Andrea Mascitti | Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti Pescara (original) (raw)

Papers by Andrea Mascitti

ChemCatChem, Dec 27, 2023

Glycerol (GL) represents a widespread agro-industrial waste. Its valorization is pivotal for a su... more Glycerol (GL) represents a widespread agro-industrial waste. Its valorization is pivotal for a sustainable society because GL is a renewable compound deriving from biomass, but it has a high oxygen to carbon ratio, compared with feedstock used in the energy and chemistry sectors. Oxygen-poor derivatives are easily and immediately transferable to the industry, avoiding a deep and pressing modification of the plants. From this perspective, keeping the carbon content but with an oxygen content reduction, we could effectively obtain the enhancement of the recovery and the use of GL converting it into attractive industrial building-blocks. In this Review, we present and discuss the up-to-date results about the chemical reduction of GL into products with 3 carbon and 0, 1, or 2 oxygen atoms. The focus is on the transition metal (TM) catalysts that have made the hydrogenation reactions of GL possible, partitioning the metals into early and late, based on their position in the periodic table. This discussion will contribute to select and develop new catalysts aimed at the improvement of the yield and of the selectivity in the hydrogenation reactions of

ChemCatChem, 2023

Glycerol (GL) represents a widespread agro-industrial waste. Its valorization is pivotal for a s... more Glycerol (GL) represents a widespread agro-industrial waste. Its
valorization is pivotal for a sustainable society because GL is a
renewable compound deriving from biomass, but it has a high
oxygen to carbon ratio, compared with feedstock used in the
energy and chemistry sectors. Oxygen-poor derivatives are
easily and immediately transferable to the industry, avoiding a
deep and pressing modification of the plants. From this
perspective, keeping the carbon content but with an oxygen
content reduction, we could effectively obtain the
enhancement of the recovery and the use of GL converting it
into attractive industrial building-blocks. In this Review, we
present and discuss the up-to-date results about the chemical
reduction of GL into products with 3 carbon and 0, 1, or 2
oxygen atoms. The focus is on the transition metal (TM)
catalysts that have made the hydrogenation reactions of GL
possible, partitioning the metals into early and late, based on
their position in the periodic table. This discussion will
contribute to select and develop new catalysts aimed at the
improvement of the yield and of the selectivity in the hydrogenation
reactions of

Waste and Biomass Valorization, Nov 27, 2022

As energy systems transition toward renewable resources, anaerobic digestion (AD) is actually rec... more As energy systems transition toward renewable resources, anaerobic digestion (AD) is actually receiving growing attention. AD relies on biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests to determine the methane potential of by-products of carbonious nature. This investigation aims to understand how an oxidative treatment, like the Fenton reaction, influences the BMP, starting from solid residues of olive oil production, coming from the two-phase extraction systems (TPES). We compared two different olive pomaces (with and without stones), both from TPES. The Fenton treatment here proposed is able to produce three effects in the employed matrices: improving the speed of BMP decreasing the bacteriostatic effect of phenols, reducing the H 2 S content in the produced biogas (precipitating it as FeS) and enhancing the production of methane in the first four weeks of the test.

ACS Omega, 2022

Deoxydehydration (DODH) reaction of glycerol (GL) and 1,2- propanediol (1,2-PD), in ionic liquid... more Deoxydehydration (DODH) reaction of glycerol (GL) and 1,2-
propanediol (1,2-PD), in ionic liquids (ILs), catalyzed by methyltrioxorhenium
(MTO) and Re2O7, was studied in detail. To better understand the ability of ILs to
improve the catalytic performance of the rhenium catalyst, several experiments,
employing eight different cations and two different anions, were carried out. Among
the anions, bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (TFSI) appears to be more
appropriate than PF6−, for its relatively lower volatility of the resulting IL.
Regarding the choice of the most appropriate cation, the presence of a single
aromatic ring seems to be a necessary requirement for a satisfying and convenient
reactivity. With the aim to extend the recyclability of the catalyst, experiments
involving the readdition of polyol to the terminal reaction mixture were carried out.
Worthy of interest is the fact that the presence of the IL prevents the inertization
process of the catalyst, allowing us to obtain the alkene also after a readdition of
fresh polyol.

Catalysts, 2022

Renewal in the world production of plastics with growing amounts of building blocks from biomass ... more Renewal in the world production of plastics with growing amounts of building blocks from biomass is a pressing demand among society. Adipic acid is one of the monomers of nylon 6,6, and, traditionally, is obtained from fossil sources, but it is possible to reduce the muconic acids, deriving it from biomass, to obtain adipic acid. However, these catalyzed reactions use commonly hazardous conditions or reagents; in this study, a pathway to obtain a bio-adipic acid, following the Green Chemistry, is reported. Metal nanoparticles (M NPs; M = Pd, Pt, Ru, Rh) were synthesized in water at 80 °C using sodium lignosulphonate as a reducing and stabilizing agent. They were characterized by TEM and XRD techniques: Pd NPs were larger (21 nm) and spherical in shape; Pt NPs were irregular; Ru and Rh NPs were smallest (1.9 and 5.3 nm, respectively). M NPs were tested as catalyst in the hydrogenation reactions of dicarboxylic acids (fumaric, malonic, trans,trans- and cis,cis-muconic acids) in water ...

Catalysis Science & Technology, 2019

Allyl alcohol (AA) was obtained by the deoxydehydration (DODH) of glycerol performed in presence ... more Allyl alcohol (AA) was obtained by the deoxydehydration (DODH) of glycerol performed in presence of a number of Re compounds (oxides, phosphine and halide derivatives) in alcoholic solvent or in...

ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2018

Hybrid nanoparticles with a large bridging organic group were prepared by mechanochemical-assiste... more Hybrid nanoparticles with a large bridging organic group were prepared by mechanochemical-assisted sol−gel reaction. Planetary ball mill (PBM) was used for the first time to access the bis-silylated precursors, containing complex functionalities (such as hydantoins or a symmetrical urea obtained from α-amino esters). The process is based on a sequential reaction pathway involving liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) and 1,1′-carbonyldimidazole (CDI)-mediated one-pot/ two-step reactions. Then hydantoins and the symmetric urea were used for the one-pot preparation of the corresponding bissilylated compounds in a vibrational ball mill (VBM), followed by the mechanochemical sol−gel preparation of biohybrid bridged silsesquioxane nanospheres of uniform size.

Tetrahedron, 2016

Few decades ago, the expertise gained from well-established extraction, processing and degradatio... more Few decades ago, the expertise gained from well-established extraction, processing and degradation techniques, paved the way for the use of ultrasounds as an alternative energy source in chemistry. Among other peculiar features, the locally extreme temperatures and pressures resulting from cavitation, proved to efficiently trigger reactions while maintaining mild average conditions, enhancing rates and yields and, hence, contributing to increase the popularity of sonochemistry up to the present level. The physical properties of the irradiated mixture are crucial for the effectiveness of cavitation, as well as for the proper transfer of acoustic energy to reactants. Therefore, the choice of a solvent that meets these requirements, while minimizing the environmental impact of the process is a fundamental one. Studies that combine sonochemistry with green, non-conventional solvents or with no solvents are surveyed in this review, evidencing how the most frequently investigated options are water phase, ionic liquids, followed by ethylene glycol and its oligomers, glycerol and few other biomass-based solvents. Numerous solvent-free, ultrasound-promoted procedures are also reported in the literature and are included in this contribution. The vast majority of the examples gathered here describe organic reactions, syntheses of nanosystems and polymerizations.

Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2017

The mechanochemical preparation of highly functionalized 3,5-disubstituted hydantoins was investi... more The mechanochemical preparation of highly functionalized 3,5-disubstituted hydantoins was investigated in the presence of various poly(ethylene) glycols (PEGs), as safe grinding assisting agents (liquid-assisted grinding, LAG). A comparative study under dry-grinding conditions was also performed. The results showed that the cyclization reaction was influenced by the amount of the PEG grinding agents. In general, cleaner reaction profiles were observed in the presence of PEGs, compared to dry-grinding procedures.