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Special Issue "Analytical Chemistry in Europe: Towards Sustainability and Quality of Life"

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Analytical Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2023) | Viewed by 3662

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Luís Passarinha

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Guest Editor

1. Associate Laboratory i4HB - Institute for Health and Bioeconomy, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2819-516 Caparica, Portugal
2. UCIBIO – Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, Chemistry Department, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
3. CICS-UBI - Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Beira Interior, 6201-506 Covilhã, Portugal
Interests: method development and validation; electrochemical detection; proteomics; protein biomarkers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Eugenia Gallardo

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Guest Editor

1. Centro de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior (CICS-UBI), 6201-506 Covilhã, Portugal
2. Laboratório de Farmaco-Toxicologia, UBIMedical, Universidade da Beira Interior (CICS-UBI), 6201-506 Covilhã, Portugal
Interests: toxicology; analytical method development; recreational drugs; natural psychoactive substances; therapeutic drug monitoring; sample preparation; alternative samples; miniaturized extraction procedures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Mário Barroso

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Guest Editor

Laboratory of Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology, National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, I.P. – South Branch, Rua Manuel Bento de Sousa, n.º 3, 1169-201 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: method development and validation; hair testing; alternative specimens; drug monitoring; toxicology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Several research groups are devoted to the dissemination of new and original knowledge across all borders of analytical chemistry. In order to assemble these findings, a Special Issue entitled “Analytical Chemistry in Europe: towards sustainability and quality of life” is being launched. This Special Issue intends to gather full scientific papers, short communications, and review articles covering novel analytical and bioanalytical methods and technology that have a huge societal impact as well as technology that is sufficiently innovative, robust, and accurate compared to other methods that are currently available for the intended application. Developments with interdisciplinary approaches are welcome in particular, and systems should be proven with suitably complex and analytically challenging samples.

Presenting a very broad scope, this Special Issue welcomes papers covering but not limited to the following technologies and emergent applications: Global health; point-of-care and molecular diagnostics; biosensors and bioengineering; drug development and pharmaceutical analysis; microfluidics and nanotechnology; omics analysis (such as proteomics, metabolomics or glycomics); environmental, veterinary, agricultural and food science; neuroscience; biochemical and clinical and forensic analysis; and industrial process and method development.

This Special Issue will provide an excellent collection of academic papers and will be able to act as a reference tool for researchers, particularly those working in the fields of biotechnology, medicine, food sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, toxicology, and biology, including health and industry professionals.

We are looking forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Luís Passarinha
Prof. Dr. Eugenia Gallardo
Dr. Mário Barroso
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short 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 thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2300 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

analytical and bioanalytical methods
chemistry
drugs
toxic compounds
biomarkers
sample preparation
life quality
sustainability

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Vibrational Study on the Structure, Bioactivity, and Silver Adsorption of Silk Fibroin Fibers Grafted with Methacrylonitrile

Michele Di Foggia

Masuhiro Tsukada

and

Paola Taddei

Molecules 2023, 28(6), 2551; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28062551 - 10 Mar 2023

Viewed by 338

Abstract

Natural fibers have received increasing attention as starting materials for innovative applications in many research fields, from biomedicine to engineering. Bombyx mori silk fibroin has become a material of choice in the development of many biomedical devices. Grafting represents a good strategy to improve the material properties according to the desired function. In the present study, Bombyx mori silk fibroin fibers were grafted with methacrylonitrile (MAN) with different weight gains. The potential interest in biomedical applications of MAN functionalization relies on the presence of the nitrile group, which is an acceptor of H bonds and can bind metals. IR and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the grafted samples and the possible structural changes induced by grafting. Afterward, the same techniques were used to study the bioactivity (i.e., the calcium phosphate nucleation ability) of MAN-grafted silk fibroins after ageing in simulated body fluid (SBF) for possible application in bone tissue engineering, and their interaction with Ag⁺ ions, for the development of biomaterials with enhanced anti-microbial properties. MAN was found to efficiently polymerize on silk fibroin through polar amino acids (i.e., serine and tryptophan), inducing an enrichment in silk fibroin-ordered domains. IR spectroscopy allowed us to detect the nucleation of a thin calcium phosphate layer and the uptake of Ag⁺ ions through the nitrile group, which may foster the application of these grafted materials in biomedical applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analytical Chemistry in Europe: Towards Sustainability and Quality of Life)

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Open AccessArticle

Recycling of Plastics from E-Waste via Photodegradation in a Low-Pressure Reactor: The Case of Decabromodiphenyl Ether Dispersed in Poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) and Poly(carbonate)

and

Molecules 2023, 28(6), 2491; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28062491 - 08 Mar 2023

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Abstract

Recycling of plastic waste from electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), containing brominated flame retardants (BFR) remains difficult due to the increasingly stringent regulations on their handling and recovery. This report deals with photodegradation in a low-pressure reactor applying UV-visible light on Decabromodiphenyl ether (DBDE or BDE-209) randomly dispersed in commercially available Poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) (ABS) and Poly(carbonate) (PC). The aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of decomposing a BFR in plastic waste from EEE while maintaining the specifications of the polymeric materials in order to allow for their recycling. The photodegradation of the extracted BFR was monitored using infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy. DBDE underwent rapid photodegradation during the first minutes of exposure to UV-visible light and reached degradation yields superior to 90% after 15 min of irradiation. The evaluation of polymer properties (ABS and PC) after irradiation revealed superficial crosslinking effects, which were slightly accelerated in the presence of DBDE. However, the use of a low-pressure reactor avoids large photooxidation and allowed to maintain the thermal and structural properties of the virgin polymers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analytical Chemistry in Europe: Towards Sustainability and Quality of Life)

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Open AccessArticle

TG-DSC and TG-FTIR Studies of Annelated Triazinylacetic Acid Ethyl Esters—Potential Anticancer Agents

and

Molecules 2023, 28(4), 1735; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28041735 - 11 Feb 2023

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Abstract

To avoid problems associated with the storage and processing of newly developed potential medicines, there is a need to carry out thermal studies in the preclinical phase of drug development. The thermal behaviour and decomposition pathway of a whole novel class of patented potential molecular pharmaceutics, i.e., ethyl 2-[4-oxo-8-(R-phenyl)-4,6,7,8-tetrahydroimidazo[2,1-c][1,2,4]triazin-3-yl]acetates (1–6) were reported for the first time in inert and oxidative atmospheres. The experiments were conducted with the use of simultaneous thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) and simultaneous thermogravimetry coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TG-FTIR). The decomposition pathways of compounds 1–6 were found to be different under oxidative and inert conditions. It was proven that the investigated molecules reveal higher thermal stability under a synthetic air atmosphere than under a nitrogen atmosphere, and their decomposition is preceded by the melting process. Among all the investigated compounds, only the meta-chloro derivative (4) was found to exhibit interesting polymorphic behaviour at a low heating rate (10 °C min⁻¹). It was proven that the oxidative decomposition process of the studied molecules proceeds in three overlapping stages accompanied by strong exothermic effects. Additionally, it was concluded that the title compounds were stable up to a temperature of 195–216 °C in an atmosphere of synthetic air, and their thermal stability decreased in the order of R at the benzene ring: 4-CH₃ > 3,4-Cl₂ > 4-Cl > H > 2-OCH₃ > 3-Cl. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analytical Chemistry in Europe: Towards Sustainability and Quality of Life)

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Open AccessArticle

Unbiased Determination of Adsorption Isotherms by Inverse Method in Liquid Chromatography

and

Molecules 2023, 28(3), 1031; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031031 - 19 Jan 2023

Viewed by 448

Abstract

The Inverse Method is a widely used technique for the determination of adsorption isotherms in liquid chromatography. In this method, isotherm is determined from the overloaded peak profile of the component by the iterative solution of the mass balance equation of liquid chromatography. Successful use of this method requires a prior assumption of equation of isotherm (Langmuir, BET etc.). In this work, we have developed an inverse method that gives results of similar accuracy to the frontal analysis without assuming the equation of the isotherm. The oversaturated peaks were calculated using a spline fitted to data points instead of the derivative of the isotherm. The distribution of the isotherm points were optimized for minimizing the difference between the measured and calculated overloaded peaks. The accuracy of the developed method was verified with synthetic benchmark peaks and by the determination of isotherm of buthyl-benzoate under real conditions. The results confirmed that the accuracy of the developed method is similar to that of Frontal Analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analytical Chemistry in Europe: Towards Sustainability and Quality of Life)

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Open AccessArticle

The Determination of Cannabinoids in Urine Samples Using Microextraction by Packed Sorbent and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

and

Molecules 2022, 27(17), 5503; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27175503 - 27 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 999

Abstract

Cannabis is the most consumed illicit drug worldwide, and its legal status is a source of concern. This study proposes a rapid procedure for the simultaneous quantification of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 11-hydroxy-Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-THC), 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH), cannabidiol (CBD), and cannabinol (CBN) in urine samples. Microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) was used to pre-concentrate the analytes, which were detected by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The procedure was previously optimized, and the final conditions were: conditioning with 50 µL methanol and 50 µL of water, sample load with two draw–eject cycles, and washing with 310 µL of 0.1% formic acid in water with 5% isopropanol; the elution was made with 35 µL of 0.1% ammonium hydroxide in methanol. This fast extraction procedure allowed quantification in the ranges of 1–400 ng/mL for THC and CBD, 5–400 ng/mL for CBN and 11-OH-THC, and 10–400 ng/mL for THC-COOH with coefficients of determination higher than 0.99. The limits of quantification and detection were between 1 and 10 ng/mL using 0.25 mL of sample. The extraction efficiencies varied between 26 and 85%. This analytical method is the first allowing the for determination of cannabinoids in urine samples using MEPS, a fast, simple, and low-cost alternative to conventional techniques. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analytical Chemistry in Europe: Towards Sustainability and Quality of Life)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

On-Site Detection of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

Ruben Epping

and

Matthias Koch

Molecules 2023, 28(4), 1598; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28041598 - 07 Feb 2023

Viewed by 574

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are of interest in many different fields. Among them are food and fragrance analysis, environmental and atmospheric research, industrial applications, security or medical and life science. In the past, the characterization of these compounds was mostly performed via sample collection and off-site analysis with gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as the gold standard. While powerful, this method also has several drawbacks such as being slow, expensive, and demanding on the user. For decades, intense research has been dedicated to find methods for fast VOC analysis on-site with time and spatial resolution. We present the working principles of the most important, utilized, and researched technologies for this purpose and highlight important publications from the last five years. In this overview, non-selective gas sensors, electronic noses, spectroscopic methods, miniaturized gas chromatography, ion mobility spectrometry and direct injection mass spectrometry are covered. The advantages and limitations of the different methods are compared. Finally, we give our outlook into the future progression of this field of research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analytical Chemistry in Europe: Towards Sustainability and Quality of Life)

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