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This article provides a general overview of the results of research on the influence of the reaction media and various types of electromagnetic radiation on the polymerization of inorganic monomers, carried out during the last decade at UNESCO Chair in Green Chemistry for Sustainable Development of Dmitry Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose is an important renewable resource for the production of bioethanol and other valuable compounds. Several ionic liquids (ILs) have been described to dissolve water-insoluble cellulose and/or wood. Therefore, ILs would provide a suitable reaction medium for the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose if cellulases were active and stable in the presence of high IL concentrations. For the discovery of novel bacterial enzymes with elevated stability in ILs, metagenomic libraries from three different hydrolytic communities (i.e. an enrichment culture inoculated with an extract of the shipworm Teredo navalis, a biogas plant sample and elephant faeces) were constructed and screened. Altogether, 14 cellulolytic clones were identified and subsequently assayed in the presence of six different ILs. The most promising enzymes, CelA2, CelA3 (both derived from the biogas plant) and CelA84 (derived from elephant faeces), showed high activities (up to 6.4 U/mg) in the presence of 30% ( v/ v) ILs. As these enzymes were moderately thermophilic and halotolerant, they retained 40% to 80% relative activity after 34 days in 4 M NaCl, and they were benchmarked with two thermostable enzymes, CelA from Thermotoga maritima and Cel5K from a metagenome library derived from Avachinsky crater in Kamchatka. These enzymes also exhibited high activity (up to 11.1 U/mg) in aqueous IL solutions (30% ( v/ v)). Some of the enzymes furthermore exhibited remarkable stability in 60% ( v/ v) IL. After 4 days, CelA3 and Cel5K retained up to 79% and 100% of their activity, respectively. Altogether, the obtained data suggest that IL tolerance appears to correlate with thermophilicity and halotolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers historical information on the electrochemistry of organic compounds conferences (ECOC) in Russia which celebrates its 50th anniversary. It notes that the ECOC conferences was first held on June 27, 1958 to provide information on studies in the field of electrochemical synthesis and the prospects of their development. It states that second conference took place in 1959 and was carried out until 2010 and the number of members continuously increased due to active involvement in the work. Also mentioned are that successful developments in the conferences including electrochemistry of fullerenes, electrochemistry of nanosized particles, and electrosynthesis in ionic liquids.