Preparatory Problems 46th International Chemistry Olympiad (ICHO 46)

We would like to express our deep gratitude to the members of the International Steering Committee for their valuable comments and suggestions and to Dr. Vu Viet Cuong, Dr. Nguyen Hung Huy, and Dr. Pham Van Phong for their kind collaborations.

We are happy to provide Preparatory Problems for the 46th International Chemistry Olympiad. These problems were prepared with reliance on fundamental topics firmly covered in high school chemistry courses along with some advanced topics for the chemistry olympiad competition. These topics are listed under “Topics of Advanced Difficulty”, and their applications are given in the problems.
Solutions will be updated on www.icho2014.hus.edu.vn on May 31st, 2014. Although a lot of efforts have gone to making this Booklet, some mistakes, typos may still be there. We welcome any comments, corrections, or questions about the problems to icho2014prep@hus.edu.vn. We hope that these problems will be motivating for students to participate in the IChO-2014 competition. We believe that IChO-2014 will not only be a chemistry competition, but also a pleasant time for you to know about Vietnamese culture.

We look forward to seeing you in Hanoi and at Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam

National University.

Problem 1. Polar and non-polar molecules 8

Problem 2. Calculations of lattice energy of ionic compounds 10

Problem 3. A frog in a Well 12

Problem 4. Electrons in a 2,3-Dimensional Box 14

Problem 5. Tug of war 16

Problem 6. Radiochemistry 17

Problem 7. Applied thermodynamics 19

Problem 8. Complex compounds 20

Problem 9. Lead compounds 24

Problem 10. Applied electrochemistry 26

Problem 11. Phosphoric acid 27

Problem 12. Kinetic chemistry 28

Problem 13. Kinetics of the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide 30

Problem 14. Magnetism of transition metal complexes 31

Problem 15. Structure and synthesis of Al-Keggin ion 34

Problem 16. Safrole 35

Problem 17. Imidazole 38

Problem 18. Small heterocycles 39

Problem 19. Vitamin H 41

Problem 20. No perfume without jasmine 44

Problem 21.Vietnamese cinnamon 47

Problem 22. Cinnamic acid 49

Problem 23. Tris(trimethylsilyl)silane and azobisisobutyronitrile 50

Problem 24. (-)-Menthol from (+)-δ-3-carene

Problem 25. Cefalotin 53

Problem 26. A heterocyclic compound 55

Problem 27. Lotus 56

Problem 28. NMR Spectra 59

Problem 29. IR Spectra

Problem 30. Condensation between valinin and benzylamine 71

Problem 31. Synthesis of eugenoxy acetic acid 73

Problem 32. Complexometric titration 77

Problem 33. Determination of zinc and lead in zinc oxide powder 80

Problem 34. Preparation of copper(II) acetylacetonate 85

Problem 35. Kinetic analysis of the hydrolysis of aspirin 88

Problem 36. Complex formation of ferric ion and salicylic acid