Laying waste to Energy problems
This research aims at exploiting civil and pre-treated industrial wastewaters that go into the purifier and those that come out of it after various treatments in order to build a galvanic cell with the goal of producing clean electric energy. Our background hypothesis is that it is possible to exploit the existing potential difference between these two types of water to generate electricity. In fact, the water sent for purification contains elements (carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, etc.) in a predominantly "reduced" state and its oxygen level is scarce. On the other hand, the water coming out of the process contains the same elements in a mostly "oxidized" state and it is rich in oxygen. Those chemical discrepancies should get the job done. In order to simulate the two types of water, two different solutions were prepared. The first one is highly concentrated with pollutants and gaseous nitrogen is insufflated in it to reproduce its anoxic environment. The second one’s pollution level is based on the Italian legislative limits of chemical contaminants for superficial waters (Legislative Decree 152/2006) and the semi-cell is insufflated with gaseous oxygen.
Synthesis of Substituted Pyrrolidin-2-ones and Isoindolines from Donor-Acceptor Cyclopropanes and Anilines/Benzylamines
The development of rapid and efficient synthetic approaches to the bioactive cyclic and polycyclic azaheterocycles is one of the most important challenges in organic synthesis. In this work effective and simple synthetic approaches to polysubstituted pyrrolidin-2-ones 2 and isoindolines 3 from donor-acceptor cyclopropanes 1, bearing the ester group as the one of acceptor substituents, and amines were developed. The γ- pyrrolidone based skeletons and isoindoline ring system is a constituent of many biologically active molecules, both natural and synthetic, and a key component of clinically relevant entities (Fig.1,2) [1,2]. The synthesis of pyrrolidin-2-ones 2 includes Lewis acid-catalyzed opening of the donor-acceptor cyclopropane with primary amines (anilines, benzylamines, etc.) to γ-amino esters, followed by in situ lactamization and dealkoxycarbonylation. The reaction has a broad scope of applicability; a variety of substituted anilines, benzylamines, and other primary amines as well as a wide diversity of donor-acceptor cyclopropanes bearing (hetero)aromatic or alkenyl donor groups and various acceptor substituents, can be involved in this transformation. In this process, donor-acceptor cyclopropanes react as 1,4-C,C-dielectrophiles, and amines as 1,1- dinucleophiles. The resulting di- and trisubstituted pyrrolidin-2-ones can be also used in subsequent chemistry to obtain various nitrogen-containing polycyclic compounds of interest to medicinal chemistry and pharmacology, such as benz[g]indolizidine derivatives. The synthesis of the substituted isoindolines 3 is based on the domino-reaction between donor-acceptor cyclopropanes, bearing in ortho-position of aromatic substituent a bromomethyl group, and different primary amines (e.g., anilines, benzylamines, cycloalkylamines) was developed. The reaction involves the generation of secondary amine followed by nucleophilic ring opening of cyclopropane with amino group. Moreover, this process provided a new practical method for the rapid synthesis of benzo[b]pyrrolizidinone 4 from readily available starting materials.
The effects of Different Synthesis Methods and Catalysts on Crude Aspirin
Aspirin is one of the most used and well-known medicines world-wide. It can be synthesized by reacting acetic anhydride and salicylic acid in a warm temperature of around 60-80°C. This reaction is usually catalyzed by sulfuric or phosphoric acid. This paper will investigate alternative catalysts, safer and more environmentally friendly, as well as compare different synthesis methods with different heat mediums, one using a water bath and the other amicrowave. By doing so, the effects of the catalyst and the method of synthesis on the yield, purity and environmental consequence of crude aspirin synthesis will be deduced. The targeted utcome is to find the alternative method as more energy efficient, and to find a greener safer catalyst to sulfuric and phosphoric acid. Further background information, exploration, and explanation is in the appendix. The targeted outcome will be to find a viable alternative catalyst that is safer and more environmentally friendly, and to find that the microwave synthesis method consumes less energy.
Discussion for Titanium Peroxides and Their Application for Dealing with Zombie Shrimp Issue
Food safety was an important issue recently. Today sodium percarbonate was used to fake the vitality of shrimps to earn a good sell. However, it may cause harm to health because of the peroxides left over. To handle this problem, we set up two goals to achieve: detecting them and then removing them. In the past, the titration skill was an easy method for determining the concentration of H2O2. It not only spent too much time but also resulted in errors commonly. In this research, titanium sulfate and citric acid were used to prepare the colorimetric reagent. To measure the peroxides in water, several factors were controlled and the SOP for detecting and the calibration line for peroxides finally established. In practical, we turned the colorimetric reagent into the fast test paper which was easily for use. The other part of this research was to clear up the peroxides in water. We use titanium sulfate, hydrogen peroxide and citric acid as starting material via hot-bath method to prepare the nano-photocatalyst of titanium dioxide. Since the powder was inconvenient to deal with large amount of water. The powder-like TiO2 was further made into ball-shaped TiO2 in favor of water treatment and reuse. It was found that the photocatalytic performance of ball-shaped TiO2 was effective to be on duty for removal of the peroxides. In summary, this research provided two techniques to deal with the zombie shrimp. The novel method for synthesis of TiO2 catalyst and the preparation of colorimetric reagent for fast test paper were all in low cost. They had great potential to develop in marketing demand.