Today, October 6, the 26th International Chugaev Conference on Coordination Chemistry officially opened.

The conference is devoted to the 170th anniversary of ruthenium discovery by Karl Claus, Professor of Kazan University, the 210th anniversary of Kazan University where well-known Kazan Chemical School was established, and the 80th anniversary of the Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Each edition of the Chugaev Conference is traditionally a grand scientific chemical forum, initiated by distinguished Russian chemists Ilya Chernyaev and Alexander Grinberg. The conference has been organized since 1937 in Soviet and Russian research centres. The event aims to enable scientists from around the globe to exchange data in coordination chemistry and catalysis, and to inspire fundamental and applied research, and define the strategy of further development of this important branch of chemistry.

This edition gathered over 500 experts from Russia and abroad – prominent scientists and young researches.

Ilshat Gafurov, KFU Rector, officially kicked off the opening ceremony with the historical review on how rhuthenium, the only chemical element discovered in Russia, was found in Kazan Chemical School. “Petroleum chemistry is one of our priorities”, said the Rector, “We have totally reequipped all scientific and academic laboratories of the Institute of Chemistry and filled them with unique devices, 30 of these labs newly opened”.

The participants of the conference were addressed by Alexey Pesoshin, Performing Prime-Minister of Tatarstan, Sergey Aldoshin, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Aslan Tsivadze, President of Mendeleev Russian Chemical Society, Vladimir Novotortsev, Director of Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, and Oleg Sinyashin, Chairman of Kazan Scientific Centre of RAS. The speakers stressed the importance of the event and the role coordination chemistry plays in modern science, supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnologies in particular.

“The number of foreign participants proves science to be international and develop regardless political sentiments in the world”, Oleg Sinyashin said.