Selective oxidation of glycerol to formic acid catalyzed by iron salts

2Glycerol is oxidized by hydrogen peroxide to formic acid with excellent selectivity in the presence of iron salts. The oxidation takes place at room temperature inwater; at the end of the reaction the catalytic system is still active and available to restart the oxidation.partially_openopenFarnetti, Erica; Crotti, CorradoFarnetti, Erica; Crotti, Corrad

Iron complexes with nitrogen bidentate ligands as green catalysts foralcohol oxidation

The iron(II) complexes [Fe(N-N)3](OTf)2(N-N = 2,2- bipyridine, 1,10-phenanthroline and substitutedderivatives) were employed as catalyst precursors for the oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols,including glycerol. The single-crystal structure of [Fe(bipy)3](OTf)2was determined by X-ray crystallog-raphy.The catalytic reactions were performed using either H2O2or tert-butilhydroperoxide (TBHP) asoxidating agent, in mild experimental conditions: with all catalysts employed, secondary alcohols wereoxidized to the corresponding ketones with up to 100% yields, whereas other substrates gave lowerconversions. Indications on the nature of the catalytically active species, which is probably formed viadissociation of a nitrogen ligand from the iron center, were obtained from NMR and ESI\u2013MS spectra

Il ruolo della logistics social responsibility per la sostenibilit\ue0 nella movimentazione delle merci

Negli ultimi anni ha assunto particolare interesse il concetto di logistics social responsibility, inteso come un insieme di pratiche di sostenibilit\ue0 che perseguono lo scopo principale di ricercare soluzioni efficienti nell\u2019organizzazione della supply chain e, nello stesso tempo, disegnare strategie per una mobilit\ue0 delle merci a basso impatto ambientale e orientata al riutilizzo dei materiali, secondo i paradigmi dell\u2019economia circolare. In questo contributo, dopo aver delineato il recente adattamento della corporate social responsibility ai settori della logistica, evidenziando la prevalente tassonomia delle annesse pratiche manageriali, viene analizzato un filone di letteratura prospettico, che aggiunge al tema della sostenibilit\ue0 logistica quelli del packaging e dello stoccaggio sostenibili. Questa rilettura critica di una letteratura settoriale, che evolve in parallelo alle declinazioni della mobilit\ue0 sostenibile nel trasporto delle merci, persegue il duplice obiettivo di mappare le direzioni concettuali della logistics social responsibility e, in particolare, di prospettare filoni di ricerca connessi alla supply chain e di orientare possibili interventi di policy dei decision-makers pubblici e privati

Root Bacteria Recruited by Phragmites australis in Constructed Wetlands Have the Potential to Enhance Azo-Dye Phytodepuration

The microbiome associated with plants used in phytodepuration systems can boost plant growth and services, especially in ecosystems dealing with recalcitrant compounds, hardly removed via traditional wastewater (WW) treatments, such as azo-dyes used in textile industry. In this context, we aimed to study the cultivable microbiome selected by Phragmites australis plants in a Constructed Wetland (CW) in Morocco, in order to obtain candidate inoculants for the phytodepuration of azo-dye contaminated WW. A collection of 152 rhizospheric and endophytic bacteria was established. The strains were phylogenetically identified and characterized for traits of interest in the phytodepuration context. All strains showed Plant Growth Promotion potential in vitro and 67% of them significantly improved the growth of a model plant in vivo compared to the non bacterized control plants. Moreover, most of the isolates were able to grow in presence of several model micropollutants typically found in WW, indicating their potential use in phytodepuration of a wide spectrum of effluents. The six most promising strains of the collection were tested in CW microcosms alone or as consortium: the consortium and two single inocula demonstrated to significantly increase the removal of the model azo-dye Reactive Black 5 compared to the non bacterized controls

Microbial assisted phytodepuration for water reclamation: Environmental benefits and threats

Climate changes push for water reuse as a priority to counteract water scarcity and minimize water footprint especially in agriculture, one of the highest water consuming human activities. Phytodepuration is indicated as a promising technology for water reclamation, also in the light of its economic and ecological sustainability, and the use of specific bacterial inocula for microbial assisted phytodepuration has been proposed as a further advance for its implementation. Here we provided an overview on the selection and use of plant growth promoting bacteria in Constructed Wetland (CW) systems, showing their advantages in terms of plant growth support and pollutant degradation abilities. Moreover, CWs are also proposed for the removal of emerging organic pollutants like antibiotics from urban wastewaters. We focused on this issue, still debated in the literature, revealing the necessity to deepen the knowledge on the antibiotic resistance spread into the environment in relation to treated wastewater release and reuse. In addition, given the presence in the plant system of microhabitats (e.g. rhizosphere) that are hot spot for Horizontal Gene Transfer, we highlighted the importance of gene exchange to understand if these events can promote the diffusion of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic resistant bacteria, possibly entering in the food production chain when treated wastewater is used for irrigation. Ideally, this new knowledge will lead to improve the design of phytodepuration systems to maximize the quality and safety of the treated effluents in compliance with the 'One Health' concept

One-pot multi-enzymatic synthesis of the four stereoisomers of 4-methylheptan-3-ol

The use of pheromones in the integrated pest management of insects is currently considered a sustainable and environmentally benign alternative to hazardous insecticides. 4-Methylheptan-3-ol is an interesting example of an insect pheromone, because its stereoisomers are active towards different species. All four possible stereoisomers of this compd. were prepd. from 4-methylhept-4-en-3-one by a one-pot procedure in which the two stereogenic centers were created during two sequential redns. catalyzed by an ene-reductase (ER) and an alc. dehydrogenase (ADH), resp

A competitive approach for the reduction of unsaturated compounds based on fungal ene-reductases

The aim of this work was to select potential biocatalysts for the reduction of unsaturated compounds. The ability of Gliomastix masseei, Mucor circinelloides, Mucor plumbeus, Penicillium citrinum and Syncephalastrum racemosum to convert structurally diverse substrates was tested, also considering the role of substituents linked to the C=C bond on the process efficiency. All the tested fungi expressed ene-reductase activity when tested with several types of compounds; the ketone derivative was the best substrate, followed by the nitroalkene and the unsaturated aldehyde, whereas the ester was the most recalcitrant to bioreduction. The results highlighted the potential of Mucor circinelloides MUT 44 and Mucor plumbeus MUT 2769 as versatile whole-cell systems; fast and efficient reduction was obtained using these biocatalysts for most of the compounds. Comparative analysis of the substrate spectrum was performed for three Mucor circinelloides strains, and reaction rates and timings were shown to vary, indicating a strong physiological diversity of ene-reductase activity at the intraspecific level