Livius Cotarca was born in Romania (1951) where he received his M .Sc. and PhD degrees in Industrial Organic Chemistry from the Polytechnic University of Timisoara. He holds also a M. Sc. Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Milan Polytechnic University (Italy). He was successively Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry at Timisoara and Senior Chemist at Caffaro-Sinia, Italy. In 1999 he joined the Zamban Group where he is now Manager of Research and Industrial Development. Dr. Cotarca is a recipient of the Nicolae Teclu Award for Chemistry of Romanian Academy and is a member of the American Chemical Society. He is author of numerous patents and publications and co-author of two books. Currently, his scientific interest is devoted to the process chemistry of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Heiner Eckert was born in Munich, Germany, where he gained his diploma in Chemistry at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 1973, going on to receive his PhD with "summa cum laude" under Professor I. Ugi three years later. In 1977, he founded "Dr. Eckert GmbH", a company specializing in developing fine chemicals and processes for chemicals production, particularly in the field of phosgenation reactions. At present he is working as an Academic Director at the TUM, with his research focused on new methods in organic syntheses development. Dr. Eckert has published numerous scientific publications and patents, and indeed the "Eckert hydrogenation catalysts" are named for him.

In this manual, the authors compare the range of applications for phosgene with that of the alternative compounds. The result is a mine of information for synthetic chemists working in industry and academia, dealing with the question of where the toxic phosgene may be replaced by an unproblematic compound - including the safety phosgenation.
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Introduction. Classification of Phosgene Organic Reactions
Structural Properties of Phosgene and 'Pseudophosgene' Compounds
Thermodynamic of Phosgene Reactions
Thermal, Chemical (Nucleophilic) and Catalytic Induced Dissociation
Phosgenes vs. Phosgene Substitutes Reactivity
Phosgenes vs. Phosgene Substitutes Reactions
Specific Synthetic Applications of Phosgene vs. Phosgene Substitutes
Sources of Phosgene
Synthesis of Phosgene Substitutes
Toxicity
Safety Aspects and Environmental Impact
Monitoring of Phosgene and Phosgene Substitutes. Analytical Methods
Outlook and Conclusions

Phosgen ist eine der wichtigsten Grundchemikalien für die Chemische Industrie, die jährlich im 6-Millionen-Tonnen Maßstab produziert wird. Die Toxizität dieser Verbindung limitiert aber deren Einsatzmöglichkeiten drastisch. So müssen spezielle Sicherheitsvorkehrungen für die Produktion, Lagerung und den Transport getroffen werden. Um die Vorteile von Phosgen in der Synthese uneingeschränkt nutzen zu können, wurden daher Ersatzstoffe entwickelt, die sich durch eine deutlich bessere Handhabung auszeichnen.Im vorliegenden Handbuch vergleichen die Autoren das Anwendungsprofil von Phosgen mit demjenigen der modernen Ersatzstoffe. Detailliert werden die Einsatzmöglichkeiten von Diphosgen, Triphosgen, Kohlendioxid, organischen Carbonaten, Oxalylchlorid und anderen Ersatzstoffen in der Synthese beschrieben. Die Autoren weisen aber auch klar darauf hin, in welchen Fällen Phosgen nach wie vor überlegen ist.So ist dieses Werk eine Fundgrube für jeden Synthetiker in Industrie und Hochschule wenn es um die Frage geht, bei welchen Umsetzungen das toxische Phosgen durch eine unproblematischere Verbindung ersetzt werden kann.