Green and Sustainable Solvents II: A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Giovanni Sindona on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday

Dear Colleagues,

Prof. Giovanni Sindona has been a full professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Calabria (Unical) since 1990, and has made seminal contributions to the areas of food chemistry, mass spectrometry, and green chemistry. He graduated in chemistry in 1972 with the highest marks and price at the University of Messina, by discussing a thesis held at its Institute of Organic Chemistry on modern bioanalytical applications of mass spectrometry. He completed his training in 1977 at both the Universities of Messina and Calabria, followed by a stage at the Institut für Physikalische Chemie of the University of Bonn (Germany) as a fellow of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (of which he became a lifetime member), by perfecting the knowledge in mass spectrometry in the group of professor Hans D. Beckey. Here he developed knowledge in desorption methodologies which allowed for the first time the direct characterization of proteins and nucleic acids by mass spectrometry. His formation was completed as NATO fellow at the King’s College of London, where at the beginning of 1980, under the direction of Professor Colin B. Reese, he developed new synthetic organic methods for the obtainment of nucleic acids segments with a predetermined sequence. Professor Sindona also taught organic chemistry at the new Faculty of Pharmacy of the University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, from 1990 to 1993.

From 1990 to 2019, Prof Sindona has organized and directed five NATO International Schools for young researchers on the application of mass spectrometry to biomolecular chemistry held in Italy and abroad. In 2009, as a member of the programme The Science for Peace and Security, he organized a NATO-ARW seminary in Calabria for experts coming from all over the world on the “Detection of Biological Agents and Toxins for the Prevention of Bioterrorism in Homeland Security by Advanced Mass Spectrometric Methods”. In April 2016, as local director he organized the NATO SPS ASI 984915 event in Calabria, titled “Molecular Technologies for Detection of Chemical and Biological Agents”, for young PhD students on environmental security problems.

Professor Sindona is a co-author of nearly four-hundred scientific publications on international papers in the English language (246) and ten book chapters edited by international societies on themes related to his scientific applications (10). He has been an invited speaker at many national and international meetings in the chemistry field, author of national and international conferences (149) and a teacher at doctorate schools at the American University of Vanderbilt (Nashville) and Purdue (West-Lafayette) and at the Memorial University of St. Johns in Canada. He is interested in the topics of food chemistry, mass spectrometry, and green synthesis and extraction methods.

In the green chemistry field, he has obtained interesting results in the efficient and stereoselective synthesis of trans-4,5-diaminocyclopent-2-enones from furfural using green solvents, published in 2013 in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and in 2017 in Green Chemistry. 

Notably, interest has been raised in the use of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis in eco-friendly synthesis, which led to the publication of numerous and interesting papers on the major international scientific journals in the field of green chemistry and the development of new sustainable extraction methods of nutraceutical compounds from biomass. 

This Special Issue, “Green and Sustainable Solvents II:  A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Giovanni Sindona on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday", aims to collect and publish recent advances in this interdisciplinary area. Research articles as well as reviews dealing with innovative techniques, alternative solvents, by-product valorization, and new routes for green solvents toward industrial applications are of interest. Manuscripts on how green solvents contribute to the development of natural products research are welcome. Molecules is very pleased to host this Special Issue, and invites scientists to submit their original contributions.

Dr. Monica Nardi
Prof. Antonio Procopio
Dr. Maria Luisa Di Gioia
Guest Editors

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