A tribute to Christo Balarew on the occasion of his 90th birthday

doi:10.1515/ci-2024-0312

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A tribute to Christo Balarew on the occasion of his 90th birthday

Published/Copyright: July 15, 2024

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From the journal Chemistry International Volume 46 Issue 3

Abstract

The eminent Bulgarian chemist Christo Balarew was born on June 23, 1934 in Sofia. He received his MSc degree in chemistry from the Sofia University. Balarew devoted many years of his life to the service of Bulgarian chemical science and education. For most of his life he worked at the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He was a scientist, teacher, public figure, member of a number of international organizations, editorial boards of scientific journals, organizing and scientific committees of international scientific forums.

The research interests of Christo Balarew are focused on the elucidation of the dependencies between the structure and properties of solutions and those of the phases crystallizing from these solutions. As a result, he has developed a concept for predicting the existence and type of the most probable ionic groups in solutions and the structural patterns in crystalline phases, allowing prediction of the type and composition of crystallizing phases, as well as the kinetics of their crystallization. In this way, the reason for the crystallization of metastable phases is explained as a consequence of similarity between ionic groups in solutions and certain structural patterns in the crystalline phases. Regularities for the preparation of pure salts, double salts, basic salts and mixed crystals are revealed. A theory of isomorphous and isodimorphous co-crystallization has been established, which enables thermodynamic characterization of mixed crystals, calculation of impurity distribution coefficients in crystallization and of free energy in polymorphic phase transitions. Using the results of this fundamental research and the experience gained, several dozen technologies have been developed for the preparation of chemical products of high purity, for the synthesis of new materials, for the hydrometallurgical extraction of useful components from natural raw materials and industrial wastes.

Balarew was an active and devoted member of the IUPAC community: he was National Representative (1979-2004) and Associated Member (1991-1997) of Commission V.8 (Commission on Solubility Data), National Representative (2004-2007), Associate Member (2008-2010) and Titular Member (2010-2015) of the Analytical Chemistry Division. From 1999 to 2021 he was President of the Bulgarian National Committee of IUPAC. In this capacity he took care to consolidate the Bulgarian chemical community and to encourage young researchers at their early-stage careers. He initiated and organized the translation of the IUPAC Red book in Bulgarian. Thanks to his personal efforts, the membership of Bulgaria in IUPAC was not interrupted despite some difficulties in the transition years and many Bulgarian scientists were constantly involved in the activities of IUPAC. Balarew is the founder of two awards for young scientists: the Prof. Christo Balarew Award for Prosperous Young Scientist in Inorganic Chemistry of the Bulgarian Union of Chemists and the recently established IUPAC Balarew Award for Outstanding Young Scientist working in the field of critical evaluation of solubility and/or related chemical equilibria.

For details about the recently established IUPAC Balarew Award, see https://iupac.org/2024-franzosini-prize-and-balarew-award-call-for-nominations/

Bulgarian chemist Christo Balarew

For his achievements in the field of science Balarew has been repeatedly awarded with prestigious Bulgarian and foreign awards. The international recognition of Christo Balarew is based not only on the impact of his scientific works published in renowned international journals, but also on his erudition and authority, which have earned him a worthy place among the international chemical community. Having known him for so many years, we also value him as a thoughtful listener and good advisor, someone who always reaches out to you, whether professionally or personally, in a most friendly and considerate manner.

We wish Prof. Balarew many years of good health and enthusiasm to realize new creative ideas!

Published Online: 2024-07-15

Published in Print: 2024-07-01

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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