Henri Moissan discovered and isolated elemental fluorine in 1886. Context and key points:

• Early hints and attempts to access fluorine trace the problem back to 18th–19th century chemists, but the first successful isolation of pure fluorine gas came from Moissan’s work in France. Moissan achieved this by electrolyzing a solution of potassium bifluoride in hydrogen fluoride and developed specialized, highly resistant apparatus to handle the highly reactive gas. He announced the result in 1886 and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1906 for this achievement.

Brief timeline:

• 1529: Fluorite (fluorspar) described by Georgius Agricola, establishing the mineral source commonly associated with fluorine chemistry.

• 1771: Carl Wilhelm Scheele prepares hydrofluoric acid in impure form by heating fluorite with sulfuric acid. This helped identify fluorine as a distinct element conceptually.

• 1869–1886: Various chemists attempt to isolate fluorine; George Gore’s 1869 experiments fail due to apparatus interactions, while Moissan’s successful electrolysis method achieves isolation in 1886.

• 1906: Moissan awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for isolating fluorine.

Notes on nomenclature and attribution:

• The element was named fluorine from Latin fluere, meaning to flow, reflecting the fluoride chemistry involved in its discovery. The widely recognized credit for isolation goes to Moissan, though earlier scientists laid foundational observations about fluorine-containing species and the chemistry of fluorides.

If you’d like, I can provide concise biographical notes on Moissan or compare the different historic attempts and why they failed to isolate fluorine prior to 1886.