as Kekulé, but independently of him, described the ability of carbon atoms to concatenate, formed a new chemical theory in place of then recognized inadequate type and radical theories, and synthesized hitherto unknown bromobenzenes and chlorophosphates of salicylic acid. Due to unfavorable circumstances, he was prevented from continuing his work and defending his discoveries, which were subsequently associated with other names, and became forgotten for half a century, only to be appreciated – too late for him – at the beginning of the 20th century.