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The Champenoise method for the obtainment of sparkling wines is based on “in bottle” re-fermentation driven by few commercial strains belonging to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae species and their exclusive use can cause a flattening of the sensorial profile. In this work, the impact of native selected yeast strains on the chemical profile of sparkling wines has been evaluated through non-targeted metabolomic approach based on HPLC-HRMS and GC-MS techniques. Results showed that yeast strain affects the levels of i) some fermentative compounds as well as of ii) polysaccharides, organic acids, phenolic acids and lipids. Moreover, a HPLC-HRMS/GC-MS correlation analysis permitted to draw a map that constitutes a useful tool to monitor the different patterns of aroma release. Finally, the present work provide original information to modulate positively the quality of regional sparkling wines from minor autochthonous grape varieties using selected microbial resources.

Three non-targeted methods, i.e. 1H NMR, LC-HRMS, and HS-SPME/MS-eNose, combined with chemometrics, were used to classify two table grape cultivars (Italia and Victoria) based on five quality levels (5, 4, 3, 2, 1). Grapes at marketable quality levels (5, 4, 3) were also discriminated from non-marketable quality levels (2 and 1). PCA-LDA and PLS-DA were applied, and results showed that, the MS-eNose provided the best results. Specifically, with the Italia table grapes, mean prediction abilities ranging from 87% to 88% and from 98% to 99% were obtained for discrimination amongst the five quality levels and of marketability/non-marketability, respectively. For the cultivar Victoria, mean predictive abilities higher than 99% were achieved for both classifications. Good models were also obtained for both cultivars using NMR and HRMS data, but only for classification by marketability. Satisfying models were further validated by MCCV. Finally, the compounds that contributed the most to the discriminations were identified.

A polymer supported palladium catalyst, obtained by copolymerization of Pd(AAEMA) 2 [AAEMA − = deprotonated form of 2-(acetoacetoxy) ethyl methacrylate] with ethyl methacrylate (co-monomer) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (cross-linker), exhibited excellent activity and selectivity for the hydrogenation of quinolines to 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines in the presence of NaBH 4 as hydrogen donor in water. Both the activity and selectivity could be maintained for at least seven reaction runs. No metal leaching into solution occurred during recycles. TEM analyzes carried out on the catalyst showed that the active species were supported palladium nanoparticles having a mean size of 3 nm, which did not aggregate with the recycles.

Composites based on a commercial grade polystyrene (PS) resin containing non commercial perovskite particles were prepared by melt mixing and analyzed in terms of mechanical properties, dynamic-mechanical behavior and morphology. In particular, with the aim to study the influence of the filler size on the ultimate properties of PS based composites micro- and nano-sized perovskite La0.5Sr0.5MnO3 crystal particles, synthesized by using an efficient and rapid microwave-assisted hydrothermal route, were considered. Measurements of flexural parameters such as modulus and strength by static tests and storage modulus and damping factor by dynamic-mechanical evaluations showed better performance for nanofilled systems with respect to the ones containing micro particles, with the same filler content. Mechanical evidences were explained also by morphological observations from which a different level of filler dispersion seems to be obtained with the organization of perovskite nanosized crystals in superstructures able to support viscoelastic results.

The effect of intense electromagnetic fields, generated inside a multimode microwave applicators, on the crystallization of calcium carbonate polymorphs starting from calcium bicarbonate solutions has been investigated. The identification and quantitative analysis of the calcium carbonate polymorphs has been made by X-ray diffraction using Rietveld-Reference Intensity Ratio (RIR) method. Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis has also been performed to study the morphology of calcium carbonate samples. Crystallization tests have been conducted at atmospheric pressure while adjusting microwave power to maintain solution temperature between 80 °C and 90 °C. For the sake of comparison, calcium carbonate powders have also been prepared using conventional heating either in a oven or on a hot plate with a magnetic stirrer. The experiments conducted using microwave radiation gave in a high percentage yield of aragonite (99%) which has been favoured by increasing microwave exposure times. Low microwave exposure times, on the other hand, favours vaterite formation which crystallized in an unusual flower-like morphology.

The polymerizable rhodium complex [(+)-diopRh(AAEMA)] (AAEMA − : deprotonated form of the ligand 2-(acetoacetoxy)-ethylmethacrylate) was obtained by reaction of (cod)Rh(AAEMA) with (+)-diop at −80 °C. Supported chiral complexes have been obtained by copolymerization of [(+)-diopRh(AAEMA)] with N , N -dimethylacrylamide and N , N ′-methylenebisacrylamide or by reaction of [(+)-diopRhCl] 2 with an opportunely prepared poly(β-ketoesterate). Catalytic tests carried out with the homogeneous catalyst or with both its heterogeneous analogues proved to be active in the enantioselective hydrogenation of methyl-( Z )-α- N -acetamidocinnamate yielding ( S )-phenylalanine methylester with ee’s up to 67%.

The reactions of [(cod)RhCl] 2 (cod=1,5-cyclooctadiene) and Na 2 PdCl 4 with the anion of 2-(acetoacetoxy)ethyl methacrylate (AAEMA − ) afforded (cod)Rh(AAEMA) ( 1 ) and Pd(AAEMA) 2 ( 2 ). Thermal copolymerization of 1 and 2 with suitable comonomers and cross-linkers yielded insoluble resins that have been characterised by elemental analyses, IR, UV–Vis, XPS and SEM techniques and successfully used in the hydrogenation of 1-heptene under mild conditions.