WHAT CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHEMISTRY HAVE BEEN GENERATED IN MEXICO? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The contributions to chemistry that have been generated in Mexico are usually overshadowed by other more popular and recognized Mexican attributes and achievements. However, the rich historical past and modern development of the country have made room for great discoveries and creations for the world of science.

Chemistry is the science that is dedicated to the study of matter, its properties, the combination of substances, the reason for these combinations and their interaction with energy.

Mexico has an invisible cultural bond with chemistry thanks to its rich natural diversity and the innovation of its inhabitants.

Chemistry in Mexico has gone through three main stages throughout its history: pre-Hispanic times, the conquest, and independent Mexico.

In these stages, with different conceptions of the world, science and technology, the discoveries and contributions of Mexicans to chemistry have been relevant and useful for the development of the area, even worldwide.

Contributions to chemistry generated in Mexico

Contributions of pre-Hispanic cultures

Some pre-Hispanic civilizations, such as the Mayans and Aztecs, are recognized worldwide for their early knowledge of astrology, mathematics, and medicine. However, they also had a strong command of chemistry, not bad for the time.

Considering the isolation of America from the rest of the world, all the discoveries of these civilizations can be justly attributed to them.

In the central zone of Mexico –also known as Valle– there is a record of the early use of metals such as gold, silver, copper, tin and mercury for the development of weapons, clothing, decoration or exchange.

Both metals and precious stones were named, separated, and valued according to their rarity.

In the same way, these lake city dwellers knew and used the alkaline salts found in times of drought; These were used, for example, for cooking vegetables.

Other salts, such as plaster, alum and mica, were used in construction and used by coating walls or creating paints.

Their knowledge about the properties of different materials made them coveted objects, such as volcanic glass for use in hunting weapons, the resin of the rubber tree - rubber - as glue, without forgetting their vast knowledge on herbalism (of which there is a book as record).

It is indisputable that these populations knew and used chemistry in their daily lives, thus helping to lay the foundations for future advances.

Contributions in the Mexico of the Conquest

This era, which spans between 1535–1821, was one of great development in terms of metals and minerals. Although Europeans came to America in search of gold and riches, in Mexico, for the next 300 years, the focus now would be the study and application of these elements.

Mexico is today the main exporter of silver worldwide. It is not surprising to learn that the first industry, created in 1555 in Pachuca, innovated with its silver extraction process by means of amalgamation with mercury, coming to be considered the best legacy of America to metallurgy, since this process is cheaper and effective as no casting is required.

The development of mining in Mexico advanced rapidly and was considered of such importance that the authorities of New Spain entrusted the most illustrious scientists to manage it, and such was the case of Andrés Manuel del Río, the Spanish-Mexican who discovered a new item.

At the beginning of 1800, the scientist Manuel del Río, a member of the Royal Mining Corps, was dedicated to the chemical analysis of various Mexican minerals, and discovered a new element, which he called erythronium - currently known as vanadium - which is used to create different objects made of steel.

The great contributions to the chemistry of modern Mexico

At the end of the colony, the country gave a new beginning, increasingly open to the world and new societies.

One of the first great contributions of modern Mexico was by Leopoldo Río de la Loza, who created the first Mexican treatise on chemistry in 1850, entitled "Introduction to the Study of Chemistry."

De la Loza would go on to be recognized worldwide for his discoveries in the study of plants and vegetables, such as pipitzahoic acid, which is used to stop bleeding.

He was also the first Mexican to isolate natural substances such as oxygen and nitrogen, in addition to founding the Pharmaceutical Society.

Almost 100 years later, the UNAM Institute of Chemistry was founded in Mexico City in 1941.

Shortly after its creation, which filled the void in the study of chemistry in Mexico, the first great achievement on a world scale occurred by the young researcher Luis Ernesto Miramontes.

At age 26 he managed to synthesize norethisterone, thus creating the base compound that would become the contraceptive pill and is considered one of the most important inventions for the benefit of humanity.

Miramontes, like other talents graduated from the first chemistry schools, participated in the development of the Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, dedicated to the research and application of this substance, currently having more than 150 patents, including the elimination of sulfur pollutants in the gas.

Finally, one of the most important contributions of Mexican talent to the world remains, and that earned Mexico its first Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

In 1995, Mario Molina received the award for discovering the effect of chlorofluorocarbon gases on the ozone layer, the same research on which he has been the main author since 1974.

This research was key to the development of countless policies and campaigns to raise awareness of climate change.

Undoubtedly, the great contributions of chemistry in Mexico are increasingly visible, relevant and beneficial to the world; with research and discoveries of global importance that continue to contribute to the improvement of our quality of life and understanding of what surrounds us.

References

1. Bagley, M. (2014) What Is Chemistry? Live Science Online. Recovered from: livescience.com
2. Bargalló, M. (1966). Inorganic chemistry and the benefit of metals in pre-Hispanic and colonial Mexico. Mexico: UNAM
3. Hernández B. (1986) Development of inorganic chemistry in Mexico and the contribution of the Faculty of Chemistry in that area, Mexico: UNAM
4. Nobel Media. (2014) Mario J. Molina Facts. Nobelprize.org. Recovered from: Nobelprize.org
5. Urbán, GA and Aceves, PE (2001) Leopoldo Río de la Loza in the institutionalization of Mexican chemistry. Journal of the Chemical Society of Mexico, vol. 45- (1).