28 June 17

Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer was born on this date in 1825. As an early synthetic organic chemist, Emil Erlenmeyer was known for his work with aliphatic hydrocarbons and the chemistry of fermentation. He worked with Robert Bunsen and August Kekulé. Around 1857 he designed a glass conical flask with tapered neck, angled sides and a flat bottom, features which proved exceptionally useful for titrations and also when "recrystallizing" the products of chemical reactions. By 1861 the Erlenmeyer flask was becoming a standard piece of laboratory glassware. Among my chemistry ties this is the only one featuring an Erlenmeyer flask! I'm including an image of Erlenmeyer's own sketch for the flask.