Table of contents

The characteristic features of the kinetics and dynamics of processes occurring on laser heating of chemically reactive media are analysed. Attention is concentrated on effects due to the macroscopic disequilibrium and the feedbacks between various degrees of freedom of thermochemical systems. Processes stimulated by laser radiation in homogeneous media, the phenomena occurring on laser heating of metals, and the physicochemical processes occurring on laser heating of liquids are considered. Examples of certain technological applications of laser thermochemistry are presented: laser-indused precipitation of a substance from the gas phase, etching and modification of surfaces, synthesis of compounds, etc. The bibliography includes 123 references.

The phenomena responsible for the dependence of the rate of nucleation, growth, and aggregation of crystals on the concentration and state of trace impurities in the supersaturated medium are discussed. Methods of increasing the sensitivity of the crystallisation to the presence of trace impurities are described. Data on diagnostic systems capable of detecting ultrasmall quantities of impurities from their effect on crystallisation are presented. The bibliography includes 210 references.

A review is presented of ionic layer deposition, one of the methods of synthesising thin-layer structures of a predetermined composition with very precise thinkness control on the surface of a support. Conditions for the synthesis of ultra-thin films of metal oxides, hydroxides, phosphates, chromates, sulfides, and tellurides on the surface of metals, semiconductors, and dielectrics are discussed. The advantages of the method are pointed out, including the possibility of synthesising layers in an automatic regime under mild conditions at room temperature on substrates of complex shape by using simple apparatus. The problems which prevent the wider use of the method are formulated, and ways of solving them are suggested. The bibliography includes 69 references.

The review presents a compilation of new expelimental data on the reactions of phosphorus-containing nucleophiles [triphenylphosphine, trialkylphosphines, trialkyl phosphites, phosphorus tris(diethylamide), etc.] with perfluorinated olefins and aromatic and heterocyclic compounds, leading to substances both with and without a phosphorus atom. It is shown that the interaction of phosphorus tris(diethylamide) and trialkylphosphines with organic polyfluoro-compounds and perfluoroolefins leads to the formation of phosphoranes, the decomposition of which is accompanied by the generation of aryl and alkenyl anions. The reactions of these anions with C-electrophiles and compounds containing mobile halogen atoms are examined. In addition, the pathways in the Arbuzov reaction involving a series of unsaturated perfluorinated compounds are analysed. Possible applications of these reactions in organic synthesis are demonstrated. The bibliography includes 120 references.

The available literature data on the methods for the asymmetric synthesis of fluorine- and phosphorus-containing aminoacids are surveyed. The chemical and enzymic methods of the asymmetric synthesis of the above compounds are considered. The bibliography includes 139 references.

The experimental data on the oxidation-reduction catalysis by coordination compounds of manganese(II) of reactions involving the decomposition of H₂O₂ and the oxidation of organic substances by hydrogen peroxide and molecular oxygen are surveyed and modern ideas on these topics are described. The bibliography includes 170 references.