Vol 66, No 8 (2017)

This review describes the current state of the studies of lithium deintercalation/intercalation processes in cathode materials based on lithium iron phosphate with olivine structure. The limiting factors of LiFePO₄ charge/discharge processes, as well as the main methods for their acceleration are considered. A partial replacement of iron cations in the structure improves the electrochemical characteristics of the cathode materials, including the discharge capacity, charge/discharge rate, and, in some cases, changes the charge/discharge mechanism. The use of nanoscale phosphate LiFePO₄ with the olivine structure considerably increases the charge/discharge rate of cathode materials based on it by reducing the diffusion path length. Methods for LiFePO₄ surface modification are considered. Particular attention is paid to the development of composite materials with electron-conducting additives. Combining of various approaches to the modification of the material in question makes it possible to obtain materials with a discharge capacity close to the theoretical value (170 mA h g^–1) at a low charge/discharge rate and to considerably increase its capacity at high charge and discharge currents.

The review summarizes the data on the study of the unusual exchange reaction between alkylene oxides and organic compounds of groups 15 and 16 of the Periodic Table bearing β-hydroxyalkyl substituents at the S, Se, N, and P heteroatoms. Despite the apparent identity of one of the starting reagents and the reaction product (retention of the three-membered ring), the structures of the formed alkylene oxide and organic compound with β-hydroxyalkyl group at the heteroatom differ from the structures of the starting materials. Using β-hydroxyalkyl sulfides as a model, the plausible mechanisms of the exchange reactions were discussed taking into account the change in the reaction order in β-hydroxyalkyl sulfide with its concentration increase. Irrespectively of the mechanism, the first stage of the reaction is the formation of an intermediate H-complex due to the H-bond formation between the OH sulfide group and the alkylene oxide oxygen atom and subsequent (for the dilute solutions) monomolecular intracomplex transformation of this H-complex. The mechanism was confirmed by semi-empirical quantum chemical calculations. In the case of concentrated solutions of β-hydroxyalkyl sulfides, possibility of the formation of intermediate sulfonium salt was discussed. Each pathway proceeds via its unique intermediates and transition states but the final stage results in the same intermediate bipolar ion with an intramolecular H-bond thus leading to the same nature and compositions of the reaction products for all reaction pathways.

The data on ketiminate and diketiminate boron complexes are first reviewed. The present review is focused on the synthesis and chemical transformations of these chelates. The special attention is paid to the application of these boron chelates in the synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles including CF₃-substituted derivatives.

Kinetic features of the reactions of K₄[Fe(CN)₆] with radicals initiated by water-soluble azo-initiator 2,2′-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) at 37 °C were studied using the potentiometric method. Potassium ferrocyanide was shown to be a radical acceptor, whereas K₃[Fe(CN)₆] formed by the oxidation with the radicals in combination with K₄[Fe(CN)₆] is an electrochemical system, the study of which makes it possible to determine kinetic characteristics of radical reactions. The rate constants for the reactions of peroxide radicals RO₂ · with K₄[Fe(CN)₆] were calculated.

The (S,S)- and (R,R)-enantiomers of dimethyl 2,4-diphthalimidoglutarate were synthesized by nucleophilic substitution of bromine in dimethyl (2S,4RS)-4-bromo-N-phthaloyl-glutamate upon treatment with potassium phthalimide, followed by separation. The crystal structure of the obtained compounds was studied by X-ray diffraction. Crystals of enantiomerically pure dimethyl 4-hydroxy- and 4-phthalimido-N-phthaloylglutamates were found to possess a noticeable piezoelectric activity.

A broad fraction of petroleum vanadyl porphyrins of high spectral purity was isolated from heavy oil resins with high vanadium content using a two-step chromatographic method. At the first step, the primary concentrate of vanadyl porphyrins was separated from the resins on the silica gel column. At the second step, it was further purified by the gradient elution through the column packed with sulfo-cationite. According to UV—VIS spectroscopy, this technique allows one to isolate up to 70% of vanadyl porphyrins with the spectral purity corresponding to the best results of other purification methods providing only narrow fractions of vanadyl porphyrins of comparable purity. Deoxophylloerythroetioporphyrin (DPEP) and etioporphyrin (Etio) series of vanadyl porphyrins with the carbon number range of C₂₈—C₄₂ and DPEP/ Etio ratio equal to 1.18 were identified by MALDI-TOF mass-spectrometry.

Products of polymer-analogous transformations of chitosan, aminopolystyrene, and polyallylamine containing dihydroxypropylamine fragments were used as sorbents of boric acid. A dependence of their sorption properties on the structure of the main polymeric chain and its functionalization degree was found.

Structural features of polymeric silicon glycerolate hydrogels based on tetrafunctional silicon glycerolates were investigated using model process, namely, hydrolytic transformation of difunctional silicon glycerolates, by IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, atomic emission spectrometry. The possibility of forming a polymer network containing Si—O—Si and Si—OCH₂CH(OH)CH₂O—Si fragments was demonstrated. The molecular weight of the sub-chains in the network was calculated using Flory—Rehner approach based on the mechanical properties of the swollen network of flexible polymeric chains.

Hydrochlorides of (2R*,3R*)-3-(het)arylglutamic acid diesters were synthesized by esterification of the corresponding glutamic acids (Glu). Diesters reacted with hydrazine hydrate to give (4R*,5R*)-2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic acid hydrazides. Hydrochlorides of glutamic acids diesters were found to exhibit cardioprotective properties against acute and chronic stress myocardial damage.

Adamantaneacetic and adamantanecarboxylic acid esters containing 3-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzyl, 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzyl, or 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methoxyphenyl groups were synthesized as unusual analogs of natural antitumor and anti-tubulin agents combretastatin A-4 and 2-methoxyestradiol. The compounds were found to possess noticeable cytotoxicity to epithelial human carcinoma cell line A549 (EC₅₀ = 4.3—81 μmol L^–1). An ability to cause complete depolymerization of microtubule network of A549 cells was demonstrated for 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methoxyphenyl adamantan-1-ylacetate (6a) at a concentration of 100 μmol L^–1. Ester 6a belongs to a new structural type, which is unusual for the ligands of the tubulin colchicine domain, and is an interesting lead compound for further structural optimization.

Polyfunctional p-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arenes tetrasubstituted at the lower rim with nitrogen-containing fragments in the cone, partial cone, and 1,3-alternate conformations were investigated in the processes of calf thymus DNA packaging. The influence of the macrocycle structure and composition on their ability to pack DNA into nano-sized particles was considered. UV spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering results showed that the synthesized p-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arenes functionalized at the lower rim with polyamine fragments in the cone and 1,3-alternate conformations can compact calf thymus DNA into nanosized particles (<100 nm). A new type of synthetic receptors based on the 1,3-alternate stereoisomer of p-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arene with ester, hydroxy, and tertiary amino groups was suggested for packaging DNA to nanoparticles of 51—85 nm in size.