Paul Thénard

Paul Thénard (6 October 1819 – 8 August 1884), also known as Baron Arnaud Paul Edmond Thénard, was a French agronomist, wine producer, chemist, and politician. He discovered trimethylphosphine, the first organic phosphorus compound to be identified. He was known for his research into the control of phylloxera, an insect that was destroying much of the French wine industry, by infecting the roots of grape vines. He wrote a biography of his father, the noted chemist Louis Thénard.

Career

He was born in Paris, France. He married in 1842. His new wife's family had a large vineyard holding in Givry. Thénard took charge of a vineyard in the same year of his marriage, and still known as Domaine Baron Thénard, in Talmay, in the department of Côte-d'Or. He administered carbon disulfide to combat phylloxera infestations at wine vineyards, by injecting the chemical into the vineyard soil, though this was only moderately successful.[1][2]

He studied phosphorus compounds, using a laboratory set up in his wife's chateau in Talmay.[1] He discovered trimethylphosphine, the first synthesised and isolated tertiary phosphine, in 1845 and reported in 1847. He was also the first chemist to isolate triethylphosphine.[3][4] His work on phosphorus was referenced and developed further by other 19th-century chemists, notably August Hofmann and Auguste Cahours, who noted that these tertiary phosphines had a particularly strong odour.[5]

His research into phosphine is not recorded as advancing past 1847, but he continued other investigations, and in 1868 he was jointly credited with the discovery of xylindein, an organic compound pigment, close to indigo in colour, drawn from tree fungi.[6]

Separately, Paul Thénard set up a model farm in Talmay and worked with farmers to develop fertilisers that could improve productivity for both arable and livestock farmers. He was admitted to Académie des sciences in 1864.[1][7]

Thénard served as mayor of Talmay from 1852 to 1866 and held other public offices, including the district and general council, representing Pontailler-sur-Saône in the department of Côte-d'Or. In 1870 he was interned by the invading Prussian army, and held captive for three months in Bremen. He left politics in 1871 and purchased a Montrachet Grand Cru vineyard in 1872. The Thénard family remains the second largest shareholder of that appellation and their Montrachet Grand Cru is marketed via the Domaine Baron Thénard brand.[1][2]

His son, Arnould Thénard, contributed to the averting the potential destruction of Burgurdy's vineyards during the great French wine blight, by developing a grafting technique from rootstocks brought from the United States.[1]

Publications

His tertiary phosphine research was published in 1847.[8] He wrote a number of agricultural studies, including one on raising cattle. The biography of his father was entitled Un grand Français, le chimiste Thénard, 1777-1857 (A great Frenchman: the chemist Thénard, 1777-1857).[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Paul Thénard, sauveur du phylloxéra" [Paul Thénard, saviour of phylloxera]. Le Bien Public (in French). Dijon. 25 January 2012. Archived from the original on 13 December 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b Desimone, Dave (11 July 2025). "The wines of Domaine Baron Thénard tell a tale of two terroirs in Bourgogne". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on 11 July 2025. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  3. ^ Quin, Louis DuBose (2014). The Development of Organic Phosphorus Chemistry (PDF). New York: Nova Science Pub Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-63321-333-3. OCLC 881207547. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  4. ^ Khong, San; Venkatesh, Telugu; Kwon, Ohyun (2021). "Nucleophilic Phosphine Catalysis: The Untold Story". Asian Journal of Organic Chemistry. 10 (11): 2699–2708. doi:10.1002/ajoc.202100496. ISSN 2193-5807. PMC 10829526. PMID 38298937. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  5. ^ "XXVIII Researches on the Phosphorus Bases by Augustus William von Hofmann LLD FRS and Auguste Cahours FCS.". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London for the year 1857. Vol. 147. Royal Society of London. 23 September 1857. pp. 575–576, 593. OCLC 1143041471 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Thénard, Paul; Rommier, Alphonse (1868). "Sur un nouvelle matière colorante appelée xylindeine et extraite de certains bois morts". Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences (in French). 66. Paris: 108–109. ISSN 0001-4036.
  7. ^ "Académie des sciences: Les membres du passé" [Academy of science: deceased members]. Académie des sciences (in French). Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  8. ^ Thénard, Paul (July–December 1847). "Mémoires lus: Chimie - suites des recherches sur le phosphore (quatrième mémoire)" [Accounts read: Chemistry - continuation of research on phosphorus (fourth account)]. Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences (in French). 25. Paris: Académie des sciences: 892–898. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  9. ^ Thénard, Arnaud Paul Edmond (23 September 1950). "Un grand Français: le chimiste Thénard, 1777-1857". Dijon: Impr. Jobard. OCLC 21482474 – via Google Books.
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