Glezer Viktor (b. 1948, Riga) – chemist and expert in drinking water quality.
Viktor Glezer is the son of Tevel Glezer, a well-known physician, memoirist, and survivor of the Riga Ghetto (see article: Glezer Tevel). Viktor graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Latvia in 1971 and earned his Candidate of Sciences (PhD equivalent) degree in 1979 in the field of physical chemistry.
His scientific career began at the Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences' Institute of Organic Synthesis in 1971, under the supervision of Professor Jānis Stradiņš, who also guided his doctoral research. Glezer studied mechanisms of electrochemical reactions involving quinoid and heterocyclic organic compounds, one-electron transfer modelling based on electrochemical data, and intramolecular charge-transfer complexes. He demonstrated the feasibility of determining electron affinity and ionisation potentials of organic compounds using electrochemical methods.
In 1991, Viktor Glezer became affiliated with the School of Applied Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1997, he became Head of the Mass Spectrometry Department at Israel's Ministry of Health Water Quality Laboratory, and in 2006, Head of the Analytical Laboratory at Intel's Israeli facility.
In Israel, he contributed to the development of sol-gel technology in electrochemistry and biosensor creation based on vanadium pentoxide and alkoxysilanes. His article on vanadium pentoxide applications has been cited over 140 times. He focused on studying disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water and identifying new high-toxicity compounds formed during treatment. He also developed new analytical methods for detecting pesticides and solvents in drinking water, using techniques such as GC/MS, LC/MS, and P&T + GC/MS.
From 2005 to 2007, Glezer was a member of the national committee that revised Israel’s drinking water standards, correcting outdated and overly lenient assessments of numerous organic and inorganic compounds.
He collaborated actively with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the EU, and laboratories in Brazil. He is the author of 2 patents, over 50 articles, and several reviews.
Selected Publications:
– Azo-, Azoxy- and Diazo Compounds, in: Encyclopedia of Electrochemistry of the Elements, eds. A.J. Bard, H. Lund, Marcel Dekker, 1979.
– Electrochemical reduction of intramolecular charge-transfer complexes…, Electrochimica Acta, 1983.
– Electrochemical model of quinoneimines with Hantsch esters, Electrochimica Acta, 1992.
– Sol-gel vanadium pentoxide glucose biosensor, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1993.
– Sol-gel ceramic carbon composite electrodes, Analytical Chemistry, 1994.
– New DBPs from chlorine and ozone, Environmental Challenges, 2000.
– Reduction of biologically active quinones, J. Electroanal. Chem., 2001.
– Environmental effects of substituted phenols, in: The Chemistry of Phenols, Wiley, 2003.
References:
– Stradiņš J. No Grindeļa līdz mūsdienām. Rīga: Nordik, 1996.
– Stradiņš J. Latvijas Organiskās Sintēzes Institūts 50 gados, Zinātne, 2007.