Lithium perchlorate organic esters

It is observed that anions based on milder Lewis acids are stable in organic solvents at room temperature and have been extensively investigated by workers in this field. Examples of these salts include lithium perchlorate and lithium borates, arsenates, phosphates, and antimonates. Following Xu [1], some examples of these salts are presented in Table 11.3, together with some of their basic physical properties also shown are their ion conductivity data in PC, and EC/DMC (1 1) the two solvents well studied by investigators in the area of lithium battery research. In general, carbonates and esters are more anodically stable while ethers are more resistant to cathodic decompositions [1]. Thus, solvents used in most commercial batteries are mixtures of solvents, plus some additives, in order to obtain various desirable properties their compositions are usually kept as proprietary information. 

Tetraalkyl ammonium (TAA) salts are characterized by very low reduction potentials, along with good solubility in many organic solvents. Thus, nonaqueous solutions composed of such salts (e.g., tetrabutyl ammonium perchlorate and organic solvents such as ethers, esters, and alkyl carbonates) can be electrolyzed using noble metal electrodes. In contrast to lithium salt solutions, in TAA-based solutions there is no precipitation of insoluble products on the electrode, which leads to its passivation. Therefore, it is possible to isolate and identify the electrolysis products and thus outline precise reduction mechanisms for the various systems. 

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