N2

G.K. Boreskov Memorial Conference

The late Academician G.K. Boreskov, the founder of the Institute of Catalysis of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk, was born 100 years ago this

year and the Second Memorial Conference was held between 7th and 11th July in Novosibirsk and two satellite meetings were also held after the primary meeting. A report on one of these, devoted to work on monolith catalysts, has appeared previously (Appl. Catal. A Gen.161 (1997) Newsbrief) and a further report

on the same meeting appears below. In parallel to the main meeting, a series of presentations giving

details of current collaborative research projects funded under the EU Intas Programme (generally involving two laboratories from the former Soviet

Union and two from the European Community) were made in the period 8th to 10th July.

The main conference, the theme of which was 'Cat- alysis on the Eve of the XXI Century, Science and Engi- neering', consisted of a series of invited plenary lectures delivered by scientists who had been invited

to do so by Professor Boreskov's successor, the late Academician Karil Zamaraev who died in 1996, as well as a series of posters presented by other participants.

The meeting and the associated social events, spon- sored by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the International Association for the Promotion of Cooperation with Scientists from the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (Intas) and sup- ported financially by a number of Russian and foreign companies, were held in the Hall of Sciences.

Visits to the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis were also organised for the visiting scientists and the social programme included several receptions and a boat trip

and picnic on the Ob 'Sea', a man-made lake which is close to the Hall of Sciences. A total of some 42 plen- ary lectures were given, more than half of the speakers being from outside Russia. All the foreign visitors were very impressed by the amount of very worthwhile research still being carried out in Russia, despite the dire economic situation which has led to the virtual clo- sure of many of the research institutes in Novosibirsk

and elsewhere in Russia. The Boreskov Institute appears to have been able to survive the traumas of

the last six years more successfully than have most of the other institutes, largely with the help of Intas and similar funding agencies; it has also been quite successful in marketing its know-how abroad. A gra- phic example of this transfer of know-how was given in paper by Panov, Sobelov and Kharitonov, who described work on the use of N20 as a selective oxi- dant of hydrocarbons, e.g. of benzene to phenol, using a ZSM-5 catalyst, and a related paper by Uriarte, Rod-

kin and Gross of Monsanto, Gonzales, Florida, on the scale-up of this process using N20 produced in an adi- pic acid plant. All the plenary lectures were of a high standard and the posters were also well presented. The majority of the papers presented at the meeting

will be published in a special issue of Catalysis Today. The meeting was extremely well organised and the

food was excellent, with a good variety of menu. Prob- ably the only problem associated with a meeting being held in such a remote venue is the difficulty posed by connecting flights, since the majority of flights arrive and depart in the middle of the night; this resulted in

the presence of a large number of exhausted newly- arrived delegates at the opening session.

My own journey was enlivened by an incident in Moscow where the taxi which was due to bring me from one part of the airport to the other was impounded by the police for illegal parking; after some remonstration by my guide, the police bundled her, the taxi driver and myself into their own car and deliv- ered me in record time to my destination.

Julian Ross

Sulphur Chemistry

II. Sulphur dioxide Catalytic combustion of alkanes is known to be pro-

moted by SO2 in the feedstream and reactor studies using supported platinum catalysts have confirmed that SO2, although poisoning oxidation of CO and pro- pene under fuel-rich conditions, does promote the oxi-

applied catalysis A: General Volume 163 Nos. 1-2 - - 5 December 1997