CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

In this chapter we summarize the activities and ongoing research in the field of Green Chemistry in Argentine. The description is not exhautive but pretend only to provide a brief overview in that regard. Argentina has signed the agreement established to become a Chapter of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute (ACS GCI). Chemistry students from different universities in the nation have actively participated in the Annual Summer School organized by said Institute. Relations with the Interuniversity Consortium "Chemistry for the Environment" (INCA) have also been developed, and a formal agreement with the University of Río IV, Córdoba, Argentina, was signed in 2002. At present, studies in collaboration with Italian laboratories members of INCA, and researchers from the University of La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, are being conducted. INCA has also sponsored two workshops: one held in Venice, Italy, in 2002, and the other in Córdoba, in 2003. The work reported in the latter workshop came from different laboratories along the country and it was particularly signifi cant for the development of interrelations among chemistry students and young researchers in Argentina. There are several areas which are being developed and a few of them are mentioned. These deal with: The use of solid catalysts derived from heteropolyacids to effi ciently catalyze reactions such as the formation of b-amino aryl crotonates as important precursor of quinolones. The application of biocatalysts for the clean synthesis of important class of compounds. Use of renewable raw materials. In this respect, work that is carrying out regards the use of a derivative of cellulose, levoglucosenone as an effi cient chiral auxiliary in organic synthesis. In other laboratory, polyamides are synthesized from carbohydrates derivatives. In our laboratory we are studying reactions of oxidation of sulfi des catalyzed by complexes of FeBr3-cyclodextrin which gave very good yield and chemoselectivity. Besides we have synthesized a cyclodextrin derivative with interesting surfactant properties and we are applying it, together with other surfactants systems, to the removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from soil. b-cyclodextrin which gave very good yield and chemoselectivity. Besides we have synthesized a cyclodextrin derivative with interesting surfactant properties and we are applying it, together with other surfactants systems, to the removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from soil.