Address: ul. Favorskogo, 1 Irkutsk, 664033, Russia
Phones: +7 (3952) 461411; +7 (3952) 466416
E-mail: root@acet.irkutsk.su
E-mail: root@irioch.irkutsk.su
E-mail: root@iochem.irkutsk.su
One of the leading Russian schools of organic chemistry was formed based
on the Irkutsk Institute of Organic Chemistry, Siberian Branch of the Russian
Academy of Sciences (RAS). The Institute was founded in 1957 in the course
of reorganizing the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
To date the Irkutsk Institute of Organic Chemistry has been one of the leading
institutes dealing with fundamental aspects of organic chemistry in the
Eastern Region of Russia from Novosibirsk to Vladivostok. Industries
concentrated over the territory of the Irkutsk Region are either completely
based, or considerably dependent on, advances in organic chemistry. This
gives rise to very serious ecological problems and the radical solution of
these problems lies within a sphere also controlled by organic chemistry.
The East-Siberian school of organic chemistry provides in essence the
scientific basis for sustainable development of the Region.
The Irkutsk Institute of Organic Chemistry was created under the supervision
of Professor M. F. Shostakovsky, Corresponding Member of the Academy
of Sciences of the USSR. He was a close disciple of Academician A. E.
Favorsky, the founder of the large, world-renowned Russian school of organic
chemists, first director of the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Academy of
Sciences of the USSR, one of the creators of the State Institute of Applied
Chemistry, flagship of Russian applied chemistry. The body of the Institute
was formed by specialists of leading scientific institutions of Moscow and
Leningrad, as well as by talented graduates from the Irkutsk State University
where they undertook studies under the guidance of Professors
V. A. Larina, A. V. Kalabina and P. F. Bochkarev. Very soon the
Institute occupied leading positions in the chemistry of acetylene and its
derivative, a traditional area of Favorsky's school.
Since 1970 the Institute has been headed by Academician M. G. Voronkov,
a world-renowned scientist in the field of the organic chemistry of silicon and
sulfur and a former Ph.D. Student of Academician Favorsky.
M. G. Voronkov persisted in creating the East-Siberian school of organic
chemistry and brought it into a number of world-recognized leaders in the
field of chemistry of organic compounds of hypervalent silicon and sulfur. At
that time he invited to the Institute a large group of specialists from Moscow,
Leningrad, Riga and Gorky.
In 1994 Professor B. A. Trofimov, Corresponding Member of the RAS, was
elected director of the Institute. He is recognized throughout the world as a
distinguished specialist in the field of the chemistry of acetylene, heterocyclic
compounds, unsaturated compounds of sulfur, selenium, tellurium and
phosphorus. He has offered a new and efficient approach to vinylation and
ethynylation reactions carried out using of super base reagents and catalysts.
A fresh contribution has been made by him and his research team to the
theory of reactions of electrophilic addition to unsaturated heteroatomic
fragments.
Adhering to the best traditions of the classic Russian chemical school of
Academician A. E. Favorsky, making use of its methodology and
approaches and developing its main trends, the Institute now presents the
most active and integral part of this school to the whole of Russia.
The Institute deals with basic and applied research in the following areas:
chemistry of acetylene and its heteroatomic (oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur,
phosphorus, selenium, tellurium, fluorine, etc.) derivatives including
heterocycles; chemistry of organic compounds of silicon, germanium, tin;
chemistry of wood and natural compounds of the Siberian flora; chemistry of
macromolecular compounds.
Over the last four decades, more than 50 scientists of the Institute, mainly
graduates from the Irkutsk Higher Education Institutions, have been awarded
the degree of Doctor of Sciences and 250 have obtained a Ph.D. degree.
Many well-known specialists in the fields of chemistry of silicon,
organometallic compounds, acetylene and diacetylene and their derivatives
(vinyl ethers and sulfides, acetylenic alcohols, N-vinyl derivatives of nitrogen
heterocycles) such as Professors A. S. Atavin, N. V. Komarov,
G. G. Skvortsova, N. A. Tyukavkina, V. A. Usov, A. N. Volkov, N. S.
Vyazankin, S. V. Amosova, V. A. Babkin, E. N. Deryagina,
E. S. Domnina, Yu. L. Frolov, N. K. Gusarova, N. A. Keiko,
A. S. Medvedeva, A. N. Mirskova, R. G. Mirskov, V. A. Pestunovich,
A. A. Semenov, have worked and continue to work at the Institute.
At present the main body of the school is represented by one Academician,
one Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 26 Doctors
of Sciences and 143 Ph.D. The staff of the Institute is about 400. There are
24 laboratories and 4 research groups combined into departments based on
the main trends of investigation, a high-pressure building, mechanical and
electromechanical workshops and a pilot plant at the `Ussolie KhimProm'
Company.
The chemistry of acetylene and its heteroatomic derivatives. This research
unfolds the traditions and ideology of the distinguished classic Russian
chemical school of Academician A. E. Favorsky (Moscow, St.Petersburg).
Studies in this field are directed towards further development of the chemistry
of triple and double carbon-carbon bonds and fundamental aspects of organic
synthesis based thereon. Novel general reactions of acetylene and its
derivatives leading to promising monomers and building blocks for fine
organic synthesis have been found and elaborated: new general route to
pyrroles and N-vinylpyrroles from ketoximes and acetylene and its synthetic
equivalents (Trofimov's reaction); direct vinylation of sulfur, selenium,
tellurium and phosphorus; metallation of N-vinylpyrroles by super basic
reagents, synthesis of new functional pyrroles and annelated heterocyclic
systems therefrom; one-step synthesis of vinyloxy-1,3-dienes from acetylene
and water (hydration trimerization of acetylene), aldehydes or acetylenic
alcohols; synthesis of the acetylenic hydroxycarboxylic acids esters by direct
copper-palladium-catalysed reaction of acetylenic alcohols with carbon
monoxide; new reactions of esters and nitriles of acetylenic hydroxycarboxylic
acids with nucleophilic reagents (new fundamental approaches to syntheses
of polyfunctional unsaturated and heterocyclic compounds); eliminating
vinylation of 1,2-diols and polyatomic alcohols (divinyl ether from
ethyleneglycol, 1,2-divinyloxypropene from glycerol, etc.) Classical Favorsky
reactions have been radically modified (based on fundamental studies of
complex superbase catalysts) and now they are being carried out without
pressure at moderate temperatures: vinylation of alcohols, nitrogen
heterocycles, thiols; ethynylation of aldehydes and ketones; acetylene-allene-
1,3-dienic isomerization (synthesis of allenyl and 1,3-dienic ethers). A large
series of investigations on the structure and acid-base properties of
unsaturated ethers, sulfides, sulfoxides and pyrroles has been performed.
The chemistry of organic compounds of silicon, germanium, tin is being
developed in the following directions: compounds of penta- and
hexacoordinate silicon (silatranes, dragonoids, etc.); carbofunctional
organosilicon compounds, adsorbents, ion-exchangers and complex-forming
agents thereof; macrocyclic highly unsaturated silicon-containing
hydrocarbons; organosilicon compounds for use in microelectronics;
organosilicon heterocycles; chemistry of siloxanes and silanones; biologically
active organosilicon compounds for use in medicine and agriculture; chemical
reactions of elemental sulfur with arylhaloalkanes leading to thiophene or 1,2-
dithiolene-3-thione derivatives (Voronkov's reaction).
The following have also been studied: high temperature synthesis of organic
compounds of sulfur, thermal reactions of thiyl and selenyl radicals; synthesis
of organic phosphorus compounds from elemental phosphorus; unsaturated
organic compounds of chlorine and fluorine; unsaturated compounds of
sulfur, selenium, tellurium.
Chemistry of wood and natural compounds of the Siberian flora: bioactive compounds extracted from wild-growing plants are studied and, based on this research, new medicines for the treatment of chronic and difficult to cure diseases (antipsoriatic drugs, non-steroid agents for birth control, immunomodulators) are being examined; innovative processes for wood delignification, cellulose pulping which are based on a comprehensive utilization of wood raw material are being worked out. New technologies for the preparation of efficient medicines, vitamins, food additives, intermediates for use in drug manufacture (dehydroquercetin, arabinogalactan, vanilin, syrinaldehyde, polyphepan) are being developed.
In the field of macromolecular chemistry innovative effective methods for the synthesis of polymers possessing a number of technically valuable properties have been developed: water-soluble, hydrophilic and bioactive polymers; sulfur-containing aromatic (heteroaromatic) electro-conducting polymers and copolymers; vinylchloride and vinyl ether copolymers (new PVC-materials). Interpolymer interactions of polyelectrolytes in aqueous media (efficient methods of waste water purification) have been studied. Investigations in the chemistry of substituted acrylic systems are in progress. The fundamental research carried out at the Institute has laid the basis for further developments in the following fields: industrial organic synthesis, oil-, gas- and coal-processing (modification of the existing methods and introduction of innovative technologies); pharmaceutical industry (new medicines, modified methods for the preparation of known drugs and vitamins); wood chemistry (new approaches to comprehensive utilization of renewable feedstock); agricultural chemistry (ecologically benign pesticides, pesticide activators, growth regulators, products for use in animal farming); mining and enrichment industry (new flotations agents, adsorbents and metal extractants); building industry (new materials, sealants, putties, binders); perfumery, vitamin and food industries (technology for manufacturing fragrance and flavour compounds, intermediates for vitamins A and E, food additives and food preserving agents); metal treatment (lubricant-coolants and quenchers); energetics and ecology (ecologically friendly fuel from low- grade coals, low pollutant gasoline of increased efficiency, ion-exchange resins for water cleansing, adsorbents for industrial wastes and decontamination in the case of emergency spillage of oil products); electronics and electrical engineering (semiconductors, photoconductors, insulating compounds, lacquers, adhesives, resists); advanced materials and innovative technologies (silver-free photosensitive materials, recording media, components for ceramics, highly strong, super hard and heat-resistant materials).
Innovative technologies for the preparation of a number of original products with no analogues elsewhere in the world, such as ethylene glycol vinylglycidyl ether (`vinylox'), tetrahydroindole and N-vinyltetrahydroindole, divinylsulfide, vinyloxyethylmetacrylate, pentaerythrol tetravinyl ether, 2- vinyloxymethyl-1,3-dioxolane, glycerol trivinyl ether, 1,2- divinyloxypropene, methyl ester of 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-penta-1-carboxylic acid and potassium N-[2-(vinyloxy)ethyl]-dithiocarbamate (pesticide `Vinditat') have been developed at the Institute.
Over 30 monographs by the Institute's scientists have been published. Annually about 100 papers and 15 reviews are published in leading foreign and Russian journals. The total number of inventions (Inventor's Certificates and patents) is over 1,500.
The Institute fruitfully cooperates with universities, institutes, companies and
organizations in the USA, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium,
Denmark, Israel, Japan, Korea and Mongolia. At present collaborative
research with foreign scientists becomes a first priority in the Institute's policy.
Under the conditions of reform being currently carried out in this country, the
Institute should retain its scientific potential and high level research in
traditional fields. Following the inevitable cutting down of the staff, retainment
of the main body (doctors of sciences and potential Ph.D.) with simultaneous
formation of a youth `wing' of talented graduates and post-graduates from the
Irkutsk State University is of vital importance for the Institute.
The prospects for the development of the Irkutsk Institute of Organic
Chemistry are linked with further basic research in the fields of chemistry of
hypervalent organosilicon compounds and of acetylene derivatives -
unsaturated (including heterocyclic) compounds of oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur,
selenium, tellurium, phosphorus, silicon, lithium, sodium and potassium. The
research will be carried out with the emphasis on novel methods of synthesis,
reactions and rearrangements. Even more attention will be given to
theoretical aspects, new types of chemical bonds, unusual molecular
structures and the reactivity of unstable intermediate species (ions, radicals,
radical ions, carbenes with unsaturated fragments and heterocycles). The
applied aspect of basic research is supposed to be directed towards the most
important problems to be solved in the East-Siberian Region - development of
optimal and less hazardous technologies for oil-, gas- and coal-processing,
comprehensive utilization of wood, synthesis and extraction of drugs and
other valuable products from natural resources, solution of ecological
problems, especially in the Baikal Lake area.