Alternative films: The effect of the chain length and the degree of substitution on the mechanical and hydrophobic properties of various cellulose fatty ester plastic films was studied. The results suggest that the cellulose ester plastic films are promising alternatives to petrochemical commodity plastics such as polyethylene.Cellulose-based plastic films were prepared by acylating cellulose in homogeneous media under microwave irradiation with fatty acyl chlorides containing either saturated or unsaturated chains of various lengths (C(12) to C(18)). The resultant cellulose esters were analysed by FTIR and (1)H NMR spectroscopy to confirm their structure and to determine their degree of substitution. Some of the cellulose fatty esters were then converted into polymer films by casting. The mechanical properties of these films were determined, including their elastic modulus, tensile strength and tensile strain level. The hydrophobicity of the polymer films was determined by contact angle measurement with water. The mechanical and hydrophobic properties of the plastic films were then compared to those of commodity plastics.

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Natural rhamnolipids are potential biocontrol agents for plant protection against bacterial and fungal diseases. In this work, we synthetized new synthetic mono-rhamnolipids (smRLs) consisting in a rhamnose connected to a simple acyl chain and differing by the nature of the link and the length of the lipid tail. We then investigated the effects of these ether, ester, carbamate or succinate smRL derivatives on Botrytis cinerea development, symptoms spreading on tomato leaves and immune responses in tomato plants. Our results demonstrate that synthetic smRLs are able to trigger early and late immunity-related plant defense responses in tomato and increase plant resistance against B. cinerea in controlled conditions. Structure-function analysis showed that chain length of the lipidic part and type of acyl chain were critical to smRLs immune activity and to the extent of symptoms caused by the fungus on tomato leaves.

Surfactants find applications in almost every chemical industry, such as household and industrial cleaning, paper, inks, agrochemicals, and personal care or pharmaceuticals. However, their production and use can have a negative impact on the environment and health. Increasing environmental concerns and the strong interest in renewable resources have led to the development of innovative and environmentally friendly surfactants produced by clean and/or sustainable technologies. The aim of this review is to explore the different types of surfactants and their architectures. Then, it will describe the two categories of renewable surfactants: biosurfactants obtained by fermentation, and bio‐based surfactants containing either a bio‐sourced polar head group or a bio‐sourced hydrophobic tail. Finally, this review will focus on highly specialized applications of surfactants (protein crystallization, transfection, and nanotechnology), which are closely related to the ability of surfactants to organize themselves in supramolecular architectures.

The hemibiotrophic fungus Zymoseptoria tritici, responsible for Septoria tritici blotch, is currently the most devastating foliar disease on wheat crops worldwide. Here, we explored, for the first time, the ability of rhamnolipids (RLs) to control this pathogen, using a total of 19 RLs, including a natural RL mixture produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 18 bioinspired RLs synthesized using green chemistry, as well as two related compounds (lauric acid and dodecanol). These compounds were assessed for in vitro antifungal effect, in planta defence elicitation (peroxidase and catalase enzyme activities), and protection efficacy on the wheat-Z. tritici pathosystem. Interestingly, a structure-activity relationship analysis revealed that synthetic RLs with a 12 carbon fatty acid tail were the most effective for all examined biological activities. This highlights the importance of the C12 chain in the bioactivity of RLs, likely by acting on the plasma membranes of both wheat and Z. tritici cells. The efficacy of the most active compound Rh-Est-C12 was 20-fold lower in planta than in vitro; an optimization of the formulation is thus required to increase its effectiveness. No Z. tritici strain-dependent activity was scored for Rh-Est-C12 that exhibited similar antifungal activity levels towards strains differing in their resistance patterns to demethylation inhibitor fungicides, including multi-drug resistance strains. This study reports new insights into the use of bio-inspired RLs to control Z. tritici.