Dipartimento di Scienze chimiche

Chemistry plays a key role in scientific and technological progress for people’s health, well-being and environment protection. The primary mission of the Department of Chemical Sciences (DSC) is the promotion of research and training in various fields of this essential discipline for everyday life. Along with its solid commitment in the basic research, the DSC has developed a synergistic interest in the application of scientific results to the environment defense, technology transfer, industry and cultural heritage. Many researchers at the DSC are, in fact, involved in the creation of Spin-offs, or they provide services to local institutions and industries of the area. Overall, due to the presence of unique skills and equipment and of highly qualified personnel, the DSC provides support to traditional research activities and it also contributes to meeting the needs of the area in terms of scientific advice, chemical analysis and high-level training of students and young researchers.

Together with academic, technical and administrative staff, the Department hosts more than 80 PhD students, PostDocs and research fellows, which makes the scientific environment very active and stimulating.
Six graduate courses (two in Chemistry and two in Industrial Biotechnologies) and two PhDs schools are established at the DSC: PhD in Chemical Sciences and PhD in Biotechno logies.

Research output (2011-2013)

Data on the research output of the Department are extracted from the 2011-2013 Research activities Review (SUA-RD)

Staff

Data on the Department Staff is taken from the institutional website of the Italian Ministry of University and Research

Research projects

MIUR Projects

  • PRIN 2012 A molecular and functional study of ADAM10 at the Huntington's Disease synapse. Principal Investigator: Maria Monti
  • PRIN 2012 Theoretical study of hybrid organic-inorganic materials in complex chemical environments. Principal Investigator: Michele Pavone
  • PON 2012 BIOPOLIS Development of green technologies for the production of biochemicals and the industrial application of polymeric materials from agriculture biomass from sustainable cultivations in the Campania region.
    Coordinator: Vincenza Faraco; PI: Martino Di Serio, Paola Giardina e Loredana Mariniello
  • FIRB 2012  Design of nano-heterogeneous materials for solar energy conversion. Scientific coordinator: Michele Pavone
  • PRIN 2010 Nanostructured polymeric materials with targeted molecular and crystal structures for advanced environmental technologies. Principal Investigator: Claudio De Rosa
  • PRIN 2010 PROXI - Oxidative and free radical processes: new aspects and applications for developing melanin-inspired biopolymers and antioxidants of biomedical and technological relevance. Scientific Coordinator: Marco D’Ischia
  • PRIN 2010 Photophysical and photochemical properties of organic and biological compounds in solution and organized media. Principal Investigator: Orlando Crescenzi
  • PON 2010 SNECS - Social Network of the Historical Center.
    PrincipaI Investigator: Alessandro Vergara

EU Projects

  • 2014FP7 LEGATO Legumes for the agriculture of tomorrow Unit Coordinator: Antonio Evidente
  • 2013 FP7 OPTIBIOCAT Optimized esterase biocatalysts for cost-effective industrial production. Scientific coordinator: Vincenza Faraco
  • PF7 2013-2018  PharmaSea: Increasing Value and Flow in the Marine Biodiscovery Pipeline. Unit coordinator: Maria Luisa Tutino
  • H2020-MSCA-ITN-2014 TOLLerant Toll-Like Receptor 4 activation and function in diseases: an integrated chemical-biology approach. Unit Coordinator: Alba Silipo
  • H2020-MSCA-ITN-ETN-2016 TEMPERA Teaching Emerging Methods in Palaeoproteomics for the European Research Area. Unit coordinator: Leila Birolo
  • H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 Train To Target. An integrated multidisciplinary approach towards a new generation of antibiotics: targeting cross-talk of bacterial envelope protein machineries. Unit Coordinator: Antonio Molinaro

Other projects

  • Federico II University Project 2017. Blo-app-sun:  A Block Copolymer Approach for Flexible Solar Cells. Coordinator: Anna Malafronte
  • Federico II University Project 2017. IENA:  Immobilization of ENzymes on hydrophobin-functionalized Nanomaterials. Coordinator: Paola Giardina
  • National program of research in Antarctic PNRA 2013. Molecular basis of low temperature and warming adaptation in the antarctic plant Colobanthus quitensis through an integrated trascriptomic and proteomic approach. Scientific Coordinator: Piero Pucci
  • Programma Nazionale di Ricerca in Antartide PNRA 2013. “Genome scanning” di microorganismi antartici e caratterizzazione di nuove proteine antifreeze per applicazioni industriali. Responsabile scientifico: Ermenegilda Parrilli
  • Programma Nazionale di Ricerca in Antartide PNRA 2013. Biofilm di batteri Antartici, Pseudoalteromonas haloplankits TAC125, composti bioattivi, anti-virulenza, agenti patogeni umani, Coordinatore nazionale: Maria Luisa Tutino, Responsabile scientifico: Maria Michela Corsaro
  • Programma Nazionale di Ricerca in Antartide PNRA 2013. “Nuovi farmaci contro i patogeni opportunisti della Fibrosi Cistica dal microbiota antartico, Responsabile scientifico: Maria Luisa Tutino
  • Programma Nazionale di Ricerca in Antartide PNRA 2016. Struttura e proprietà immunologiche di lipopolisaccaridi da batteri psicrofili antartici: SIMPLY. Responsabile scientifico: Alba Silipo
  • Enea 2015 Block copolymers based photovoltaic cells. Scientific Coordinator: Claudio De Rosa
  • Made in Italy 2008 Chemistry and formulations for the “Made in Italy”: new technological platforms for textiles and leather with low environmental impact. Scientific Coordinator: Rosa Lanzetta
  • Regular Project Ministry of Health, 2013 Prenylcysteine lyase as a potential novel player in atherosclerosis. Scientific Coordinator: Piero Pucci
  • Cariplo Foundation–Advanced Materials 2013 Crystalline Elastomers – Materials based on olephineomopolymers and copolymers  with elastomeric properties Scientific Coordinator: Finizia Auriemma
  • AIRC 2015  MUF-NAPLES - MUlti-Functional NAnoParticLES for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Scientific Coordinator: Daniela Montesarchio
  • Mizutani Foundation for Glycobiology 2014 NMR as tool to unveil molecular basis of NOD proteins-peptidoglycan interaction. Principal Investigator: Antonio Molinaro
  • Young Investigator Project 2012 Dissecting the TRIM8 role in the pathogenesis of glioma and therapy. Scientific Coordinator: Maria Monti
  • CLUSTER-MIUR REBIOCHEM– Development of catalysts for selective oxidations. Scientific Coordinator: Francesco Ruffo
  • Fourth Executive Program of Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Italy and the United States of Mexico, financiated by Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation  2017Principal Investigator: Prospero Di Pierro

Libraries, labs and facilities

The Department of Chemical Sciences hosts several large instrumentations used in different research areas by researchers and students of degree and PhD courses, and in particular:

  • Laboratory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - It comprises several NMR spectrometers: a 600MHz Bruker Avance with cryoprobe, a 500 MHz Varian Inova, a 400 MHz Bruker Avance DRX, two  400MHz Bruker Avance, one of which set up to record high temperature spectra and equipped with a cryoprobe, and two 400 MHz Bruker Avance IIITM HD 400MHz, of which one equipped with a solid state wide bore probe.
  • Laboratory of X-Rays Diffraction - It maintains, among other instruments, a single crystal diffractometer KappaCCD with Area Detector, two wide angle diffractometers (WAXS) PANalytical, that can also perform low temperature measures, a small angle diffractometer (SAXS) SAXSess Anton Paar, a multi-purpose small and wide angle diffractometer Empyrean. The laboratory has subscriptions to the CCDC e ICDD databases.
  • Laboratory of Optical Spectroscopy, EPR and light scattering - It hosts a UV/VIS NIR Varian-Cary spectrophotometer, a JASCO J715 spectropolarimeter, a FT-IR Nicolet 5700, a FTIR microscope with ATR, a spectrofluorimeter Fluoro-max-4 HORIBA; a biomolecular NanoZetaSizer Malvern; an EPR spectrometer Bruker Elexys E500 and a Raman confocal microscope JASCO NRS-3100; a home-made Dynamic and Static Light Scattering instrument.
  • Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry - It comprises several machines, among which a LC-MS ESI-TOF 1260/6230DA Agilent and a MALDI TOF-TOF 5800 ABI SCIEX, a nano LC-CHIP-MS/MS system with a Q-TOF analyzer, an LC-MS/MS system equipped with ORBITRAP analyzer from ThermoFisher, a GC-MS/MS system with triple quadrupole Waters, a nanoLC-MS/MS 4000 Q-TRAP with a linear ion trap analyzer from ABI SCIEX.
  • Laboratory of Microscopy - It includes a polarized light microscope Zeiss Axioscop40, an AFM VeecoCaliber microscope, an AFM Bruker MultiMode8, a SEM FEI NovaNano SEM450 microscope, a 200 kV TEM FEI and a Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope from ZEISS.
  • Laboratory of Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis for polymers and biomolecules - It comprises a Differential Scanning Calorimeter Mettler Toledo DSC-822, a Differential Scanning Calorimeter with a liquid nitrogen cooling system, a Differential Scanning Calorimeter DSC Perkin-Elmer and a thermobalance TA Instruments SDT 2960, an isothermal calorimeter Thermal Activity Monitor (Thermometric); a calorimeter for isothermal titration Nano-ITC III  (Calorimetry Science Corporation, CSC); a Micro-ITC (CSC); a Nano-DSC (Thermal Analysis Instruments).
  • Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for the Environment - It is part of the “Centro Qualità di Ateneo” (CQA) and of the“Centro Servizi Metrologici Avanzati” (CeSMA).
    It is certified for physicochemical analysis on drinkable and bottled water, certified UNI EN ISO 9001:2008 and accredited UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005 (ACCREDIA: 1498B). Main equipment: ICP-MS, ICP-OES, MP-OES, P&T-GC-MS (triple quadrupole), 4 gas-chromatography systemsHS-GC-FID-ECD, 6 ion-chromatography systems, HPLC-UV-DAD-FL, HR-imaging-XRF, TOC-N.
  • Laboratory of robotics for the biotechnologies - It comprises a Colony Picker QPix450 (Molecular Devices) for the automated manipulation and screening of microorganisms and a robotic workstation composed by a Biomek® NX integrated with a thermo- shaker and automated sealer (Beckman Coulter) to  handle and prepare liquid samples and screen enzyme activity.
  • Laboratory of Computational Chemistry - The main hardware of the laboratory of computational chemistry is composed by a cluster of dual- and quad- processors Opteron (190 core), a cluster of dual- and quad- processors  Xeon, a cluster of dual processors Opteron Quad Core (176 core), two clusters of 8-core Intel Xeon E5 (192 core), two storage systems (24 TB SAS II).
  • Library - The library “Alfonso Maria Liquori” at the Department of Chemical Sciences hosts more than 15,000 volumes. The monographic section is part of the University Catalogue and is available on the “Centro Bibliotecario di Ateneo” website; the journal collection is available on the “Catalogo Nazionale dei Periodici”. The DSC has a RSC Gold subscription, and the journals of the Royal Society of Chemistry are made available to the whole University via SireLib, the digital library of the University Federico II. The library provides consultation, loan, article mailing and bibliographic research services. It hosts a wide and relevant collection of historical and ancient monographies. Library Management: Marinella Rotondo and Federica Romano.

Third Mission

The Department of Chemical Sciences is involved in continuing education activities, targeting students and teachers at all levels and in activities aimed at spreading chemical sciences  among society. It has third party contracts, for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of samples from different origin through state of art techniques.
It hosts several spin-offs (HTExplore, InKiDia, iSweetch, Plastel) and has ongoing agreements with innovative start-ups, some of which operating within the Department.
Some teachers of the DSC have created the association "Women in Science Group@Naples" , an association formed by researchers of the University Federico II  and other public research institutions, which aims to promote positive actions to increase the presence of women in research and scientific careers.

Patents

Members of the DSC are owners or co-owners of national and international patents relating to the synthesis of molecules or nanoparticles with potential application in the industrial and pharmaceutical field. The latest patents obtained are:

  • A. Andolfi, A. Evidente (IT 2012) Composti fagodeterrenti di origine fungina.
  • F. Auriemma, C. De Rosa, (WO 2015) Pre-polymerized catalyst components for the polymerization of olefins.
  • E. Bedini, A. Iadonisi  (IT 2013) Processo per la preparazione di condroitine solfatate in posizione 3 sull'acido glucuronico IT1404698
  • E. Bedini (EP 2015) Process for obtaining chondroitin sulphated at the 4- or 6- positions of N-acetylgalactosamine residues.
  • F. Borbone, A. Carella, R. Centore, A. Roviello, (US 2012) Procedimento di realizzazione di materiali polimerici con proprietà elettroottiche non lineari del secondo ordine e di dispositivi elettroottici realizzati con detti materiali.
  • F. Borbone, A. Carella, A. Roviello (IT 2012) Materiale polimerico con proprietà elettroottiche non lineari del secondo ordine e dispositivi elettroottici realizzati con detto materiale.
  • V. Busico R. Cipullo (US 2013) Activating agents for hafnium-based mtallocene compounds
  • V. Busico, R. Cipullo (US 2012) Multi-block copolymer process using polar solvents.
  • V. Busico, R. Cipullo (US 2012) Tactic polymer polymerization process using chiral catalysts.
  • R. Centore, A. Roviello (IT 2011) Manufatti piezoelettrici organici ottenuti a partire da precursori liquidi di basso peso molecolare.
  • M.E. Cucciolito, M. Di Serio, F. Ruffo, R. Tesser (IT 2014) Catalizzatori per la produzione di esteri da oli e grassi vegetali e animali.
  • C. De Rosa, F. Auriemma,  O.Ruiz de Ballesteros (US 2010) Cross-point nanoarray with active anisotropic organic layer.
  • G. Di Fabio, A. Zarrelli, (IT 2016) New phosphoramidite reagent for phosphorylation of synthetic oligonucleotides in terminal position IT 1420344
  • M. Di Serio, R. Tesser (IT 2011) Nuovo processo per la produzione di acetato di etile e di idrogeno puro da etanolo.
  • L. Paduano, G. D’Errico, D. Montesarchio (WO, 2014) Functionalized hybrid magnetite-gold nanoparticles with core-shell structure.
  • V. Pavone, F. Nastri, O. Maglio, A. Lombardi  (IT 2013) Catalizzatori ad alta efficienza, loro preparazione e uso.
  • V. Pavone, F. Nastri, O. Maglio, A. Lombardi (WO 2012) High-efficiency catalysts, preparation and use thereof .
  • G. Roviello, C.  Menna, O. Tarallo, L. Ricciotti, C. Ferone, D. Asprone, F. Colangelo, R. Cioffi, R.; A. Roviello, A. Prota, (IT 2016) Geopolymer hybrid materials for high temperature applications: preparation method and materials thus obtained.
  • A. Roviello, F. Borbone (IT 2013)Film colesterici fotostabili per la riflessione e/o la trasmissione selettiva della luce e loro uso.
  • A. Roviello, F. Borbone, A. Carella (IT 2013) Politiofeni 3-sostituiti di regioregolarita' molto elevata da catalizzatori a base di rame (II).
  • R. Tesser, M. Di Serio, (WO 2015) Thermochemical Process for Recovering Fiberglass Plastics Waste Matter
  • R. Tesser, M. Di Serio (WO 2011) Process for the production of dichlorydrins.