Luis C. Branco

By Luís C. Branco, Gonçalo V.S.M. Carrera, João Aires-de-Sousa, Ignacio Lopez Martin, Raquel Frade and Carlos A.M. Afonso

Part of the book: Ionic Liquids

By Fernando Pina and Luís C. Branco

Part of the book: Ionic Liquids

By Gonçalo V.S.M. Carrera, Małgorzata E. Zakrzewska, Ana V. M. Nunes and Luis C. Branco

Part of the book: Ionic Liquids

By Luis C. Branco, Ana M. Faisca Phillips, Maria M. Marques, Sandra Gago and Paula S. Branco

The recent advances on green and sustainable organocatalysis are revised in this chapter. An important focus on one of the 12 principles of green chemistry, organocatalysis pursues to reduce energy consumption as well as to optimize the use of different resources, targeting to become a sustainable strategy in organic chemical transformations. In last decades, several experimental methodologies have been performed to make organocatalysis an even greener and sustainable alternative to stoichiometric approaches as well as non-catalytic conditions by the use of benign and friendlier reaction media. In this line, several approaches using water as preferential solvent, alternative solvents such as ionic liquids including chiral ones, deep eutectic solvents, polyethylene glycol (PEG), supercritical fluids and organic carbonates or solvent-free methodologies have been reported. In this chapter, we mainly focus on the recent remarkable advancements in organocatalysis using green and sustainable protocols.

Part of the book: Recent Advances in Organocatalysis

By Karolina Zalewska, Miguel M. Santos, Hugo Cruz and Luis C. Branco

The research involving photo-organocatalysis, photoredox, and electro-organocatalysis processes is revised in this chapter. Modern synthetic processes enable the formation of large arrays of organic molecules with precise control over their three-dimensional structure, which is important in a variety of fields ranging from pharmaceutical to materials science. Photochemical reactions may have a substantial impact on these fields by affording direct access to specific structural motifs that are difficult to construct otherwise. The conjugate structural feature shown by most of the photo-organocatalysts seems to enable the production of free radicals or radical ions in an easy fashion. Electro-organocatalysis has also received recent interest from both academia and industry. In this chapter, we mainly review recent remarkable advancements in organocatalysis involving photo-, photoredox, and electrochemical processes with particular emphasis on asymmetric protocols.

Part of the book: Recent Advances in Organocatalysis

By Gonçalo V. S. M. Carrera, Luís C. Branco and Manuel Nunes da Ponte

This chapter reviews the study and development of biological, enzymatic and bio-molecular systems for carbon dioxide capture and further sequestration or even utilization. Regardless of the interest on the use of the captured CO2 as C1 synthon on the manufacture of added-value compounds, there is a tremendous unbalance between the requirements of the contemporary society (leading to a massive production of carbon dioxide) and the framework of commercialization of the products from CO2 utilization. In this context, viable options are storage as a solid in the form of calcium or magnesium carbonate and conversion into other energetic frameworks. In addition, it is important to highlight that the conventional energy resources are progressively being replaced by renewable resources. While the change in energetic paradigm is not accomplished, systems that capture and convert carbon dioxide are highly sought. To this end, bio-inspired systems will be presented, starting from the use of compounds from the chiral pool, such as amino acids, saccharides and related bio-polymers, involved in the physical and chemical capture, sequestration and/or utilization of CO2. Additionally, enzymatic systems are presented in the context of sequestration of CO2 in the form of solid carbonates or even utilization of this C1 synthon in the preparation of fuels and commodity chemicals. Carbonic anhydrase is by far the most studied enzyme, as it catalyses the inter-conversion between CO2 and hydrogencarbonate in an effective mode. The biological option comprises the utilization of methanogens, acetogens and other organisms leading to the formation of added-value compounds. Most of the described systems are based on microbial electro-synthesis model and microbial carbon-capture cell prototypes.

Part of the book: Recent Advances in Carbon Capture and Storage