Boris Aleksandrovich Arbuzov (4 November 1903 – 6 November 1991), was a Russian and Soviet chemist and a representative of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union of 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th convocations.

Early life and career

Boris Arbuzov was born on November 4, 1903 in the family of scientists. His father was

Aleksandr Arbuzov Aleksandr Erminingeldovich Arbuzov (russian: Алекса́ндр Ермининге́льдович Арбу́зов; 12 October 1877 – 22 January 1968) was a Russian and Soviet chemist who discovered the Michaelis–Arbuzov reaction. A n ...

, a chemist and founder of the chemistry of organophosphorus compounds. In 1926, Boris Arbuzov had graduated from the Kazan Institute of Agriculture and Forestry. From 1929 to 1935 he worked at the Kazan Veterinary Institute, a part of the

Kazan National Research Technological University Kazan National Research Technological University, KNRTU is an innovational scientific educational complex. The University comprises 15 academic and research institutes; runs over 100 Specialist, Bachelor's, Master's Degree and Ph.D A Docto ...

where he organized and headed the department of synthetic rubber. From 1932 to 1938 he worked at the

Kazan Federal University Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...

. From 1940 to 1950 he was a dean of the chemical faculty at the

Alexander Butlerov Chemistry Institute Alexander Butlerov Chemistry Institute (former name Chemical Faculty of Kazan State University) — structural unit of Kazan (Volga region) Federal University, carries out research, development and academic activity in the area of basic and appl ...

and until 1967 headed the department of organic chemistry. From 1960 to 1989 he was the head and director of the Kazan Institute of Organic Chemistry, the

Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

, and later - the Aleksandr Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry. In 1938 he was arrested, but was freed in February 1939, due to lack of evidence.

Research

At the beginning of scientific activity he studied (under the guidance of AE Arbuzov) the method of tapping coniferous trees, the composition of the gum and the products of its processing -

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a spec ...

and

rosin Rosin (), also called colophony or Greek pitch ( la, links=no, pix graeca), is a solid form of resin obtained from pines and some other plants, mostly conifers, produced by heating fresh liquid resin to vaporize the volatile liquid terpene comp ...

. The work was of great practical importance, and allowed a new approach to the issue of the technical use of

for which he was awarded the A. Butlerov Prize from the Russian Physico-Chemical Society in 1928. A year later, together with AE Arbuzov, he discovered the reaction of formation of free radicals of the triarylmethyl series which is formed from

aryl In organic chemistry, an aryl is any functional group or substituent derived from an aromaticity, aromatic ring, usually an aromatic hydrocarbon, such as phenyl and naphthyl. "Aryl" is used for the sake of abbreviation or generalization, and "Ar ...

bromomethane Bromomethane, commonly known as methyl bromide, is an organobromine compound with formula C H3 Br. This colorless, odorless, nonflammable gas is produced both industrially and biologically. It has a tetrahedral shape and it is a recognized ozo ...

. He conducted research in a series of derivatives of pyrolytic

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

, resulted in the preparation of the drug pyrophos and octamethyl pesticide. After 1930, he studied the chemical transformations of

terpene Terpenes () are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n > 1. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predominantly by plants, particularly conifers. Terpenes ...

s and the mechanism of their oxides transformation.

Honours

*1944/1945 –

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

*1951 –

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

*1953/1963/1969/1973/1984 –

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

*1969 – Hero of Socialist Labour *1975 –

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...

*1978 – Lenin Prize *1979 –

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples (russian: oрден Дружбы народов, translit=orden Druzhby narodov) was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military unit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbuzov, Boris 1903 births 1991 deaths 20th-century chemists Academic staff of Kazan Federal University Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Seventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Eighth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Ninth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Tenth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Heroes of Socialist Labour Stalin Prize winners Lenin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Russian chemists Soviet chemists Burials at Arskoe Cemetery