Cooper

Scottish chemist. After studying humanities and classical languages ​​at the University of Glasgow and logic and philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, Couper traveled to the continent in 1854. He developed an interest in chemistry during his stay in Berlin, and moved to Paris in 1856 to begin research in CA Wurtz's laboratory. After researching the bromination of benzene and salicylic acid, he wrote "On a new theory of chemistry" in early 1858, which discussed the tetravalency of carbon and the bond between carbon and carbon, and introduced lines to represent atomic valence in chemical formulas for the first time, and asked Wurtz to present it at the Academie des Sciences in Paris. JBA Dumas presented his paper at the Academie in June instead of Wurtz, who was not yet a member of the Academie and therefore not eligible to present, and it was published soon after. However, because FA Kekulé had published a famous paper with a similar idea in May, Couper's priority was not recognized, which led to a clash with Wurtz, and Couper returned to Scotland in the autumn. He suffered a mental breakdown in his home country, never published a scientific paper thereafter, and was forgotten for a long time until he was discovered by Kekulé's student R. Anschütz.

Source: Morikita Publishing "Chemical Dictionary (2nd Edition)" Information about the Chemical Dictionary 2nd Edition

スコットランドの化学者．グラスゴー大学で人文学と古典語，エジンバラ大学で論理学と哲学を学んだ後，1854年に大陸に渡り，ベルリンに滞在中に化学に関心をもち，1856年パリに移ってからC.A. Wurtz(ウルツ)の研究室で研究をはじめた．ベンゼンの臭素化やサリチル酸の研究などの後，1858年はじめに炭素の四価性と炭素と炭素の間の結合を論じ，化学式における原子価を表す線をはじめて導入した“化学の新理論について”を書き上げ，Wurtzにパリの科学アカデミーでの発表を依頼した．まだアカデミー会員でなく発表の資格のなかったWurtzにかわって，6月にJ.B.A. Dumas(デュマ)がアカデミーで発表し，まもなく出版された．しかし，F.A. Kekulé(ケクレ)が同様の趣旨の有名な論文を5月に発表していたため，Couperの先取権は認められず，そのことでWurtzとも衝突し，秋にスコットランドに帰国．母国で精神障害となり，以降科学論文を発表することはなく，Kekuléの弟子のR. Anschützが発掘するまで長らく忘れられた存在だった．

出典　森北出版「化学辞典（第2版）」化学辞典 第2版について　情報