Draft:Habib Minachevich Minachev

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Minachev Habib Minachevich
Born	December 24, 1908 or December 11 (24), 1908 Polevyye Bikshiki, Simbirsk governorate, the Russian Empire
Died	March 25, 2002 (93 years) Moscow, Russia
Resting place	Lutsino, Odintsovsky District, Moscow region
Citizenship	Russia
Alma mater	Moscow State University
Occupation	Chemist
Known for	Petrochemical and organic catalysis

Minachev Habib Minachevich (11 (24) December 1908, Polevyye Bikshiki village, Simbirsk governorate, the Russian Empire – 25 March 2002, Moscow, Russia) – a soviet and Russian chemist, an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, a member of Russian Academy of Sciences, an Honourary Academician of Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Bashkortostan who made significant contributions into development of heterogeneous catalysis and petrochemistry. He also was a pioneer in the field of use zeolites as petrochemical catalysts in the USSR.

Biography

Early life

Habib Minachevich Minachev was born on December 11 in 1908 in Polevyye Bikshiki village in a family of hereditary tatar peasants. He got seventh grade education in a village school and upon reaching 18 left his village for Moscow where he worked at construction sites and as a plumber. At the age of 24 Habib Minahevich entered the chemical department of Moscow State University which he graduated from in 1939 and got a specialist degree in organic chemistry. After graduation he worked as a junior scientist in the Institute of Organic Chemisry (IOC).

Life during World War II

In September 1942 was one of the few research associates in the IOC who was mobilized during the Great Partiotic War where he served until October 1945. Habib Minachevich firstly was a mortar man of the 10th ski brigade, then fought as a machine gunner and a radio operator in the 5th guards tank army. He also took part in the battles for Stalingrad, Nothern Romania, Minsk, Warsaw and Koenigsberg (Kaliningrad) and fought in the Korsun'-Shevchenkovskii operation. For military merits Habib Minachevich was rewarded with the Order of the Great Patriotic War of the second degree. During the War he didn’t suffer any serious injuries.

Post-war Life

After the end of the War Habib Minachevich came back to the IOC to continue his scientific path as a graduate student. In early 1949 he obtained PhD degree for the research: «Investigation of new active forms of catalysts for dehydrogenation of six-membered cycles». Just 5 years after he received his doctoral degree for the research: «Investigation of contact-catalytic transformations of hydrocarbons in the presence of certain metals of the eighth group on the carriers».

On November 28, 1972, he was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences with a degree in technical organic chemistry. On March 15, 1979, he was elected as an Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Died on 25 of March in 2002. Habib Minachevich was buried in the cemetery of the village of Lutsino, Odintsovsky District, Moscow region.

Scientific work

1950-1960's

In early 50’s Habib Minachevich started developing catalysts based on platinum metals used in industrial refining of gasoline and ligroin fractions in order to get high-octane petrol and aromatic hydrocarbons. It led to integration of low-percent catalysts to the Krasnodar Oil Refinery to derive high-octane petrol. Most of his experimental work was generalized in the fundamental monography “Rare metals in catalysis” that was included in the book “Selected works” published in 2011.

In 60’s Habib Minachev was the first chemist in the USSR that investigated physicochemical properties of zeolites that he even created the laboratory of catalysis on rare and scattered elements in the IOC which he was a head of until 1989. There he did research on catalytic properties of zeolites and oxides of rare-earth metals for industrially important reactions such as: cracking, isomerization, hydrogenation, dehydrocyclization and hydrocarbon alkylation.

1970-1980's

A huge amount of research Habib Minachev did on catalytic properties of rhenium together with his apprentice M.A. Ryashentseva. This metal was catalytically tested on various carriers with multiple hydrocarbons. They also investigated vast possibilities in use of rhenium oxides, sulfides, halides and other derivatives as catalysts in other organic reactions. The overall experimental material was generalized in the book published in 1983.

Habib Minachev made significant contributions into developing synthetic petrol together with his close colleague and friend A.A. Lapidus. They created co-zeolite catalyst possessing high catalytic activity and selectivity that let increase content of heavy branched hydrocarbons and the octane characteristics in petrol. Even higher selectivity was possessed by new cobalt-aluminosilicate catalysts for ceresines who were integrated in the industry in 1981.

Rewards and honours

The N. D. Zelinsky Prize (1974) — for a series of works on the creation of new catalysts for petrochemical reactions based on oxides of rare earth elements and zeolites.

USSR State Prize (1977, as part of the group) — for a series of works on the scientific foundations of the creation of new zeolite catalysts.

The N. D. Zelinsky Prize (1987, jointly with O. M. Nefedov, V. V. Kharlamov) — for the work "Development of the scientific foundations of a technological method for the production of allyl acetate by catalytic acetoxylation of propylene".

A. A. Balandin Award (1993, jointly with E. S. Shpiro, A. A. Slinkin) — for a series of works "Surface structure and catalytic properties of highly dispersed metal-populated systems".

Memory

On 8-11 of July in 2008 in Zvenigorod the conference “Zeolite and mesoporous materials: achievements and perspectives” was held in memory of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Habib Minachevich Minachev.

On 17 of February in 2009 the presidium of Russain Academy Sciences approved to spend money to install a commemorative plaque in honor of Habib Minachev in the Institute of Organic Chemistry.

On 13 of April in 2015 one of the streets on Cheboksary was called in memory of Habib Minaсhevich Minachev.

In 2008 Habib Minachevich’s relatives, friends and colleagues made a thirty-minute movie about the scientist’s life in memory of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Works

• Rare-earth elements in catalysis (1972);

• Metal-containing zeolites in catalysis (1976)

• Photoelectron spectroscopy and its use in catalysis (1981);