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In this work, nanocellulose aqueous dispersions were studied as a bio-inspired consolidating agent for the recovery and conservation of ancient wood and compared with two of the most used traditional consolidants: the synthetic resins Paraloid B-72 and Regalrez 1126. The morphology of crystalline nanocellulose (CNC), determined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), presents with a rod-like shape, with a size ranging between 15 and 30 nm in width. Chemical characterization performed using the Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) technique provides information on surface modifications, in this case, demonstrating the presence of only the characteristic peaks of nanocellulose. Moreover, conductometric, pH, and dry matter measurements were carried out, showing also in this case values perfectly conforming to what is found in the literature. The treated wood samples were observed under an optical microscope in reflected light and under a scanning electron microscope to determine, respectively, the damage caused by xylophages and the morphology of the treated surfaces. The images acquired show the greater similarity of the surfaces treated with nanocellulose to untreated wood, compared with other consolidating agents. Finally, a colorimetric analysis of these samples was also carried out before and after a first consolidation treatment, and after a second treatment carried out on the same samples three years later. The samples treated with CNC appeared very homogeneous and uniform, without alterations in their final color appearance, compared to other traditional synthetic products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic electrochemistry is a technique that allows for the heterogeneous redox reactions avoiding both the use of stoichiometric amounts of redox reagents and the resulting formation of stoichiometric by-products. In fact, the redox reagent in these reactions is the electron, which is naturally eco-friendly and produces no side compounds. It is therefore quite obvious that electrochemistry can be classified as a “green” technology. The use of this methodology in the synthesis of β-lactams is not a novelty, but the growing interest in this class of biologically active compounds, due to the discovery of new fields of application (after a moment of decrease in interest due to antibiotic resistance) has been a stimulus for the search for more efficient electrochemical ways to synthesize and transform β-lactams. Thus, this review deals with the twenty-first-century applications of electroorganic technique to the chemistry of β-lactams, by analyzing first the syntheses classified by the type of reactions (cyclization, cycloaddition, etc.) and then by manipulating the β-lactam structure, using it as a synthon. Lastly, the importance of this technique is demonstrated by a study of a pilot plant scale reduction of a cephalosporanic acid derivative to a commercially important antibiotic.

Oligothiophene derivatives play a central role in the formulation of materials used in devices in the field of organic electronics. In this work, we report the results of the study of UV-vis absorption and fluorescence spectra, in several solvents, of a series of oligothiophenes recently synthesized in our laboratory. The studied oligothiophenes present different structures due to several factors: the donor–acceptor (D–A) or acceptor–donor–acceptor (A–D–A) architecture, the number of thiophene rings in the backbone (ranging from three to eight), the number and position of solubilizing octyl chains in the backbone, and the type of acceptor moieties (from Knoevenagel condensation either with ethyl cyanoacetate or 3-ethylrhodanine). Since solvents with different polarities were adopted, we provide a detailed analysis on the observed positive and negative solvatochromism effects depending on the symmetry of the oligomers, the lengths of the backbones and the kind of acceptors adopted. Moreover, the electrochemical synthesis of a new donor–acceptor oligothiophene (which can be assumed as a model compound) by anodic dimerization is reported, along with the voltammetric analysis of the obtained product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contamination with water of the cathodic ACN-Et4NBF4 solution gave us the opportunity to investigate alkyl isocyanate reactivity toward electrogenerated anions. The cathodic reduction of a ACN-Et4NBF4 solution led to the formation of both hydroxide and cyanomethyl anions. The reaction of the catholyte with cyclohexylisocyanate led to the exclusive formation of acetamidated product, with no traces of cyanomethylated one. On the contrary, when reacting with benzaldehyde only the cyanomethylated was isolated. Considering that the acetamidated product of benzaldehyde is reported to be unstable (thus its formation cannot be excluded), various experiments were carried out in order to understand the anomalous reactivity of cyclohexylisocyanate. Moreover, computational analysis allowed to state the higher stability of acetamidated product with respect to the cyanomethylated one. The possibility of a concerted reaction, instead of acetamide anion formation prior to the reaction, is still an open question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the increasing demand to monitor the air-quality, our study proved the feasibility of a new compact and portable experimental approach based on Terahertz (THz) continuous wave high resolution spectroscopy, to detect the presence of the air's contaminants as greenhouse gases (GHG) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this specific work, we first characterized, determining their molar absorption coefficient in the spectral region (0.06-1.2) THz, the pure optical response of the vapor of five VOCs: methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, 1-butanol and 2-butanol. In particular, 1-butanol and 2-butanol are characterized for the first time in literature at THz frequencies. Then we studied the optical response of their mixtures achieved with ambient air and ethanol. The results show that it is possible for a differentiation of single components by describing their spectral absorption in terms of the linear combination of pure compounds absorption. This proof of concept for this apparatus study and set-up paves the way to the use of THz Continuous wave high resolution spectroscopy for the environmental tracking of air pollutants.