- Use o Switchable Polarity Solvents (SPS) as innovative extraction and sepaaration media or recyclable reaction media.
- Development of photoactive lipids for chemical sensing and innovative catalysis.
- Characterization of
atmospheric aerosol through chromatographic and spectroscopic (NMR)
investigations. (at ISAC-CNR)
- Development of new processes for biofuels and bio-polymers from renewable sources. (at Ravenna Campus)
- Use of biomass derived solid acid catalysts for environmental benign reactions.(at Ravenna Campus)
- Use of innovative green solvents in enzymatic and asymmetric catalytic reactions for the synthesis of C-C bonds. (at Ravenna Campus)
1. In the perspective of circular economy, some solvent systems based on tertiary amines can be reversibly converted into ionic liquids: Switchable Polarity Solvents. We have used these systems for the extraction of substances of interest from algal biomass and for the separation of layers from multilayered packaging waste. We are recently studying the use of these solvent systems as recyclable catalytic reaction media.
2. Some long-chain alkynilic carboxylic acids and their derivatives self-assemble forming vesicles or membranes and can produce colored polymeric materials. We have employed such systems as selective sensors to detect chemical stimuli. We are now studying the possibility of using them as biomimetic or photoactive catalysts.
3. The aim of the research is to develop an original methodology for the characterization of organic atmospheric aerosol by spectroscopic techniques, principally NMR, coupled with chromatographic techniques, in order to find the most important structural features of the compounds present useful to modelling the effects of aerosol on the radiative balance o the troposphere and on the multiphasic systems affecting climate changes. The developed methodologies will be applied to ambient samples collected in both national and abroad sites, following seasonal variations and pointing to different emission sources
4: Hydrocarbons and other lipids are abundant substances in some algae; their potential use as biofuels has been already established, also in connection with the possible use of algae for recycling CO2. We wish to contribute to the improvement of this emerging technology through the development of novel solvent system suitable for the extraction of hydrocarbons from algal biomass. Further research on biomass valorization will be addressed to the use of products obtained by pyrolysis and to innovative methods for the separation of the components of lignocellulosic raw material.
5. Various types of polysaccharide-rich biomass can be pyrolysed to provide carbonaceous material highly containing polycyclic aromatic systems. The subsequent chemical derivatization of this material (for example through sulfonation) gives rise to recyclable solid catalysts that can be used to perform chemical transformations.
6. In recent years, ionic liquids, having unmeasurable vapor pressure, not flammable or explosive, are gaining increasing attention as eco-friendly solvents. We have realized the application of some ionic liquids as solvents in the enzymatic acylation of anhydro-sugars from renewable sources. The application of ionic liquids to enantio- and diastereoselective formation reactions of C-C bonds will also be investigated. Among the processes that we are planing to study are aldol catalytic reactions and allylation of carbonyl compounds in ionic liquids, but also in water-based solvents or dense CO2.
