early on, zaytsev began working with butlerov, who clearly saw in him an excellent laboratory chemist, and whose later actions showed that he felt that zaytsev was an asset to russian organic chemistry. on the death of his father, zaytsev took his "diplom" in 1862, and immediately went to western europe to further his chemical studies, studying with hermann kolbe in marburg, and with charles adolphe wurtz in paris. this went directly against the accepted norms of the day, which had the student complete the "kandidat" degree (approximately equivalent to today's doctor of philosophy degree), and then spend two or three years in study abroad (a "komandirovka") before returning to russia as a salaried laboratory assistant studying for the doctorate.