Russian chemist, creator of the theory of chemical structure and the first Russian school of chemists.
He lost his mother early and from the age of 8 he was brought up in the private boarding school Topornina in Kazan.
“Little Butlerov, like all barchats, had an uncle. The boy had no idea about chemistry, but he loved fireworks and he liked chemical glassware. Substances and utensils needed for making fireworks, the uncle delivered to him without difficulty, and the child enthusiastically indulged in experiments. He interfered with sulfur, saltpeter, coal and received gunpowder; he dissolved blue vitriol in a flask and, dipping an iron nail into the blue liquid, saw how it was covered with copper. The boy was not interested in the practical results of the miracles he performed. His imagination was occupied with the process of transformation of substances.
An interesting episode relates to this period of Butlerov's life, later told by his boarding mate Shevlyakov:
“Butlerov diligently fiddled with some bottles, jars, funnels, mysteriously poured something from one vial into another. He was interfered in every possible way by the irrepressible teacher Roland, often took away bottles and vials, put in a corner or left an uninvited chemist without lunch, but he did not let up, taking advantage of the patronage of a physics teacher. In the end, in the corner, near Butlerov's bed, a tiny, always locked locker filled with some kind of drugs appeared.
One beautiful spring evening, when the pupils were peacefully and cheerfully playing bast shoes in the spacious yard, and the "frantic Roland" was dozing in the sun, a deafening explosion rang out in the kitchen ... Everyone gasped, and Roland, with a tiger leap, found himself in the basement where the kitchen. Then the “tiger” appeared before us again, ruthlessly dragging Butlerov with singed hair and eyebrows, and behind him, head bowed, was the uncle, attracted as an accomplice, secretly delivering the materials necessary for the production of experiments.
To the honor of Topornin's boarding house, it should be noted that rods were never used in this
institution, but since Butlerov's crime was out of the ordinary, our teachers, at the general council, came up with a new, unprecedented punishment. Two or three times the criminals were taken out of the dark punishment cell into the common dining room, with a black board on their chest, on the board in large white letters flaunted: "The Great Chemist."
Student A.M. Butlerova - S.V. Lebedev, the creator of an industrial method for producing synthetic rubber.
Butlerov Alexander Mikhailovich, short biography which is found in almost all chemistry textbooks, is a famous Russian chemist, the founder of the scientific school of organic chemistry, the founder of the theory of the structure of organic substances, who predicted and explained the isomerism of a large number of organic compounds and synthesized some of them (urotropine, formaldehyde polymer, etc.). Also, Alexander Mikhailovich, whose contribution to science was highly appreciated by D. I. Mendeleev, wrote works on beekeeping and agriculture.
Butlerov Alexander Mikhailovich: short biography
The future scientist was born on September 15, 1828 in the family of a former military man, at that time a landowner. His father Mikhail Vasilievich participated in the war of 1812, and after his retirement he lived with his family in his native village of Butlerovka. Mom, Sofya Alexandrovna, died at the age of 19, immediately after the birth of a child. Alexander spent his childhood in Butlerovka and his grandfather's estate - the village of Podlesnaya Shantala, where he was raised by aunts. At the age of 10, the boy was sent to a private boarding school, where he mastered French and German well. In 1842, after a terrible fire in Kazan, the boarding school was closed, and Sasha was transferred to the 1st Kazan gymnasium. In these educational institutions, Butlerov collected insects and plants, was very interested in chemistry and conducted his first experiments. The result of one of them was an explosion, and the punishment for Alexander for what he had done was imprisonment in a punishment cell with a plaque on his chest “The Great Chemist”.
student years
In 1844, Butlerov A.M., whose biography is permeated with love for chemistry, became a student at Kazan University, which at that time was the center of natural scientific research. At first, the young man became very interested in zoology and botany, but then his interest, under the influence of lectures by K. K. Klaus and N. N. Zinin, spread to chemistry. On their own advice, the young man organized a home laboratory, but the topic of the candidate's thesis, perhaps due to Zinin's move to St. Petersburg, was butterflies.
After graduating from the university in 1849, Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov, who was petitioned by N. I. Lobachevsky and K. K. Klaus, devoted himself to teaching activities and lectured on physical geography, physics and chemistry. Moreover, Alexander Mikhailovich was an excellent speaker, able to completely control the attention of the audience due to the clarity and rigor of presentation. In addition to lectures within the walls of the university, Butlerov gave lectures available to the public. The Kazan public sometimes preferred these performances to fashionable theatrical performances. He received his master's degree in 1851, in the same year he married Glumilina Nadezhda Mikhailovna, the niece of Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov. After 3 years, he defended his doctoral dissertation at Moscow University on the topic "About Essential Oils". After that, he was elected at the Kazan University as an extraordinary, and a few years later, an ordinary professor of chemistry. From 1860 to 1863, against his own will, twice the rector, and the rectorship fell on a rather difficult period in the history of the university: a memorial service for Kurtin and abyssal unrest that affected students and faculty.
Trip to Europe
Alexander Mikhailovich actively participated in the activities of the economic society of the city of Kazan, published articles on agriculture, botany and floriculture. The biography of Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov includes three trips abroad, the first of which took place in 1857-1858. The Russian scientist visited Europe, where he visited the enterprises of the chemical industry and got acquainted with the leading chemical laboratories. In one of them, in Paris, he worked for almost six months. In the same period, Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov listened to lectures by such prominent European minds as A. Becquerel, E. Mitscherlich, J. Liebig, R. V. Bunsen, and made acquaintance with Friedrich August Kekule, a German chemist.
Upon returning to Kazan, Butlerov A.M., whose biography is of interest not only in Russia, but also abroad, reequipped the chemical laboratory and continued research on methylene derivatives, begun by Wurtz. In 1858, the scientist discovered a new method for the synthesis of methylene iodide and carried out a number of works related to the extraction of its derivatives. During the synthesis of methylene diacetate, a polymer of formaldehyde was obtained - a product of saponification of the test substance, the result of experiments on which was hexamethylenetetramine and methyleneninate. Thus, Butlerov for the first time produced a complete synthesis of a sugary substance.
Butlerov Alexander Mikhailovich: briefly about the achievements of the scientist
In 1861, Butlerov spoke in Speyer, at the Congress of German Doctors and Naturalists, with a lecture "On the chemical structure of matter", which was based on acquaintance with the state of chemistry abroad, an irresistible interest in the fundamentals of chemistry from a theoretical point of view and his own experiments, produced throughout scientific activity.
His theory, which included ideas about the ability of A. Cooper's carbon atoms to form chains and A. Kekule's valence, assumed the chemical structure of molecules, by which the scientist understood the method of connecting atoms to each other, depending on a certain amount of chemical strength (affinity) inherent in each atom.
Important aspects of Butlerov's theory
The Russian scientist established a close relationship between the structure and chemical properties of a complex organic compound, which was able to explain the isomerism of many of them, including three pentanes, two isomeric butanes, and various alcohols. Butlerov's theory also made it possible to predict possible chemical reactions and explain them.
Thus, in his theory, Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov:
- showed the insufficiency of the theories of chemistry that existed at that time;
- emphasized the overriding atomicity;
- defined as the distribution of affinity forces belonging to atoms, as a result of which atoms, exerting an influence on each other (indirect or direct), are combined into a chemical particle;
- determined 8 rules for the formation of chemical compounds;
- he was the first to draw attention to the difference in the reactivity of dissimilar compounds, explained by the lower or higher energy with which the atoms combine, as well as by the incomplete or complete consumption of affinity units during bond formation.
Scientific achievements of the Russian chemist
The biography of Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov is briefly described in school textbooks, with the dates of his life and his greatest achievements in the account of the Russian scientist, a huge number of experiments aimed at confirming his theory. The scientist, having previously synthesized, determined in 1864 the structure of the tertiary in 1866 - isobutane, in 1867 - isobutylene. He also learned the structure of a number of ethylene carbons and produced their polymerization.
In 1867-1868. Butlerov Alexander Mikhailovich, whose brief biography evokes scientists from all over the world, was appointed professor of chemistry at St. Petersburg University. Introducing it to the staff of this institution, Mendeleev emphasized the originality of Butler's teaching, which was not a continuation of anyone else's work, but belonged to him personally.
In 1869, Butlerov finally settled in St. Petersburg, where he was elected an extraordinary, and then an ordinary academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The period of life in St. Petersburg was very active: the professor continued his experiments, polished the theory of chemical structure, and participated in public life.
Hobbies in the life of a scientist
In 1873 he began to study and lecture on this subject. He wrote the first manual in scientific history based on the theory of chemical structure - "Introduction to the full study of organic chemistry." Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov is the founder of the school of Russian chemists, otherwise known as the "Butlerov school". In parallel with the study of chemistry, he was actively interested in agriculture. In particular, he was interested in growing tea in the Caucasus, gardening and beekeeping. His brochures "How to Lead the Bees" and "The Bee, Its Life and the Main Rules of Intelligent Beekeeping" were reprinted many times, and in 1886 he also founded the journal "Russian Beekeeping Leaf".
In 1880-1883. Butlerov Alexander Mikhailovich, whose brief biography is interesting and replete with discoveries important for science, was the president of the Russian Physical and Technical Society. In the same period, the scientist became very interested in spiritualism, which he met at the Aksakov estate in 1854. Later, he became close friends with his wife's cousin Aksakov A.N., who published the journal on spiritualism "Psychical Research", and ardently defended his hobby before his acquaintances and friends who condemned him.
The value of the works of Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov for chemistry
Alexander Mikhailovich had to retire in 1875, after 25 years of service. The Council of St. Petersburg University twice postponed this period by 5 years. The last lecture of Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov took place on March 14, 1885. He was let down by his health, undermined by intensive scientific work and social activities: unexpectedly for everyone, Butlerov died at his estate on August 5, 1886. The scientist was buried in the rural cemetery of his native Butlerovka, now defunct, in the family chapel.
Butlerov's works received worldwide recognition during his lifetime, his scientific school is considered an integral part of the development of chemistry in Russia, and the biography of Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov is of genuine interest to scientists and students. Alexander Mikhailovich himself was a very charming and versatile person with a sociable character, breadth of views, good nature and condescending attitude towards students.
Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov (1828-1886)
Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov was born on August 25, 1828 in the mountains. Chistopol, Kazan province. In 1849 he graduated from Kazan University, where his teachers were the outstanding Russian chemists K. K. Klaus and N. N. Zinin.
After graduating from the university, Butlerov was left with him to prepare for a professorship and soon began
l lecturing in chemistry. In 1851, Butlerov defended his thesis on the topic "On the oxidation of organic compounds" and received a master's degree, and in 1854, after defending his thesis "On essential oils", he was approved for a doctorate and in the same year was elected professor at Kazan University where he taught for 20 years.In May 1868, the council of St. Petersburg University, at the suggestion of Mendeleev, elected Butlerov an ordinary professor in the department of organic chemistry, after which all his scientific and pedagogical activities proceeded in St. Petersburg. In 1871, for outstanding scientific achievements, Butlerov was elected an extraordinary, and in 1874 an ordinary academician.
From the very first steps of his scientific activity, Butlerov proved to be a brilliant experimenter and carried out a series of
remarkable syntheses, in particular the synthesis of the first artificially obtained sugar, which he called methylenenitane, and the synthesis of urotropin, which has found wide application in medicine.Butlerov's experimental talent was combined with broad theoretical generalizations and scientific foresight. While still a relatively young scientist, Butlerov expressed deep and bold ideas in the field of theoretical chemistry, for example, in the question of expressing the structure of molecules and the bonds of atoms in them by formulas. While many chemists believed that science would never penetrate deep into the structure of a molecule, Butlerov was convinced that it was possible to express the structure of molecules of organic compounds by formulas and, moreover, to do this by studying their chemical transformations.
In 1861, during a business trip abroad, Butlerov spoke at a congress of German natural scientists and doctors with a report "On the chemical structure of substances", which created a new era in the chemistry of organic compounds. Returning to Kazan, he developed the new teaching in detail and, in order to confirm his theoretical propositions, began extensive experimental research conducted both by him personally and by his numerous students. These works of Butlerov not only led to a number of new, important syntheses, but also confirmed the theory he created, which, under the name of the theory of chemical structure, became the guiding theory of organic chemistry.
Butlerov
The essence of Butlerov's theory lies in the assertion that the properties of substances are determined not only by their qualitative and quantitative composition, as was previously believed, but also by the internal structure of molecules, a certain order of connection between the atoms that form a molecule. Butlerov called this internal structure "chemical structure".
“The chemical nature of a complex particle,” wrote Butlerov, “is determined by the nature of the elementary constituents, their number and chemical structure.”
Particularly important was Butlerov's idea that atoms, combining chemically in a certain sequence in accordance with their valency, mutually influence each other in such a way that their own nature, their "chemical content" is partially changed. “One and the same element,” writes Butlerov, “when combined with various other elements, reveals a different chemical content.” For this reason, changes in the internal structure of molecules naturally lead to the emergence of new qualities.
In 1862-1863. Butlerov writes his remarkable work "Introduction to the Complete Study of Organic Chemistry", in which he has all the factual material of the org.
chemical chemistry on the basis of a strictly scientific classification arising from the theory of chemical structure. In terms of the power of thought, scientific depth, clarity of form and saturation with new ideas, Butlerov's "Introduction" is similar to Mendeleev's "Fundamentals of Chemistry". The classification of organic compounds adopted in this book has been preserved in its main features to this day.Butlerov brought up a brilliant galaxy of students who continued to develop his ideas. Such outstanding scientists as V. V. Markovnikov, A. E. Favorsky and many others came out of his school.
The significance of Butlerov's works and his outstanding role in the development of science were perfectly described by Mendeleev in his proposal to Butlerov to occupy the Department of Organic Chemistry at St. Petersburg University. "A. M. Butlerov is an ordinary professor at Kazan University, one of the most remarkable Russian scientists. He is Russian both in his scientific education and in the originality of his works. A student of our famous academician N. N. Zinin, he became a chemist not in foreign lands, but in Kazan, where he continues to develop an independent chemical school. The direction of the scientific works of Alexander Mikhailovich does not constitute a continuation or development of the ideas of his predecessors, but belongs to him. In chemistry there is a Butler school, a Butler trend.
Butlerov's doctrine of the chemical structure of molecules is theoretical basis organic chemistry. It enables the chemist to navigate in a huge variety of carbon compounds, to determine the structure of molecules based on the study of their
chemical properties, to predict the properties of substances according to the structure of molecules, to outline the ways of synthesis of the necessary substances.More than 90 years have passed since the creation of the theory of chemical structure, but the main provisions of this theory have not only not lost their strength over time, but, on the contrary, have become even more strengthened and deepened. In particular, modern data on the electronic structure of molecules have fully confirmed all the conclusions drawn from Butler's theory. At the same time, the physical meaning of "valency lines" as pairs of electrons shared by two bonded atoms was also revealed. This is clearly seen from a comparison of the structural formulas in their usual and electronic terms.
When applying the usual structural formulas, it should always be remembered that each "valence dash" connecting two atoms denotes one common pair of electrons.
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The life and work of Butlerov, a Russian chemist, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and professor of St. Petersburg University, the creator of the theory of chemical structure, is described in this report about the scientist. You can supplement the report on Butlerov.
Butlerov small message
A short message about life and work should begin with the fact that he was born on September 15, 1828 in the town of Chistopol in a noble family. In 1844 he entered Kazan University, after which he began his successful scientific career. 8 years later, after graduating from the university, Alexander Mikhailovich becomes an ordinary professor and he is sent on a business trip abroad. The scientist traveled to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, England and the Czech Republic, getting acquainted with Western chemists.
It is worth noting that after defending a master's thesis, Alexander Mikhailovich married Nadezhda Mikhailovna Glumilina, with whom he had lived for more than 30 years. The couple had two sons.
Returning home, he began to re-equip his chemical laboratory and carry out a cycle of experimental work. In 1861 he developed the theory of chemical structure. What did Butlerov mean by the chemical structure of matter? The scientist called this a certain order in which atoms are combined into molecules, using chemical bonds for this.
After 3 years, the chemist publishes the world's first manual, a monograph called "Introduction to the complete study of organic chemistry", which had a strong influence on the development of chemical science in the world. Having moved to St. Petersburg in 1869, Butlerov began to lecture on chemistry.
Fighting for women to have the opportunity to get a higher education, he gives public lectures at the Vladimir, St. Petersburg and Bestuzhev women's courses.
The great Russian chemist died in the village of Butlerovka, Kazan province, on August 17, 1886, in the arms of his wife.
What is the contribution of a scientist to beekeeping?
In addition to chemistry, Butlerov was engaged in beekeeping. He published a paper on "Two Fallacies" in 1870, for which he was awarded a gold medal. Also, his hand belongs to the treatise "The bee, its life and the main rules of intelligent beekeeping." Butlerov longed to expand knowledge about bees among the entire population. The scientist even proposed to include beekeeping in the list of seminar subjects and advocated the thematic free distribution of various publications for soldiers' seminaries and schools. In addition, Butlerov created his own school for the development and management of beekeeping. He himself had a large apiary at home.
Interesting facts from the life of Butlerov:
- He was interested in the cultivation of tea varieties in the Caucasus.
- In his declining years, the chemist became interested in spiritualism.
- Butlerov brought out a new variety of roses.
- Loved hunting.
- Using the knowledge received from his father, Alexander Mikhailovich treated people and animals.
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