Special Issue "Advances in Green Chemistry and Sustainable Chemistry 2011"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. James Clark
Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence for Industry, Department of Chemistry, University of York, Heslilington, York, YO10 5DD, UK
Website: http://www.greenchemistry.net
E-Mail: jhc1@york.ac.uk
Phone: + 44 (0) 1904 432567
Fax: + 44 (0) 1904 432705

Guest Editor
Dr. Avtar Matharu
Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence for Industry, Department of Chemistry, University of York, Heslilington, York, YO10 5DD, UK
E-Mail: avtar.matharu@york.ac.uk
Phone: + 44 (0) 1904 324187
Fax: + 44 (0) 1904 322705

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs).

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Development of Green Analytical Methods for Determination of Volatile Chlorinated Compounds in Human Urine Samples
Authors: Irena Rutkiewicz, Wojciech Kujawski and Jacek Namieśnik
Affiliation: Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, Poland; E-Mail: chemanal@pg.gda.pl (J.N.)
Abstract: Dichloromethane (DCM) and tetrachloroethene (also known as tetrachloroethylene or perchloroethylene, PCE) are chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents widely employed in industry as degreasing agents, and are even more commonly used for dry-cleaning of clothes. That is why those workers are often exposed to large amounts of dry-cleaning agents which can cause various health problems. Those compounds cause harm to the nervous system, liver, kidneys and lungs, and they are also suspected of having carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic properties, and thus represent a direct health hazard to workers. After intake, the chemicals may enter the bloodstream and, once in the body, they may either accumulate or be excreted, usually in urine (in a non-metabolised form). Determination of chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents in human urine samples constitutes a challenge for analytical chemists because of the complex and variable matrix composition of the samples. Typical biological samples usually require a special pre-treatment prior to analysis with chromatography or related techniques. Special attention has recently been paid to the use of so-called solvent-free analyte isolation and/or enrichment techniques, which can be attributed to the development of green analytical chemistry. A special place among solvent-free techniques have membrane separation techniques, and in particular - pervaporation. This technique appears to be especially promising when the preferentially permeable component is present in the sample at low concentration. Pervaporation is a membrane-based process used for separating liquid mixtures. In this technique, a liquid sample is in contact with one side of a membrane, whereas the permeate, in a vapour state, is continuously removed from the other side into the vacuum. The pervaporation system consists of a non-porous membrane clamped in a particular module, a feed pretreatment and delivery system, and a permeate condensation/recovery system. Pervaporation can be useful comparing to the conventional methods because of the flexibility in design. Results presented were to evaluate a new procedure of determining dichloromethane and tetrachloroethene in human urine samples based on pervaporative removal of dichloromethane and tetrachloroethene from liquid samples as an analyte isolation/enrichment technique, followed the permeate mixtures obtained during pervaporation experiments were then analyzed by a direct aqueous injection into a thick-film, non-polar gas chromatographic column with electron capture detector.

Title: Biomass Assisted Synthesis of Antibacterial Gold Nanoparticles
Author: Rajalingam Dakshinamurthy
Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101-1079, USA; E-Mail: rajalingam.dakshinamurthy@wku.edu
Abstract: Xylose is a natural monosaccharide found in the biomass such as straw, pecan shells, cottonseed hulls, and corncobs. Using this monosaccharide, we report the green synthesis and characterization of biocompatible, biodegradable xylose capped gold nanoparticles (Xyl-GNPs) with potential antibacterial activity. GNPs were synthesized using the bioreduction property of xylose on the chloroaurate anions in an aqueous solution at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The characterization of synthesized GNPs was examined by UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Results indicate that the particles were stable with spherical shape in the size range of 15-20 nm. These Xyl-GNPs showed concentration dependent antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli. This facile environmentally friendly approach has potential application in the development of alternative antibacterial agents.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Preparation of Clay-Supported Sn Catalysts and Application to Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation
Authors: Takayoshi Hara, Moriaki Hatakeyama, Arum Kim, Nobuyuki Ichikuni and Shogo Shimazu
Affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Japan; E-Mail: shimazu@faculty.chiba-u.jp (S.S.)
Abstract: Clay-supported Sn catalyst was prepared by a conventional cation-exchange method and applied for B-V oxidation with hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant. The intercalation of isolated Sn species was monitored by 7Li MAS NMR studies. Solid-state 119Sn MAS-NMR revealed that the active site was octahedrally coordinated Sn(IV) species. Our clay-supported Sn catalyst (Sn/TN) showed extremely high performance (ca. 100 % of conversion and yield) in B-V oxidation of various ketones. Sn/TN was also used 5 times without any significant active loss and leaching of the active species.

Abstract: Xylose is a natural monosaccharide found in the biomass such as straw, pecan shells, cottonseed hulls, and corncobs. Using this monosaccharide, we report the green synthesis and characterization of biocompatible, biodegradable xylose capped gold nanoparticles (Xyl-GNPs) with potential antibacterial activity. GNPs were synthesized using the bioreduction property of xylose on the chloroaurate anions in an aqueous solution at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The characterization of synthesized GNPs was examined by UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Results indicate that the particles were stable with spherical shape in the size range of 15-20 nm. These Xyl-GNPs showed concentration dependent antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli. This facile environmentally friendly approach has potential application in the development of alternative antibacterial agents.