Scientists from South Ural State University have made a step forward in studying organic compounds of antimony. The have examined the reaction of pentaphenyl antimony with several acids. The product obtained as a result of the experiment can potentially become a photocatalyst for water treatment, and can also be used in medicine. The research results have been published in Russian Journal of General Chemistry (Q3, indexed in Scopus).
The previously unknown antimony compounds have been obtained by the chemists from South Ural State University who are engaged in studying this semi-metal. They have examined the reaction of pentaphenyl antimony (organic compound) with 3-hydroxybenzoic acid and 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic acid.
The interaction of pentaphenyl antimony with polyfunctional carboxylic acids is the main field of the research being carried out within the RFBR grant by a postgraduate student of the SUSU Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Iuliia Gubanova.
"Reactions with pentaphenyl antimony allow to evaluated the mobility of hydrogen atoms in various functional groups of acids. For instance, we have found that in standard reaction conditions only one hydrogen atom is displaced in 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, adduct of tetraphenylstibium carboxylate with acid is generated. For displacement of a less mobile hydrogen atom, we had to change the solvent and heat up the reaction mixture," shares Iuliia Gubanova.
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The research studies were conducted at the laboratories of the SUSU Faculty of Chemistry and the Nanotechnology Research and Education Centre
Starting solid substances were used to perform the experiment. Those were placed in a glass vial, aromatic solvent was poured over, and the vial was vacuumed and sealed using a gas burner. For one hour, the mixture was being heated up over a water bath; next, the solvent was removed, and the crystalline substance was extricated. To identify the synthesized compounds, their melting temperature was measured, their IR spectrum was recorded, and their structure was determined using the method of X-ray diffraction analysis. For that, the equipment of the laboratories of the SUSU Faculty of Chemistry and the Nanotechnology Research and Education Centre was used.
"Organic compounds of antimony of the similar structure show catalytic activity, and have anticancer and antimicrobial effect. They can also be used to synthesize metal-containing polymers. Studying the practical value of the products obtained as a result of the recent experiment will become the topic of our further research," adds Iuliia Gubanova.
The research results will be used not only in the report about work within the RFBR grant, but will also become the base for the doctoral thesis by Iuliia Gubanova.
"The topic of the thesis work, from the point of view of the fundamental science, is a significant one since the chosen objects have not been studied before. It has turned out that in reactions with organic compounds of antimony, polyfunctional acids yield unusual products, the extraction and determining the structure of which is already quite a complicated task. On the other hand, namely organic antimony-compound derivatives of carboxylic acids are already being widely used as catalysts in organic synthesis, as components in medicines, in antioxidants, etc. The compounds synthesized by Iuliia also have a range of practically important properties," explains the head of the research, Doctor of Sciences (Chemistry), Professor Olga Sharutina.
The postgraduate student synthesized 33 new organic antimony derivatives. The photocatalitic activity of some of them was examined, for example, in the case study of the photodegradation of methylene blue pigment. The experiment went well; the main specific feature of the products obtained by the SUSU chemists became the possibility of the multiple use of those.
South Ural State University (SUSU) is a university of digital transformations, where innovative research is conducted in most of the priority fields of science and technology development. In accordance with the strategy of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation, the university is focused on the development of big scientific interdisciplinary projects in the field of digital industry, materials science, and ecology. In the Year of Science and Technology, it will take part in the competition under the Priority-2030 program. The university acts as a regional project office of the World-class Ural Interregional Research and Education Centre (UIREC).