Vladimir Nikolayevich Ipatieff
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Nikolayevich Ipatieff (also Ipatiev) (November 21, 1867 (November 9 OS) - November 29, 1952) was a Russian and American chemist
. His most important contributions are in the field of petroleum
chemistry.
Born in Moscow
, Ipatieff first studied artillery
in the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Academy in Petersburg
, then later studied chemistry
in Russia with Alexei Yevgrafovich Favorskii
and in Germany. (The prominence of the extended family is illustrated by the fact that the July 17, 1918 extermination of by then ex-Czar Nicholas Romanoff, the Empress and the rest of the royal family, their doctor and retinue actually took place in the basement of a vacation house owned by the Ipatieff family in Ekaternburg.) His first works in chemistry were devoted to the study of metal
s and explosives. Later, his works on catalysis
methods under high pressure made him famous as a chemist; for his reactions he used massive bombs (often called Ipatieff bomb) made of steel. With the start of World War I
, Ipatieff organized a dedicated laboratory in Petersburg
which made improvements to the chemical weaponry and the methods of chemical protection for the army. Before the October revolution
, Ipatieff was a General-Lieutenant
of the Russian army and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
.
After the revolution, Ipatieff was active in creating and heading several important chemical research centers in Soviet Russia. Lenin called him "the head of our [Soviet] chemical industry". By late 1920s, however, Ipatieff was starting to feel threatened because of his past in the Czarist army and because he had friends among those convicted in the Industrial Party trial
. In 1930, Ipatieff, fearing that in time he would be victimized, he withdrew only a small amount of money from his accounts and prepared to attend an industry conference in Munich. He invited his wife to come with him, and at the last minute suggested she bring her jewels "in the evnt that we go dancing." As the train came to the border into Poland, he announced to the shocked wife, "Dear, look back at Mother Russia. You will never see her again." Though he spoke not a word of English, he fled to the United States.
In the US, Ipatieff secured a research-focused chemistry professorship at Northwestern University
, in the Chicago
suburb of Evanston
. there, he discovered alternative fuel mixtures and procedures that greatly enhanced engine performance, and it is said that after changing to Ipatieff fuel mixtures, the RAF was able to best German planes that had outperformed the British previously. Increasingly, he devoted time to commercial applications of his breakthroughs in fuel chemistry, and worked extensively for UOP LLC
(Universal Oil Products). He and his students made significant contributions to organic synthesis
and petroleum refining. He is considered one of the founding fathers of the modern petroleum chemistry in the US. Ipatieff died in Chicago.
Vladimir Ipatieff had three sons: Dmitry, Nikolai and Vladimir. Dmitry died in World War I
. Nikolai was a member of the White movement
, emigrated after the end of Russian Civil War
and died in Africa
testing a treatment he had invented for yellow fever
. Vladimir Vladimirovich Ipatieff, also a talented chemist, remained in the USSR and was arrested after the defection of his father. While living in the USA, Ipatieffs also adopted two Russian girls.
received a large endowment owing to UOP and eventually in turn established an award called the Ipatieff Prize. Awarded every three years, the Ipatieff Prize honors outstanding experimental work in the field of catalysis or high-pressure chemistry by researchers under the age of 40.
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
. His most important contributions are in the field of petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
chemistry.
Born in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Ipatieff first studied artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
in the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Academy in Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, then later studied chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
in Russia with Alexei Yevgrafovich Favorskii
Alexei Yevgrafovich Favorskii
Alexey Yevgrafovich Favorsky, also spelled Favorskii, was a Soviet/Russian chemist.-Life:Favorsky studied chemistry at the imperial University of Saint Petersburg from 1878 to 1882. He joined Alexander Butlerov's laboratory for several years, and in 1891 became a lecturer. In 1895, Favorksy...
and in Germany. (The prominence of the extended family is illustrated by the fact that the July 17, 1918 extermination of by then ex-Czar Nicholas Romanoff, the Empress and the rest of the royal family, their doctor and retinue actually took place in the basement of a vacation house owned by the Ipatieff family in Ekaternburg.) His first works in chemistry were devoted to the study of metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
s and explosives. Later, his works on catalysis
Catalysis
Catalysis is the change in rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of a substance called a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations....
methods under high pressure made him famous as a chemist; for his reactions he used massive bombs (often called Ipatieff bomb) made of steel. With the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Ipatieff organized a dedicated laboratory in Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
which made improvements to the chemical weaponry and the methods of chemical protection for the army. Before the October revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, Ipatieff was a General-Lieutenant
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
of the Russian army and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
.
After the revolution, Ipatieff was active in creating and heading several important chemical research centers in Soviet Russia. Lenin called him "the head of our [Soviet] chemical industry". By late 1920s, however, Ipatieff was starting to feel threatened because of his past in the Czarist army and because he had friends among those convicted in the Industrial Party trial
Industrial Party Trial
The Industrial Party Trial was a show trial in which several Soviet scientists and economists were accused and convicted of plotting a coup against the government of the Soviet Union....
. In 1930, Ipatieff, fearing that in time he would be victimized, he withdrew only a small amount of money from his accounts and prepared to attend an industry conference in Munich. He invited his wife to come with him, and at the last minute suggested she bring her jewels "in the evnt that we go dancing." As the train came to the border into Poland, he announced to the shocked wife, "Dear, look back at Mother Russia. You will never see her again." Though he spoke not a word of English, he fled to the United States.
In the US, Ipatieff secured a research-focused chemistry professorship at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, in the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
suburb of Evanston
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
. there, he discovered alternative fuel mixtures and procedures that greatly enhanced engine performance, and it is said that after changing to Ipatieff fuel mixtures, the RAF was able to best German planes that had outperformed the British previously. Increasingly, he devoted time to commercial applications of his breakthroughs in fuel chemistry, and worked extensively for UOP LLC
UOP LLC
UOP LLC, formerly known as Universal Oil Products, is a multi-national company developing and delivering technology to the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production, and major manufacturing industries....
(Universal Oil Products). He and his students made significant contributions to organic synthesis
Organic synthesis
Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the construction of organic compounds via organic reactions. Organic molecules can often contain a higher level of complexity compared to purely inorganic compounds, so the synthesis of organic compounds has...
and petroleum refining. He is considered one of the founding fathers of the modern petroleum chemistry in the US. Ipatieff died in Chicago.
Vladimir Ipatieff had three sons: Dmitry, Nikolai and Vladimir. Dmitry died in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Nikolai was a member of the White movement
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
, emigrated after the end of Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
and died in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
testing a treatment he had invented for yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
. Vladimir Vladimirovich Ipatieff, also a talented chemist, remained in the USSR and was arrested after the defection of his father. While living in the USA, Ipatieffs also adopted two Russian girls.
Ipatieff Prize
The American Chemical SocietyAmerican Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
received a large endowment owing to UOP and eventually in turn established an award called the Ipatieff Prize. Awarded every three years, the Ipatieff Prize honors outstanding experimental work in the field of catalysis or high-pressure chemistry by researchers under the age of 40.