Don Andr�s Manuel del R�o in 1801 claimed he discovered a new element from the mines of Zimap�n, Mexico, which he named 'erythronium.' Four years later, this claim was investigated in Paris by Hippolyte Victor Collet-Descotils, who identified the 'new element' as chromium, which had been discovered earlier (1797) by Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin. In 1831 Nils Sefstr�m in Sweden discovered vanadium, which was soon recognized as del R�o's erythronium. The authors have returned to the laboratory to repeat the experiments of Descotils in an attempt to determine whether or not his 'undiscovery' of erythronium was justified. Photographs of these laboratory studies are included in the presentation.

Undiscovery of erythronium

248th National Meeting (2014)

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