Homunuclus

Church teaching holds that in-vitro fertilization is morally wrong because it replaces the conjugal union between husband and wife and often results in the destruction of embryos. Artificial insemination for married couples is allowable if it "facilitates" the sex act but does not replace it. The church condemns all forms of experimentation on human embryos.Vatican Critical of Stem Cell Creation

The current pope was once Cardinal Ratzinger the Vatican's chief Inquisitor, yes I know we weren't expecting the Spanish Inquistion.

When the issue of cloning and artificial life was presented for JP2, Ratzinger issued the churches statement on bio-ethics which has not changed since the Rennisance when the Church banned sorcery and the creation of artificial life known as the Homunculus And indeed Ratzinger in his paper, refers to cloning as creating a homonucleus. 21st Century science meets the middle ages.

Does the law permit the ìenhancementî or other manipulation of one's genetic outfit? In this context, the following issues were discussed at the seminar: reproduction techniques in general (the "homunculus issue," see Goethe's Faust 11), special issues of "reprogenetics," cloning (inherently wrong, or open to an evaluation between healing effects and human dignity by way of a rule-and- exception relationship?), disease prevention (MV, cancers), unfairly advantaging certain children in view of a "level playing field" of genetic outfits, right of parents to genetically manipulate their offspring, and liability of parents who do not manipulate.The New Genetics and the Law

The crowning example of alchemical hybris came with the claim of pseudo-Paracelsus in the sixteenth century that he could make a homunculus - an artificial man. Like the gold of the alchemists, which was said to exceed the 24 carats of the best natural gold, the homunculus was supposed to be better than a natural man. Being made in a flask from human semen,
he was free of the catamenial substance that, according to the current theories of generation, supplied the material basis to an ordinary fetus. According to pseudo-Paracelsus, the homunculus was a semi-spiritual being that had an immediate apprehension of all the arts and a preternatural intelligence. In modern terms, the homunculus could be called the perfect test-tube baby, engineered to have the highest possible intelligence quota and aptitude. I have written an article focusing on this topic ("The Homunculus and his Forebears," 1999; see Vita), and have a book focusing on alchemy and the art-nature debate under contract (Promethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Refashioning of Nature, forthcoming with University of Chicago Press). Newton's Alchemy, recreated

What can we make of his account of the creation of a homunculus, a
miniature human being, in his laboratory? Cloning and genetic engineering are clearly impossible with 16th-century technology. Paracelsus

The invention of hand lenses and the microscope facilitated studies of the chick embryo by Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694), but also gave rise to one of the most profound errors in describing human development, that of the homunculus. This was a miniature human believed to have been seen within the head of a human spermatozoon and which presumed to enlarge when deposited in the female. This was the basis of the preformation theory and was believed by many well into the 18th century.lifeissues.net | When Does Human Life Begin? The Final Answer

Drawing of Human Spermatozoa
1694
The drawing was conceived by Niklaas Hartsoeker not by what
he had seen, but what he presumed would be visible if sperm
could be adequately viewed.

Consider the profound difficulty embryonic development presents to an observer. A complex organism, such as a chick, frog, insect or human, arises in an orderly and magical way from an apparently structureless egg. When embryology was in its infancy in the 17th and 18th centuries, the thought was that no animal could arise from such nothingness. Thus was born the theory of the homunculus: the idea that an infinite set of tiny individuals were contained, one within another, in each egg—or in each sperm (there was vigorous disagreement as to which). Development was seen as the visible unfolding of a preexisting individual. Unhappily for this wonderful notion, in the late 18th century Caspar Friedrich Wolff showed by microscopy that embryos contained cells but no homunculus—there was no preformed entity.
American Scientist Online - In the Twinkle of a Fly

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) recently told his fellow Republicans he would advance a two-year moratorium rather than a permanent ban. Ironically, Brownback relayed his intentions while President Bush reaffirmed his opposition to human embryo cloning in a speech delivered by satellite to the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis. Bush told them, "We believe that a life is a creation, not a commodity, and that our children are gifts to be loved and protected, not products to be designed and manufactured by human cloning." How did we get so quickly from a few cells in a dish to children? It reminds me of artists' representations during the Middle Ages of the homunculus: an invisibly tiny, fully formed human carried around by the male and then deposited in the female during intercourse. The tiny homunculus would eventually grow into a fetus before it was born. Those were the days before the discoveries of the microscope, sperm and egg. So then maybe Bush and Bevilacqua imagine that people still reproduce with homunculi. Otherwise, describing what we know with absolute certainty are nothing more than single or several cells in a microscopic cluster, resembling the cells inside your cheek, as "children" simply doesn't make any sense! If these men didn't wield so much power, we'd laugh at their ignorance. Stem Cells and Cloning: What Bush Doesn't Know Might Kill You ...

Faust and Homunculus
19th century engraving of Goethe's Faust and Homunculus



Also See

Pluto Gone Dog Gone It

For a Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing

Magick

Creationism

Catholic


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21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY

Stanford researchers unveil new material infused with gold in an exotic chemical state

Peer-Reviewed Publication

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

For the first time, Stanford researchers have found a way to create and stabilize an extremely rare form of gold that has lost two negatively charged electrons, denoted Au2+. The material stabilizing this elusive version of the valued element is a halide perovskite—a class of crystalline materials that holds great promise for various applications including more-efficient solar cells, light sources, and electronics components.

Surprisingly, the Au2+ perovskite is also quick and simple to make using off-the-shelf ingredients at room temperature.

"It was a real surprise that we were able to synthesize a stable material containing Au2+—I didn't even believe it at first," said Hemamala Karunadasa, associate professor of chemistry at the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and senior author of the study published Aug. 28 in Nature Chemistry. "Creating this first-of-its-kind Au2+ perovskite is exciting. The gold atoms in the perovskite bear strong similarities to the copper atoms in high-temperature superconductors, and heavy atoms with unpaired electrons, like Au2+, show cool magnetic effects not seen in lighter atoms."

"Halide perovskites possess really attractive properties for many everyday applications, so we've been looking to expand this family of materials," said Kurt Lindquist, the lead author of the study who conducted the research as a Stanford doctoral student and is now a postdoctoral scholar in inorganic chemistry at Princeton University. "An unprecedented Au2+ perovskite could open some intriguing new avenues."

Heavy electrons in gold

As an elemental metal, gold has long been valued for its relative scarcity as well as its unmatched malleability and chemical inertness—meaning it can be easily shaped into jewelry and coins that do not react with chemicals in the environment and tarnish over time. An additional key reason for its value is gold's namesake color; arguably no other metal in its pure state has such a distinctively rich hue.

The fundamental physics behind gold's acclaimed appearance also explains why Au2+ is so rare, Karunadasa explained. 

The root reason is relativistic effects, originally postulated in Albert Einstein's famed theory of relativity. "Einstein taught us that when objects move very fast and their velocity approaches a significant fraction of the speed of light, the objects get heavier,” Karunadasa said.

This phenomenon applies to particles, too, and has profound consequences for “massive” heavy elements, such as gold, whose atomic nuclei boast a large number of protons. These particles collectively exert immense positive charge, forcing negatively charged electrons to whirl around the nucleus at breakneck speeds. As a consequence, the electrons grow heavy and tightly surround the nucleus, blunting its charge and allowing outer electrons to drift farther than in typical metals. This rearrangement of electrons and their energy levels leads to gold absorbing blue light and therefore appearing yellow to our eye.

Because of the arrangement of gold's electrons, thanks to relativity, the atom naturally occurs as Au1+ and Au3+, losing one or three electrons, respectively, and spurning Au2+. (The “2+” indicates a net positive charge from the loss of two negatively charged electrons, and the "Au" chemical symbol for gold hails from “aurum,” the Latin word for gold.)

A squeeze of vitamin C

With just the right molecular configuration, Au2+ can endure, the Stanford researchers found. Lindquist said he "stumbled upon" the new Au2+-harboring perovskite while working on a broader project centered on magnetic semiconductors for use in electronic devices.

Lindquist mixed a salt called cesium chloride and Au3+-chloride together in water and added hydrochloric acid to the solution "with a little vitamin C thrown in," he said. In the ensuing reaction, vitamin C (an acid) donates a (negatively charged) electron to the common Au3+ forming Au2+. Intriguingly, Au2+ is stable in the solid perovskite but not in solution.

"In the lab, we can make this material using very simple ingredients in about five minutes at room temperature," said Lindquist. "We end up with a powder that's very dark green, nearly black, and is surprisingly heavy because of the gold it contains."

Recognizing that they may have hit new chemistry paydirt, so to speak, Lindquist performed numerous tests on the perovskite, including spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, to investigate how it absorbs light and to characterize its crystal structure. Stanford research groups in physics and chemistry led by Young Lee, professor of applied physics and of photon science, and Edward Solomon, the Monroe E. Spaght Professor of Chemistry and professor of photon science, further contributed to studying the behavior of Au2+.

The experiments ultimately bore out the presence of Au2+ in a perovskite and, in the process, added a chapter to a century-old story of chemistry and physics involving Linus Pauling, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962. Early in his career, he worked on gold perovskites containing the common forms Au1+ and Au3+. Coincidentally, Pauling also later studied the structure of vitamin C—one of the ingredients required to yield a stable perovskite containing the elusive Au2+.

"We love Linus Pauling’s connection to our work," Karunadasa said. "The synthesis of this perovskite makes for a good story."

Looking ahead, Karunadasa, Lindquist, and colleagues plan to study the new material further and tweak its chemistry. The hope is that an Au2+ perovskite can be used in applications that require magnetism and conductivity as electrons hop from Au2+ to Au3+ in the perovskite.

"We're excited to explore what an Au2+ perovskite could do," Karunadasa said.

Karunadasa is also a senior fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and a principal investigator and faculty scientist at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Solomon is a professor of photon science at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC. Additional Stanford co-authors are Christina R. Deschene and Alexander J. Heyer, graduate students in the Department of Chemistry; and Jiajia Wen, a staff scientist at SLAC. Additional co-authors include Armin Eghdami and Alexander G. Smith, graduate students in the Department of Physics, University of California-Berkeley, and Jeffrey B. Neaton, professor of physics at the University of California-Berkeley; and Dominic H. Ryan, professor of physics at McGill University.

The research was funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Fonds de recherche du Québec–Nature et technologies, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Canada.

---

JOURNAL

Nature Chemistry

DOI

10.1038/s41557-023-01305-y 

ARTICLE TITLE

Stabilizing Au2+ in a mixed-valence 3D halide perovskite

21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY

Biologists, chemical engineers collaborate to reveal complex cellular process inside petunias

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PURDUE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: A PURDUE UNIVERSITY TEAM LED BY NATALIA DUDAREVA, DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF BIOCHEMISTRY IN PURDUE’S COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, AND JOHN MORGAN, PROFESSOR IN THE DAVIDSON SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, HAVE PUBLISHED NEW DETAILS ABOUT MOLECULAR PROCESSES THAT ALLOW PETUNIAS TO EMIT SCENT CHEMICALS CALLED VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. view more 

CREDIT: PURDUE AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS/TOM CAMPBELL

Biologists, chemical engineers collaborate to reveal complex cellular process inside petunias

Once upon a time, prevailing scientific opinion might have pronounced recently published research in Nature Communications by a team of Purdue University scientists as unneeded. Now, climate change implications have heightened the need for this line of research.

Flowers emit scent chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Earlier this year, the Purdue team published the paper identifying for the first time a protein that plays a key role in helping petunias emit volatiles. The article was selected for the “plants and agriculture” section of the journal’s editors’ highlights webpage.

Natalia Dudareva, who led the study, and her longtime collaborator John Morgan had suggested years ago in grant proposals that molecular processes could be involved in VOC emission. Both times the grant reviewers said there was nothing to look for because simple diffusion was the answer.

“We failed twice because people did not believe us,” said Dudareva, director of the Center for Plant Biology and Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry. “We decided we have to have proof that it’s not simple diffusion, that molecular mechanisms are involved.”

The new work builds on findings that the Dudareva-Morgan collaboration announced in 2015 and 2017 showing how biology helps control the release of scent compounds from plants. The latest paper, chiefly funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, focuses on how volatiles cross the cell wall, the barrier that separates the cellular interior from a plant’s outermost protective layer, the cuticle.

“We were looking at whether or not there are proteins that facilitate the transport of these small organic molecules across the cell wall layer,” said Morgan, a professor of chemical engineering.

“The best analogy is to the transport of oxygen in muscle tissue by a protein called myoglobin.”

Volatile organic chemicals are small molecules that have low water solubility. The cell wall, however, is a water-filled environment. This slows the diffusion rate of VOCs because their concentrations cannot build up very high.

“What happens is a protein can bind a lot of these molecules inside a non-waterlike cavity, and it improves or increases the net transport rate,” Morgan explained.

The work has significant practical implications, ranging from the health of the planet to industrial operations. Plants now emit 10 billion metric tons of carbon annually, a quantity that will increase with continued global warming. Floral volatiles also help to protect plants against environmental stresses and are heavily used in the cosmetics industry and in aromatherapy.

“And our diet depends on insect-pollinated plants,” Dudareva said. With global warming, flowers may start blooming earlier, before insects are ready to begin pollination.

The team’s 2015 paper published in the journal Trends in Plant Science reported calculations that had determined the concentration of volatiles needed to sustain the experimentally measured floral emission rate. The concentration reached the millimolar range, a scale that chemists use to quantify substances containing huge numbers of molecules or atoms.

“These compounds will accumulate inside membranes and such high concentration will destroy membranes and destroy the cell,” Dudareva said. This left a clear-cut conclusion: simple diffusion would be impossible.

The initial work had been calculated for snapdragons. But the Purdue researchers focused on petunias for their latest study because, unlike snapdragons, they can be genetically modified to study how particular genes affect the emission process.

“It’s much easier to work with petunias because emission is high, especially during the night,” said Pan Liao, a lead co-author and former Purdue postdoctoral scientist, now an assistant professor of biology at Hong Kong Baptist University. “The emission is strongly regulated in a diurnal pattern.”

Additional co-authors were Itay Maoz, a former Purdue postdoctoral scientist now of Israel’s Agricultural Research Organization; Meng-Ling Shih, PhD 2022, chemical engineering; Xing-Qi Huang, a postdoctoral scientist working in Dudareva’s lab; and Ji Hee Lee, a graduate student in biochemistry. The co-authors contributed a complementary blend of skills and expertise to the work that has become a hallmark of the longstanding collaboration between the Dudareva and Morgan research groups.

Dudareva’s group generated the transgenic plants and handled the cellular biology needed to determine whether a given protein contributes to the volatile emissions. There is no way, however, to detect the level of proteins in a cell or how their concentration changes across a cell wall.

It then fell to Morgan’s group to perform the calculations that quantified the protein contributions and conduct computer simulations to verify the experimental data.

“It’s important to have feedback between the modeling predictions and the actual data,” Morgan said. “Sometimes it starts with the data, then we go do math, and then we go back and compare to the data.”

Xing-Qi Huang, a postdoctoral scientist in the Dudareva laboratory, tags a petunia that will bloom in the next 24 hours. Researchers select flowers that have just bloomed to extract volatiles at their peak.

Ji Hee Lee, a graduate student in biochemistry, prepares an experiment to extract floral volatiles from fresh petunia blooms.

Petunia placed in a glass container in preparation for extraction of floral volatiles.

CREDIT

Purdue Agricultural Communications/Tom Campbell

---

JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-36027-9 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Emission of floral volatiles is facilitated by cell-wall non-specific lipid transfer proteins

21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY

Mashing molecules: An innovative solution towards greener pharmaceuticals

IMPACTIVE is a project funded by Horizon Europe to study the possibilities of mechanochemistry in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients. This initiative counts on 17 partners in academia and industry working together towards greener chemistry

Grant and Award Announcement

AGATA COMUNICACIÓN CIENTÍFICA SL

 

IMAGE: SOMEONE MASHING INGREDIENTS IN A MORTAR, MUCH LIKE MECHANOCHEMISTRY USES MECHANOCHEMICAL TO DRIVE CHEMICAL REACTIONS WITHOUT SOLVENTS, PROVIDING A GREENER APPROACH TO THE SYNTHESIS OF PHARMACEUTICALS. view more 

CREDIT: IMPACTIVE

The European Commission has awarded IMPACTIVE almost €7.7 million to reinvent and reinforce the pharmaceutical supply chain. Currently, the production of drugs is associated with high levels of carbon emissions, as well as other environmental impacts linked to the excessive production of chemical waste. IMPACTIVE, a collaboration led by the University of Montpellier, in France, envisions an efficient and simple solution: mechanochemistry. 

Mechanochemistry is a method that mashes molecules together, using ball mills. The mechanical force drives the chemical reactions with high efficacy and low cost. The main advantage of mechanochemistry is its independency of solvents, usually the basis of all traditional reactions and often linked to the generation of high quantities of toxic waste. In fact, currently the manufacture of 1 kilogram of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is unavoidably linked with almost 200 kilograms of waste. The elimination of solvents from synthesis and purification could minimise the ecological impact of industrial chemistry.

The most recent results report that mechanochemistry could reduce ecotoxicity and carbon emissions by up to 85% and, at the same time, optimise production costs by 12%. Already studied in small laboratory scales and used in production plants in fields like plastic production and materials’ manufacturing, mechanochemistry is now ready for the pharmaceutical industry. IMPACTIVE will study the synthesis of three families of API, and develop pilot production process ready for scale up. On top with key leaders in the field from academia and industry, the project also counts on two partners in the pharmaceutical industry – Novartis and Merck. This interdisciplinary collaboration will facilitate and accelerate the commercial implementation of the technology.

Beyond ball mills, the partners in IMPACTIVE will investigate other mechanochemical methods, more suitable for the scales required by pharmaceutical manufacturers. Among others, this will include twin-screw extrusion, resonant acoustic mixing and spray drying – all of which have showcased an interesting potential in preliminary studies. 

“Overall, mechanochemistry avoids high temperatures and hazardous solvents, providing a more environmentally friendly alternative that reduces waste, and maximizes efficiency,” explains IMPACTIVE coordinator Evelina Colacino, based at the University of Montpellier. “These concepts constitute gold standards of green chemistry and the circular economy, and IMPACTIVE wants to transfer them to the European pharmaceutical landscape,” she adds. 

Moreover, cost reduction and efficient manufacturing could help Europe tackle the current fragility of the supply chain, linked to severe shortages in drugs and pharmaceuticals. Mechanochemistry could become a key tool to improve crisis preparedness and API development during emergencies, thanks to innovative production processes and excellent efficiency. 

IMPACTIVE grows on the success of two previous projects, in particular COST Action CA18112 ‘Mechanochemistry for Sustainable Industry’, also funded by the European Union, which helped establish efficient networks of researchers, innovators and industry leaders working in mechanochemistry. In the future, IMPACTIVE partners plan to become a reference in the field as well, further contributing to cross-collaboration between academia and industry to boost the possibilities of greener manufacturing methods with mechanochemistry.

Mechanochemistry will ensure cost reduction and efficient manufacturing to help Europe tackle the current fragility of the supply chain, linked to severe shortages in drugs and pharmaceuticals. 

 

Several pills on a colourful background. Mechanochemistry could become a key tool to improve crisis preparedness and API development during emergencies, thanks to innovative production processes and excellent efficiency.

CREDIT

Impactive

VIDEO

IMPACTIVE will study the synth [IMAGE] | EurekAlert! Science News Releases

IMPACTIVE is a big project, funded by the European Commission through its Horizon Europe programme. It’s led by the University of Montpellier, in France, and counts on seventeen partners from nine EU countries, as well as Switzerland and Israel. The consortium includes universities, research centres, industry leaders and SMEs, i.e.:

• University of Montpellier, France
• SATT Axlr, France
• Radboud Universiteit, Netherlands
• Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
• Taltech, Estonia
• BAM Institut, Germany
• RWTH Aachen University, Germany
• Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung, Germany
• Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
• Technion, Israel
• Center for Colloid and Surface Science (Universities of Cagliari, Parma and Salerno), Italy
• IST-ID, Portugal
• DES-Solutio, Portugal
• AGATA Comunicación Científica, Spain
• Haute École Spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale (HES·SO), Switzerland
• MERCK, Switzerland
• Novartis, Switzerland

21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY

Gold may be the solution to foggy glasses

Staff Writer | December 19, 2022 | 

The left lens (right from the reader’s perspective) has the new antifogging nanocoating. The other lens is uncoated. (Image courtesy of ETH Zurich).

A recently developed ultrathin, gold-based transparent coating that is able to convert sunlight into heat is being proposed as a solution to prevent fogging in glass surfaces such as those in eyewear or windshields.


The soon-to-be patented coating has been created by researchers at ETH Zurich employing methods that are used extensively in manufacturing, such as vapour deposition under vacuum in a clean room to deposit minuscule amounts of gold onto the surface being treated.

The coating is made up of a single gold nanolayer and is significantly thin, which makes it transparent as well as pliable. Further, it absorbs infrared light selectively.

The new material also takes an approach that differs from conventional antifogging methods. Traditionally, surfaces are coated with water-attracting molecules, which results in an even spread of condensation. This is how antifog sprays work. But the new method instead heats the surface, thus preventing humidity-induced condensation from forming there in the first place. It’s the same principle as is used for a car’s rear window.

The problem with the way things are done in cars is that electric heating is required, which is inefficient and wastes energy. In contrast, the new coating is heated passively and requires, during the daytime, no additional energy source.

Tiny gold particles

The way the coating is designed involves minuscule, extremely thin clusters of gold sandwiched between two ultrathin layers of titanium oxide, an electrically insulating material. Due to their refractive properties, these two outer layers increase the efficacy of the heating effect. Moreover, the top layer of titanium oxide acts as a finish that protects the gold layer from wear. This whole “sandwich” is just 10 nanometres thick. By way of comparison, a common gold leaf is twelve times thicker.

The individual gold clusters touch each other minimally, which is what allows the gold layer to just start conducting electricity. So in the absence of sunlight, it would still be possible to use electricity to heat the coating.

“Our coating absorbs a large proportion of the infrared radiation, which causes it to heat up – by up to 8 degrees Celsius,” ETH doctoral student Iwan Hächler, who was a driving force behind the development, said in a media statement.

Given the positive results of their initial tests, Hächler and his colleagues will now develop the coating further for other applications. In the process, they will investigate whether other metals work just as well as gold.

They believe that in addition to eyewear and windshields, this antifogging method could be used wherever objects must be both heated and transparent – such as windows, mirrors or optical sensors.

21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY

RUDN University chemists created cheap catalysts for ethanol conversion

RUDN UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: RUDN UNIVERSITY CHEMISTS PROPOSED A NEW WAY TO SYNTHESIZE CATALYSTS FOR THE CONVERSION OF ETHYL ALCOHOL. THE OBTAINED MATERIALS ARE PROMISING CATALYSTS FOR THE SELECTIVE CONVERSION OF ETHANOL, WHICH IS... view more 

CREDIT: RUDN UNIVERSITY

RUDN University chemists proposed a new way to synthesize catalysts for the conversion of ethyl alcohol. The obtained materials are promising catalysts for the selective conversion of ethanol, which is an important stage in the development of an alternative technology for obtaining valuable chemical synthesis products based on plant raw materials. The results of the study are published in Catalysis Today.

Ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol, it is produced from plant material by fermentation of industrial or agricultural waste biomass. It is used as a more environmentally friendly fuel compared to gasoline. But this is not its sole use -- ethanol can be converted into acetaldehyde, diethyl ether and other chemicals that are in demand in the industry. Highly efficient catalysts are required to trigger such chemical reactions. However, existing catalysts contain precious metals, and therefore they are too expensive to use. RUDN University chemists proposed new catalysts based on aluminium and zirconium, modified with copper.

"The best-known catalysts for ethanol conversion are based on oxides promoted by noble metals. However, they are quite expensive. A more affordable option is catalysts with copper as the active phase, but so far, the best option has not been found among them. Improvements are required to use these catalysts to ensure both high conversion and selectivity of the reaction -- that is, to leave as little ethanol as possible unprocessed and at the same time to obtain the necessary substances, and not by-products", Anna Zhukova, associated professor, PhD, from the Department of Physical and Colloidal Chemistry of RUDN University

RUDN chemists combined two approaches to improve the efficiency of catalysts for acetaldehyde synthesis. First, they combined oxides of several metals in nanocomposites: aluminium, cerium, and zirconium. The researchers synthesized five types of powders with different oxides ratios. Five of them was prepared at a relatively low temperature of 180°C, and another five was heated to 950°C. This made it possible to form different structures in the materials. The calcined samples had a large diameter and pore volume.

The second idea was to add copper. All the powders were soaked in an aqueous solution of copper nitrate, dried at room temperature, and exposed to a flow of hydrogen at 400°C. After that, the finished catalysts were tested in the ethanol vapor dehydrogenation reaction. Chemists placed them in a thin layer on a porous filter, and then fed alcohol vapors in the helium flow. The reaction was carried out at temperatures from 240°C to 360°C.

"All obtained systems demonstrated ? high alcohol conversion and selectivity to acetaldehyde. The copper containing catalysts with 5% aluminium oxide produced significant amounts of acetaldehyde with selectivity above 80 % at 3600C. We found that the mixed composition of the oxides creates conditions for the formation of active centres on the surface of the catalyst from copper ions with different charges. The best option is to use a mixture of oxides with a small content of aluminium in the synthesis of the catalyst and calcinate them at 950°C", Anna Zhukova from RUDN University

IMAGE: RUDN UNIVERSITY CHEMISTS PROPOSED A NEW WAY TO SYNTHESIZE CATALYSTS FOR THE CONVERSION OF ETHYL ALCOHOL. THE OBTAINED MATERIALS ARE PROMISING CATALYSTS FOR THE SELECTIVE CONVERSION OF ETHANOL, WHICH IS... view more 

CREDIT: RUDN UNIVERSITY

RUDN University chemists proposed a new way to synthesize catalysts for the conversion of ethyl alcohol. The obtained materials are promising catalysts for the selective conversion of ethanol, which is an important stage in the development of an alternative technology for obtaining valuable chemical synthesis products based on plant raw materials. The results of the study are published in Catalysis Today.

Ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol, it is produced from plant material by fermentation of industrial or agricultural waste biomass. It is used as a more environmentally friendly fuel compared to gasoline. But this is not its sole use -- ethanol can be converted into acetaldehyde, diethyl ether and other chemicals that are in demand in the industry. Highly efficient catalysts are required to trigger such chemical reactions. However, existing catalysts contain precious metals, and therefore they are too expensive to use. RUDN University chemists proposed new catalysts based on aluminium and zirconium, modified with copper.

"The best-known catalysts for ethanol conversion are based on oxides promoted by noble metals. However, they are quite expensive. A more affordable option is catalysts with copper as the active phase, but so far, the best option has not been found among them. Improvements are required to use these catalysts to ensure both high conversion and selectivity of the reaction -- that is, to leave as little ethanol as possible unprocessed and at the same time to obtain the necessary substances, and not by-products", Anna Zhukova, associated professor, PhD, from the Department of Physical and Colloidal Chemistry of RUDN University

RUDN chemists combined two approaches to improve the efficiency of catalysts for acetaldehyde synthesis. First, they combined oxides of several metals in nanocomposites: aluminium, cerium, and zirconium. The researchers synthesized five types of powders with different oxides ratios. Five of them was prepared at a relatively low temperature of 180°C, and another five was heated to 950°C. This made it possible to form different structures in the materials. The calcined samples had a large diameter and pore volume.

The second idea was to add copper. All the powders were soaked in an aqueous solution of copper nitrate, dried at room temperature, and exposed to a flow of hydrogen at 400°C. After that, the finished catalysts were tested in the ethanol vapor dehydrogenation reaction. Chemists placed them in a thin layer on a porous filter, and then fed alcohol vapors in the helium flow. The reaction was carried out at temperatures from 240°C to 360°C.

"All obtained systems demonstrated ? high alcohol conversion and selectivity to acetaldehyde. The copper containing catalysts with 5% aluminium oxide produced significant amounts of acetaldehyde with selectivity above 80 % at 3600C. We found that the mixed composition of the oxides creates conditions for the formation of active centres on the surface of the catalyst from copper ions with different charges. The best option is to use a mixture of oxides with a small content of aluminium in the synthesis of the catalyst and calcinate them at 950°C", Anna Zhukova from RUDN University

21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY
Superdeep diamond reveals new info on earth’s geological processes
Staff Writer | January 12, 2023 | 

Superdeep diamonds that originate hundreds of kilometers beneath earth’s surface are like time capsules revealing how they were formed. (Image courtesy of the University of Alberta).

A recent paper published in the journal Nature points to a “superdeep” diamond recovered in Kankan, Guinea, as the messenger of new information on plate tectonics, the geological processes that give rise to mountains, oceans and continents.


One of the inclusions found in the diamond was a very pure example of the mineral olivine, a variety of which is more commonly known as the gemstone peridot. Most olivine found on our planet has some iron in it, so the purity of this olivine speaks to the unique conditions under which it was formed.

The olivine’s purity, as well as some of the other minerals that were inclusions in the precious rock, indicate a far deeper origin than usual for a diamond, between what is called the transition zone and the lower mantle zone—420 kilometres to 660 kilometres beneath earth’s surface. It also shows that the environment between these zones has an extremely variable oxygen content.

“To make this extreme composition [of olivine] and the overall mineral assemblage that we’ve got, the only way of doing that is to have a very deeply subducted oceanic plate or slab that goes down into the mantle, so you’re essentially pushing material from the surface of the earth into the depths of the earth,” Graham Pearson, study co-author and director of the Diamond Exploration and Research Training School at the University of Alberta, said in a media statement.

“You get huge gradients in oxygen activity when you do that, and these big gradients are very conducive to driving extreme variations in the composition of minerals,” he noted.

An understanding of these oxygen gradients helps explain how plate tectonics bring volatile elements back up into the mantle, and can also offer clues to how superdeep diamonds are formed—knowledge that can’t be gained any other way.

“You can see oceanic slabs descending into the earth in seismic images, but you don’t have any idea of the detailed structures they develop, or the mechanisms and chemistry going on in those slabs,” Pearson said. “These diamonds provide a unique trace of that detailed chemical evolution as the slab’s going down.”

As researchers gain more insight into the movement of those slabs into the mantle, called subduction, they can better understand plate tectonics.

“Subduction drives the whole of plate tectonics. If you don’t understand the details of subduction, that limits your understanding of how plate tectonics work,” the scientist said

Superdeep diamonds, which originate from depths of more than 300 kilometres below earth’s surface, are a treasure trove of scientific information because diamonds are uniquely able to preserve information about where they’re formed, including many of the physical and chemical processes that occurred during their formation.

Most other minerals lose much of that information by the time they make their way to the surface but, as Pearson explained, diamonds act almost as time capsules.

“There are many things at the surface of the earth that can only be explained by processes happening at deep depths,” he pointed out. “If you want to explain things you see at the surface—whether it’s economic mineralization, surface uplift or subsidence phenomena related to oil-bearing basins—you need an understanding of the structure, mechanics and properties of the deep earth. Diamond is uniquely able to bolster that understanding.”

21st CENTURY ALCHEMY
Gold-based antibiotics could be key to fighting superbugs, research suggests\
New research that will be presented next week at a conference in Copenhagen suggests that gold-based antibiotics could be the key to fighting so-called drug-resistant superbugs. 

Photo by Petr Kratochvil/Public Domain Pictures

April 7 (UPI) -- For years, scientists have searched for a silver bullet to treat multidrug-resistant superbugs. Now, they may have found the solution in another precious metal: gold.

Several gold-based compounds have shown efficacy against hard-to-treat bacteria, according to new research to be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen, Denmark next week.

In a paper prepared for the conference, researchers said they found that gold-based antibiotics showed "great potential," especially against diseases that have proven resistant to other drugs.

Sara Soto Gonzalez, of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Barcelona, Spain, and fellow researchers studied the activity of 19 gold compounds against a range of multidrug-resistant bacteria isolated from patients.

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Those bacteria studied included Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA; Staphylococcus epidermidis; pseudomonas aeruginosa; stenotrophomonasmaltophilia; acinetobacter baumannii; and pneumonia.

Scientists found that 16 of the 19 gold compounds were highly effective against MRSA and S. epidermis, and 16 were effective against the other bacteria, all of which are gram-negative. Researchers said that "gram negative" bacteria have a greater resistance to antibiotics, and they need new treatments.

Overall, all 19 compounds tested were effective against at least one of the hard-to-treat bacterium and some were effective against several.

"It is particularly exciting to see that some of the gold complexes were effective against MRSA and multidrug-resistant A. baumannii, as there are two biggest causes of hospital-acquired infections," Soto Gonzalez said.

"The type of gold complexes we studied, known as gold (III) complexes, are relatively straightforward and inexpensive to make. They can also be easily modified and so provide a vast amount of scope for drug development."

Drug-resistant infections kill roughly 700,000 people annually around the world. The World Health Organization classifies antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest public health threats facing humanity.

Study: Inappropriate antibiotic use in kids increases healthcare costs

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevent said that such antimicrobial resistance happens when germs like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them, making them almost impossible to treat.

Gold is known to have antibacterial properties, making gold metalloantibiotics -- compounds with a gold ion at their core -- one of the most promising new approaches.

"Gold complexes use a variety of techniques to kill bacteria," Soto Gonzalez said. "They stop enzymes from working, disrupt the function of the bacterial membrane and damage DNA.

"With research on other types of gold metalloantibiotics also providing promising results, the future is bright for gold-based antibiotics."

Future is bright for gold-based antibiotics

Reports and Proceedings

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

New research being presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark, (15-18 April) has identified several gold-based compounds with the potential to treat multidrug-resistant “superbugs”.

With all 19 compounds tested effective against at least one hard-to-treat bacterium and some effective against several, the Spanish researchers say that the gold-based drugs hold great potential as new antibiotics.

Drug-resistant infections kill an estimated 700,000 people a year globally and, with the figure projected to rise to 10 million by 2050 if no action is taken, the World Health Organisation (WHO) classes antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest public health threats facing humanity.

However, the development of new antibiotics has stalled and the few new antibiotics that are developed are mainly derivatives of existing treatments.

Gold is known to have antibacterial properties, making gold metalloantibiotics – compounds with a gold ion at their core – an exciting potential new approach.

To find out more, Dr Sara M. Soto González, of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues studied the activity of 19 gold complexes against a range of multidrug-resistant bacteria isolated from patients.

The complexes all belong to the same family but have slightly different structures.

The six bacteria studied were: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, which causes skin and other infections), Staphylococcus epidermidis (which can cause catheter-associated infections), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (which causes infections including pneumonia), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (pneumonia and other infections), Acinetobacter baumannii (blood and urinary tract infections and pneumonia) and Escherichia coli (blood and urinary tract infections and pneumonia).

All of the strains studied were multidrug-resistant. Four (S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, A. baumannii and E. coli) are on the World Health Organisation’s list of antibiotic resistant ‘priority pathogens’1 – meaning they are among the bacteria judged to pose the greatest risk to human health.  Multidrug-resistant S. maltophilia is increasingly being found in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis.

In tests, 16/19 (84%) of the gold complexes were highly effective against MRSA and S. epidermis.

Another 16 of the complexes were effective against the other bacteria, all of which are gram negative. Gram negative bacteria have greater inbuilt resistance to antibiotics and the need for new treatments is particularly pressing.

Gold complexes use a variety of techniques to kill bacteria.  They stop enzymes from working, disrupt the function of the bacterial membrane and damage DNA. Crucially, this multimodal mechanism should prevent antimicrobial resistance from developing.

Dr Soto González concludes: “All of the gold compounds were effective against at least one of the bacterial species studied and some displayed potent activity against several multidrug-resistant bacteria.

“It is particularly exciting to see that some of the gold complexes were effective against MRSA and multidrug-resistant A. baumannii, as there are two biggest causes of hospital-acquired infections.

“The type of gold complexes we studied, known as gold (III) complexes, are relatively straightforward and inexpensive to make.  They can also be easily modified and so provide a vast amount of scope for drug development.

“With research on other types of gold metalloantibiotics also providing promising results, the future is bright for gold-based antibiotics.”

Dr Sara M. Soto González, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain. M) +34 6555 11177 E) sara.soto@isglobal.org

Please note that Dr Soto González is travelling until April 14.  For urgent enquiries during that time, please contact co-author Raquel Soengas

Professor Raquel Soengas, University of Oviedo, Oviedo Spain. M):+34 6040 07552 E) rsoengas@uniovi.es

Alternative contact: Tony Kirby in the ECCMID Media Centre. T) +44 7834 385827 E) tony@tonykirby.com

Notes to editors:

References:

1. https://www.who.int/news/item/27-02-2017-who-publishes-list-of-bacteria-for-which-new-antibiotics-are-urgently-needed

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

This press release is based on abstract 1079 at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) annual meeting. The material has been peer reviewed by the congress selection committee. There is no full paper available at this stage.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Apr-2023

COI STATEMENT

The authors declare no conflicts of interest