Novel technologies toward the discovery of new materials and complex organic molecules

The evolution of chemistry, from its chemical roots until nowdays, is a fascinating journey marked by the development of new technologies and designing processes that are environmentally sustainable. In this work technology and design has been applied. In Chapter 1 a new approach to diphenolic esters (DPE) is presented. The method reported is a one-pot synthesis of alkyl DPEs in the presence of heterogeneous catalyst. Employing the commercial catalyst Aquivion®, ten new compounds were synthesized from levulinic acid, an alcohol, and phenol as a solvent-reagent. The first mechanochemical example of the synthesis of 1,4 allenynes is reported in Chaper 2. Thanks to the mechanochemical activation of copper zero valent metal a new class of substances were synthesized under ball mill conditions. The products can be obtained in a short time (2h) without the use of ligands. Chapter 3 contains the development of a Resonance Acoustic Mixer (RAM) methodology for the synthesis of valuable indoles moiety. The 5 hydroxy-indole moiety was synthesized with a procedure that employed the use of calcium chloride (10 mol%) as catalyst and low reaction time (2h). The products reported were precipitated and isolated without further purification. The importance of the application of mechanochemical forces is reported in Chapter 4. Under mechanochemical conditions erbium oxide structural modifications were observed. Due to the complex interplay of mechanical forces, including shock-type impulses and torsional stresses together with crystal size reduction and defect formation a transition phase from cubic to monoclinic phase was reported.