Congratulations to the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad team, led by Dr Zhang Sheng and Dr Tan Wee Boon, for winning two Gold Medals and two Silver Medals in the 54th International Chemistry Olympiad. This stellar performance placed Singapore No. 6 in ranking among 84 participating countries.
The 54th International Chemistry Olympiad was held remotely in Tianjin, China. Participants were tasked with solving nine challenging problems in the theoretical examination. One of such problems involved analytical chemistry of gold nanoparticles, which are related to testing kits for Covid-19. In addition, there was a problem which involved chemical equilibria of carbon dioxide, which is the most common greenhouse gas that contributed to global warming. The thermodynamics and electrochemistry of lithium sulfide batteries, which are a major component in electrical vehicles, are also explored in this examination. Finally, participants were presented with interesting chemical synthetic routes in organic chemistry, where they were to propose suitable reagents and intermediate chemical compounds in the problems.
