Sviluppo dei materiali innovativi e studio della loro interazione con sistemi biologici e biomimetici

In the context of Green Chemistry and in line with the application of its principles for the protection of the environment, this project deals with the development of innovative materials and with the study of their interaction with biological and biomimetic systems. The activity was mainly based on: ionic liquid synthesis and study of their interaction with cellular membranes and with the usage and isolation of molecules from renewable bioresources. Ionic liquids are organic salts that are liquid at temperatures below 100 °C, they are considered solvents with low toxicity if compared to traditional solvents, but their action towards biological systems have to be clarified. A battery of bio-chemical test, based on fluorescence and colorimetric assays, has permitted to differentiate the mechanisms of action on cellular systems. The recorded informations have been used to project substances that are less dangerous for cellular structures and to select the molecular functionalities that are useful to maintain their activity and to be less harmful for the environment. The second topic has been the exploitation of pyrolysis for the obtainment of starting materials from renewable resources and their usage in the synthesis of fine chemicals. Pyrolysis of cellulose produces insufficient quantities of an interesting molecule - from an applicative point of view - named LAC for simplicity. In our research it has been uncovered that pyrolysis conducted with mesoporous catalysts (MCM-41) doped with transition metals like tin, can furnish appreciable quantities of LAC. LAC is a promising molecule for the production of new molecule with applications as fine chemicals or pharmaceuticals, and also as monomers for the production of polymers (homopolymers and copolymers).