THE DEVELOPMENT OF MESOSTRUCTURED SILICAS HAS OPENED UP A VAST FIELD OF RESEARCH BOTH ON THEIR STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES AND THEIR MANY POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS. HOWEVER, IN THE FIELD OF CATALYSIS THESE SILICAS ARE OF NO INTRINSIC INTEREST, AND FOR THIS REASON MANY WORKERS HAVE REPLACED THE SILICON OF THE STRUCTURE OR GRAFTED METAL IONS ONTO THE INTERNAL SURFACE OF THE PORES WHICH COULD GIVE THEM CATALYTIC ACTIVITY. THE HIGH SPECIFIC SURFACE AREA OF THE INITIAL MATERIAL (1000 M2 G-1) ASSOCIATED WITH A HOMOGENEOUS AND ADJUSTABLE POROSITY (2<DPORES<20 NM) SHOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO OBTAIN A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF ACTIVE SITES WITHOUT ACCESS BEING HINDERED BY PROBLEMS.

AMIDES HAVE BEEN SYNTHESIZED PROFICIENTLY WITH MINIMAL BY-PRODUCTS BY OPERATING A ONE POT OXIDATIVE AMIDATION OF BENZYL ALCOHOLS WITH AMINE HYDROCHLORIDE SALTS [1-4]. THIS GREENER AMIDE FORMATION PROCESS HAS BEEN DEVELOPED USING MAGNETIC INORGANIC–ORGANIC HYBRID CATALYST FE3O4@EDTA@CUCL2, BASE PROMOTER AND TBHP AS OXIDANT. THE CATALYST HAS BEEN CHARACTERIZED BY FT-IR, XRD, SEM, VSM, ICP AND TG/DTA. THE MEASURED CONTENT OF CU IN FE3O4@EDTA@CUCL2 BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA ATOMIC EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY (ICP-AES) WAS 0.4 MMOL PER GRAM OF CATALYST. AMIDE DERIVATIVES WERE OBTAINED IN HIGH YIELDS VIA A ONE-POT REACTION TACTIC. AFTER REACTION BY AID OF EXTERNAL MAGNET, THE CATALYST COULD BE EXCRETED FROM THE REACTION VESSEL AND REUSED AT LEAST SIX TIMES WITHOUT DECREASING OF ITS ACTIVITY.

THE OXIDATION OF ALCOHOLS IS AN IMPORTANT PROCESS IN ORGANIC SYNTHESIS [1]. THE CHEMO-, REGIO-, AND STEREOSELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ALCOHOLS TO CORRESPONDING CARBONYL COMPOUNDS IS ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL ORGANIC TRANSFORMATIONS FROM THE SYNTHETIC POINT OF VIEW [2]. HOWEVER, THE SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF PRIMARY ALCOHOLIC COMPOUNDS TO CORRESPONDING ALDEHYDES REMAINS VERY DIFFICULT BECAUSE IN THE OXIDATION OF PRIMARY ALCOHOLS, THE MAIN PRODUCTS ARE THE CORRESPONDING CARBOXYLIC ACIDS [3]. THIS WORK DEALS WITH THE CATALYTIC CONVERSION OF BENZYL ALCOHOL TO ALDEHYDES USING MANGANESE OXIDE NANOPARTICLES AS CATALYST. THE CATALYTIC POTENTIAL OF THIS NANOCOMPOSITES HAS BEEN TESTED FOR THE OXIDATION OF PRIMARY ALCOHOLS USING H2O2 AS OXIDANT. THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS PARAMETERS INCLUDING MOLAR RATIO OF OXIDANT TO SUBSTRATE, TEMPERATURE, AND SOLVENT HAVE BEEN STUDIED. THE OBTAINEDRESULTS SHOWED HIGH SELECTIVITY ALSO FOR THE OXIDATION OF PRIMARY ALCOHOLS TO ALDEHYDES. THE CATALYST WAS CHARACTERIZED BY X-RAY POWDER DIFFRACTION (XRD), AND SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM).THE OXIDATION PROCESS AND YIELD WAS STUDIED WITH GC.

TWO POLYPYRIDYL COPPER(II) COMPLEXES, [CU(PHEN)(PHEN-DIONE)CL]CL ( 1 ) AND [CU(BPY) (PHEN-DIONE)CL]CL ( 2 ), (WHERE PHEN =1,10-PHENANTHROLINE, BPY =2,2'-BIPYRIDINE AND PHEN-DIONE = 1,10-PHENANTHROLINE-5,6-DIONE), WERE USED AS NEW EFFICIENT CATALYSTS FOR THE OXIDATION OF BENZYL ALCOHOL TO BENZALDEHYDE. THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS PARAMETERS SUCH AS REACTION TEMPERATURE, REACTION TIME, ETC, WERE STUDIED. THE CATALYSTS WERE STABLE AT THE OPERATION CONDITIONS AND RECYCLABLE. THE CONVERSION PERCENTAGE FOR COMPLEX 1 WAS HIGHER THAN COMPLEX 2.

SUPERCAPACITORS, AS ENERGY STORAGE DEVICES WITH A HIGH SPECIFIC POWER AND A LONG DURABILITY, ARE USEFUL AS POWER SOURCES FOR HYBRID ELECTRICAL VEHICLES, FOR DIGITAL TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, FOR COMPUTERS AND PULSED LASER SYSTEM. HOWEVER, THE COST OF SUPERCAPACITOR HAS BEEN ALWAYS A CRITICAL ISSUE WITH RESPECT TO MARKET PENETRATION. FOR SUPERCAPACITORS USING CHEAP AQUEOUS ELECTROLYTES, THE MOST CRITICAL FACTOR IS THE COST OF THE ELECTRODE MATERIAL. POROUS CARBONS, DUE TO THEIR HIGH PORE ACCESSIBILITY, EXCELLENT THERMAL AND CHEMICAL STABILITY AS WELL AS RELATIVE LOW COST, ARE EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE AND COMPETITIVE AS ELECTRODE MATERIALS FOR SUPERCAPACITORS. CARBON AEROGELS HAVE A MONOLITHIC THREE-DIMENSIONAL MESOPOROUS NETWORK CONSISTING OF CARBON NANOPARTICLES WHICH EXHIBIT A HIGH SURFACE AREA, CONTROLLABLE PORE SIZE DISTRIBUTION, AND GOOD ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY. IN THIS WORK, WE SYNTHESIZED METHYL- BENZYL ALCOHOL (MBA)- FORMALDEHYDE (F) CARBON AEROGELS IN AN AQUEOUS ALKALINE (NAOH) SOLUTION BY SOL-GEL PROCESS FOLLOWED BY DRYING AT AMBIENT PRESSURE AND CARBONIZATION. THE GELATION TEMPERATURE WAS 358K TO CURE FOR 3 DAYS. UPON PYROLYSIS OF THE ORGANIC AEROGELS AT 1173K, MBAF CARBON AEROGELS WERE PRODUCED. THE MOLE RATIO OF MBA TO F (MBA/ F) WAS SELECTED IN 0.5, AND THE MOLE RATIO OF MBA TO NAOH (MBA/ CAT) WAS STUDIED IN 50, 60. SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM), THERMAL GRAVITY ANALYSIS (TGA), AND BRUNAUER- EMMETT- TELLER (BET) ANALYSIS, WERE USED TO STUDY THE OBVIOUS CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CHANGES OF AEROGEL MICROSTRUCTURES IN DETAIL. THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF CARBON AEROGELS CAN BE EFFECTIVELY CONTROLLED AND TAILORED BY VARYING THE SYNTHETIC CONDITIONS DURING THE INITIAL SOL- GEL PROCESS.