Journal of the 39th International Chemistry Olympiad Moscow Russia
Issue no.5 Wednesday 18 July 2007

From the past
to the future
Wishes of Dr. Anton Sirota to ourparticipants (Technical University ofBratislava, Slovakia)

Dear participants and Organizing
Committee! First of all, I wish all ofyou success and victory! And as it
was said at the Opening: There will
be no losers, but only winners. Everybody who came to this Olympiad
in chemistry is a winner.
I understand that it’s very difficult
to arrange everything properly because there are so many countries,
so many participants! At first they
will come through practical examand then through theoretical and I
do appreciate the tasks because they
are really difficult. When I was organizing the Chemistry Olympiad
in Bratislava in 1959 for the firsttime there were only three countries.
Since that time the number of countries has been increased. In 1996
there were already 40 countries: themore countries - the higher responsibility and everything was perfect.
Now there are 69 countries participating in the Chemistry Olympiad!
It’s a huge number.
Chemistry is a practical science;
you should provide an experimentwith all important facilities. Every-thing should be prepared preliminary: all chemicals, tubes and places to make an experiment, because
it’s not a theoretical science when
you need only a pen.
I’m responsible for the preparations and for regulations from 1994.
Everybody should be equal, without
any exceptions. The International
centre in Bratislava of Olympiad in
Chemistry was very active. In 1987
we made a proposal and in 1995 thenext one and after 5 years of discussion it was approved without anyexceptions. There are items in thisregulation that clarify who should
be in an Organizing Committee,
how to evaluate the results and tohonour the winners. My role is tocheck how these rules are fulfilled

and if there will be some violations
I should tell about it. It’s the firstprecondition of these competitions.
I’m proud that they trust me.
Here in Moscow everything isperfect and at very high level frommy point of view. It’s extremely
important for such great numberof countries. Everybody must feel
equal conditions at these competitions. Moscow is a very friendly,
hospital and warm city for me evenduring my last coming in December
2006. In December of 2006 everything has been already prepared.
Best regards and good luck!
Maria Nefedieva

From Butlerov for you“You should know that the nature chooses the ways that are right, but unhurried. We, sinners, should
also study it. The opinion that hurry helps to save the time is absolutely false. Yesterday’s laboratory
exercises where I was looking after one of you prove these words. This gentleman hurried so muchthat decided to carry out two experiments at once. As a result he has caught on the test-tube by his
sleeve and lost the substance he worked with. As usual the prize of the hurry was the necessity tostart everything from the beginning”.

Journal of the 39th International Chemistry Olympiad Moscow Russia
Issue no.5 Wednesday 18 July 2007

Magic ship and friendshipJournal of the 39th International Chemistry Olympiad Moscow Russia
Issue no.5 Wednesday 18 July 2007

Mendeleyev and Art«From all signs distinguishing genius two are most significant: it is ability to cover and unite wide areas of knowledge and ability to produce unique sharp idea». This statement of the well-known Russian chemist L.Chugaev also
concerns to the greatest chemist of the world Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev who discovered the Periodic law ofchemical elements in 1869.
This law could not be discovered with the knowledge
that people had in 19th century. There were too many false
facts and gaps. It is insight of the genius the capability
to feel the great order in visible chaos of already known
properties of substance. Incomprehensible ability of generalization in order, the ability to see universal simplicityof the law in endless variety, the mighty intuition pushingknowledge abroad the limits of known was needed.
But the man of genius is talented in all fields. Mendeleyev’s interests were not limited to inorganic chemistry. Pedagogy, organic chemistry, petrochemical, metallurgical and coal industry, aeronautics, meteorology andmetrology, biology and medical chemistry, agrochemistry
and agriculture… Everywhere you can find Mendeleyev`sideas. His recommendations still are used in criminalistics. «It’s difficult to say what I haven’t made during myscientific life, - wrote Mendeleyev. - And it was done notbad, I think ».
However, not many people know that D.I. Mendeleyev
was a member of the Imperial academy of arts. No, hedid not draw landscapes and still-lives. He was the center around whom the community of scientists and artists
formed. These educated people regularly met on wellknown Mendeleyev’s Wednesdays. Why did Mendeleyev
spend energy and time on it? He was convinced, that sci-ence and art are two key approaches to know the world
and they are closely correlated. Therefore he consideredthat the dialogue between scientists and artists was important for development of science and art. In impression ofA.I.Kuindzhi’s picture « Night above Dnepr » (1880) theunexpected question arose in Mendeleev’s mind: Did it
accidentally the landscape as a genre of painting and thenatural sciences as a science was appeared simultaneously
in the beginning of the New time? He answered himself– it wasn’t casual. During the Ancient times and Renaissance artists and philosophers studied a person, its soul anddialogue with God. With the starting of New time fromGalilee epoch the understanding had come. It is impossible
to study a person without relation with Nature. Whereas
landscapes are representing Nature, natural sciences are investigating it. Mendeleev had detected close connection ofnatural sciences and arts. Really, only one year was neededfor Michelson’s experiments, 15 year for Rontgen’s discoveries and 16 for discovery of radioactivity.

Use your brain
Question. In 1916 in Saint Petersburg there was a famous murder – somebody shot Gregory Rasputin. But before shooting Prince Felix Jusupov tried
to poison Rasputin with potassium cyanide. Poison has been thrust in cakesand port which Rasputin adored. He ate and drunk everything, but…hasremained alive. Why so strong poison has not worked? May be Rasputin has
used the magic?
Answer. The reason is not in magic. The plausible clue is in sugar. Potassium
cyanide has been mixed in sweet cakes and port, containing glucose. Glucose
as an aldehyde adds hydrogen cyanide forming nontoxic cyanohydrine:
RCH=O + HCN → RCH(OH)CNIn other words, Rasputin was given poison together with an antipillbox, andcyanide was immediately inactivated, having entered in reaction with sugar.
As you can see, the chemistry interferes not only in cookery, but also in history.

Why Rasputin
was not poisoned
with potassium
cyanide?

Journal of the 39th International Chemistry Olympiad Moscow Russia
Issue no.5 Wednesday 18 July 2007

Best of the best
If to arrange a competition in the world of molecules it
is possible to find the champions. Who are they, thesechampions? In each nomination there are leaders. Today we shall talk about sweet champions - about thesweetest substances.

The sweetest
The sweetest of natural sugars is fructose. It is 1.7
times sweeter than saccharose . But it is not the champion. So, from berries Dioscoreophylum cumminsi,
found in the jungle of Nigeria, we can find the substance which is 1500 times sweeter than sugar. Even
more, 4 000 times, has surpassed saccharose taumatin fiber which was allocated from fruits of other African plant Thaumatococcus danielli. The small sliceof taumatin can replace the whole bag of granulatedsugar!
Sweet substances are searched in laboratories ofmany countries of the world. It is clear, that it is necessary to replace natural sugar with the lowcalorie sweet substances that are harmlessto diabetics. The first among them wassaccharin - ortho-sulfobenzoic acid imide.
This substance for the first time was synthesized byAmericans A.Remsenom and K.Falbergom in 1878,

is approximately 500 times sweeter than sugar. But
there is serious lack in saccharin - it tastes bitter.
Aspartame is rather new synthetic sweet substance. It is dipeptide - N(-L-α-aspartyl)-L-phenylalanine methyl ether. It is 200 times sweeter
than sugar and almost the same on taste. Besides
it strengthens the taste of saccharose, glucose andsaccharin, especially at presence of a citric acid.
Small amounts of aspartame completely suppress
unpleasant gustatory sensations which are causedby saccharin. In small intestines aspartame splits
in two amino acids which it consists of. Harmlessaspartame became one of the most popular substitutes of sugar.
The next “masterpiece of sweetness” has beencreated in 70th years when Japanese researchers
synthesized dipeptide, constructed of the rests aspartic acid and aminomalonic acid (the last is takenin the form of a complex ether). Here is the structural formula of the sweetest of known substances,
N(-L-α-aspartyl)-L-aminomalonic acid methylfenchylic ether. It is 33000 times sweeter than sugar!

Lessons in Russian
How are you? – Как дела? [kak dela]Fine, thanks. – Спасибо, хорошо. [spasibo horosho]
What is your name? – Как тебя зовут?
[kak tebja zovut]
My name is… - Меня зовут…[menja zovut]
Where are you from? – Откуда ты? [otkuda ti:]

How old are you? – Сколько тебе лет?
[skolko tebe let]
What hobby do you have? – Какое у тебя хобби?
[kakoie u tebja hobi]
To the left – Налево [nalevo]
To the right – Направо [napravo]

CallForward – Вперед [vpered]
Back – Назад [nazad]
Up – Вверх [vverh]
Down – Вниз [vniz]
I love you - Я люблю тебя[ ja lu:blu: tebja]

Tomorrow program Thursday July 19thPolice - 02
Fire station and ambulance - 911
39th IChO office (for urgent calls only):
Alexander Gladilin +7 (916) 555 - 70 - 27
Vadim Eremin +7 (916) 611 - 88 - 90
Elena Eremina +7 (916) 133 - 00 - 55

7.45-8.30 Breakfast, Olimpiets

Mentor Support:
Alexander Veresov +7 (910) 452 - 41 - 23

giev Posad, lunch included

Student support:
Ekaterina Yakubovich +7 (916) 676 - 91 - 00

8.30-19.00 Whole-day excursion to Ser19.00-21.00 Dinner, Olimpiets

Guest support:
Alexandra (Shura) Prokhorova +7 (916) 587 - 60-26

The issue is prepared by:

Head of the project: Lukichev Alexander // Project managers: Salynkina Irina, Galieva Alina // Correspondents: Agaeva Aysel, Bredina Ekaterina,
Davydova Katya, Eremina Maria, Kravtsova Anastasia, Pomerantseva Anna, Sabanova Alina, Nefedieva Maria // Correctors: Anna Berkovich,Sergey Sobolev, Yulia Valeeva // Photographer: Lobus Alexander // Designers: Turin Vadim, Lukichev Ilya
Published and printed by Trace light studio ltd
Call us: +7 (495) 939-26-66 // E-mail: luk-mail@mail.ru

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