Anna Volkova facts for kids

Anna Feodorovna Volkova (Russian: Анна Федоровна Волкова; died 1876) was an important Russian chemist. She is known for her work in organic chemistry, which is the study of chemicals that contain carbon.

Anna Volkova was the first chemist to make pure ortho-toluene sulfonic acid, along with its acyl chloride and amide in 1870. She also created para-tricresol phosphate from para-cresol, which is used in making plasticizers for plastics. Anna Volkova was a true pioneer: she was the first woman to get a chemistry diploma (in 1870), the first woman in the world to publish scientific work in chemistry, and the first woman to be a member of the Russian Chemical Society.

Her Life and Work

Anna Volkova started working in a lab in 1869 at the St. Petersburg Forestry Institute. From 1870, she worked in the lab of . She also took classes from the famous chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in St. Petersburg.

In 1870, Volkova published an article. In it, she first described how to make pure ortho-toluene sulfonic acid, its acyl chloride, and its amide. Later, her discovery of the acyl chloride and amide was used to help create saccharine, which is an artificial sweetener.

Volkova also worked with toluene sulfonic acids. By reacting them with a base, she was able to get cresols. This helped scientists learn more about sulfonic acids. She was also the first to create para-tricresol phosphate from para-cresol. Today, this chemical is used to make plastics more flexible.

Between 1870 and 1873, Anna Volkova wrote about twenty articles for the Russian Chemical Society journal. These articles were about the amides of aromatic sulfonic acids and other related chemicals.

In 1871, Volkova led a chemistry session at a big meeting of Russian scientists in Kyiv. She also presented two of her own research papers there. Some of the new materials Anna Volkova created were shown at a large industrial exhibition in London in 1876. This showed how important her work was.

Even though her career was short because she became ill and passed away in 1876, Anna Volkova did a lot of amazing work in chemistry. Other scientists respected her greatly.

What She Discovered

Anna Volkova made several important scientific discoveries:

• She was the first to get pure ortho-toluene sulfonic acid, its acid chloride, and its amide in 1870.
• She created para-tricresol phosphate from para-cresol.
• She helped figure out the structure of toluene sulfonic acids.
• She found that if you change a hydrogen atom in the ammonia part of sulfonic acid amides, you get new chemicals called amide derivatives. These new chemicals act like acids and can be used to make acyl chlorides and amides.

Memory

The Volkova crater on Venus is named after Anna Feodorovna Volkova to honor her contributions to science.

See also

In Spanish: Anna Fiodorovna Vólkova para niños