Beilstein, Friedrich Konrad

Friedrich Konrad Beilstein, (born Feb. 17, 1838, St. Petersburg, Russia—died Oct. 18, 1906, St. Petersburg), chemist who compiled the Handbuch der organischen Chemie, 2 vol. (1880–83; “Handbook of Organic Chemistry”), an indispensable tool for the organic chemist.

In 1866 Beilstein was appointed professor of chemistry at the Imperial Technological Institute, St. Petersburg. The first edition of his Handbuch gave a full account of the physical and chemical properties of 15,000 organic compounds. The second edition came out in three volumes from 1886 to 1889. Because of the rapid growth of organic chemistry, he turned the task over to the Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft (“German Chemical Society”) in 1900. The fourth edition (27 volumes) of the Handbuch (commonly known as Beilstein) appeared in 1937 and is kept up to date by periodic supplements.