Thermogravimetry (TG) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) are proposed as a fast and sensitive tool to discriminate the industrial processing of spaghetti pasta by focusing the attention on the thermal profiles of the structured water release. Thirteen different name-brand and store-brand kinds of spaghetti pasta were analysed. The results show different profiles according to the drying procedures. By on-line coupling a FTIR spectrometer to the thermobalance, the evolved gas analysis (EGA) allowed to confirm the water releasing step.

The Rothemund condensation reaction of pyrrole and aldehydes is an extensively used route to meso-tetraarylporphyrins, but simple modifications of the reaction conditions allow the formation of different macrocycles other than the expected porphyrin. In the presence of an excess of pyrrole, this modified Rothemund approach leads to the synthesis of meso-triaryl-substituted corroles. This methodology allows the preparation of a wide range of substituted corroles starting from commercially available products. Higher yields have been obtained in the case of benzaldehydes bearing electron-withdrawing substituents, while the reaction fails in the presence of 2,6-disubstituted benzaldehydes. Although if not isolated, some experimental evidences indicate that the linear 5,10,15-triphenylbilane 4 is the precursor of the final corrole ring. Reaction of 5,10,15-triphenylcorrole 2 with an excess of NBS leads to the complete bromination of the macrocycle. Spectroscopic characterization seems to indicate the formation of the porphodimethene-like structure 5, where the macrocyclic aromatic conjugation is interrupted at the 10 position. Metalation of this compound with cobalt acetate and PPhB affords the corresponding complex. The X-ray crystal structure of triphenylphosphine [2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octabromo-5,10,15-tris(4-nitrophenyl)corrolato]cobalt(III) 8 confirms the ability of corrole ring to retain an almost planar conformation when fully substituted at the peripheral positions.

Eine dimere, auch in Lösung stabile Struktur, die auf Wasserstoffbrückenbindungen beruht, charakterisiert das Chloridsalz des abgebildeten expandierten Corrols. Die Synthese, die Röntgenstrukturanalyse sowie die NMR- und UV/Vis-Absorptionsspektren der neuen Spezies bestätigen die Strukturzuordnung sowohl in Lösung als auch im festen Zustand.

The luminescence properties at room temperature and 77 K of octamethylcorrole are reported for the first time, together with the photophysical behaviour of corrole-corrole and porphyrin-corrole dyads covalently linked through the 10-position with a phenyl bridge. The photophysical properties of corrole free base are very similar to those of the porphyrin analogues, whereas the dimeric systems show luminescence bands different from those of the parent monomers, indicating an unexpectedly high degree of interaction between the chromophores. The porphyrin-corrole dyad undergoes photocatalysed ring opening of the corrole moiety to give the corresponding porphyrin-biliverdin species.

One-pot synthesis of 5,10,15-triphenylcorrole has been achieved by reaction of benzaldehyde with an excess of pyrrole; the triphenylphosphinocobalt complex of 5,10,15-triphenylcorrole has been structurally characterized using X-ray crystallography.

The first example of deposition of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of a manganese complex of corrole is described. Characterization of the morphological and molecular structure of these LB films has been carried out by means of different microscopic and spectroscopic methods. Depositions onto different substrates afford very uniform films of determined thickness; all the experiments carried out suggest that manganese correlates in LB films are normally oriented to the substrate, with a face-to-face packing of the macrocycles, due to pi-pi interactions. The interactions of these LB films with different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been investigated using the quartz microbalance (QMB) technique.

In the present work, modifications of water–matrix interactions in Grana Padano (GP) cheese were studied using thermogravimetric techniques in order to provide an index of ripening. These techniques represent a simple and rapid method for determining water content and for monitoring its behaviour in ripening GP cheese. It is possible to evaluate the quantity of water present in the matrix, as well as the different types of water bound to it both qualitatively and quantitatively. Samples of traditional GP cheese produced in the winter season (same day), and collected at different ripening stages (5,10,14,19 months), were investigated. When statistical models of the STARMAX (Space Time Autoregressive Moving Average eXogenous variables) class, augmented with surface trends, were fitted to thermoanalytical data, valuable insights into the chemical nature of the ripening were acheived with good predictive performances.

A dimeric structure that is held together by hydrogen bonds and is stable in solution is adopted by the hydrochloride salt of the expanded corrole shown. The synthesis, X-ray structure, and NMR and electronic absorption spectra of the new species all confirm the structural assignment in solution and in the solid state.

Sapphyrins are highly colored compounds with an expanded aromatic system. In this paper thin films of sapphyrin derivatives are used for the development of optochemical sensors. Absorption spectra showed remarkable changes after interactions with analytes. In this extended abstract the development of a measurement set-up find preliminary results toward detection of some volatile organic compounds are reported.