2017 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ipatieff, a linchpin in the development of catalysis as a method of organic synthesis. Born in Moscow, Russia on November 21, 1867, he studied math and science at military academies before instructing at the Mikhail Artillery Academy in St. Petersberg. Ipatieff finished a dissertation in 1895 with Favorskii in St. Petersberg on reactions of bromine with tertiary alcohols. The following year, he was sent abroad to study terpene derivatives, in Munich, Germany with Adolf van Bayer. Before returning to St. Petersberg in 1897 as Professor in the Artillery Academy, Ipatieff spent time in other locations in Germany and France, forging connections with other chemists. At this point, the stage was set for the rest of his career: exploring the use of steel, particularly at pressure, in catalytic reactions; the use of Russian, German, French, and later English as languages in which to communicate scientific ideas; and the study of terpenes, both as molecules of interest and as probes to explore reaction mechanisms. By 1928, Ipatieff had risen considerably with promotions to lieutenant general and as director of the Central Chemistry Laboratories, however, political problems loomed and he and his wife Barbara left for Germany in 1930, never again returning to the USSR. While in Germany that year, he met Gustav Egloff of Universal Oil Products (UOP) who, along with Hiram Halle, convinced Ipatieff to come to Chicago part-time as the Director of Chemical Research. By 1931, with the help of Northwestern University, where he was named lecturer, and later Professor, the Ipatieff’s were living permanently in Chicago. Ipatieff enjoyed twenty years of success in Chicago, building catalysis research at both UOP and Northwestern, including discoveries such as solid phosphoric acid (SPA), a heterogeneous catalyst still used today for acid catalyzed reactions such as olefin oligomerization. The talk will focus on Ipatieff’s life and achievements, including the establishment of the Ipatieff Prize, given by the ACS every third year since 1947 to a researcher under the age of 40 for achievements in catalysis.

Vladimir Nikolaevich Ipatieff: A sesquicentennial of contributions to the chemistry of high-pressure catalysis

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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