Nikolai Semyonovich Kurnakov (russian: Николай Семёнович Курнаков; 6 December 1860 – 19 March 1941) was a Russian chemist, who is internationally recognized as the originator of

physicochemical Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...

analysis. He also was one of the principal founders of the

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

industry in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. A chemical reaction that he pioneered, known as the

Kurnakov test The Kurnakov test, also known as Kurnakov's reaction, is a chemical test that distinguishes pairs of Cis isomer, ''cis''- and trans-isomers, ''trans''-isomers of tA2X2(A = NH3, X = halogen or pseudohalide). Upon treatment with thiourea, the ''tr ...

, is still used to differentiate

cis Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

from trans isomers of

divalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with other atoms when it forms chemical compounds or molecules. Description The combining capacity, or affinity of an ...

platinum and is his best-known contribution to

coordination chemistry A coordination complex consists of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ''ligands'' or complexing agents. Many ...

Early life and career

Kurnakov was born in

Nolinsk Nolinsk (russian: Ноли́нск) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Nolinsky District in Kirov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Voya River (Vyatka River, Vyatka's tributary), sout ...

Vyatka Governorate Vyatka Governorate (russian: Вятская губерния, udm, Ватка губерний, mhr, Виче губерний, tt-Cyrl, Вәтке губернасы) was a governorate of the Russian Empire and Russian Soviet Federative Socia ...

. He attended a high school at

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

and later studied at the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg. Distantly related to organic chemist

Vladimir Markovnikov Vladimir Vasilyevich Markovnikov (russian: Влади́мир Васи́льевич Марко́вников), also spelled as Markownikoff ( – 11 February 1904), was a Russian chemist. Early life and education Markovnikov studied economics at ...

, he made an early choice of a chemistry career, setting up a home laboratory at 14. He published his first article on

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , where is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium or a ...

crystallization and

sodium thioantimoniate Sodium thioantimoniate or sodium tetrathioantimonate(V) is an inorganic compound with the formula . The nonahydrate of this chemical, , is known as Schlippe's salt, named after Johann Karl Friedrich von Schlippe (1799–1867), These compounds are e ...

in 1882. In the same year he graduated as a mining engineer. During a trip to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, Kurnakov studied salt manufacturing in several locations. The scientific work of this trip became his Ph.D. thesis, which he completed in 1884.

Career

He then worked for several years at the Mining Institute, mostly on the formation of salts and potash deposits and mining and beneficiation of salt and potash. In 1893, Kurnakov became professor of

inorganic chemistry Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...

for his work on the reactions of cis- and trans- platinum complexes with

thiourea Thiourea () is an organosulfur compound with the formula and the structure . It is structurally similar to urea (), except that the oxygen atom is replaced by a sulfur atom (as implied by the ''thio-'' prefix); however, the properties of urea ...

, today known as the

. In 1902 he became professor at the

Saint Petersburg Polytechnic Institute Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, abbreviated as SPbPU (also, formerly "Saint Petersburg State Technical University", abbreviated as SPbSTU), is a Russian technical university located in Saint Petersburg. Other former names i ...

, which he established together with

Dmitri Mendeleev Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes transliterated as Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) ( ; russian: links=no, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, tr. , ; 8 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._27_January.html" ;"title="O ...

and

Nikolai Menshutkin Nikolai Aleksandrovich Menshutkin (russian: Николай Александрович Меншуткин; – ) was a Russian chemist who discovered the process of converting a tertiary amine to a quaternary ammonium salt via the reaction with an ...

. He held the position until 1930. In his later years, he focused his work on platinum chemistry and platinum production. He received several prizes, for example, the

Mendeleev Prize Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes transliterated as Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) ( ; russian: links=no, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, tr. , ; 8 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._27_January.html" ;"title="O ...

in 1936, the

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 ...

in 1939 and the

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 Stalin Peace Prize, awarded 1949 to 1955, later known as the Lenin Peace Prize The Int ...

in 1941. He was also awarded a ''Doctor honoris causa'' by

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

in 1909. After the death of his wife in 1940 his health deteriorated, and he died in a sanatorium in

Barvikha Barvikha (russian: Барви́ха) is a village in Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is the site of the Barvikha Sanatorium, the health resort of the President of Russia. During the Soviet era, Barvikha was known as the site of ...

on 19 March 1941. A mineral was named

kurnakovite Kurnakovite is a hydrated borate of magnesium with the chemical composition MgB3O3(OH)5·5H2O. It is a member of the inderite group and is a triclinic dimorph of the monoclinic inderite. Discovery and occurrence Kurnakovite, was first described ...

in his honor.

Early life and career

Career

References

Further reading