Tallinn University of Technology

Results

Dr. Yevgen Karpichev was invited to join as an Associated Partner to the DAIMON network

Dr. Yevgen Karpichev was invited to join as an Associated Partner to the DAIMON (Decision Aid for Marine Munitions) network, an international project consisting of partners from about 10 European countries and cooperating experts worldwide, united by the goal to solve the problem of underwater munitions, partly funded by the EU INTERREG Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020. Dr. Karpichev was invited to attend the International Workshop on CWA dedicated to 20th Anniversary of the Chemical Weapons Convention in December 2017 and the regular DAIMON meeting in February 2018 (both are in Helsinki).

Prof. Nicholas Gathergood received a researcher grant PUT 1656 "Sustainable Surfactants" from Estonian Research Council

Annotation. Sustainable chemistry includes green chemistry, environmental science and green toxicology. A key concept is to consider the ultimate fate of chemicals after use. Design of low toxicity surfactants which degrade fully in the environment, avoiding the accumulation of persistent micro-pollutants, is this projects main goal. The first aim is development of new cleaner and less hazardous synthetic chemistry methodologies and techniques. This will be achieved utilizing flow chemistry and enzyme catalyzed reactions and assessed using green chemistry metrics. The second aim is to improve our understanding of the biodegradation process, including a tandem (eco)toxicity study. Identification of persistent and transient transformation products, and the biological pathways responsible for compound degradation, will enable intelligent design of mineralisable surfactants. Applications of these safer surfactants will be selected based on a comprehensive physical chemistry characterization.

Dr. Dzmitry Kananovich received a young researcher grant „Smart synthesis with small cycles: exploring chemistry of activated cyclopropanes“

Dr. Dzmitry Kananovich received a young researcher grant from the Tallinn University of Technology. The project entitled „Smart synthesis with small cycles: exploring chemistry of activated cyclopropanes“ will be funded for the next 3 years, starting from 1 st September 2016. The main goal of the project is to open new avenues in chemistry of cyclopropanes with the assistance of the directed C-H activation reactions. The project will be implemented in cooperation with the leading European scientist in the field of C-H activation reactions in the framework of COST Action “C-H Activation in Organic Synthesis” (CHAOS).

TTÜ scientists are participating in the green chemistry GREENOMIcS network

TTÜ scientists research green chemistry to save the environment from Baltic Sea to Mediterranean.

The scientists of  Tallinn University of Technology are participating in the green chemistry network, which aims to develop approaches to avoid pollution and hazards from chemicals at the source, to promote the ecological use of resources and to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources.

UNESCO UNITWIN network "GReen CHEmistry ExcelleNce from Baltic Sea to Mediterranean Sea and beyond" (GREENOMIcS) is coordinated by Politecnico di Milano (Italy), other partners are TTÜ, Leuphana University of Lüneburg (Germany), the Aalto University (Finland) and Istanbul University (Turkey), kick-off of the project was in the beginning of May.

One aim of the network is to inform society to the contribution of appropriate Green Chemistry concepts and practices to achieve the essential sustainable development goals (SDGs). For example, responsible consumption and production. 
‘We look forward to working with the network partners. A broad spectrum of expertise is present, from cleaner preparation of bulk chemicals to biodegradation assessment’ says Prof. Gathergood at TTÜ. He adds, ‘Training the next generation of chemists to more fully appreciate the environmental impact of their future employment activities, will ultimately lead to a reduction in pollution.’

The members of the network plan to spread research results widely and intensively to draw attention from policy makers and decision-makers as well as the media, the private sector and social institutions. In addition, the training in the field of green chemistry is to be prepared for postgraduate and post-doctoral students, in order to promote the participation of young scientists and, in particular, women scientists in this field. In addition, the mobility of researchers and students is to be provided.

An extension of the program to other partners and institutions is being pursued.

Additional information:
Professor Nicholas Gathergood, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, nicholas.gathergood@ttu.ee, tel 620 4381

COST Action: CA15106 - C-H Activation in Organic Synthesis (CHAOS)

Dr. Dzmitry Kananovich and Dr. Yevgen Karpichev have been officially nominated as Management Committee (MC) members and Prof. Nicholas Gathergood as a MC substitute to represent Estonia in COST Action CA15106 “C-H Activation in Organic Synthesis” (CHAOS) http://www.cost.eu/COST_Actions/ca/CA15106?. The aim of this Action is to render C-H activation a truly versatile, practical and general tool for organic chemistry, applicable in both industry and academia. The MC members will visit the 1st MC meeting in Brussels on March 21st

COST Action Workshop

Prof. Gathergood gave presentation at COST Workshop in Kaunas, Lithuania

Open Access book Chapters

A book chapter by the Gathergood group have been downloaded over 6500 times globally. Promoting green chemistry in the fields of ionic liquids and catalysis is a core research area in the Chair of Green Chemistry at TUT. We thank the publishers, Intech, for providing the metrics below, a sample of the impact data available on their website for this chapter.

 Mukund Ghavre, Saibh Morrissey and Nicholas Gathergood (2011). Hydrogenation in Ionic Liquids, Ionic Liquids: Applications and Perspectives, Prof. Alexander Kokorin (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-307-248-7, InTech, DOI: 10.5772/14315.

 Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/ionic-liquids-applications-and-perspectives/hydrogenation-in-ionic-liquids

Fig. 1. Pie chart shows the download share by TOP 5 countries from which this publication was accessed 11/2015.

TUTIC-Green

Congratulations to Andrew Jordan for award at the Congress of Ionic Liquids 6

Well done to Andrew for receiving the best short oral student presentation at the COIL6 conference in South Korea this June. His talk describing our progress to design and develop biodegradable ionic liquids containing amide groups was well received. The work is in collaboration with several European research teams, with a major contribution from Prof. Kummerer’s group.

Biodegradation of ionic liquids – a critical review

The importance of biodegradation data as part of the design of safer chemicals is presented using ionic liquids (ILs) as a model study. Structural features that promote/impede IL biodegradation, IL design strategies, methods of biodegradation analysis, properties of IL/surfactant derivatives and computational methods of predicting biodegradation are discussed. The importance of metabolite studies as part of biodegradation assays is highlighted. The relevance of applying the lessons learned developing biodegradable ILs to other chemical classes is proposed. A comprehensive appendix of IL biodegradation data published since 2010 (∼300 ILs) has been compiled.

Biodegradation of ionic liquids