Immunoassay and Other Bioanalytical Techniques

The ordering of the chapters reflects the natural flow of events in an evolving Universe: Philosophy of Science, the basis of the view that natural events have natural causes – Cosmology, the origin of everything from the Big Bang to the current state of the Universe – Geoscience, the physics and chemistry behind the evolution of the planet Earth from its birth to the present – Life Science, the molecules and mechanisms of life on Earth – Ecology, the interdependence of all components within the Ecosphere and the Universe – Information Content, emphasis on how words and phrases and framing of issues affect opinions, reliability of sources, and the limitations of knowledge.

NMR techniques although well established for structural analyses of proteins and nucleic acids, cannot be simply applied to this complex class of biomolecules. Nonetheless, recently developed NMR techniques for carbohydrates open the door to conformational studies of a variety of sugar chains of biological interest. NMR studies on glycans will have significant impact on the development of vaccines, adjuvants, therapeutics, biomarkers and on biomass regeneration.

The venerable Minisci reaction allows for direct access to functionalized heterocycles. This process has lately seen an interesting renaissance and is discussed in this volume. Addition of heteroatom-centered radicals onto unsaturated systems constitutes another powerful method to construct heterocycles. Examples of such a strategy are proposed along with the formation of various heterocycles relying on homolytic substitution at sulfur, phosphorus and selenium. Additionally free-radical functionalization of reactive functional groups including isonitriles, isothiocyanates and related unsaturated systems which offer a straightforward route towards useful aromatic and non-aromatic heterocycles are discussed.

The current state-of-the-art of green solvents is evaluated along these lines, in addition to reviewing their applications with an appreciation of sustainability criteria. Providing a critical assessment on emerging solvents and featuring case studies and perspectives from different sectors, this is an important reference for academics and industrialists working with solvents, as well as policy-makers involved in bio-based initiatives.