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Waste after calcium carbide hydrolysis was mixed with calcium and heated to generate H2 or D2 with up to 99% yield, which were used in the hydrogenation. After hydrogen evolution, pure CaO – the initial source in carbide manufacturing – was obtained.

Straightforward access to bidentate phosphorus ligands and bis(phosphineoxide)ethanes is described based on atom-economic addition reaction. A practical approach was developed to incorporate 2H and 13C labels using easily available reagents.

An electric current promotes copper electrode dissolution in ionic liquids and creates an active catalyst. The catalyst formed was successfully tested in synthetic transformations. Reversing the polarity allows regeneration of ILs and catalyst.

A general possibility of a sustainable cycle for carbon return to high-value-added products is discussed by turning wastes into acetylene. Pyrolyzed solid municipal wastes, pyrolyzed used cationic exchangers, and other waste carbon sources were studied in view of the design of a sustainable cycle for producing calcium carbide and acetylene. The yields of calcium carbide from carbon wastes were as high as those from industrial fossil raw materials (coke, charcoal, etc.). Conversion of carbon-containing wastes to calcium carbide provides an excellent opportunity to make acetylene, which is directly compatible with modern industry. Overall, the process returns carbon-containing wastes back to sustainable cycles to produce high-value-added products involving only C

Biomass is a renewable source of valuable feedstock for the chemical industry of the future. A promising approach to the utilization of valuable components of biomass is the synthesis of monomers and polymers, if the overall technology is designed for a clean cycle without pollution of the environment with newly created polymers. In this work, we have developed a methodology for the recycling of polymers based on biomass and calcium carbide. First, we modified a series of biomass-derived terpene alcohols with calcium carbide followed by polymerization of the isolated vinyl ethers. Then, to study the recycling potential, the obtained polymers were subjected to pyrolysis at moderate temperatures (200–450 °C). The pyrolysis products were analyzed using TGA-MS, GC-MS, and NMR, and it was found that the polymers can be transformed quite easily. The products of the pyrolysis consisted of the starting terpenols, as well as the corresponding non-toxic ketones or aldehydes: up to 87% of the starting alcohol or up to 100% of the total sum of alcohol + aldehyde or alcohol + ketone (GC-yields). Then, the reaction mixture was hydrogenated and resulted in the formation of starting alcohol only. According to the studied pathway of polymers re-building, a terpene fragment attached to the main polyethylene chain through an oxygen atom promotes the transformation of the obtained polymers. Thus, the products of pyrolysis are environmentally friendly and can be reused in the further synthesis of monomers. The developed system has shown a unique assembling/disassembling ability and advances the concept of reusable bio-derived high value-added materials.

A vinylation/devinylation looping system for acetaldehyde manufacturing was evaluated. Vinylation of iso-butanol with calcium carbide under solvent-free conditions was combined with hydrolysis of the resulting iso-butyl vinyl ether under slightly acidic conditions. Acetaldehyde produced by hydrolysis was collected from the reaction mixture by simple distillation, and the remaining alcohol was redirected to the vinylation step. All the inorganic co-reagents can be looped as well, and the full sequence is totally sustainable. A complete acetaldehyde manufacturing cycle was proposed on the basis of the developed procedure. The cycle was fed with calcium carbide and produced the aldehyde as a single product in a total preparative yield of 97 %. No solvents, hydrocarbons, or metal catalysts were needed to maintain the cycle. As calcium carbide in principle can be synthesized from virtually any source of carbon, the developed technology represents an excellent example of biomass and waste conversion into a valuable industrial product.

The syntheses of various chemical compounds require heating. The intrinsic release of heat in exothermic processes is a valuable heat source that is not effectively used in many reactions. In this work, we assessed the released heat during the hydrolysis of an energy-rich compound, calcium carbide, and explored the possibility of its usage. Temperature profiles of carbide hydrolysis were recorded, and it was found that the heat release depended on the cosolvent and water/solvent ratio. Thus, the release of heat can be controlled and adjusted. To monitor the released heat, a special tube-in-tube reactor was assembled using joining part 3D-printed with nylon. The thermal effect of the reaction was estimated using a thermoimaging IR monitor. It was found that the kinetics of heat release are different when using mixtures of water with different solvents, and the maximum achievable temperature depends on the type of solvent and the amount of water and carbide. The possibility of using the heat released during carbide hydrolysis to initiate a chemical reaction was tested using a hydrothiolation reaction—the nucleophilic addition of thiols to acetylene. In a model experiment, the yield of the desired product with the use of heat from carbide hydrolysis was 89%, compared to 30% in this intrinsic heating, which was neglected.

As a result of the implementation of two approaches, the Pudovik reaction (the reaction of macrocyclic azomethines with secondary phosphine oxides) and the Kabachnik–Fields reaction (three-component one-pot process involving dialdehydes, diamines, and secondary phosphine oxides), novel N,O-containing macrocyclic ligands with phosphine oxide groups were first obtained. The synthesized macrocycles are a kind of α-aminophosphoryl compounds that can be used in the synthesis of supramolecular systems.

A general possibility of a sustainable cycle for carbon return to high-value-added products is discussed by turning wastes into acetylene. Pyrolyzed solid municipal wastes, pyrolyzed used cationic exchangers, and other waste carbon sources were studied in view of the design of a sustainable cycle for producing calcium carbide and acetylene. The yields of calcium carbide from carbon wastes were as high as those from industrial fossil raw materials (coke, charcoal, etc.). Conversion of carbon-containing wastes to calcium carbide provides an excellent opportunity to make acetylene, which is directly compatible with modern industry. Overall, the process returns carbon-containing wastes back to sustainable cycles to produce high-value-added products involving only C2-type molecules (calcium carbide and acetylene). Calcium carbide may be stored and transported, and on-demand acetylene generation is easy to realize. Upon incorporation into the waste processing route, calcium carbide may be an efficient carbon reservoir for quick industrial uptake.

The development of metal nanoparticle chemistry in ionic liquids (ILs) media has had a paramount impact on various fields, including catalysis, energy research, nanotechnology and materials science, among many other directions. This review highlights various methods for producing metal nanoparticles in ILs, with particular focus on palladium, platinum, ruthenium, copper, nickel, cobalt, gold, silver, iron and alloys. The scope of methods includes chemical syntheses as well as electrochemical and physical approaches. Due to strong practical demand, a particular emphasis is placed on the catalytic activity of the obtained nanoparticles in a variety of reactions.