François Charles Léon Moureu (19 April 1863, in Mourenx – 13 June 1929, in Biarritz) was a French organic chemist and pharmacist.

In 1902 Charles Moureu published Notions fondamentales de chimie organique,[2] translated into English as Fundamental principles of organic chemistry (1921).

He was one of the vice-presidents of the Société chimique de France (SCF) in 1910,[6][7] and the founding President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) from 1920 to 1922.

This allowed him to continue his research, studying organic chemistry with Auguste Béhal [fr] and Charles Friedel.

In 1913 he was named director of the laboratory of hydrological physical chemistry at the École pratique des hautes études.

The Allied Conference of Academies formally dissolved the International Association of Chemical Societies (IACS), as of July 22, 1919.

[14] Moureu was the founding President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), holding the position from 1920 to 1922.

[8][14] He also supported the establishment of the Maison de la chimie in Paris as an international center for chemists.

[5][20] During the war, Moureu researched acrolein and sulfur mustard gas, working with his student Charles Dufraisse.

Already familiar with the preparation of acrolein, Moureu and Dufraisse were able to develop a way to stabilize it after carefully studying the processes by which it altered.

[22] The autoxidation reactions that Moureu and Dufraisse described occur spontaneously in most organic products in the presence of oxygen from the air and certain catalysts.

It has led to the use of antioxidants in the rubber and vegetable oil industries,[20] and to widespread applications in foods and medicines.