OREANDA-NEWS. August 23, 2011. From 9-18 July this year, in the capital of Turkey Ankara an annual academic competition for high school students was held - the 43rd International Chemistry Olympiad. The "Foundation for Education and Science" of "Grindeks" gave financial support to the Latvian team by financing its membership fee for this competition.

This year the Latvian team was represented by four high school students, who were accompanied by two mentors. The 2011 Latvian Chemistry Olympiad team has returned with one silver and two bronze medals.

The Turkish organizers of this year's program devised challenging but fair written and practical tests. In the five-hour laboratory examination, students undertook three separate tasks. The first was a titrimetric analysis of unknown mixtures to determine chloride and magnesiumion content. Secondly, the kinetics of hydrogen gas production from ammonia borane was measured under catalytic conditions. The final task involved synthesis, purification and separation of a diastereomeric mixture offerrocene-containing ligands. The theoretical problems focused on topics including "click" chemistry and atom-economical reactions, synthesis of acarbasugar, thiosulfate leaching of gold, polynitrogen compounds, sodiumborohydride fuel cells and ammonia as an alternative liquid fuel source.

On 31 August this year, VISC is organizing the award ceremony for the Latvian laureates of the 43rdInternational Chemistry Olympiad with the participation of the Education and Science Minister of Latvia and representatives of "Grindeks".

Being a socially responsible company, "Grindeks" annually organizes and supports various activities that contribute to the chemical and pharmaceutical sector of Latvia. Recognizing the importanceof supporting the Latvian new talents, "Grindeks" for several years in a row has supported the Latvian high school student participation in the international Chemistry Olympiad.