The 55th International Chemistry Olympiad was held recently in Zurich, Switzerland. The theme of this year’s competition is ‘Let’s Find Solutions Together!’. Participants were tasked with solving ten challenging problems in the theoretical examination and three interesting tasks in the practical examination. One of such problems involved the conversion of methane to methanol. In addition, there was a problem which involved the reduction of carbon dioxide, which is the most common greenhouse gas that contributed to global warming. The role of cobalt complexes as a potential catalyst in artificial photosynthesis is 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. In the practical tasks, participants were presented with challenging titration reactions, and the synthesis involved using bleach as the same reagent in two organic reactions.
Our four students, whom are mentored by Dr Zhang Sheng and Dr Tan Wee Boon, achieved a historic first, winning four gold medals in this competition. This places Singapore joint 1st among 89 countries that had participated.
