Liebigs Annalen

Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie (often cited as just Liebigs Annalen) was one of the oldest and historically most important journals in the field of organic chemistry worldwide. It was established in 1832 and edited by Justus von Liebig with Friedrich Wöhler and others until Liebig's death in 1873. The journal was originally titled Annalen der Pharmacie; after the death of von Liebig, its name was changed to Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie. The journal has been noted to contain rebuttals and criticism of the works it published, inserted by Justus von Liebig during his tenure as an editor.

The journal has undergone many mergers and changes in name throughout its history. In 1997, the journal merged with Recueil des Travaux Chimiques des Pays-Bas to form Liebigs Annalen/Recueil, and in 1998, it was absorbed by European Journal of Organic Chemistry by merger of a number of other national European chemistry journals.

Content
Publications in Liebigs Annalen were focused mainly on experimental and organic chemistry; as an editor, Justus von Liebig would often promote his own work in the journal, including articles on combustion and substitution. Liebig would also publish his criticism on articles published in the journal, including attacks on theoretical frameworks of organic chemistry that were in conflict with his support of radical theory. These criticisms were later described by J. R. Partington as "competent", but "sometimes beyond all reason". Organic syntheses and reactions were often published. Lothar Meyer and Dmitri Mendeleev both published their versions of the periodic table in Liebigs Annalen in 1870 and 1871, respectively.

Liebigs Annalen may have been the first German scientific journal to publish the news of the discovery of ether as it is used in surgical anesthesia, which Liebig had been informed of through a letter from Edward Everett that included a paper written by Henry Jacob Bigelow.

History
Liebigs Annalen started as the publication of the work of Justus von Liebig as a druggist's apprentice, along with the work of his friends and students, and was published on a regular monthly basis from 1832 to 1873, with some supplementary volumes printed throughout the 1860s and 70s. The original Annalen der Pharmacie was formed from a merger between two pharmaceutical journals: the Magazin fur Pharmazie und die dahin einschlagenden Wissenschaften, at which Liebig started working as an editor in 1831, and Archiv der Pharmazie, edited by Rudolph Brandes. In 1834, the Neues Journal der Pharmazie fur Arzte, Apotheker und Chemiker was merged with the Annalen, resulting in a brief period wherein there were 4 editors: Liebig, Brandes, Philipp Lorenz Geiger (the original editor of the Magazin fur Pharmazie), and Johann Trommsdorff. The first volume of the journal after the merger included papers from several well-known names in chemistry, including Jöns Jacob Berzelius and Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, not to mention Liebig himself. Brandes withdrew from the journal in 1835 due to disagreements with Liebig, going on to publish the Archiv der Pharmazie independently; Annalen der Pharmacie was renamed to Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie around this period in 1840 in an effort to be more inclusive and attractive to a European audience.

In 1837, Liebig left Germany and met with Thomas Graham and Jean-Baptiste Dumas, the latter of which he had feuded with several years earlier. Upon returning to Germany, Liebig fired his co-editors, making himself the sole editor of the Annalen, though he acknowledged the cooperation of Graham and Dumas as editors from 1838 to 1842. At this point, the journal was starting publication outside of Germany, namely in France and England. Liebig would break away from Graham and Dumas in 1842, and remained the only editor until 1851, at which point he invited Hermann Kopp to take over management of the journal; Kopp's name would appear on the title page of the journal as editor from 1851 until his death in 1892.

After Liebig's death in 1873, the journal's name changed to Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie und Pharmazie. This name was shortened to Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie in 1874, which was kept until it was merged with the Dutch journal Recueil des Travaux Chimiques des Pays-Bas in 1997. Shortly before the merger, in 1995, Liebigs Annalen started publishing articles in English. The resulting publication, titled Liebigs Annalen/Recueil, became part of the European Journal of Organic Chemistry in January 1998.

Title history

 * Annalen der Pharmacie, 1832–1839
 * Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, 1840–1873 (, CODEN JLACBF)
 * Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, 1873–1874 (, CODEN JLACBF)
 * Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie, 1874–1944 & 1947–1978 (, CODEN JLACBF)
 * Liebigs Annalen der Chemie, 1979–1994 (, CODEN LACHDL)
 * Liebigs Annalen, 1995–1996 (, CODEN LANAEM)
 * Liebigs Annalen/Recueil, 1997 (, CODEN LIARFV)
 * European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 1998+ (Print ; e, CODEN EJOCFK)