Vol. 110 No. 1 (2014)

Resumen: En este artículo se intenta explicar cuál puede ser una hoja de ruta para el diseño de sustitutos óseos.
Palabras clave: Diseño, ingeniería de tejidos, nanopartículas, sustitutos óseos.
Abstract: This paper attempts to describe a potential road map in the design of bone replacements.
Keywords: Bone replacements, design, nanoparticles, tissue engineering.

Resumen: El gran desarrollo de la catálisis asimétrica durante los últimos 40 años la ha convertido en la estrategia de mayor interés en síntesis asimétrica. En este artículo se revisan nuestras aportaciones en catálisis asimétrica homogénea basadas en el diseño de catalizadores quirales fácilmente asequibles tratando de conseguir procesos sostenibles. En el caso de la organocatálisis se han diseñado catalizadores recuperables bien por precipitación o por extracción ácido-base. En el campo de la catálisis con complejos metálicos se han utilizado tanto ligandos quirales recuperables como fosforados “privilegiados” usando metales poco contaminantes.
Palabras clave: Organocatálisis asimétrica, catalizadores de transferencia de fase, complejos metálicos quirales, adiciones nucleófilas, cicloadi-ciones 1,3-dipolares.
Abstract: During the last 40 years asymmetric catalysis has become the most important strategy in asymmetric synthesis . In this article our contributions in homogeneous asymmetric catalysis focused in ready available catalysts are in the development of sustainable processes are presented. In the case of organocatalysis our aim was to design recoverable chiral catalysts by simple precipitation or acid-base extractive work-up. In the case of recoverable metal complexes and “privileged” phosphorous ligands and low toxic metals have been used.
Keywords: Asymmetric organocatalysis, phase-transfer catalysts, chiral metal complexes, nucleophilic additions, 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions.

Resumen: Los polifenilacetilenos son un tipo de polímeros helicoidales que pueden responder a diversos estímulos externos como la temperatura, la polaridad, etc. Este artículo aborda la respuesta de estos polímeros a la presencia de iones metálicos en forma de inversión de helicidad del polímero de partida, o de amplificación de la quiralidad del polímero a través de la magnificación de un sentido helicoidal (dextrógiro o levógiro). A su vez, se mostrará como la formación de complejos metal-polímero helicoidal dará lugar a nanoesferas cuyo tamaño y quiralidad podrá regularse mediante el uso de diferentes metales o variando la relación metal/polímero.
Palabras clave: Polímero helicoidal, amplificación de la quiralidad, inversión de la helicidad, nanoesfera, encapsulación, polifenilacetileno.
Abstract: Poly(phenylacetylene)s are a family of helical polymers that respond to external stimuli such as temperature, solvent polarity, metal ions, etc. This work is focused on the response of poly(phenylacetylene)s to metal ions. Depending on the nature of the poly(phenylacetylene) we can observe two different effects: the helix inversion or the chiral amplification of a single helical sense (left-handed or right handed) by the addition of metal ions . Moreover, the formation of metal-helical polymer complexes can lead to the formation of nanospheres, where their diameter and helical sense content can be tuned by the addition of different metal ion or by changing the metal/polymer ratio.
Keywords: Helical polymer, chiral amplification, helix inversion, nanosphere, encapsulation, poly(phenylacetylene).

Large CO2 emissions coming from the combustion of fossil fuels are responsible for the global warming in the Earth. These environmental concerns are forcing the different governments to find solutions to reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate this adverse effect. One of the most promising solutions consists in the selective CO2 capture on industrial streams using porous adsorbents (zeolites, activated carbons and MOFs) combining a high adsorption capacity and a proper selectivity to CO2 versus other molecules from flue gas, together with a proper regeneration.

This paper deals with different aspects in philosophy of chemistry that have concerned the author for many years .

Keywords: Number of molecules, 4-dimension chirality, isotopomer, non-covalent interaction

In 1913 an emblematic Chemistry international meeting was held in Brussels, sponsored by the industrialist Ernest Solvay to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of their first factory. This was the third meeting of the International Association of Chemicals Societies (IACS), predecessor to the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry). This association was founded two years before to promote communication and exchange of information among scientists, especially chemists, internationally, promoting the standardization of nomenclature and symbols. Aspects of this meeting (origin, objectives, conclusions . . .) and biographical data of the representatives of various scientific societies, among which are three Nobel Laureates in Chemistry (Ramsay, Ostwald and Werner) and three Spaniards (Hauser, Casares and Rodríguez Mourelo) are summarized.

Keywords: chemistry history, chemical nomenclature, symbols of magnitudes, international association of chemical societies, IUPAC

Richard Chenevix (1774-1830), an analytical chemist and man of letters, carried on the analysis of many minerals, proposed a large number of changes to the new nomenclature promoted by the French chemists, and originated an acrid and wrong discussion regarding the nature of palladium. He was also an active critic of the German system called natural philosophy, as well as the crystallographic theories of Christian Samuel Weiss, and the chemical classification of Abraham Gottlob Werner. These topics are discussed on this and the following article.

In this second article, we continue reporting the scientific contributions of Richard Chenevix (1774-1830) in many topics, including sulfuric acid and sulfates, chlorine and its derivatives, nomenclature, chemical philosophy, mineralogy, crystallography as well as the study of acetic acid, acetate and the isolation (but not characterization) of acetone.

This paper reviews the processes to produce energy nowadays as well as the environmental problems that each of them present. The possible solutions as well as the research lines developed to solve these problems are resumed. A possible energetic future is described, although the different strategies chosen by the different countries could differ. This will give place to disequilibria that will lead to industrial and economic problems in those countries whose strategies greatly differ from those of the rest of the countries.

Keywords: Energy, environment, combustion, nuclear, renewable.

Crystallography is often introduced to students as a tool for analysis embedded within the framework of other sciences or disciplines. This makes Crystallography losing in some way, its identity as science. By using cinema and television as outreach tools we introduce Crystallography as an independent science itself, in spite of the complex and abstract concepts in which is based, in an entertaining as well as rigorous way.

Keywords: Crystallography, scientific outreach, cinema, television.