The MicroBioDiverSar Project: Exploring the Microbial Biodiversity in Ex Situ Collections of Sardinia

In the last decades, biodiversity preservation has gained growing attention and many strategies, laws and regulations have been enacted by governments with this purpose. The Micro-BioDiverSar (MBDS) project, the first one regarding microbiological resources, funded by the Italian Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (Mipaaf) through the Law 194/2015, was aimed at surveying, cataloguing, and managing the microbial resources and the related information of three Sardinian collections (Agris BNSS, Uniss, and Unica). While microorganisms were reordered and inventoried, a federated database, accessible via the web, was designed by the bioinformatician of Ospedale Policlinico San Martino of Genova, according to both international standards and laboratory needs. The resulting MBDS collection boasts a great richness of microbial resources. Indeed, over 21,000 isolates, belonging to over 200 species of bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous fungi isolated from different matrices, mainly food, of animal and vegetable origin, collected in over 50 years, were included in the database. Currently, about 2000 isolates, belonging to 150 species, are available online for both the scientific community and agri-food producers. The huge work done allowed one to know the consistency and the composition of most of the patrimony of the Sardinian microbial collections. Furthermore, the MBDS database has been proposed as a model for other Italian collections that, as the MBDS partners, are part of the Joint Research UnitMIRRI-IT Italian collections network, with the aim of overcoming fragmentation, facing sustainability challenges, and improving the quality of the management of the collections

From: Trash to resource: Recovered-Pd from spent three-way catalysts as a precursor of an effective photo-catalyst for H2 production

The successful production of a nanostructured and highly dispersed Pd-TiO2 photo-catalyst, using [Pd(Me2dazdt)2](I3)2 (Me2dazdt = N,N\u2032-dimethyl-perhydrodiazepine-2,3-dithione) salt, obtained through the selective and safe recovery of palladium from model exhaust three-way catalysts (TWCs), is reported here. The photo-catalyst prepared by the impregnation/photo-reduction of palladium on the support showed improved performance in H2 production from methanol and in glycerol photo-reforming compared to reference photo-catalysts obtained from conventional Pd-salts. The reported results represent a case of successful palladium \u201crecovery and re-employment\u201d and thus constitute an example of green chemistry by providing, in one route, the environmentally friendly recovery of a critical metal and its employment in the renewable energy field

Insight into the Properties of Heteroleptic Metal Dithiolenes: Multistimuli Responsive Luminescence, Chromism, and Nonlinear Optics

A comprehensive investigation of the functional properties of heteroleptic donor-M-acceptor dithiolene complexes Bu4N[MII(L1)(L2)] is presented (M = Pd, Pt). The acceptor L1 consists of the chiral (R)-(+)α-methylbenzyldithiooxamidate ((R)-α-MBAdto), the donor L2 is 2-thioxo-1,3-dithiole-4,5-dithiolato (dmit) in 1 (Pd) and 2 (Pt), 1,2-dicarbomethoxyethylenedithiolate (ddmet) in 3 (Pd) and 4 (Pt), or [4′,5′:5,6][1,4]dithiino[2,3-b]quinoxaline-1′,3′-dithiolato (quinoxdt) in 5 (Pd) and 6 (Pt). L1 is capable of undergoing proton exchange and promoting crystal formation in noncentrosymmetric space groups. L2 has different molecular structures while it maintains similar electron-donating capabilities. Thanks to the synergy of the ligands, 1-6 behave as H+ and Ag+ switchable linear chromophores. Moreover, the compounds exhibit a H+-switchable second-order NLO response in solution, which is maintained in the bulk for 1, 3, and 4 when they are embedded into a PMMA poled matrix. 5 and 6 show unique anti-Kasha H+ and Ag+ tunable colored emission originating from the quinoxdt ligand. A correlation between the electronic structure and properties is shown through density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT calculations

Anti-Kasha Conformational Photoisomerization of a Heteroleptic Dithiolene Metal Complex Revealed by Ultrafast Spectroscopy

We investigated the anti-Kasha photochemistry and anti-Kasha emission of d8-metal donor-acceptor dithiolene with femtosecond UV-vis transient absorption spectroscopy and molecular modeling. Experimentally, we found a lifetime of 1.4 ps for higher excited states, which is exceptionally long when compared to typical values for internal conversion (IC) (10 s of fs or less). Consequently, a substantial emission originates from the second excited state. Molecular modeling suggests this to be a consequence of the spatially separated molecular orbitals of the first and second excited states, which gives a charge transfer character to the IC. More surprisingly, we found that the inherent flexibility of the molecule allows the metal complex to access different configurations depending on the photoexcited state. We believe that this unique manifestation of anti-Kasha photoinduced conformational isomerization is facilitated by the exceptionally long lifetime of the second excited state

Homogeneous gold catalysis using complexes recovered from waste electronic equipment

Despite the greater awareness of elemental sustainability and the benefits of the circular economy concept, much waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is still destined for landfill. Effective methods for valorizing this waste within our society are therefore imperative. In this contribution, two gold(III) complexes obtained as recovery products from WEEE and their anion metathesis products were investigated as homogenous catalysts. These four recovery products were successfully applied as catalysts for the cyclization of propargylic amides and the condensation of acetylacetone with o-iodoaniline. Impressive activity was also observed in the gold-catalyzed reaction between electron-rich arenes (2-methylfuran, 1,3-dimethoxybenzene, and azulene) and α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds (methyl vinyl ketone and cyclohexenone). These recovered compounds were also shown to be effective catalysts for the oxidative cross-coupling reaction of aryl silanes and arenes. When employed as Lewis acid catalysts for carbonyl-containing substrates, the WEEE-derived gold complexes could also be recovered at the end of the reaction and reused without loss in catalytic activity, enhancing still further the sustainability of the process. This is the first direct application in homogeneous catalysis of gold recovery products sourced from e-waste

Near infrared light emission quenching in organolanthanide complexes

We investigate the quenching of the near infrared light emission in Er3+ complexes induced by the resonant dipolar interaction between the rare-earth ion and high frequency vibrations of the organic ligand. The nonradiative decay rate of the lanthanide ion is discussed in terms of a continuous medium approximation, which depends only on a few, easily accessible spectroscopic and structural data. The model accounts well for the available experimental results in Er3+ complexes, and predicts an similar to 100% light emission quantum yield in fully halogenated systems

New Dihydrothiazole Benzensulfonamides: Looking for Selectivity toward Carbonic Anhydrase Isoforms I, II, IX, and XII

In the present study we investigated the structure-activity relationships of a new series of 4-[(3-ethyl-4-aryl-2,3-dihydro-1,3-thiazol-2-ylidene)amino]benzene-1-sulfonamides (EMAC10101a-m). All synthesized compounds, with the exception of compound EMAC10101k, preferentially inhibit off-target hCA II isoform. Within the series, compound EMAC10101d, bearing a 2,4-dichorophenyl substituent in position 4 of the dihydrothiazole ring, was the most potent and selective toward hCA II with an inhibitory activity in the low nanomolar range

Performance of the Muon Identification at LHCb

The performance of the muon identification in LHCb is extracted from data using muons and hadrons produced in J/\psi->\mu\mu, \Lambda->p\pi and D^{\star}->\pi D0(K\pi) decays. The muon identification procedure is based on the pattern of hits in the muon chambers. A momentum dependent binary requirement is used to reduce the probability of hadrons to be misidentified as muons to the level of 1%, keeping the muon efficiency in the range of 95-98%. As further refinement, a likelihood is built for the muon and non-muon hypotheses. Adding a requirement on this likelihood that provides a total muon efficiency at the level of 93%, the hadron misidentification rates are below 0.6%.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure