Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie (often cited as 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; its name was changed to Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie in 1874. In its first decades of publishing, the journal was both a periodical containing news of the chemical and pharmaceutical fields and a publisher of primary research. During this time, it was noted to contain rebuttals and criticism of the works it published, inserted by Justus von Liebig during his tenure as an editor. After 1874, changes were made to editorial policies, and the journal published only completed research; later on, in the 20th century, its focus was narrowed to only print articles on organic chemistry, though it had always placed emphasis on the field. The journal was especially influential in the mid-19th century, but by the post-World War II period was considered "no longer as preeminent as it once was". The journal has undergone mergers and changes in name throughout its history, from its inception to changes made following Liebig's death and its eventual consolidation with other journals in the late 20th century. 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 Many chemical syntheses and discoveries were published in Liebigs Annalen. Among these were Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff's discovery of caesium and its later isolation by Carl Setterberg, Adolf Windaus' studies on the constitution of cholesterol and vitamins for which he was awarded the 1928 Nobel prize in Chemistry, and many of Georg Wittig's publications, including the preparation of phenyllithium. Liebigs Annalen published news on advances in chemistry and pharmacy in addition to primary research, mainly during Justus von Liebig's time as editor. From 1839 to 1855, the journal published a summary report of the advances made in chemistry for the year. One example of a news item published in the Annalen was the discovery of ether as it is used in surgical anesthesia by Henry Jacob Bigelow, which Liebig had been informed of through a letter from Edward Everett. Lothar Meyer and Dmitri Mendeleev both published their versions of the periodic table in Liebigs Annalen in 1870 and 1871, respectively, though both had published elsewhere in the years prior to their separate printings of the "full periodic system" in the Annalen. By 1957, the content of Liebigs Annalen was entirely organic chemistry.
Under Liebig's editorship As an editor, Justus von Liebig would often promote his own work in the journal. 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 chemist and historian J. R. Partington in his series A History of Chemistry:
As editor of the Annalen, Liebig criticised others freely, and sometimes showed poor judgment, e.g. in his violent attack on a factual paper on hydrogen persulphide by Thenard. A paper on benzene by Mitscherlich is full of critical footnotes by Liebig, and as if this were not enough, he added a critical 'Nachtrag' and an 'Erklärung'. His criticisms of Laurent and Gerhardt (see p. 411) and of Mulder (see p. 319) exceeded all reason.
Similarly, on Liebig and Hermann Kolbe, a contemporary organic chemist of similar reputation, J. P. Phillips of the University of Louisville Department of Chemistry wrote "...that the polemical outbursts for which Liebig and Kolbe were famous were not mere episodes in low comedy but a reasonably consistent defense of the conservative position that organic theory must develop from experiment alone." Following Liebig's death, Jacob Volhard, head of the group publishing the Annalen in 1878, altered the policies of the journal to only accept and print finished research papers not already printed elsewhere and "to exclude articles of a polemical nature".
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