Nikolay Zelinsky (1861–1953): Mendeleev's Protege, a Brilliant Scientist, and the Top Soviet Chemist of the Stalin Era

Abstract

This Essay outlines the life path and scientific achievements of Nikolai Zelinsky to testify to his contributions to organic chemistry, catalysis, and petrochemistry. His legacy includes four name reactions (the Hell–Volhard–Zelinsky reaction, 1887; the Zelinsky–Stadnikov reaction, 1906; Zelinsky irreversible catalysis, 1911; the Zelinsky–Kazansky acetylene trimerization, 1924), pioneering contributions to the main oil‐refining processes (thermal cracking, catalytic cracking, hydrodesulfurization, reforming, and oxidative regeneration of coked catalysts), the coal gas mask, Pd/C and other supported catalysts, and a very large scientific school.

Icilio Guareschi and his amazing “1897 reaction”

“…During the war, different gas masks were developed. The German one was based on activated charcoal and hexamethylenetetramine and was developed by Haber and Willstätter [74], while the Russian version was developed by Zelinsky and used charcoal to absorb poisonous gases [75]. According to Willstätter, the Anglo-French mask was originally a copy of the German one [28], later replaced with the soda lime gas mask that Guareschi had originally developed [9].…”

Theme Issue in Memory to Professor Jiro Tsuji (1927–2022)

“…Obviously the studies on catalysis by famous scientists, including the works by Lavlavel G. lonescu [81], Nikolai Zelinsky [82,83], Heinz Heinemann [84], Paul Sabatier [85], Jean Baptiste Senderens [85], Mikhail Kucherov [86], William Crowell Bray [87], Slobodan Anic [88], Luigi Casale [89], and Gilbert Stork [90,91], have also been acknowledged.…”