Wöhlers discoveries had a significant influence on the theoretical basis of chemistry. The journals of every year from 1820 to 1881 contain his original scientific contributions. The Scientific American' supplement for 1882 stated that "for two or three of his researches he deserves the highest honor a scientific man can obtain, but the sum of his work is  overwhelming. Had he never lived, the aspect of chemistry would be very different from that it is now".
Wöhler's notable research students included chemists Georg Ludwig Carius, Heinrich Limpricht, Rudolph Fittig, Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe, Albert Niemann, Vojtěch Šafařík, Wilhelm Kühne, and Augustus Voelcker.
Wöhler was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1854. He was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1862, Wöhler was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society.
The Life and Work of Friedrich Wöhler (1800–1882) (2005) by Robin Keen is considered to be "the first detailed scientific biography" of Wöhler.
On the 100th anniversary of Wöhler's death, the West German government issued a stamp depicting the structure of urea with its synthesis formula listed directly below.