Advancing Organosodium Chemistry for Diesel Fuel Technology and Battery Technology

可持续性现在是现代化学研究的首要驱动力之一。显然，由于自然丰度低、过度开发或地缘政治因素而可能面临供应风险的元素需要由地球上丰富的其他元素取代，特别是如果稀有元素具有重要的技术用途。该项目范围多样，涵盖了两个截然不同但又相互关联的工业意义主题，每个主题都涉及钠化学的发展。钠是地球上地壳和海洋中最丰富的碱金属，估计地壳丰度为23,600 ppm，而其较轻的碱金属同系物锂仅为16 ppm。该项目将与全球特种化学品公司Innospec合作。目标1：钠是柴油发动机内部喷油器沉积物的主要成分，因此会引起问题。注入系统具有有利于沉积的设计特点。这些沉积物会导致粗糙空转、功率损失、高排放、高压燃油泵磨损、喷油器粘滞、内部部件腐蚀和发动机故障。为了解释发动机的测试结果，有人建议通过化学计量学的变化来合成化合物和生长单晶，并确定这些假定的羧酸钠的结构，首先在简单的有机溶剂中，然后在例如微量水存在的情况下。所得到的配合物将研究其结构和被柴油溶解的能力。将尝试在柴油中合成这些相同的复合物，比较它们的性质，并在结构上与注入针沉积物相关联。目标2：锂有机化合物是构建化合物的有价值的中间体，在许多常见商品的制造中具有广泛的用途，包括农用化学品，染料，香水/化妆品，药品和药品。由于能量存储应用（例如手机和电动/混合动力汽车）对锂的需求呈指数级增长，并且面临锂的供应链风险的前景，化学家将很快需要找到合适的替代品来维持或超过其分子构建能力。在这里，愿景是开发一种互补的有机钠化学，因为钠的地球丰度是锂的1500倍，并且在合成方面具有巨大的未开发潜力。不同的合成方法，有些是单金属的，有些是双金属的，将被用来制备新的钠基物种，以供潜在的合成开发。接触结构和电荷分离结构都将成为目标，后者为钠电池的非水电解质提供了候选材料。利用有机钠化合物推进小分子活化化学，并将其与其他有机金属化合物进行比较和对比，也将是一个主要的焦点。

Sustainability is now one of the foremost drivers of modern research chemistry. It is evident that elements that may be under a supply risk due to low natural abundance, overexploitation or geopolitical factors need to be replaced by other elements that are earth abundant, especially if the rare elements have important technological uses. Diverse in its scope, this project covers two distinct, but connected topics of industrial significance each of which involves the development of sodium chemistry. The most abundant alkali metal on earth in both the crust and the oceans, sodium has an estimated crustal abundance of 23,600 ppm compared to only 16 ppm for its lighter alkali metal congener lithium. The project will be collaborative with Innospec, a global specialty chemicals company. Objective 1: Sodium causes problems in diesel engines as it is a major component in internal injector deposits. Injection systems have design features that are conducive to deposit formation. Such deposits cause rough idling, power loss, high emissions, high-pressure fuel pump wear, injector sticking, internal component corrosion and engine failure. To explain the engine test results it is proposed to synthesise compounds and to grow single crystals and determine the structures of these presumed sodium carboxylates with changes in stoichiometry, first in simple organic solvents, then with, for example, trace water present. Resultant complexes will be studied with regard to their structure and ability to be solubilised by diesel. Attempts will be made to synthesise these same complexes in diesel and compare their properties, and to correlate structurally to injector needle deposits. Objective 2: Lithium organic compounds are valuable intermediates for constructing compounds, finding widespread utility in the manufacture of numerous common commodities including agrochemicals, dyes, perfumes/cosmetics, medicines and pharmaceuticals. With demand for lithium increasing exponentially on account of energy storage applications (e.g., in mobile phones and electric/hybrid vehicles), and facing the prospect of a supply chain risk for lithium, chemists will soon need to find a suitable substitute to maintain or exceed their molecule building capacity. Here, the vision is to develop a complementary organosodium chemistry since sodium is 1500 times more earth abundant than lithium and offers vast untapped potential in synthesis. Different synthetic approaches, some monometallic, some bimetallic, will be utilised to prepare new sodium based species for potential synthetic exploitation. Both contacted and charge-separated structures will be targeted, with the latter providing candidates for non-aqueous electrolytes for sodium batteries. Advancing small molecule activation chemistry using organosodium compounds and comparing and contrasting this with other organometallic compounds will also be a major focus.