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Green Chemistry in Europe

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 9005

Special Issue Editor

Łukasiewicz Research Network, Łukasiewicz Centre, Poleczki 19, 02-822 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: green chemistry; biorefinery; bioenergy; biomass valorization; CO2; ionic liquids; value-added products; building blocks
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change and environmental degradation are eminent risks for Europe and the world. To address these challenges, Europe established a new growth strategy embedded in a Green Deal action plan with the main aim in the transformation of the Union into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, economic growth is decoupled from resource use and no person and no place is left behind (A European Green Deal https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en). The main challenge of the European Green Deal is to make the EU's economy sustainable. It can be achieved by boosting the efficient use of resources by shifting to a greener and circular economy. To achieve these ambitious targets of the European Green Deal, all sectors have to invest into environmentally friendly technologies supporting industry to innovate and assisting the energy sector in its transition towards decarbonisation. Also, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depict a clean and comprehensive action plan with Green Chemistry as a tool to accomplished most of the goals. 

Hence, two the most relevant social and political actions in Europe and in the world put Green Chemistry at the centre of the action for a better and more sustainable future.

Considering the importance of Green Chemistry in the achievement of the ambitious goals of the current society, this special issue aims to demonstrate the potential of Green Chemistry in Europe. Hereby, it is my pleasure to invite the submission from all colleagues from universities, research centres, other institutions and industry focusing their activities in Europe who wish to demonstrate the importance of Green Chemistry.

Dr. Rafał M. Łukasik
Guest Editor

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 2700 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

  • Europe
  • Sustainable development
  • Waste prevention
  • Renewable feedstock
  • Catalysis
  • Sustainable solvents

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3180 KiB  
Article
Easy and Efficient Recovery of EMIMCl from Cellulose Solutions by Addition of Acetic Acid and the Transition from the Original Ionic Liquid to an Eutectic Mixture
by Huan Zhang, Andreea Ionita, Pilar F. Seriñan, María Luisa Ferrer, María A. Rodríguez, Aitana Tamayo, Fausto Rubio Alons, Francisco del Monte and María C. Gutiérrez
Molecules 2022, 27(3), 987; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27030987 - 01 Feb 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1719
Abstract
Ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are the two most widely used neoteric solvents. Recently, our group described how the simple addition of acetic acid (AcOH) to 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (EMIMCl) could promote the transition from the original IL to an eutectic [...] Read more.
Ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are the two most widely used neoteric solvents. Recently, our group described how the simple addition of acetic acid (AcOH) to 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (EMIMCl) could promote the transition from the original IL to an eutectic mixture of EMIMCl and AcOH. Herein, we studied how cellulose regeneration and EMIMCl recovery from EMIMCl solutions of cellulose could be benefited by the significant differences existing between EMIMCl- and EMIMCl·AcOH-based mixtures and the easy switching from one to the other. Finally, we also demonstrated that the transition could also be accomplished by addition of acetic anhydride and water so that the process could be eventually useful for the achievement of highly acetylated cellulose. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Chemistry in Europe)
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14 pages, 1609 KiB  
Article
Imidazole Processing of Wheat Straw and Eucalyptus Residues—Comparison of Pre-Treatment Conditions and Their Influence on Enzymatic Hydrolysis
by Pedro M. A. Pereira, Joana R. Bernardo, Luisa Bivar Roseiro, Francisco Gírio and Rafał M. Łukasik
Molecules 2021, 26(24), 7591; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules26247591 - 15 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2020
Abstract
Biomass pre-treatment is a key step in achieving the economic competitiveness of biomass conversion. In the present work, an imidazole pre-treatment process was performed and evaluated using wheat straw and eucalyptus residues as model feedstocks for agriculture and forest-origin biomasses, respectively. Results showed [...] Read more.
Biomass pre-treatment is a key step in achieving the economic competitiveness of biomass conversion. In the present work, an imidazole pre-treatment process was performed and evaluated using wheat straw and eucalyptus residues as model feedstocks for agriculture and forest-origin biomasses, respectively. Results showed that imidazole is an efficient pre-treatment agent; however, better results were obtained for wheat straw due to the recalcitrant behavior of eucalyptus residues. The temperature had a stronger effect than time on wheat straw pre-treatment but at 160 °C and 4 h, similar results were obtained for cellulose and hemicellulose content from both biomasses (ca. 54% and 24%, respectively). Lignin content in the pre-treated solid was higher for eucalyptus residues (16% vs. 4%), as expected. Enzymatic hydrolysis, applied to both biomasses after different pre-treatments, revealed that results improved with increasing temperature/time for wheat straw. However, these conditions had no influence on the results for eucalyptus residues, with very low glucan to glucose enzymatic hydrolysis yield (93% for wheat straw vs. 40% for eucalyptus residues). Imidazole can therefore be considered as a suitable solvent for herbaceous biomass pre-treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Chemistry in Europe)
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19 pages, 7696 KiB  
Article
Sheep Wool Humidity under Electron Irradiation Affects Wool Sorptivity towards Co(II) Ions
by Jana Braniša, Angela Kleinová, Klaudia Jomová, Róbert Weissabel, Marcel Cvik, Zuzana Branišová and Mária Porubská
Molecules 2021, 26(17), 5206; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules26175206 - 27 Aug 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1516
Abstract
The effect of humidity on sheep wool during irradiation by an accelerated electron beam was examined. Each of the samples with 10%, 53%, and 97% relative humidity (RH) absorbed a dose of 0, 109, and 257 kGy, respectively. After being freely kept in [...] Read more.
The effect of humidity on sheep wool during irradiation by an accelerated electron beam was examined. Each of the samples with 10%, 53%, and 97% relative humidity (RH) absorbed a dose of 0, 109, and 257 kGy, respectively. After being freely kept in common laboratory conditions, the samples were subjected to batch Co(II) sorption experiments monitored with VIS spectrometry for different lapses from electron beam exposure. Along with the sorption, FTIR spectral analysis of the wool samples was conducted for cysteic acid and cystine monoxide, and later, the examination was completed, with pH measuring 0.05 molar KCl extract from the wool samples. Besides a relationship to the absorbed dose and lapse, the sorptivity results showed considerable dependence on wool humidity under exposure. When humidity was deficient (10% RH), the sorptivity was lower due to limited transformation of cystine monoxide to cysteic acid. The wool pre-conditioned at 53% RH, which is the humidity close to common environmental conditions, demonstrated the best Co(II) sorptivity in any case. This finding enables the elimination of pre-exposure wool conditioning in practice. Under excessive humidity of 97% RH and enough high dose of 257 kGy, radiolysis of water occurred, deteriorating the sorptivity. Each wool humidity, dose, and lapse showed a particular scenario. The time and humidity variations in the sorptivity for the non-irradiated sample were a little surprising; despite the absence of electron irradiation, relevant results indicated a strong sensitivity to pre-condition humidity and lapse from the start of the monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Chemistry in Europe)
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19 pages, 1887 KiB  
Article
Lipase-Catalyzed Production of Sorbitol Laurate in a “2-in-1” Deep Eutectic System: Factors Affecting the Synthesis and Scalability
by André Delavault, Oleksandra Opochenska, Laura Laneque, Hannah Soergel, Claudia Muhle-Goll, Katrin Ochsenreither and Christoph Syldatk
Molecules 2021, 26(9), 2759; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules26092759 - 07 May 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3129
Abstract
Surfactants, such as glycolipids, are specialty compounds that can be encountered daily in cleaning agents, pharmaceuticals or even in food. Due to their wide range of applications and, more notably, their presence in hygiene products, the demand is continuously increasing worldwide. The established [...] Read more.
Surfactants, such as glycolipids, are specialty compounds that can be encountered daily in cleaning agents, pharmaceuticals or even in food. Due to their wide range of applications and, more notably, their presence in hygiene products, the demand is continuously increasing worldwide. The established chemical synthesis of glycolipids presents several disadvantages, such as lack of specificity and selectivity. Moreover, the solubility of polyols, such as sugars or sugar alcohols, in organic solvents is rather low. The enzymatic synthesis of these compounds is, however, possible in nearly water-free media using inexpensive and renewable building blocks. Using lipases, ester formation can be achieved under mild conditions. We propose, herein, a “2-in-1” system that overcomes solubility problems, as a Deep Eutectic System (DES) made of sorbitol and choline chloride replaces either a purely organic or aqueous medium. For the first time, 16 commercially available lipase formulations were compared, and the factors affecting the conversion were investigated to optimize this process, owing to a newly developed High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Evaporative Light Scattering Detector (HPLC-ELSD) method for quantification. Thus, using 50 g/L of lipase formulation Novozym 435® at 50 °C, the optimized synthesis of sorbitol laurate (SL) allowed to achieve 28% molar conversion of 0.5 M of vinyl laurate to its sugar alcohol monoester when the DES contained 5 wt.% water. After 48h, the de novo synthesized glycolipid was separated from the media by liquid–liquid extraction, purified by flash-chromatography and characterized thoroughly by one- and two-dimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiments combined to Mass Spectrometry (MS). In completion, we provide initial proof of scalability for this process. Using a 2.5 L stirred tank reactor (STR) allowed a batch production reaching 25 g/L in a highly viscous two-phase system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Chemistry in Europe)
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