Publications by authors named "M Aschi"

Solid magnetic liposomes (ML, nanocomposites comprising lipid bilayers that incorporate magnetic nanoparticles) may be used in wastewater remediation: the lipid bilayer creates an environment where organic pollutants preferentially partition instead of water and the manipulation of ML with an external magnet enables an easy recovery from water. This study aimed to assess the system's potential for water remediation, focusing on ML ability to remove common pollutants in industrial wastewater. Specifically, alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEO) were used as the archetype for organic pollutants.

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The enantioselective reduction of prochiral ketones catalyzed by horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (HLADH), was investigated via a hybrid computational approach, for molecular reactions involved in chiral synthesis of S-alcohols, when the natural co-factor, 1,4-dihyronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, 1,4-NADH, was replaced with biomimetic co-factor, N-benzyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide, 1. We surmised that different hydride and proton transfer mechanisms were involved using co-factor, 1. An alternative mechanism, where the hydride transfer step occurred, via an η-keto-S-η-5,6-1,4-dihydronicotinamide-Zn(II) complex, was previously investigated with a model of the HLADH-Zn(II) catalytic site (J.

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Brønsted acid-catalysed/mediated reactions of the 2-alkynylanilines are reported. While metal-catalysed reactions of these valuable building blocks have led to the establishment of robust protocols for the selective, diverse-oriented syntheses of significant heterocyclic derivatives, we here demonstrate the practical advantages of an alternative methodology under metal-free conditions. Our investigation into the key factors influencing the product selectivity in Brønsted acid-catalysed/mediated reactions of 2-alkynylanilines reveals that different reaction pathways can be directed towards the formation of diverse valuable products by simply choosing appropriate reaction conditions.

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The palladium-catalyzed reaction of -protected 2-indolylmethyl acetates with soft carbon pronucleophiles is described. Besides the formation of the expected coupling reaction at the C1' position, unprecedented attack at the C3 position of the plausible η-indolyl-palladium intermediate has been observed, and the selectivity control C1'/C3 seems to depend on the nature of the protecting group and ligand. The reactivity of 3-indolylmethyl acetates has also been also investigated.

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Responsiveness of liposomes to external stimuli, such as light, should allow a precise spatial and temporal control of release of therapeutic agents or ion transmembrane transport. Here, some aryl-azo derivatives of thymol are synthesized and embedded into liposomes from 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine to obtain light-sensitive membranes whose photo-responsiveness, release behaviour, and permeability towards Cl ions are investigated. The hybrid systems are in-depth characterized by dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy.

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