In 1834, the German chemist Justus Liebig had argued that the group C2H5 constituted a "radical" (a cluster of atoms that did not undergo changes during chemical reactions). (See: Justus Liebig (1834) "Ueber die Constitution des Aethers und seiner Verbindungen" (On the composition of ethers and their compounds), Annalen der Pharmacie, 9 : 1–39.) In reporting on Liebig's findings (and related work by others), Berzelius coined the names "methyl" and "ethyl" for the "radicals" CH3 and C2H5, respectively. From Jacob Berzelius, Årsberättelsen om framsteg i fysik och kemi [Annual report on progress in physics and chemistry] (Stockholm, Sweden: P.A. Norstedt & Söner, 1835), p. 376: "Man får då ge namn åt etherradikalerna; man kan kalla den äldre C4H10, ethyl, den nyare C2H6, methyl, … " (One may then give names to ether radicals; one can call the older [one] C4H10, ethyl, the newer [one] C2H6, methyl, … [Note: At that time, chemists used the wrong atomic masses (e.g., 6 for carbon instead of 12); hence the coefficients shown here must be divided by two.]) In his translation into German of Berzelius' report, the German chemist Friedrich Wöhler transliterated "ethyl" as "Aethyl". (See: Jöns Jacob Berzelius with Friedrich Wöhler, trans., Jahresbericht über die Fortschritte der physischen Wissenschaften (Annual report on the progress of the physical sciences), 15 : 381.)
In 1834, the German chemist Justus Liebig had argued that the group C2H5 constituted a "radical" (a cluster of atoms that did not undergo changes during chemical reactions). (See: Justus Liebig (1834) "Ueber die Constitution des Aethers und seiner Verbindungen" (On the composition of ethers and their compounds), Annalen der Pharmacie, 9 : 1–39.) In reporting on Liebig's findings (and related work by others), Berzelius coined the names "methyl" and "ethyl" for the "radicals" CH3 and C2H5, respectively. From Jacob Berzelius, Årsberättelsen om framsteg i fysik och kemi [Annual report on progress in physics and chemistry] (Stockholm, Sweden: P.A. Norstedt & Söner, 1835), p. 376: "Man får då ge namn åt etherradikalerna; man kan kalla den äldre C4H10, ethyl, den nyare C2H6, methyl, … " (One may then give names to ether radicals; one can call the older [one] C4H10, ethyl, the newer [one] C2H6, methyl, … [Note: At that time, chemists used the wrong atomic masses (e.g., 6 for carbon instead of 12); hence the coefficients shown here must be divided by two.]) In his translation into German of Berzelius' report, the German chemist Friedrich Wöhler transliterated "ethyl" as "Aethyl". (See: Jöns Jacob Berzelius with Friedrich Wöhler, trans., Jahresbericht über die Fortschritte der physischen Wissenschaften (Annual report on the progress of the physical sciences), 15 : 381.)
