VOL'FKOVICH 420 



Office: Institute of Chemical Physics of USSR Academy of 



Sciences 

 Vorob'evskoye Shosse, 2 

 Moscow, USSR 



VOL'FKOVICH, SEMEN ISAAKOVICH (Inorganic Chemist ) 



S. I. Vol'fkovich was born October 11, 1896. He graduated 

 from Moscow University of National Economy in 1920. In 1921 

 he began working at the Scientific Research Institute for Fertil- 

 izers and Insectifungicides and is the scientific director. In 

 1929, he was appointed professor at Moscow Military Technical 

 School, and in 1932 he was made professor at the Military Aca- 

 demy of Chemical Defense. In 1947 he was made professor at 

 Moscow University. He has been an Academician since 1946. 



With E. I. Zhukovskii he made a study of electrothermal 

 distillation of phosphorus from native phosphates in 1922. On 

 the basis of this study, electric furnace plants were built for 

 the first time in the U.S.S.R. From 1923 to 1929, he supervised 

 the production of superphosphates from native phosphates and 

 apatites. He worked also on the acid conversion of phosphates 

 to concentrated fertilizers. Then he developed a process for 

 obtaining potassium salts from sylvinite. In 1926, Vol'fkovich 

 and his co-workers worked out a coordinated treatment of phos- 

 phates with nitric acid to obtain phosphorus, nitrogen, and com- 

 plex fertilizers, fluorine salts, and rare earths. For this work 

 he received a Stalin Prize in 1941. In 1930 and 1931 with A. P. 

 Belopol'skii, he studied a physico-chemical treatment of mira- 

 bilite to obtain soda and ammonium sulfate. Vol'fkovich initiat- 

 ed a number of studies on crystal chemistry of ammonium ni- 

 trate. And he also proposed a method of obtaining boric acid 

 from native datolites. With co-workers he developed a hydro - 

 thermal method of phosphate treatment. From 1945 to 1950, he 

 worked out new methods for obtaining fluorine compounds, am- 

 monium nitrates and sulfates, phosphides, chlorides, and phos- 

 phorus compounds. He also developed procedures for obtaining 

 a number of metallo organic compounds. 



In June 1958, Vol'fkovich visited the United States to attend 

 the 50th Annual American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 

 Philadelphia, Penna. 

 Bibliography: 



Production of Potassium Chloride. Leningrad: 1930. 



Treatment of Khibin Apatites for Fertilizers. Leningrad: 



1932. 



Technology of Nitrogen Fertilizers. Moscow: 1935. 



