In 1869, Graebe first used the prefixes ortho-, meta-, para- to denote specific relative locations of the substituents on a di-substituted aromatic ring (viz, naphthalene): Graebe (1869) "Ueber die Constitution des Naphthalins" (On the structure of naphthalene), Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, 149 : 20–28 ; see especially p. 26. In 1870, the German chemist Viktor Meyer first applied Graebe's nomenclature to benzene: Victor Meyer (1870) "Untersuchungen über die Constitution der zweifach-substituirten Benzole" (Investigations into the structure of di-substituted benzenes), Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, 156 : 265–301 ; see especially pp. 299–300. See also: Hermann von Fehling, ed., Neues Handwörterbuch der Chemie [New concise dictionary of chemistry] (Braunschweig, Germany: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1874), vol. 1, p. 1142.
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In 1869, Graebe first used the prefixes ortho-, meta-, para- to denote specific relative locations of the substituents on a di-substituted aromatic ring (viz, naphthalene): Graebe (1869) "Ueber die Constitution des Naphthalins" (On the structure of naphthalene), Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, 149 : 20–28 ; see especially p. 26. In 1870, the German chemist Viktor Meyer first applied Graebe's nomenclature to benzene: Victor Meyer (1870) "Untersuchungen über die Constitution der zweifach-substituirten Benzole" (Investigations into the structure of di-substituted benzenes), Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, 156 : 265–301 ; see especially pp. 299–300. See also: Hermann von Fehling, ed., Neues Handwörterbuch der Chemie [New concise dictionary of chemistry] (Braunschweig, Germany: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1874), vol. 1, p. 1142.
