Growing concern with the effects of CO emissions due to the combustion of petroleum-based transportation fuels has motivated the search for means to increase engine efficiency. The discovery of ethers with low viscosity presents an important opportunity to improve engine efficiency and fuel economy. We show here a strategy for the catalytic synthesis of such ethers by reductive etherification/O-alkylation of alcohols using building blocks that can be sourced from biomass. We find that long-chain branched ethers have several properties that make them superior lubricants to the mineral oil and synthetic base oils used today. These ethers provide a class of potentially renewable alternatives to conventional lubricants produced from petroleum and may contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases associated with vehicle emissions.

No abstract

No abstract

Farmed Atlantic salmon often suffer from sea-lice infestations, which are commonly controlled by the use of a variety of medicines, and the fate of these medicines has implications for the health of the marine environment around fish farms. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for monitoring and protecting the quality of Scottish coastal waters and for regulating discharges which may affect water quality, including releases of medicines from fish farms. We review the utility of established biological effects measurements (biomarkers and bioassays) for monitoring the effects of these medicines. The specificity and suitability of biological effects techniques to the mode of toxic action, metabolism, and environmental fate of the medicines are considered. It is concluded that scope-for-growth measurements in wild and deployed mussels (Mytilus edulis) and lugworm (Arenicola marina) bioassays, in combination with a suite of biomarker techniques, offer the best possibilities.

No abstract