Philippe Barbier and His Knowledge of Plants and Inorganic Principles in the Nineteenth Century

Natural principles have intrigued humans since the very beginning of history. Most of these substances entered everyday life culture by trial an error and become popular without any knowledge of their properties, constitution, and limitation. They found use as foodstuff, medicines, poisons, weapons, religious and magic rituals, dyes, arts, technology, etc. Philippe Barbier (1848-1922) (For biographical details, vide Appendix), a French chemist and pharmacist, is well known for the chemical reaction that carries his name. This fact has probably obscured the extensive work he developed about the detailed knowledge of many valuable plant and inorganic principles, among them safranines, geraniol, rhodinol, citral, limonal, and camphor. He was also the first to use organomagnesium halide reagents in organic synthesis.