Janusz Nowicki

Two novel, structurally different perfluoroalkyl ionic liquids with bicyclic guanidinium cation have been synthesized and applied as a surfactant component for selected active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The addition of perfluoroalkyl ionic liquid to hydrophobic APIs significantly improves their solubility. One of the key and characteristic properties of guanidine derivatives is their strong ability to chemisorb protons (proton affinity). This property enables them to form stable ionic‐type aggregates (adducts) with selected hydrophobic APIs containing carboxylic groups. Therefore, these new compounds are, in fact, API‐IL ionic adducts formed as hydrogen bond donor–acceptor systems. The obtained adducts are characterized by significantly better solubility than the initial APIs. The presence of perfluoroalkyl chains with unique surface‐active properties enables to obtain a solubility of new adducts to reach level sufficient for typical ophthalmic preparations. (e.g., eye drops or lens care). The ionic API‐IL adducts obtained in the described studies can be considered as examples of a new class of active derivatives with pharmaceutical potential.

Increasing plastic waste generation has become a pressing environmental problem. One of the most produced waste plastics originates from post-consumer packaging, of which PET constitutes a significant portion. Despite increasing recycling rates, its accumulation has created a need for the development of new recycling methods that can further expand the possibilities of recycling. In this paper, we present the application of Lewis acid catalysts for the depolymerization of PET waste. The obtained results show the formation of diisodecyl terephthalate (DIDTP), which is used as a PVC plasticizer. For this purpose, several Lewis acid catalysts were tested, including tin, cobalt, manganese, zirconium, zinc, and calcium derivatives, alongside zinc acetate and potassium hydroxide, which were used as reference catalysts. Our results show that tin (II) oxalate is the most effective catalyst, and it was then used to synthesize two application samples (crude and purified). The physicochemical properties of PVC mixtures with the obtained samples were determined and compared to commercial plasticizers, where both plasticizers had similar plasticizing properties to PVC plasticization.

This paper presents an overview of the chemical recycling methods of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) described in the scientific literature in recent years. The review focused on methods of chemical recycling of PET including hydrolysis and broadly understood alcoholysis of polymer ester bonds including methanolysis, ethanolysis, glycolysis and reactions with higher alcohols. The depolymerization methods used in the literature are described, with particular emphasis on the use of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts and ionic liquids, as well as auxiliary substances such as solvents and cosolvents. Important process parameters such as temperature, reaction time, and pressure are compared. Detailed experimental results are presented focusing on reaction yields to allow for easy comparison of applied catalysts and for determination of the most favorable reaction conditions and methods.

Epoxidation of linseed oil fatty acid ethyl esters promoted by a series of functionalized imidazolium ionic liquids was studied. In this reaction acidic imidazolium ILs behave not only as an acid catalysts but also play an additional role as a specific activator for the reaction of epoxidation of unsaturated fatty derivatives in H ₂ O ₂ /formic acid oxidation system. The obtained results indicate that the hydrogen‐bonding interaction of imidazolium cation with epoxide group influences the selectivity of the epoxidation reaction. In particular, the presence of unprotected weak “acid” C2‐H proton significantly lowers the selectivity to hydroxyl derivatives. The obtained results also point to another example of specific polyfunctionality of ILs, especially imidazolium one, used as surfactants and process activators.

A series of functionalized hydrogen sulfate imidazolium ILs were synthesized and applied as catalysts in the reaction of glucose, xylose and fructose with ethanol. In this research, an unexpected selectivity phenomenon was observed. It showed that in this reaction functionalized ILs should be considered as a special type of catalyst. Functionalization of alkyl imidazolium ILs, especially the addition of electronegative OH groups, causes a clear and unexpected effect manifested via visible changes in the selectivity of the reaction studied. In the case of fructose, an increase in the number of OH groups affects an increase in the selectivity towards ethyl levulinate from 14.2% for [bmim]HSO₄ to 20.1% for [glymim]HSO₄ with an additional increase in selectivity to 5-hydroxymethyfurfural. In turn, for xylose, the introduction of OH groups to the alkyl chain was manifested by a decrease in selectivity to furfural as its ethyl acetal and an increase in selectivity to ethylxylosides.

We have demonstrated that direct Fischer glycosidation of carbohydrates with selected alcohols, glycols and chloroalcohols to corresponding glucosides in micellar reaction system can be a promising and effective route for the selective synthesis of a number of functional glucosides. The use of specific catalyst combining both surfactant and acid catalyst functions enables formation of the reactive micellar system. The formation of corresponding glucosides with spectacular high selectivity to monoglucosides is one of the most important phenomena of the application of micellar catalysis to functional glucosides synthesis.