A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018

XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

FLYING WITH EAGLES: 17 YEARS IN ROMANIA AND 51 YEARS IN THE USA

Gheorghe D. Mateescu
Emeritus Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106-7078, USA

Is it possible to describe the life of a chemist in 40 minutes? The answer is yes, if enough
interesting things would be to say to cover such a long time. I will try to show you in 40 minutes how
I did succeed to introduce the infrared (IR) spectroscopy in the Romanian Chemistry, the adventures
and the luck involved in bringing the first NMR spectrometer in Romania, how I was lucky to arrive
in the USA, and what I did there. The first chance: Heyrowski’s polarograph. Then, the Trans-
Siberian and 11 months in Korea.(A curious disease). Costin D. Nenitzescu, Margareta Avram,
cyclobutadiene and IR. And all others! The second luck: the daughter of the Secretary of Defense.
The Secretary of the Oil Department, a former good colleague of my seven years in the boarding
high school; the Brazi Refinery and the American engineers. Iuliu Pogany and the Swiss engineer.
The first Romanian NMR Workshop (Warren Proctor, the discoverer of the Chemical Shift, the
promising youngsters, Jean Marie Lehn and James Finney). A month in Switzerland: “When did you
take so many spectra?” The International Chemistry Conference in Timisoara: Jacques Reisse.
Departure to America (by car). The first 6 months with George Andrew Olah: the protonated
cyclopropane! The following 6 months: protonated fluoro-methyl alcohol and a new
dibenzohomotropylium ion. The first great success: demonstration of the existence of a three-center-
two-electron bond by Siegbahn’s Photoelectron Spectroscopy (the Norbornyl Cation, one of the
Figures of G. Olah’s Nobel Lecture). My PhD thesis in 1971. Olah and Ernest Yeager and MAIF (the
Major Analytical Instruments Facility): “Money as much as you wish.” NIH (National Institutes of
Health) and our research on the mechanism of vision: Bill Abrahamson and the American students.
The water monomer (H2O)1 and the protonated water (H3O+)1with G. Benedikt. Five kinds of
water!In vivonascent mitochondrial water(monitoring glucose physiologywith O-17 and
DynamicDeuterium MR: C6H10D2O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + D2O + 5H2O + E↗(for ATP generation) and,
finally, MRI in USA and IRM in Romania.

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

REDOX-ACTIVE SELF-ASSEMBLED DISCRETE CAGES

S. Krykun, G. Szalóki, V. Croué, M. Allain, S. Goeb, M. Sallé

Laboratoire MOLTECH-Anjou, Université d’Angers, CNRS-UMR 6200
2 Bd. Lavoisier, 49045 Angers Cedex, France
Marc.salle@univ-angers.fr

While molecular cages are often challenging to prepare through covalent chemistry procedures,
the metal-driven self-assembly methodology allows a straightforward access to a wide variety
of discrete architectures. The resulting cavities offer promising opportunities for applications in
host-guest chemistry. In this context, we have focused our interest in the designing of electron-
rich self-assembled discrete cavities. The lecture will be dedicated to this new class of metalla-
cages, including recent advances related to their ability to trigger the encapsulation/release
process of a guest, through a redox stimulus.1-6

1- Croué, V.; Goeb, S.; Sallé, M. Chem. Commun, 2015, 51, 7275-7289.
2- Croué, V.; Goeb, S.; Szalóki, G.; Allain, M.; Sallé, M., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 1746-1750.
3- Szalóki, G.; Croué, V.; Allain, M.; Goeb, S.; Sallé, M., Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 10012-10015.
4- Colomban, C.; Szaloki, G.; Allain, M.; Gomez, L.; Goeb, S.; Sallé, M.; Costas, M.; Ribas, X.; Chem. Eur. J.,
2017, 23, 3016-3022
5- Croué, V.; Krykun, S.; Allain, M.; Morille, Y.; Aubriet, F.; Carré, V.; Voitenko, Z.; Goeb, S.; Sallé,M.; New J.
Chem., 2017, 41, 3238-3241.
6- Szalóki, G.; Croué, V.; Carré, V.; Aubriet, F.; Alévêque, O.; Levillain, E.; Allain, M.; Aragó, J.; Ortí, E.; Goeb,
S.; Sallé, M. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 16272-16276.

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

HOW DIRECT ACCESS TO EXTRACTED EXPERIMENTAL DATA IS FACILITATING

AND SPEEDING UP SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH?
Karol Chomicki

Life Sciences for Central and East Europe, ELSEVIER, The Netherlands

Knowledge is usually understood as publications – articles in journals, chapters in

books.
In the era of massive production of research publications it is not enough. Researchers need
tools to “dig” the information and even more importantly the data. This is a very time
consuming and low value work. It is also very easy to overlook crucial information. This
understanding leads to development of modern tools, going far beyond traditional abstract
databases like Scopus or Embase. Modern tools extract data and information from
publications and analyse them with help of Artificial Intelligence.
Reaxys, is one of those tools, created by chemists for chemists. Currently also indexing
information from widely understood Life Science field. It easily finds the data and
information extracted from articles, making it possible to analyse and compare data derived
from hundreds of thousands of publications in minutes. Researchers can quickly find data
about substances, their experimentally measured properties, chemical reactions and their
conditions, synthesis plans, practical use, commercial availability and more.
Reaxys, also contains the biggest database of bio-activities of chemical compounds. It allows
to find and analyse complete sets of bioactivity data in minutes.
Elsevier is working actively on a project aiming to provide access to Reaxys to a wide
chemistry community in Romania. Within this project, Elsevier will provide 30 days trial
access to all relevant institutions in Romania, and based on a feedback from trial institutions
about the need of permanent access Elsevier will further work with AnelisPlus on securing
national access

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

COORDINATION POLYMERS: NEW SYNTHETIC APPROACHES, TOPOLOGIES

AND PROPERTIES
Marius Andruh
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry Department

The search for new synthetic routes leading to homo- and heterometallic complexes is
of current interest in crystal engineering. In this lecture I will focus on the following
topics currently developed in our Laboratory: (i) coordination polymers constructed
from oligonuclearhomometallicnodes (ii) porous crystals;(iii) heterobimetallic
coordination polymers; (iv) heterotrimetallic coordination polymers. (v) single-
crystal-to-single-crystal processes. The magnetic properties will be presented for
several interesting cases.

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

ARTIFICIAL WATER CHANNELS

Mihail Barboiu
Adaptive SupramolecularNanosystems Group, Institut Europeen des
Membranes, ENSCM-UMII-UMR CNRS 5635, Place Eugene Bataillon CC047,
34095 Montpellier, France

This lecture discusses the incipient development

of the first artificial water channels systems. We
include only systems that integrate synthetic
elements in their water selective translocation unit.
Therefore, we exclude peptide channels because
their sequences derive from the proteins in natural
channels. We review many of the natural systems
involved in water and related proton transport processes. We describe how these systems can
fit within our primary goal of maintaining natural function within bio-assisted artificial
systems. In the last part, we present several inspiring breakthroughs from the last decade in
the field of biomimetic artificial water channels. All these examples demonstrate how the
novel interactive water-channels can parallel biomolecular systems. At the same time these
simpler artificial water channels offer a means of understanding the molecular-scale
hydrodynamics of water for many biological scenarios.

[1] M. Barboiu and A. Gilles, Acc. Chem. Res. 2013, 46, 2814–2823.
[2] M. Barboiu, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 11674-11676.
[3] Y. Le Duc, et al.,Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50(48), 11366-11372.
[4] E. Licsandru, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2016, 138, 5403-5409.
[5] M. Barboiu, Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 5657- 5665.
[6] I. Kocsis et al. Science Adv.2018, 4, eaao5603.

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

DESIGN OF GENE-ACTIVATED MATRIX FOR BONE REPAIR

Geta David1, Bogdan Simionescu1,2, Lilia Clima2, Dragos Peptanariu2, Mariana Pinteală2
1
“Gh. Asachi” Technical University, Department of Natural and Synthetic Polymers, Iasi, Romania
2
“Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Centre of Advanced Research in Bionanoconjugates
and Biopolymers Dept.

Gene-activated matrix systems (GAMs) combine tissue engineering and gene therapy strategies,
making them a promising alternative for prolonged and localized release of genetic material, while
improving biocompatibility [1]. Within this context, a series of branched polyethylenimine (bPEI)
based conjugates were synthesized and their potential in gene delivery, as such or included in a three-
dimensional hybrid scaffold (atelocollagen-glycosaminoglycan-polycaprolactone/nano-hydroxyapatite),
was investigated [2-6].
It was proved that all the investigated systems exhibited high transfection efficiency without or
with moderate cytotoxic side effects. The best results were obtained with the guanidinylated compound
Sq-BPEI-G for both polyplex and combined polyplex/matrix systems. The polyplex delivery from the
hybrid matrix was assessed through kinetic studies using a labelled Sq/bPEI conjugate. For the GAM:
Sq/bPEI – DNA plasmid/3D matrix system, the expression of the delivered plasmids was observed over
a 26 day- period.
Conclusions. The reported preliminary data recommend the studied biomaterials as possible
candidates for the development of a new gene-activated matrix (GAM) platform.

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by Horizon 2020 WIDESPREAD 2-2014: ERA Chairs
Project no 667387 and PNIII-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0050 project
Keywords: gene-activated matrix (GAM), high transfection efficiency, biomaterials.
References:
[1] Y. Xiang, N. N. L. Oo, J. P. Lee, Z. Li and X. J. Loh, Drug Discovery Today, 2017, 22(9), 1318–
1335.
[2] G. David, L. Clima, M. Calin, C.A. Constantinescu, M. Balan-Porcarasu, C.M. Uritu, B. C.
Simionescu, Polymer Chemistry, 2018, 9, 1072.
[3] B.C. Simionescu, M. Drobota, D. Timpu, T. Vasiliu, C.A. Constantinescu, D. Rebleanu, M. Calin,
G. David, Biopolymers/poly(ε-caprolactone)/polyethylenimine functionalized nanohydroxyapatite
hybrid cryogel: Synthesis, characterization and application in gene delivery, Materials Science &
Engineering C 2017, 81, 167–176.
[4] R. Ardeleanu, A.I. Dascalu,A. Neamtu,D. Peptanariu, C.M.. Uritu, S.S. Maier,A. Nicolescu,B.C.
Simionescu, M. Barboiu, M. Pinteala, Multivalent polyrotaxane vectors as adaptive cargocomplexes for
gene therapy Polymer Chemistry, 2018, 9, 845–859.
[5] A.I. Dascalu, R. Ardeleanu, A. Neamtu, A, S.S.Maier, C.M. Uritu, CM, M. Silion, D. Peptanariu, M.
Calin, M.Pinteala, Transfection-capable polycationic nanovectors which include PEGylated-
cyclodextrin structural units: a new synthesis pathway, JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY B,
2018, 5, 34, 7164-7174.
[6] A. Luca, V. Maier, S.S.Maier, M. Butnaru, M. Danu, C. Ibanescu, M. Pinteala, Biomacromolecular-
based ionic-covalent hydrogels for cell encapsulation: The atelocollagen - Oxidized polysaccharides
couples, CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS, 2017, 169, 366-375.

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

DESIGN, SYNTHESIS AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY EVALUATION OF

SOME FIVE AND SIX MEMBER RING NITROGEN HETEROCYCLES

Ionel I. Mangalagiu
“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, Faculty of Chemistry, Bd. Carol 11, 700506 Iasi, Romania. Tel: +40+232
201343; fax: +40+232 201313; e-mail: ionelm@uaic.ro

During the last fifty years, five and six member ring azaheterocyclic derivatives, especially
azine, diazine and diazols, were reported as valuable scaffolds in medicinal chemistry, showing
variously biological activities such as antiviral and anticancer, antituberculosis, antimicrobials,
antifungus, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, diuretics, antithrombics, anticoagulants,
antidepressant, anxiolytics, anticonvulsant, analgesic, etc.
As part of our ongoing research in the field of five and six member ring azaheterocyclic
derivatives, we present herein some core results obtained by our group within this area, focused on
design, synthesis, chemistry and biologically active compounds of potential interest as anticancer,
antituberculosis and antileishmania [1].
Thus, several classes of diazols, fused azine and diazine was designed, synthesized, and tested
for their biological activity. Some compounds have proved to have a significant biological activity as
antimycobacterial (activity superior to the second-line antitubercular drug Pyrimethamine and
Cycloserine), antileishmanial (against Leishmania donovani intramacrophage amastigote), and as
anticancer (especially against Brest cancer, CNS cancer, Lung cancer, Melanoma, Prostate cancer
and Renal cancer). For the most active compounds, a complete ADMET studies have been performed
(these including Plasma Protein Binding, Caco-2 Permeability, Cytochrome P450 Inhibition, in vitro
microsomal Stability, HepG2 Cytotoxicity) with very good and promising results. The molecular
docking experiments suggests important clues concerning the mechanism of actions of our five and
six member ring azaheterocyclic derivatives.
[1] Relevant literature data could be found to ORCID number 0000-0002-4632-5076.
Acknowledgements. Authors are thankful to the POSCCE-O 2.2.1, SMIS-CSNR 13984-901, No.
257/28.09.2010 Project, CERNESIM, for the NMR and X-ray spectra. Funding for this research was
also provided by UEFISCDI within the project PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0807.

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

SYNTHETIC "HOST MOLECULES", MECHANICALLY INTERLOCKED AND SELF

ASSEMBLED ARCHITECTURES FROM DESIGN TO APPLICATIONS

Ion Grosu

"Babeş-Bolyai" University, Supramolecular Organic and Organometallic Chemistry Center, Faculty of Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering, Arany Janos 11, 400028, Cluj-Napoca, România

Exciting host-molecules [macrocycles (I) and cryptands (II)] were obtained by specific reactions and then
investigated concerning their ability to accommodate inorganic (anions and cations) or organic guests. In
some cases (e.g. macrocycles I, biphenylaromatic units) the chirality of the compounds was investigated,
the enantiomers of the compounds were separated and the barriers for racemization processes were
determined.
Tetra- (III, IV), tri- (V) and didentate (VI) organic substrates (ligands) decorated with pyridine, cyano,
amidine or carboxylate groups were used in the synthesis of supramolecular self-assembled architectures
(polymers) whichare generated by halogen, hydrogen or charge-assisted hydrogen bonding
(CAHB).Some new COFs,obtained starting from classic tetraedral building blocks (derivatives of
tetraphenyladamantane or 9,9’-spirobifluorene) exhibiting relevant absorption and catalysis
properties,were also developped.

Figure 1. Representations (general formula or examples) of the main targets: macrocycles (I), cryptands (II), tetra- (III, IV),
tri- (V) and didentate (VI) building block for supramolecular polymers.

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

DESIGN OF SCALABLE MOLECULAR MATERIALS FOR ORGANIC SOLAR

CELLS
Jean Roncali

Supramolecular Organic and Organometallic Chemistry Center, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-

Napoca, Romania
Group Linear Conjugated Systems, CNRS, Moltech-Anjou, University of Angers, France

Organic photovoltaics (OPV) offers the possibility to develop a low-cost and low
environmental impact alternative to solar cells based on inorganic materials. For almost two
decades soluble π-conjugated polymers have been the most widely used donor materials for the
fabrication of donor-acceptor heterojunction solar cells. A more recent alternative approach
consists in replacing polymers by molecular chromophores in order to warrant a better
reproducibility of the synthesis, composition and properties of the active materials. During the
past decade, research efforts devoted to the development of new materials and to the
optimization of device fabrication has generated huge progress and power conversion
efficiencies exceeding 10% have been reported. However, the perspectives of industrial
production of organic solar cells in a near future remain elusive while a decline of interest of
industrial companies is perceptible.
Among the various causes of this situation, the high cost and limited scalability of active
materials as well as the orientation of the mainstream research on OPV are thought to play a
significant role. In order to address these problems we have developed an approach focused on
the design of materials based on small molecular structures combining simple synthesis,
stability and scalability. This approach will be illustrated by various examples of active
materials including donors for OPV cells and chromophores for dye-sensitized solar cells
(DSSC).

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

MAIN GROUP ORGANOMETALLICS AS BUILDING BLOCKS FORCOORDINATION

POLYMERS AND SUPRAMOLECULAR ARCHITECTURES

Cristian SILVESTRU
Centre of Supramolecular Organic and Organometallic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry,
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş‐Bolyai University, Arany Janos 11,
RO‐400028, Cluj‐Napoca, Romania
E-mail: cristian.silvestru@ubbcluj.ro

Main group organometallics can be used as robust, air stable, neutral or anionic ligandsin
which either the metal atom, in low oxidation state, or nonmetal atoms from functionalized organic
groups attached to the central metal atom can behave as connecting centers to other metal atoms.
Ditopic, tritopic or tetratopic tectons can be designed taking advantage of the nature of the main
group metal, the organic groups bearing recognition sites and anionic groups (e.g. thiocyanate,
azide)able to behave as bridges between different metal atoms. Symmetric/asymmetric
metalloligands ofdifferent dimensionality, i.e.appropriate distance between the recognition sites,and
exhibiting different types of chiralitycan be obtained and used to get the required network.
Examples of such organometallic tectons based on a main group metal (Sn,1-3 Sb,4,5 Bi5,6) or
mercury7 will be presented as well as some transition metal molecular complexes or coordination
polymers. The supramolecular solid-state architectures of different dimensionalities (1D, 2D or 3D
networks) built on the base of various types of interactions will be discussed.

Financial support from National University Research Council (CNCSIS, Romania; Research
Project No. PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0857) is highly acknowledged.

Referinţe
1.I. Barbul, R. A. Varga, C. Silvestru, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2013, 3146-3154.
2. I. Barbul, R. A. Varga, K. C. Molloy, C. Silvestru,Dalton Trans., 2013,42, 15427-15436.
3. A.-A. Someşan, R. A. Varga,C. Silvestru,Inorg. Chim. Acta, 2018,475, 177-183.
4. C. I. Raţ, C. Silvestru, H. J. Breunig,Coord. Chem. Rev., 2013, 257, 818-879.
5. D. Copolovici, F. Isaia, H. J. Breunig, C. I. Raț, C. Silvestru,RSC Advances, 2014,4, 26569-26576.
6. A. Ben Kiran, T.Mocanu, A.Pöllnitz, S.Shova, M.Andruh, C. Silvestru,Dalton Trans., 2018,47, 2531-2542.
7. T. Mocanu, C. I. Raţ, C. Maxim, S. Shova, V. Tudor, C. Silvestru, M. Andruh,CrystEngComm, 2015,17, 5474-5487.

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

HOW RARE IS RARE?

Calin Deleanu

1
“Costin D. Nenitescu” Centre of Organic Chemistry, Romanian Academy, RO-060023
Bucharest, Romania.
2
“Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Romanian Academy, Aleea
Grigore Ghica Voda 41A, RO-700487 Iasi, Romania.

In recent years there is an increase scientific activity and public pressure for
developing both diagnosis tools and therapies for rare diseases. As society evolves there is an
increased effort for tackling conditions affecting a small number of individuals even when this
approach requires targeted research activities for each particular case.
As more statistics become available on various rare diseases, it turns out that the total
number of humans affected by such diseases in impressively high. Thus, a significant number
of new born babies are daying worldwide of treatable disorders simply because of the lack of
diagnosis tools.
The paper deals with the NMR approaches in research of rare diseases and some
related medical conditions requiring personalized medical diagnosis. Several cases and
research directions from our laboratories are presented.

Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the financial support of the Romanian National Authority for
Scientific Research, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0050
(5DnanoP).

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 A XXXV-a CONFERINŢĂ NAŢIONALĂ DE CHIMIE 2018
XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

SILICON ALONG HUMAN HYSTORY:

A SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY JOURNEY FROM SILICATES TO HIGH
PERFORMANCE MATERIALS
Harabagiu Valeria
"Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Aleea Grigore Ghica Vodă 41 A, 700487 Iasi,
Romania

Being first used in its natural state of various silicates, found in sands and stones composing
about 90 % of the Earth crust, silicon was quite late separated by Berzelius in 1823. Further, highly
reactive silicon derivatives were synthesized and used either in organic chemistry or for the preparation
of silicon-organic polymers, such as polysiloxanes and polysilanes. Oils, greases, elastomers, resins,
ceramic materials or composites characterized by specific and unique properties were developed and
used in a large variety of industries as well as in the preparation of care products or of
bio(nano)materials.
The paper follows “the scientific and technological journey” of silicon along human society
history [1], concentrating on nowadays high performance materials. Some of the topics of interest in
“Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Laboratory of Inorganic Polymers are detailed.
Several examples are presented in Figure 1 [2-4].

Polyhydrosilane
Polysiloxane-cyclodextrin Polysilane covered silver nano-
polyrotaxanes particles

Photorestructuring
Additives: increased tenacity Surface enhanced
Quantum dots
of cellulose sponges fluorescence
Figure 1. Silicon-based materials
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation, CCCDI-UEFISCDI,
project number PN-III-P1-1.2-PCCDI-2017-0194/25PCCDI/2018, within PNCDI III.
References
1. E.G. Rochow, Silicon and Silicones: About Stone-age Tools, Antique Pottery, Modern Ceramics, Computers,
Space Materials and How They All Got That Way (Springer-Verlag Berlin-Heidelberg, 1987).
2. M. Soroceanu et al., Int. J. Adhesion Adhesives 74 (2017) 131
3. L. Sacarescu et al., Silicon 7 (2015) 343.
4. G. Sacarescu et al., Polym. Int. 61 (2012) 1726.
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XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

SIMULTANEOUS ARSENIC AND CHROMATE REMOVAL

FROM GROUND OR SURFACE WATERS BY FE(II), FE(III)
OR MIXED COAGULANTS OF FE(II)/FE(III) SALTS

Ioannis Katsoyianis, Asterios Laskaridis, John Sarakatsianos

Laboratory of Chemical and Environmental Technology
Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
Email: katsogia@chem.auth.gr

Contamination of groundwaters with toxic oxy-anions such as arsenic, chromate, antimony and
uranium is a major environmental issue of global concern. In particular, arsenic contamination of
groundwaters is probably the biggest waterborne disaster that humanity is facing, with more than
250 million people worldwide to be affected by exposure at elevated arsenic concentrations.
Moreover, according to recent estimations, more areas are expected to be discovered in the near
future, such as in Pakistan according to a recent survey. Also in Greece, there are many areas
affected by arsenic, as seen in the map with the hot spots. Another major contamination problem
is the presence of Cr(VI) in groundwaters worldwide and in Greece specifically. Simultaneous
presence of these two elements has been reported and its simultaneous removal by conventional
or innovative methods is a matter of investigation. In the present study, two conventional
coagulants will be compared with the mixed coagulants Fe(II)/Fe(III). At circumneutral pH values,
when arsenic and chromate are simultaneously present, the use of Fe(II) and of mixed
Fe(II)/Fe(III) has been found to remove both toxic compounds to very low concentrations,
whereas Fe(III) alone was able to remove only As(V). Between Fe(II) and Fe(II)/Fe(III), the use
of Fe(II) could remove both compounds with lower dosages than the mixed coagulant, however,
the mixed coagulant resulted in much lower turbidity values. Interestingly, use of Fe(II) was more
efficient than Fe(III) in removing As(V), probably due to the simultaneous present of Cr(VI). The
results have great implications for the treatment of waters with multiple contamination of toxic
components, which sometimes fail to be characterized as potable, because one or more toxic
compounds remain in water at levels higher than the permissible concentrations.

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XXXV-th ROMANIAN CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

CHEMISTRY AND MATERIAL’S PERFORMANCES IN CULTURAL HERITAGE

Rodica-Mariana Ion1,2

1
ICECHIM, Research Group: Evaluation and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, București, România, e-
mail: rodica_ion2000@yahoo.co.uk;
2
Universitatea Valahia, Târgoviște, Facultatea de Ingineria Materialelor, România
Scientific research on the cultural heritage, simultaneously pursues several goals: understanding
the materials and structural characterization of cultural heritage objects, the deterioration of art objects
and aging, developing new treatments for conservation and restoration and the resources needed for
advancing chemistry and materials research in cultural heritage. The complexity of cultural heritage
involves a demanding for new analytical techniques, new advances in analytical chemistry and materials
science, in addition to nanotechnology (hydroxyapatite, metallic hydroxides), that led to materials with
chemical compatibility, resistance to corrosion and color change, thermal stability, and thermal
expansion, that match with the original materials of a cultural object. The paper aims to present by
demonstrative examples of the composition and surface characterization of Romanian cultural heritage
surface: Corvin’s Castle, Basarabi-Murfatlar Churches, Potlogi Palace, Nanu Muscel house-Bucuresti,
Fîntineanu house-Slatina, Cioflea house-Targoviste1,2. The effects of materials of XXth century on
architectural heritage (reinforced concrete, decorative mortars) will be discussed and new formula for
repair ancient mortars, will be presented. The following spectroscopic techniques (UV-VIS, FTIR,
Raman, XRD and EDXRF, ICP-MS, chromatographic techniques (GC-MS), thermo-analytical
techniques (DSC, TGA), microscopic investigations (SEM, AFM) for samples from different
monuments, will be discussed, too. Such results are crucial when designing and implementing the
interventions and materials for the safeguard of cultural heritage.
Acknowlegements: This study was supported by the grant 51PCCDI/2018 from UEFISCDI-MEN.

References
1. Ion RM, Turcanu-Caruţiu D, Fierăscu RC, Fierăscu I, Bunghez IR, Ion ML, Teodorescu S, Vasilievici G, Rădiţoiu V.
Caoxite-hydroxyapatite composition as consolidating material for the chalk stone from Basarabi–Murfatlar churches
ensemble. Appl Surf Sci. 2015; 358: 612-618.
2.Ion RM,Nyokong T, Nwahara N, Suica-Bunghez IR, Iancu L, Teodorescu S, Dulama ID, Stirbescu RM, Gheboianu A,
Grigorescu RM, Wood preservation with gold hydroxyapatite system, Herit.Sci., 2018:6, 37-50.

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