Oscillatory chemical reaction of Belousov-Zhabotinsky. What is self-organization? Belousov Jabotinsky reaction

The “Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction” is named after two Russian scientists, the first of whom discovered it ( Boris Pavlovich Belous ov), and the second ( Anatoly Markovich Zhabotinsky) – described mathematically. In English-language sources you can find the following name: BZ-reaction.

Strictly speaking, analogues of this reaction were observed by chemists back in the 19th century...

This class of reactions occurs in an oscillatory mode, in which the reaction parameters: solution color, concentration of components, temperature, etc. change periodically, forming a complex spatiotemporal structure of the reaction medium. Due to the periodic change in the color of the solution, this reaction is sometimes called a "chemical clock".

Due to the novelty of the phenomenon, B.P. Belousov Scientific journals refused publication several times, and he first published his data only in 1958 in the little-known “Collection of Abstracts on Radiation Medicine.”

“An active medium based on a chemical reaction was created at our institute by A.M. Zhabotinsky and A.N. Zaikin in 1970 and is a thin layer of liquid where the Belousov oxidation reaction occurs (later this reaction was called the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction). The reaction has a cyclic (oscillatory) character. Unlike most known oxidative processes that occur to exhaustion of one of the substrates (oxidizing agent or reducing agent), during this reaction an inhibitor is released, inhibiting the reaction for some time after only a small fraction of the reactants has been exhausted. The composition of the reaction mixture is as follows (it was described by B.P. Belousov in the mid-50s): citric acid - 2.00 g, cerium sulfate - 0.16 g, potassium bromate - 0.20 g, sulfuric acid (1: 3) - 2.0 ml , water to a total volume of -10.0 ml. Cerium (a metal of variable valency) plays the role of a pendulum: it appeared either in oxidized or reduced form.”

Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction- a class of chemical reactions occurring in an oscillatory mode, in which some reaction parameters (color, concentration of components, temperature, etc.) change periodically, forming a complex spatiotemporal structure of the reaction medium.

Under certain conditions, these systems can demonstrate very complex forms of behavior from regular periodic to chaotic oscillations and are an important object of study of the universal laws of nonlinear systems. In particular, it was in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction that the first experimental strange attractor in chemical systems was observed and its theoretically predicted properties were experimentally verified.

The history of the discovery of the oscillatory reaction by B.P. Belousov, the experimental study of it and numerous analogues, the study of the mechanism, mathematical modeling, and historical significance are given in the collective monograph.

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Subtitles

Hello everyone, Alexander Ivanov is with you, and the project "Chemistry - Simply" Today we are starting a series of videos in which we will look at oscillatory reactions. In 1937, the German chemist Hans Krebs discovered the oxidation cycle of citric acid, an important discovery for which Krebs received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Cycle The Krebs reaction is a key reaction underlying oxygen respiration, energy supply, and cell growth. In the Soviet Union, there was a scientist who wondered if it was possible to obtain a simpler - ideally - inorganic analogue of the complex Krebs cycle? This would make it possible to simulate complex processes occurring in a living cell, a simple chemical reaction that is easier to study and understand. In 1951, Belousov wrote an article about such a chemical reaction in the journal of the USSR Academy of Sciences. But it was turned down - the reviewer turned down the article, categorically asserting that such a chemical reaction was impossible. However, our chemist did not give up and continued his research. And at this time, science did not stand still. The English mathematician - Alan Turing, suggested that the combination of chemical reactions with diffusion processes can explain a whole class of biological phenomena. For example, this can explain the periodic stripes on the skin of a tiger. The Soviet physicist and chemist - Ilya Romanovich Prigogine, in 1955 came to the conclusion that in nonequilibrium thermodynamic systems , which include all biological systems, chemical vibrations are possible. Neither Turing nor Prigogine even suspected that the phenomenon under discussion had already been discovered. It’s just that an article on this topic has not been published. Finally, Belousov sends a new version of his work to another scientific journal, but the article is returned again with a refusal to publish. The reviewer suggested that the author reduce it to a couple of pages. Such impudence, Belousov could not stand it and threw the article into the trash bin and forever stopped communicating with academic journals. And only 8 years later, a note about the oscillatory reaction was published in the collection of works of radiation medicine. There were rumors in Moscow that somewhere there is a glass in which a chemical heart beats. This interested the chemist Simon Schnoll. He found Boris Pavlovich and took the recipe for a wonderful reaction. And when he performed it, he was extremely surprised. He instructed his graduate student, Anatoly Markovich Zhabotinsky, to study the vibrational chemical phenomenon in detail. Soon , dozens of people have already participated in the study of this reaction - they published hundreds of articles, received candidate and doctoral degrees. Belousov did not participate in this activity; he was well over 70, and he continued to work at his institute, and then the bureaucrats got to him and sent him away to retire. Left without work, Boris Pavlovich soon died. The famous chemical reaction he discovered, now named after Belousov-Zhabotinsky, became a turning point in the modern worldview. Now, the oscillatory reaction is included in the golden fund of science of the 20th century. Soon, many different oscillatory reactions were discovered, so let's do some chemistry and carry out the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction ourselves. To carry it out, we will prepare 3 solutions. Their compositions are shown on the screen. Instead of double cerium and ammonium nitrate, in principle, an equivalent amount of any other cerium (IV) salt will do. Mix solutions A and B, and stir constantly after a minute, add solution C. As we see, the solution changes its color. But we won’t stop there. , and improve this reaction by adding a ferroin solution. You can see its composition on the screen. The most complete mechanism of what is happening can be described by a set of 80 elementary reactions. These transformations look like this. Even if you are a chemist, it is not worth remembering in detail. We are simply showing the scale of the tragedy, or rather, how such beauty occurs. This is how the color changes if the solution is constantly stirred, and if we stop stirring or fill a tall, narrow vessel with this solution, then it looks completely cosmic. And for those who haven’t bothered, We will analyze what is happening in general terms. After we have mixed solutions A and B, several processes take place in the glass. You see their reactions on the screen. These reactions compete with each other. The yellow color of the solution is due to the release of bromine. What color is bromine - you can see in the video about bromine. Next, bromine reacts with malonic acid and the yellow color disappears. Then, the oxidation reaction of Cerium occurs, which is initiated by the following reactions. Moreover, bromous acid is unstable and decomposes to form bromate ions, which accelerate the previous reactions. By the way, cerium is a catalyst in this process. A catalyst is a substance that accelerates a reaction, but does not participate in the reaction itself. And if in this reaction cerium was oxidized, then in this one it returns to its original state. It can be seen that the concentration of cerium 3+ and cerium 4+ ions constantly fluctuates. Here, we must remember that we last added a solution of feroin to the glass, which can change color depending on the value of the redox potential, which, in turn, is determined by the ratio of the concentrations of cerium 4+ and cerium 3+ ions in the solution. What is oxidation-reduction potential? restorative potential, we will look at it some other time. If the concentration of cerium 4+ ions increases, then it increasingly oxidizes iron in feroin, from 2-valent to 3-valent. The complex of 2-valent iron is red, and the complex of 3-valent iron is blue. Thus, when the ratios of concentrations of various cerium ions change, the color of the solution changes. Fluctuations occur due to the fact that the processes occurring in the glass constantly compete with each other. At some point, there is more bromine, at some point there are more bromate ions, and into some bromide ions The color of the solution depends on the concentration of which of the substances is greater at the moment. The released bromine gives a yellow color. When there is little bromine and a lot of bromate ions, the solution has a blue color. Also, we modified this reaction by adding pheroin to the solution which also changes its color, depending on the concentration of cerium 4+ ions, between blue and red. One should not, of course, forget about the color of cerium ions. If cerium 3+ ions are colorless, then cerium 4+ ions color the solution yellow. And when all these colors are superimposed, the solution can have all the other colors that you see. Naturally, the question arises: “What practical application does this reaction have?” The answer is simple - none! The maximum for which this particular chemical reaction can be used is purely for demonstrative purposes. A little later, in other videos, we will look at other similar oscillatory reactions, including one that has practical application. And that’s all - subscribe, put your finger up, don’t forget to support the project and be sure to tell your friends Bye!

History of discovery

Reaction mechanism

Jabotinsky-Korzukhin model

The first model of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction was obtained in 1967 by Zhabotinsky and Korzukhin based on the selection of empirical relations that correctly describe oscillations in the system. It was based on the famous conservative model of Lotka-Volterra.

d X 1 d t = k 1 X 1 (C − X 2) − k 0 X 1 X 3 (\displaystyle (\frac (dX_(1))(dt))=k_(1)X_(1)(C- X_(2))-k_(0)X_(1)X_(3)) d X 2 d t = k 1 X 1 (C − X 2) − k 2 X 2 (\displaystyle (\frac (dX_(2))(dt))=k_(1)X_(1)(C-X_( 2))-k_(2)X_(2)) d X 3 d t = k 2 X 2 − k 3 X 4 (\displaystyle (\frac (dX_(3))(dt))=k_(2)X_(2)-k_(3)X_(4))

Here X 2 (\displaystyle X_(2))= , C= 0 + 0 , X 1 (\displaystyle X_(1))- autocatalyst concentration, X 3 (\displaystyle X_(3)) = .

Brusselator

The simplest model proposed by Prigogine, which has oscillatory dynamics.

Oregonator

The mechanism proposed by Field and Noyes is one of the simplest and at the same time the most popular in works studying the behavior of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction:

I	A+Y		X
II	X+Y	⟶ (\displaystyle \longrightarrow )	P
III	B+X	⟶ (\displaystyle \longrightarrow )	2X+Z
IV	2 X	⟶ (\displaystyle \longrightarrow )	Q
V	Z	⟶ (\displaystyle \longrightarrow )	f Y

The corresponding system of ordinary differential equations:

d [ X ] d t = k I [ A ] [ Y ] − k I I [ X ] [ Y ] + k I I I [ B ] [ X ] − k I V [ X ] 2 (\displaystyle (\frac (d[X] )(dt))=k_(I)[A][Y]-k_(II)[X][Y]+k_(III)[B][X]-k_(IV)[X]^(2) ) d [ Y ] d t = − k I [ A ] [ Y ] − k I I [ X ] [ Y ] + f k V [ Z ] (\displaystyle (\frac (d[Y])(dt))=-k_( I)[A][Y]-k_(II)[X][Y]+fk_(V)[Z]) d [ Z ] d t = k I I I [ B ] [ X ] − k V [ Z ] (\displaystyle (\frac (d[Z])(dt))=k_(III)[B][X]-k_( V)[Z])

This model demonstrates the simplest oscillations, similar to those observed experimentally, but it is not capable of showing more complex types of oscillations, such as complex periodic and chaotic ones.

Extended Oregonator

The Showalter, Noyes and Bar-Eli model was developed to model complex periodic and chaotic reaction behavior. However, it was not possible to obtain chaos in this model.

1	A+Y		X+P
2	X+Y	↔ (\displaystyle \leftrightarrow )	2P
3	A+X	↔ (\displaystyle \leftrightarrow )	2 W
4	C+W	↔ (\displaystyle \leftrightarrow )	X+Z"
5	2 X	↔ (\displaystyle \leftrightarrow )	A+P
6	Z"	→ (\displaystyle \rightarrow )	g Y + C

Where A (\displaystyle A)- BrO 3 − ; X (\displaystyle X)- HBrO 2; Y (\displaystyle Y)- Br − ; C (\displaystyle C)- Ce 3+; Z (\displaystyle Z)" - Ce 4+; W (\displaystyle W)- BrO 2; P (\displaystyle P)- HOBr.

Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

Change in color of the reaction mixture in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction with ferroin

Currently, this name unites a whole class of related chemical systems, similar in mechanism, but differing in the catalysts used (Ce 3+, Mn 2+ and Fe 2+, Ru 2+ complexes), organic reducing agents (malonic acid, bromomalonic acid, citric acid, malic acid, etc.) and oxidizing agents (bromates, iodates, etc.). Under certain conditions, these systems can demonstrate very complex forms of behavior from regular periodic to chaotic oscillations and are an important object of study of the universal laws of nonlinear systems. In particular, it was in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction that the first experimental strange attractor in chemical systems was observed and its theoretically predicted properties were experimentally verified.

History of discovery

Some configurations arising during the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction in a thin layer in a Petri dish

Reaction mechanism

Jabotinsky proposed the first reaction mechanism and a simple mathematical model that was capable of demonstrating oscillatory behavior. Subsequently, the mechanism was expanded and refined, the experimentally observed dynamic modes, including chaotic ones, were theoretically calculated and their correspondence to experiment was shown. The complete list of elementary reaction stages is very complex and amounts to almost a hundred reactions with dozens of substances and intermediates. Until now, the detailed mechanism is unknown, especially the reaction rate constants.

Reaction opening value

The Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction has become one of the most famous chemical reactions in science; many scientists and groups of various scientific disciplines and areas around the world are engaged in its research: mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology. Its numerous analogues have been discovered in various chemical systems (see, for example, the solid-phase analogue - self-propagating high-temperature synthesis). Thousands of articles and books have been published, and many candidate and doctoral dissertations have been defended. The discovery of the reaction actually gave impetus to the development of such branches of modern science as synergetics, the theory of dynamic systems and deterministic chaos.

Notes

Links

From the history of the discovery and study of self-oscillatory processes in chemical systems: on the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction
B. P. Belousov and his oscillatory reaction, magazine “Knowledge is Power”
Belousov Jabotinsky and Briggs Rauscher reaction schemes, differential equations
V. A. Vavilin. Self-oscillations in liquid-phase chemical systems
A. A. Pechenkin. Worldview significance of oscillatory chemical reactions
Oscillations and traveling waves in chemical systems. Ed. R. Field and M. Burger. M., “Mir”, 1988 / Oscillations and traveling waves in chemical systems. Ed. by R.J.Field and M.Burger. 1985 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (Engl)/

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what the “Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction” is in other dictionaries:

Change in the color of the reaction mixture in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction with ferroin. The Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction is a class of chemical reactions occurring in an oscillatory mode, in which some reaction parameters (color, concentration ... Wikipedia

- (“iodine clock”) self-oscillating chemical reaction. When hydrogen peroxide, iodic acid, manganese (II) sulfate, sulfuric and malonic acids and starch interact, an oscillatory reaction occurs with colorless golden blue transitions.... ... Wikipedia

Boris Pavlovich Belousov Photo from 1930 Date of birth: February 7 (19), 1893 (1893 02 19) Place of birth: Moscow Date from ... Wikipedia

Chemistry seems like a very boring science to most of us. It's like calculations, but instead of numbers there are letters. You have to be a unique psycho to get excited about solving math problems with the alphabet. But search YouTube for "chemistry" and you'll see some truly amazing things that will no doubt blow your mind.

7. Hypnotic bromic acid

Your dealer is out of town and you're missing your daily dose of LSD? No problem. All you need is two simple substances and a Petri dish to create not a virtual, but a real lava lamp with your own hands. Just a joke, otherwise they’ll come and close the site...

According to science, the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction is an “oscillatory chemical reaction” in which “transition group metal ions catalyze the oxidation of various, usually organic, reducing agents with bromic acid in an acidic aqueous medium,” which allows “the formation of complex spatiotemporal structures to be observed with the naked eye.” structures." This is the scientific explanation for the hypnotic phenomenon that occurs when you throw a little bromine into an acidic solution.

The acid turns the bromine into a chemical called bromide (which takes on a completely different color), and the bromide quickly turns back into bromine because the science elves living inside it are stubborn assholes. The reaction repeats over and over again, allowing you to endlessly watch the movement of incredible wave-like structures.

6. Clear chemicals turn black instantly.

Question: What happens if you mix sodium sulfite, citric acid and sodium iodide? The correct answer is below:

When you mix the above ingredients in certain proportions, the end result is a capricious liquid that starts out clear in color and then suddenly turns black. This experiment is called the Iodine Clock. Simply put, this reaction occurs when specific components combine in such a way that their concentration gradually changes. If it reaches a certain threshold, the liquid turns black.
But that's not all. By changing the proportion of ingredients, you have the opportunity to get the opposite reaction:

In addition, using various substances and formulas (for example, the Briggs-Rauscher reaction, as an option), you can create a schizophrenic mixture that will constantly change its color from yellow to blue.

5. Creating plasma in the microwave

Do you want to do something fun with your friend, but you don't have access to a bunch of obscure chemicals or the basic knowledge needed to mix them safely? Don't despair! All you need for this experiment are grapes, a knife, a glass and a microwave. So, take a grape and cut it in half. Divide one of the pieces into two parts again with a knife so that these quarters remain connected by the peel. Place them in the microwave and cover with an upside down glass, turn on the oven. Then step back and watch as the aliens steal the cut berry.

In fact, what is happening before your eyes is one of the ways to create a very small amount of plasma. Since school, you know that there are three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. Plasma is essentially the fourth type and is an ionized gas obtained by superheating ordinary gas. Grape juice turns out to be rich in ions, and therefore is one of the best and most affordable means for conducting simple scientific experiments.

However, be careful when trying to create a plasma in the microwave, as the ozone that forms inside the glass can be toxic in large quantities!

4. Laminar flow

If you mix coffee with milk, you will end up with a liquid that you are unlikely to ever be able to separate into its constituent components again. And this applies to all substances that are in a liquid state, right? Right. But there is such a thing as laminar flow. To see this magic in action, just place a few drops of multi-colored dyes in a transparent container with corn syrup and mix everything carefully...

... and then mix again at the same pace, but now in the opposite direction.

Laminar flow can occur under any conditions and using different types of liquids, but in this case, this unusual phenomenon is due to the viscous properties of corn syrup, which, when mixed with dyes, forms multi-colored layers. So, if you just as carefully and slowly perform the action in the opposite direction, everything will return to its original place. It's like traveling back in time!

3. Lighting an extinguished candle through a trail of smoke

You can try this trick at home without the risk of exploding your living room or your entire house. Light a candle. Blow it out and immediately bring the fire to the smoke trail. Congratulations: you did it, now you are a true master of fire.

It turns out that there is some kind of love between fire and candle wax. And this feeling is much stronger than you think. It doesn’t matter what state the wax is in - liquid, solid, gaseous - the fire will still find it, overtake it and burn it to hell.

2. Crystals that glow when crushed

Here is a chemical called europium tetrakis, which exhibits the effect of triboluminescence. However, it is better to see once than to read a hundred times.

This effect occurs when crystalline bodies are destroyed due to the conversion of kinetic energy directly into light.

If you want to see all this with your own eyes, but you don’t have europium tetrakis on hand, it doesn’t matter: even the most ordinary sugar will do. Just sit in a dark room, put a few sugar cubes in a blender and enjoy the beauty of fireworks.

Back in the 18th century, when many people thought that scientific phenomena were caused by ghosts or witches or the ghosts of witches, scientists used this effect to make fun of “mere mortals” by chewing sugar in the dark and laughing at those who fled from them like fire .

1. A hellish monster emerging from a volcano

Mercury(II) thiocyanate is a seemingly innocent white powder, but once you set it on fire, it immediately turns into a mythical monster, ready to devour you and the whole world.

The second reaction, pictured below, is caused by the combustion of ammonium dichromate, resulting in the formation of a miniature volcano.

Well, what happens if you mix the two above-mentioned chemicals and set them on fire? See for yourself.

However, do not try these experiments at home, as both mercury(II) thiocyanate and ammonium dichromate are highly toxic and can cause serious harm to your health if burned. Take care of yourself!

He knew how they treated each other, how they were at enmity and friendship, how they connected and separated. He understood their aspirations and abilities, beauty and temperament. This man's name was Boris Pavlovich Belousov. He had such a fate that no science fiction writer could have dreamed up.

At the age of 12, Boris became a revolutionary. Together with his older brothers, he made bombs for participants in the 1905 uprising. The Belousov brothers were arrested and sentenced to exile or emigration. The family was forced to emigrate. She settled in Switzerland. The Belousovs' Zurich apartment was visited by many prominent Russian revolutionaries, including Ulyanov-Lenin, with whom Boris played chess. At the University of Zurich, the young man took a full course in chemistry and met Albert Einstein. Belousov did not receive a diploma because he had to pay too much money for it. The family did not have such a sum.

Boris managed to return to Russia only in 1914. He began to work together with the famous chemist, Academician V.N. Ipatiev in the field of military chemistry. There are chemists who develop chemical warfare agents. The department where Boris worked dealt not with poisons, but with antidotes. The young scientist was among those who created gas masks and anti-radiation medicines. Who among you hasn’t had abrasions burned with “green” or brilliant green? So, industrial production of this drug was established in the late 1930s thanks to the research of the young scientist Belousov.

Boris Pavlovich taught chemistry for many years. First at the military chemical school, then at the Academy of Chemical Defense and even rose to the rank of major general. During World War II, Belousov worked as the head of a department at one of the scientific institutes.

After the war, difficult times came for the scientist. Bureaucrats came to him and demanded to show him a diploma of higher education. But professor and general Belousov at one time, as you know, was unable to redeem his well-deserved diploma from the University of Zurich. Bureaucrats said that without a diploma, a scientist cannot occupy positions above senior laboratory assistant.

Belousov switched to the salary of a senior laboratory assistant, while remaining the head of the department - there were no other scientists with such high qualifications at the institute, although there were plenty of chemists with diplomas. In the end, the institute’s management obtained Stalin’s written permission to return the scientist’s previous salary.

But Belousov didn’t care much about money - he was too busy with his chemical reactions. During a long-term search for drugs that can save a cell from radiation, the virtuoso chemist came across traces of terra incognita - the “unknown land” in the world of chemical reactions.

The fact is that many biological processes are cyclical: the heart beats rhythmically, the lungs breathe evenly. Even the stripes on the skin of a tiger and giraffe reflect periodic processes occurring under the skin. Hunters also noticed fluctuations in the populations of lynxes and hares: the animal population is becoming larger and smaller. Mathematicians have even written equations for these periodic changes in the number of predators and herbivores.

Biological processes that are periodic in nature are based on chemical transformations. But here’s what’s strange: not a single periodic or oscillatory reaction in chemistry was discovered until the middle of the twentieth century. The search for a periodic chemical reaction at that time seemed like a mockery of the laws of thermodynamics, because coal burns and iron rusts irreversibly. It seemed impossible to imagine a chemical reaction that periodically changes its direction.

But Belousov understood that in the world of chemical interactions there must be an unknown, unexplored area - the basis of cyclic processes in the cells of living organisms. Knowledge, experience and intuition told Belousov where to look for periodic reactions.

In 1937, German chemist Hans Krebs discovered the citric acid oxidation cycle. The discovery is important - it was not for nothing that Krebs received the Nobel Prize for it. The Krebs cycle is a key reaction underlying oxygen respiration, energy supply and cell growth.

Belousov pondered intensely: is it possible to obtain a simpler, ideally inorganic, analogue of the complex Krebs cycle? This would make it possible to simulate complex processes occurring in a living cell with a simple chemical reaction, which is easier to study and understand.

What happens if you treat citric acid with a solution of bertholite salt and add more cerium salts to the solution? But you need an oxidizing agent, and one that acts in the presence of a catalyst...

The virtuoso chemist thoroughly thought through the future reaction and compared the oxidation potential of Berthollet salt with the valence of iron and cerium ions. In the trivalent state, cerium ions are colorless, and in the tetravalent state they are yellow. This means that the change in valency can be observed with your own eyes. The breakdown of citric acid will be visible by the release of carbon dioxide.

Before the chemist began to merge the solutions together, he did a lot of calculations, comparisons and estimates. Acting blindly means wasting time. We need a well-thought-out hypothesis, which can then be tested in vitro.

Belousov went through many reaction options, conducted hundreds of experiments and finally found his “terra incognita”!

The route, or rather the recipe, is as follows. If you combine in one flask in the required proportions a solution of sulfuric acid, sodium bromate and bromide, citric acid, cerium sulfate and phenanthroline dye, then a miracle occurs. The solution begins to change color from blue to orange and back with an oscillation period from fractions of a second to tens of minutes. And in a flat dish, waves of different colors will creep across a shallow layer of solution. After several dozen vibrations, fresh solutions need to be added to support the chemical reaction - exactly the same way as a living organism needs to be nourished.

The periodic reaction discovered by Boris Pavlovich Belousov is, in a sense, a simple analogue of life - a non-equilibrium chemical pulsation, similar to a heartbeat.

Friends and collaborators flocked to Belousov’s laboratory, where the liquid chemical clock “ticked” or, if you like, the “chemical heart” beat.

Belousov sat down to write an article about his discovery. The chemist had many published works and patents, but he had not published in academic journals and was not familiar with the customs of the reviewers there. Alas, reviewers of scientific journals were not virtuosos. This informal title is rarely earned by anyone.

In 1951, Belousov’s article about the discovery of an amazing reaction was published in the journal of the USSR Academy of Sciences. And she quickly returned with a refusal to publish. The reviewer ended the article by categorically asserting that such a chemical reaction was impossible.

The usually taciturn Belousov noted bitterly that today's scientists have lost respect for facts. Apparently, the reviewer forgot about the statement of the famous natural scientist, creator of the microscope, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek: “One should refrain from reasoning when experience speaks.”

Boris Pavlovich took up further research into the new reaction. For five years he carried out measurements and analyzes. At this time, science did not stand still. In 1952, English mathematician Alan Turing suggested that the combination of chemical reactions with diffusion processes could explain a whole class of biological phenomena, in particular the periodic stripes on the skin of a tiger. Russian physicist and chemist Ilya Romanovich Prigogine in 1955 came to the conclusion that chemical vibrations are possible in nonequilibrium thermodynamic systems, which include all biological systems.

Neither Turing nor Prigogine even suspected that the phenomenon they were discussing had already been discovered, it was just that an article on this topic had not been published.

Finally, Belousov submits a new version of his work to another scientific journal. The article is returned again with a refusal to publish! The reviewer suggested that the author reduce it to a couple of pages. Belousov could not stand such impudence - he threw the article into the trash and forever stopped communicating with academic journals.

Belousov's nephew, who had already become a chemistry student, suggested that his uncle bring the flask to the editorial office - let them see the chemical clock in action for themselves! General Belousov angrily refused: “Why am I a clown to them?”

Eight years have passed since the discovery of the oscillatory reaction, but still no one except Belousov’s employees and friends knew about it. True, rumors spread around Moscow about an unusual glass in which a colored “chemical heart” beats. A chemist from Moscow University, Simon Shnol, heard about this reaction, became excited and began to look for its discoverer - but to no avail. Shnol even got into the habit, when speaking at scientific seminars, of asking the chemists present about the unknown author of the vibrational reaction.

In the fall of 1958, after another seminar, a student approached Shnol and said that this reaction was discovered by his great-uncle, Boris Pavlovich Belousov. Shnol took Belousov’s phone number from the student and called the chemist.

Boris Pavlovich was dry and refused the meeting, but dictated the recipe for the reaction. Simon Schnol was unable to fully adhere to the recipe and did not achieve bright colors, but he still got vibrations of a yellowish color and was delighted with them. Curious employees made a pilgrimage to Shnol's laboratory, and soon the news of the miraculous reaction spread throughout Moscow.

Shnol was concerned: any published work devoted to the cyclic reaction seemed unethical to him, because it was not possible to refer to the published work of the author of the discovery.

Simon Elyevich called Belousov again, persuaded him for a long time and soon received a collection of works on radiation medicine, in which Boris Pavlovich published a brief description of the oscillatory reaction. The collection did not have any reviewers, but its compilers knew and deeply respected Belousov and published his short note with lightning speed.

A three-page note from 1959 became Belousov’s only printed work about the cyclic reaction he discovered. But this small pebble caused an avalanche. Shnol instructed his graduate student Anatoly Markovich Zhabotinsky to study in detail the vibrational chemical phenomenon. Soon dozens of people were participating in the study of this reaction. They published hundreds of articles and received candidate and doctoral degrees. Belousov did not participate in this activity. He was well over seventy, and continued to work at his institute. And then some bureaucrat finally got to the virtuoso chemist and sent him into retirement. Left without work, Boris Pavlovich soon died.

The famous chemical reaction he discovered, now named after Belousov-Zhabotinsky, turned out to be a turning point in the modern worldview, based on the concepts of self-organization, open systems, oscillatory reactions and structure-forming instabilities. I think this work deserved a Nobel Prize. But only ten years after the death of Boris Pavlovich Belousov, he was posthumously awarded the Lenin Prize.

And yet, the virtuoso chemist received something much more than a medal and a monetary award - the incomparable pleasure of a new discovery.

What is more important: discovering America or getting a reward for it? Perhaps someone will think about the answer, but not a person like Boris Pavlovich Belousov, a virtuoso chemist and the happy discoverer of a periodic reaction of amazing beauty and importance. Now it has entered the golden fund of science of the twentieth century.

Catalysts are substances that speed up a chemical reaction. The catalyst itself is not consumed during the reaction.

Enzymes are usually protein molecules that speed up chemical reactions in living organisms.

“Terra incognita” (translated from Latin as “unknown land”) - this is how unexplored territories were designated on geographical maps of the 17th-19th centuries.

Cerium is a silvery metal from the group of lanthanides, rare earth elements.

Diffusion is the process of transferring a substance (gas, liquid, etc.) from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration.

Oscillatory chemical reaction of Belousov-Zhabotinsky. What is self-organization? Belousov Jabotinsky reaction

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Subtitles

History of discovery

Reaction mechanism

Jabotinsky-Korzukhin model

Brusselator

Oregonator

Extended Oregonator

Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

History of discovery

Reaction mechanism

Reaction opening value

See also

Notes

Links

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