Green Chemistry

Hydrazones as organometallic equivalents have emerged as a general and sustainable strategy to utilize naturally abundant aldehydes and ketones as feedstocks while only releasing water and nitrogen gas as byproducts. Yet the addition of these carbanion equivalents to carbonyl compounds has been limited to the use of precious metals as catalysts and hazardous solvents under an inert atmosphere. Herein, we report the development of a manganese-based catalyst system for the addition of aldehydes to carbonyl compounds producing secondary and tertiary alcohols with yields of up to 91%.

In this work, a response surface methodology (RSM) was used to attain optimal conditions for polyphenols extraction from Yerba Mate (YM, South-America infusion) using water as solvent under ultrasound. The following parameters were varied: mass of YM/volume of water (YM/W), pH, temperature, and time. This study helps to developing an eco-friendly and cost-effective experimental design, reducing the production of wastes, and using a very fast water-based method for the extraction.

Scientific research increasingly demonstrates that chemicals and materials essential for everyday products threaten natural systems and human health. Transitioning to sustainable, circular, and low-carbon economies depends critically on having safer chemicals available. We propose that materials scientists should also account the impact of the health hazards of chemicals associated with the synthesis, processing, and manufacturing of materials.