Special Issue "A Themed Issue in Honor of Prof. Vadim Alexandrovich Davankov"

Dear Colleagues,

We are sad to report that the outstanding, world-famous Russian scientist who discovered one of the types of chromatography, chiral chromatography (chromagraphy of optical isomers), is no longer with us: Dr. Vadim Alexandrovich Davankov died October, 2, 2022, in Moscow, Russia, after a long illness.

V.A. Davankov was a Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Stereochemistry of Sorption Processes in A.N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds of Russian Academy of Sciences (INEOS RAS), laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, laureate of the RAS prize named after V.A. Kargin, and winner of multiple international prizes: the Mikhail Tswett Medal, Chirality Gold Medal 1996, Martin Gold Medal 2006, Molecular Chirality Award 2010, and Separation Science Award 2010 (M.Tswett - W.Nernst Award). Vadim Alexandrovich was deputy chairman of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences for Adsorption and Chromatography for many years (he was chairman of the Scientific Council for Chromatography in 1989-2003), member of one of the commissions on analytical chemistry of the IUPAC, member of the American Chemical Society, member of the editorial board of the Journal of Physical Chemistry RAS, and on the editorial boards of the following international journals: Chirality, Chromatographia, Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Methods, Journal of Chromatography, Reactive and Functional Polymers. Davankov was the organizer and chairman of a number of conferences, including international ones: the 5th Danube Symposium on Chromatography in 1985 Yalta and 3rd International Symposium on Separations in Biosciences: 100 Years of Chromatography in 2003 in Moscow.

V.A. Davankov research interests were as follows:

• Ligand exchange chromatography and chiral chromatography separations;
• Terminology and fundamental issues of chromatography;
• Synthesis, investigation and application of super-cross-linked polymers;
• Stereochemistry of sorption processes;
• Use of polymers for blood detoxification;
• Enantioselective metal complex catalysis.

Vadim Alexandrovich Davankov was born November 20, 1937, in Moscow, to a family of chemists. His mother was Nadezhda Ivanovna Antropova and his father was Ph.D. Alexander Borisovich Davankov. His father was an outstanding ion exchange chemist, head of the problem laboratory of ionites of the Moscow Chemical Technology Institute named after D.I. Mendeleev (MChTI), and a pioneer in the synthesis of domestic ion exchange materials, including unique amphoteric ionites. From his youth, he was taken to the laboratory. Vadim Alexandrovich remembered that he was fascinated by orange grains of ionite when he, playing, rolled them in his hands. His father's work could not but affect the choice of Vadim's future profession. After graduating from school with a gold medal, Vadim entered the MChTI. Among the best students, he was sent to continue his studies at the Technical University of Dresden. Returning from the DDR, V.A. Davankov became an employee, and then a graduate student of INEOS RAS, serving at this institute to his final days.

In 1966, he defended his thesis “Synthesis and study of dissimmetrical ion-exchange resins,” and in 1975, he defended his doctoral dissertation "Ligand-exchange chromatography of racemic mixtures." Since 1975, specifically under the theme of Davankov's research, a laboratory of the stereochemistry of sorption processes was created, which he headed. In 1980, he received the title of professor. From 1988 to 1994, he worked as Deputy Director of INEOS. Under the leadership of V.A. Davankov, 33 candidate dissertations and 6 doctoral dissertations were defended. V.A. Davankov is the author and co-author of about 1000 publications and patents, and the author of a number of monographs and other works that are widely cited in the scientific literature worldwide (12,540 citations, H-index 49).

Vadim Aleksandrovich Davankov is widely known for his pioneering work on the chromatographic separation of optically active substances and their introduction into preparative practice. In our country, chiral ligand exchange chromatography has been recognized as a discovery. For its development, V.A. Davankov was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Another of Davankov’s outstanding achievementis the development of ultra-crosslinked polystyrene. Thanks to the development of a sorbent with unique properties, a technology for blood purification in sepsis has appeared, which has found practical use abroad and in Russia. We would like to believe that sorbents using Davankov's technology will find use in artificial kidney devices, as he intended, although, unfortunately, this has not been implemented to date.

In recent years, Vadim Alexandrovich dealt with the origin of life on earth and, conducting unique experiments, theoretically and practically scientifically substantiated his hypotheses. With the passing of Vadim Alexandrovich, we lost a deep thinker and an outstanding scientist, whose discoveries and inventions enriched chromatographic science and offered him world fame.

Vadim Aleksandrovich Davankov was a true intellectual, an example of disinterested service to science and society, integrity and decency. The memory of Vadim Alexandrovich will forever remain in our hearts.

Prof. Dr. Aleksey Konstantinovich Buryak
Guest Editor

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