<p> Gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex gels G15 and G50, was used to characterize the residual organic materials found in effluents from biological treatment. Molecular weight distributions were determined as the equivalent molecular weight distribution of a homologous series of sugars and alcohols. The homologous series was also used to determine equivalent molecular radii, based on Corey-Pauling-Koltun space filling models of the homolgous series.</p> <p> To determine the distributions of residual organics from mixed cultures grown on simple, pure substrates, laboratory batch studies were performed. For this purpose, media containing glucose or glutamic acid substrates and a bicarbonate-phosphate buffer system were innoculated with activated sludge. Both high and low substrate and microorganism concentrations were used at constant temperature and pH. As a comparison for the mixed cultures, a representative strain of Flavobacterium sp. isolated from activated sludge was grown in pure culture on glucose.</p> <p> Both the laboratory mixed culture effluents and treatment plant effluents contained material of equivalent molecular weight less than 1500. However, little similarity appeared to exist between the low molecular weight (<1500) distributions of treatment plant effluents and those from the mixed cultures. A significant fraction of the treatment plant and batch effluents had equivalent molecular weights of greater than 10,000. The pure culture studies showed that a single strain of bacteria can produce material of equivalent molecular weight both greater and less than 1500.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

No / Extracting waterborne contaminants to ozone-loaded Volasil¿245 (a siloxane solvent in which ozone is ten times more soluble than water) has been studied as a means of enhancing reaction kinetics and thus, providing more rapid wastewater decontamination. Investigation was carried out with respect to 2-chlorophenol and dichloromethane. Using a pilot scale continuous flow liquid¿liquid/ozone water treatment system, 2-chlorophenol was extracted to the ozone-loaded solvent phase and considerable extents of destruction were achieved. However, the approach was demonstrated to yield slightly less destruction than direct gas contact for the same utilization of ozone and enhanced reaction kinetics were not shown to occur. This was suggested to be due to increased interfacial mass transfer resistance and/or the promotion of less destructive reaction pathways. Modification of the existing pilot system, by conversion from co- to counter-current solvent-loading, enabled greater dissolved ozone concentrations to be achieved within the solvent. Increasing the counter-current exchange column height to not, vert, similar2.5 m was suggested for achieving a near optimum level of performance. The liquid¿liquid/ozone approach was demonstrated to be an effective means of indirectly exposing wastewater contaminants to concentrated ozone. As such the technology may be applicable as an alternative to direct gas contact in instances where the avoidance of contaminant sparging is desired (i.e. where contaminants are highly volatile, pungent and/or toxic) or foaming occurs

Student Number : 9400913V - MSc (Eng) dissertation - School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / Natural zeolites are finding applicability in a broad range of industrial processes. This study assesses the potential applications of a South African natural zeolite, Clinoptilolite, and develops a methodology to quickly screen and assess these applications. Zeolites are known to have ion exchange and adsorption properties. Wastewater treatment has been identified as a potentially important opportunity in South Africa, since South Africa - and particularly Gauteng - is a water scarce region. The wastewater treatment industry in this region can be divided into two main categories of effluent: namely chemicals from coal and the metal recovery and finishing related to the mining industry. The focus of this work was to find a method to screen for potential uses of Clinoptilolite in these industries. The major effluent treatment issue in respect of the effluents from coal-based processes was identified to be the removal of oxygenate organics that are highly soluble in water, such as ethanol and acetone. This problem cannot be solved using vapour-liquid equilibrium based processes due to high energy costs, and liquid-liquid equilibrium based processes inherently introduce new contaminants into the wastewater. We therefore screened the zeolite for application in the removal of soluble organics via adsorption. The zeolite was found to be unsuitable for the adsorption of acetone and ethanol due to the preferential adsorption of water. As a result we tested the potential of the zeolite as a drying agent for ethanol and acetone. It was found that this zeolite could find application in the dehydration of ethanol, but not acetone. In effluent from the mining and metals based industries, heavy metals frequently occur and are usually toxic, such as lead, zinc and nickel. Such contaminated water must be disposed of as toxic waste, and this is very costly. Thus being able to selectively remove these metals allows for the possible recovery and recycling of a potentially valuable metal. If no application can be found for the recovered metal, the loaded zeolite would need to be disposed of as toxic waste, but the volume of this waste is significantly smaller than that of the original effluent due to the concentration effect of ion exchange processes. All of the metals were ion exchanged onto the zeolite successfully. The zeolite exhibited exceptional selectivity for the removal of lead, and reduced the concentration of lead in the water to levels below detection by Atomic Adsorption. The selectivity for the uptake of the metals in decreasing order was lead, zinc and lastly nickel. Therefore, provided the zeolite can be regenerated, it could be used for effluent treatment in mining activities that have traces of lead in the ore body, such as zinc and silver deposits, and in the battery industry. As a result of the work presented in this dissertation, a further project was undertaken to investigate the regeneration of the zeolite. Preliminary findings indicate that although it can be regenerated, the zeolite capacity decreases with each successive regeneration cycle. More work is required on regeneration to improve the lifespan of the zeolite.

O tratamento por técnicas eletroquímicas é provavelmente uma das metodologias mais prometedoras na descontaminação de sistemas particulados, sendo capaz da remoção, total ou parcial, de contaminantes como metais pesados, radionuclídeos, orgânicos e inorgânicos. Pelo uso de uma diferença de potencial elétrico em correntes baixas aplicadas através de pares de eletrodos, os contaminantes são movidos sob a ação do campo elétrico. A extração de impurezas pelo método eletrocinético é baseada na suposição que as moléculas estejam ou sejam evoluídos para a fase liquida. O ciclo completo envolve a adsorção, o transporte, a captação, e a remoção do contaminante dos meios porosos. Neste trabalho avaliou-se o emprego da técnica de eletroosmose na remoção de fenol em meios líquidos e porosos. O fenol foi escolhido por ser um composto altamente tóxico, proveniente de refinarias de óleos, industrias de tintas e principalmente pesticidas. Para a validação do processo em escala de laboratório, foi confeccionada uma célula eletroquímica para um volume de 700 cm3, com eletrodos de titânio. A concentração de fenol utilizada para este experimento foi constante de 11 mM. Água destilada, areia, pós de vidro e solo foram classificados, caracterizados e selecionados como meios porosos experimentais. As aplicações das cargas variaram de O a 120-140-240 minutos, sendo que o mapeamento do pH indicou eletromigração de espécies em todos os sistemas. Na eletroosmose temos o arraste das moléculas de fenol em direção ao catodo simultâneo à eletrólise da água, cujas concentrações relativas de contaminante foram avaliadas por espectroscopia de UV-Vis. A montagem dispõe de um reservatório para coleta de produtos de reação em cada eletrodo sendo possível a remoção do íon fenólico migrado. O processo apresentou eficiências variando de 40% a 60% na extração, dependendo das características do meio poroso. De um modo geral a técnica apresentou-se ecologicamente viável e econômica, como procedimento de remediação de solos e sistemas particulados diversos. / The use of electrochemical techniques is probably one of most promising technology for particulate system decontamination treatments. This methodology appears as able to remove heavy metals, radionucletides and organic and inorganic contaminations. By using an electric potential difference with low currents intensities through electrodes, the contaminants in the porous medium are dragged under electric field action. The contaminant removal is base on the supposition that the impurities are in solution or elute to the liquid phase. The whole cycle involves adsorption, transport, collection and removal of contaminants from the medium. In this work it was studied the use of the electroosmosis technique for removal of phenol from porous and aqueous medium. Phenol was chose because of its high toxicity and the regularly use in oil refineries, ink industries and pesticides. To validate the process, in laboratorial scale, an electrochemical cell of 700 cm3 volume, with titanium electrodes was constructed. The phenol concentration was 11 mM. Distillated water, sand, glass powder and sample of soil were classified, characterized and selected to constitute the porous media. The charge application time varied from 120 to 140 to 240 minutes and the pH mapping showed migration effect in ali of the systems. In the electroosmosis process we have the molecules of phenol dragged towards the cathode simultaneously to the water electrolysis. The relative concentrations of phenol were evaluated by UV-Vis spectroscopy. In the experimental setup a reservoir in each electrode was assembled in order to collect the reaction products. The process efficiencies are in a range from 40% to 60%, dependent of the porous medium characteristics. In a broad sense, the technique showed feasible as an economic and ecological procedure for soil and particulate system remediation.

Neste trabalho duas espécies de grãos, de kefir e do tibet, popularmente conhecidas e utilizadas para fermentar o leite, foram estudados neste trabalho, no que se refere aos produtos formados durante a fermentação. O grão de kefir é uma associação simbiótica de microganismo pertencente a diversas espécies incluindo no geral bactérias ácidas láticas (Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc), leveduras (Saccharomyces cereviseae) e bactérias ácidas acéticas (Acetobacter). O grão de tibet é, também composto por uma associação simbiótica de leveduras e bactéria ácida lática. No entanto, grãos de kefir e tibet são muitos similares em quantidade microbiológica, procedimento de cultivo, muito similar em estrutura e produtos de fermentação, mas diferem em aspecto visual. A voltametria cíclica e cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência, em fase reversa (HPLC) com detecção no UV em 210nm operando no modo de eluição isocrático, foram aplicadas para determinar ácidos orgânicos em leite fermentados pelos grãos kefir e do Tibet e em amostra de iogurte comercial. Em ambos os métodos utilizados os resultados obtidos mostraram a presença de ácidos orgânicos em leite e no leite fermentado pelos grãos kefir e do Tibet e em amostra comercial de iogurte. Essas matrizes mostraram eletroatividade em ultramicroeletrodo de ouro. E nas análises por HPLC foi comprovado a presença de ácidos orgânicos e em grandes quantidades para cinco ácidos dos oito presentes nas amostras. Neste trabalho, foi efetuada a determinação de 8 ácidos orgânicos. Nas amostras citadas foram identificados os ácidos lático, oxálico, pirúvico, acético, úrico, cítrico, succínico e fórmico. Esta identificação foi feita por comparação entre os tempos de retenção dos compostos nas amostras de leite fermentado com os tempos de retenção dos padrões dos ácidos injetados individualmente para a técnica de HPLC. E quanto a aplicação da voltametria na análise de leite fermentado, o grão de Tibet demonstrou maior resposta analítica entre corrente e concentração, comparado ao grão de kefir e amostra comercial de iogurte. Fazendo uma análise comparativa das duas técnicas a HPLC tornou-se mais adequada devido a maior seletividade. / The products formed during the milk fermentation using the kefir and tibet grains (popularly known species) were studied in this work. The kefir grain is a symbiotic association of microorganisms that includes several species of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc), yeasts (Saccharomyces cereviseae) and acetic acid bacteria (Acetobacter). The tibet grain is also composed by a symbiotic association of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. In spite of, the kefir and tibet grains are very similar in microbiologic components, cultivation procedure, structure and fermentation products, they differ in visual aspect. For the determination of the organic acids contained in fermented milk by the kefir or tibet grains and in a sample of commercial yogurt, the cyclic voltammetry and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in reverse phase techniques were applied, the later was operated in isocratic elution mode with detection in the UV (210nm) region. In both techniques used, the obtained results showed the presence of organic acids in milk and in the fermented milk by the grains kefir and tibet and in the sample of commercial yogurt. Those matrixes showed electroactivity on a gold ultramicroelectrode and their analyses using HPLC was also possible. Thus, the presence of organic acids in great amounts for five acids of the eight presents in the samples was confirmed. In this work, the detection of 8 organic acids was carried out. In the mentioned samples were identified the lactic, oxalic, pyruvic, acetic, uric, citric, succinic and formic acids. This identification was performed by comparison among the retention times of the compounds in the samples of fermented milk with the retention times of the patterns of the acids, injected individually for the HPLC technique. Nevertheless, in the voltammetry application for the analysis of the fermented milk, the tibet grain demonstrated larger analytical signals (current – concentration relationship), compared to the kefir grain and the commercial sample of yogurt. Making a comparative analysis of the two techniques, HPLC became more appropriate due its larger selectivity.

A bacia do Corumbataí apesar de seu estado considerável de preservação, no que diz respeito à quantidade e qualidade das águas, merece grande atenção visto que abastece os municípios de Piracicaba, Santa Gertrudes, Rio Claro, Corumbataí e Analândia e recebe descargas de esgoto doméstico e industrial de 7 municípios a montante (Analândia, Corumbataí, Ipeúna, Itirapina, Santa Gertrudes, Rio Claro e Charqueada). Além do que, é expressivo o uso intensivo dos solos desses municípios para o cultivo de cana-de-açúcar, na qual são utilizados, entre outros insumos, o agrotóxico fipronil. Apesar da grande importância da bacia para a região não há estudos que demonstrem o impacto causado pela agricultura e uso intensivo de agrotóxicos, na qualidade das águas e mesmo para a vida aquática da mesma. Para tanto este trabalho tem como objetivo o monitoramento ambiental na bacia do Corumbataí, determinando a ocorrência, ou melhor, a distribuição temporal e espacial de resíduos do agrotóxico fipronil e de um grupo de organoclorados, sendo eles: lindano, clordano, endossulfan, alaclor, heptacloro e heptacloro epóxido, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, metalacloro, metoxicloro e dodecacloropentaciclodecano, em águas provenientes de diversos pontos de coleta na bacia do rio Corumbataí, além de validar metodologia de extração e cromatográfica por CG-MS para análise do agrotóxico fipronil e demais organoclorados; correlacionar a contaminação das águas com o uso de agrotóxicos na bacia; Determinar os níveis de toxicidade aguda do agrotóxico fipronil para Danio rerio (Paulistinha) e Piaractus mesopotamicus Holmerg (Pacu) / The basin of the Corumbataí despite their considerable state of preservation, as regards quantity and quality of water, deserves special attention since supplying the municipalities of Piracicaba, Santa Gertrudes, Rio Claro, Corumbataí and Analândia and receives discharges of domestic and industrial sewage from 7 cities upstream (Analândia, Corumbataí, Ipeúna, Itirapina, Santa Gertrudes, Rio Claro and Charqueadas). Furthermore, its expressive the intensive use of land of those towns for the cane sugar growing, which are used, among other inputs, the pesticide fipronil. Despite the great importance of the basin for the region there are no studies that demonstrate the impact of agriculture and intensive use of pesticides in water quality and even its aquatic life. Thus this work has as objective the environmental monitoring in the basin of the Corumbataí, determining the occurrence, or rather, the temporal and spatial distribution of residues of the pesticide fipronil and a group of organochlorines, which are: lindane, chlordane, endosulfan, alachlor, heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, metalachlor, methoxychlor and dodecachlorpentaciclodecano in waters from various collection points in the basin of the river Corumbataí, besides validate methodology for extraction and chromatography by GC-MS for analysis of pesticide fipronil and other Organochlorine; correlate water contamination with the use of pesticides in the basin, determine the levels of acute toxicity of the pesticide fipronil for Danio rerio (Paulistinha) and Piaractus mesopotamicus Holmerg (Pacu)

A bacia do Corumbataí apesar de seu estado considerável de preservação, no que diz respeito à quantidade e qualidade das águas, merece grande atenção visto que abastece os municípios de Piracicaba, Santa Gertrudes, Rio Claro, Corumbataí e Analândia e recebe descargas de esgoto doméstico e industrial de 7 municípios a montante (Analândia, Corumbataí, Ipeúna, Itirapina, Santa Gertrudes, Rio Claro e Charqueada). Além do que, é expressivo o uso intensivo dos solos desses municípios para o cultivo de cana-de-açúcar, na qual são utilizados, entre outros insumos, o agrotóxico fipronil. Apesar da grande importância da bacia para a região não há estudos que demonstrem o impacto causado pela agricultura e uso intensivo de agrotóxicos, na qualidade das águas e mesmo para a vida aquática da mesma. Para tanto este trabalho tem como objetivo o monitoramento ambiental na bacia do Corumbataí, determinando a ocorrência, ou melhor, a distribuição temporal e espacial de resíduos do agrotóxico fipronil e de um grupo de organoclorados, sendo eles: lindano, clordano, endossulfan, alaclor, heptacloro e heptacloro epóxido, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, metalacloro, metoxicloro e dodecacloropentaciclodecano, em águas provenientes de diversos pontos de coleta na bacia do rio Corumbataí, além de validar metodologia de extração e cromatográfica por CG-MS para análise do agrotóxico fipronil e demais organoclorados; correlacionar a contaminação das águas com o uso de agrotóxicos na bacia; Determinar os níveis de toxicidade aguda do agrotóxico fipronil para Danio rerio (Paulistinha) e Piaractus mesopotamicus Holmerg (Pacu) / The basin of the Corumbataí despite their considerable state of preservation, as regards quantity and quality of water, deserves special attention since supplying the municipalities of Piracicaba, Santa Gertrudes, Rio Claro, Corumbataí and Analândia and receives discharges of domestic and industrial sewage from 7 cities upstream (Analândia, Corumbataí, Ipeúna, Itirapina, Santa Gertrudes, Rio Claro and Charqueadas). Furthermore, its expressive the intensive use of land of those towns for the cane sugar growing, which are used, among other inputs, the pesticide fipronil. Despite the great importance of the basin for the region there are no studies that demonstrate the impact of agriculture and intensive use of pesticides in water quality and even its aquatic life. Thus this work has as objective the environmental monitoring in the basin of the Corumbataí, determining the occurrence, or rather, the temporal and spatial distribution of residues of the pesticide fipronil and a group of organochlorines, which are: lindane, chlordane, endosulfan, alachlor, heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, metalachlor, methoxychlor and dodecachlorpentaciclodecano in waters from various collection points in the basin of the river Corumbataí, besides validate methodology for extraction and chromatography by GC-MS for analysis of pesticide fipronil and other Organochlorine; correlate water contamination with the use of pesticides in the basin, determine the levels of acute toxicity of the pesticide fipronil for Danio rerio (Paulistinha) and Piaractus mesopotamicus Holmerg (Pacu)

O tratamento por técnicas eletroquímicas é provavelmente uma das metodologias mais prometedoras na descontaminação de sistemas particulados, sendo capaz da remoção, total ou parcial, de contaminantes como metais pesados, radionuclídeos, orgânicos e inorgânicos. Pelo uso de uma diferença de potencial elétrico em correntes baixas aplicadas através de pares de eletrodos, os contaminantes são movidos sob a ação do campo elétrico. A extração de impurezas pelo método eletrocinético é baseada na suposição que as moléculas estejam ou sejam evoluídos para a fase liquida. O ciclo completo envolve a adsorção, o transporte, a captação, e a remoção do contaminante dos meios porosos. Neste trabalho avaliou-se o emprego da técnica de eletroosmose na remoção de fenol em meios líquidos e porosos. O fenol foi escolhido por ser um composto altamente tóxico, proveniente de refinarias de óleos, industrias de tintas e principalmente pesticidas. Para a validação do processo em escala de laboratório, foi confeccionada uma célula eletroquímica para um volume de 700 cm3, com eletrodos de titânio. A concentração de fenol utilizada para este experimento foi constante de 11 mM. Água destilada, areia, pós de vidro e solo foram classificados, caracterizados e selecionados como meios porosos experimentais. As aplicações das cargas variaram de O a 120-140-240 minutos, sendo que o mapeamento do pH indicou eletromigração de espécies em todos os sistemas. Na eletroosmose temos o arraste das moléculas de fenol em direção ao catodo simultâneo à eletrólise da água, cujas concentrações relativas de contaminante foram avaliadas por espectroscopia de UV-Vis. A montagem dispõe de um reservatório para coleta de produtos de reação em cada eletrodo sendo possível a remoção do íon fenólico migrado. O processo apresentou eficiências variando de 40% a 60% na extração, dependendo das características do meio poroso. De um modo geral a técnica apresentou-se ecologicamente viável e econômica, como procedimento de remediação de solos e sistemas particulados diversos. / The use of electrochemical techniques is probably one of most promising technology for particulate system decontamination treatments. This methodology appears as able to remove heavy metals, radionucletides and organic and inorganic contaminations. By using an electric potential difference with low currents intensities through electrodes, the contaminants in the porous medium are dragged under electric field action. The contaminant removal is base on the supposition that the impurities are in solution or elute to the liquid phase. The whole cycle involves adsorption, transport, collection and removal of contaminants from the medium. In this work it was studied the use of the electroosmosis technique for removal of phenol from porous and aqueous medium. Phenol was chose because of its high toxicity and the regularly use in oil refineries, ink industries and pesticides. To validate the process, in laboratorial scale, an electrochemical cell of 700 cm3 volume, with titanium electrodes was constructed. The phenol concentration was 11 mM. Distillated water, sand, glass powder and sample of soil were classified, characterized and selected to constitute the porous media. The charge application time varied from 120 to 140 to 240 minutes and the pH mapping showed migration effect in ali of the systems. In the electroosmosis process we have the molecules of phenol dragged towards the cathode simultaneously to the water electrolysis. The relative concentrations of phenol were evaluated by UV-Vis spectroscopy. In the experimental setup a reservoir in each electrode was assembled in order to collect the reaction products. The process efficiencies are in a range from 40% to 60%, dependent of the porous medium characteristics. In a broad sense, the technique showed feasible as an economic and ecological procedure for soil and particulate system remediation.

The majority of organic foods consumed by Americans are sourced internationally, which has global-reaching implications on health, economics, and sustainability. Current research findings show that environmental devastation and negative health outcomes have resulted from unsustainable, nonorganic agricultural practices; including herbicides, pesticides, and overcultivation. However, there is a lack of quantitative research on factors that motivate Americans to consume organic food. Based on the theory of planned behavior, this quantitative study employed an online survey to examine the role of attitudes, subjective norms, descriptive norms, and perceived behavioral control on the intention and behavior of American consumers to consume organic foods. Additional descriptors of willingness to pay and perceived product attributes were also measured. Theory of planned behavior and American Organic Consumption questionnaires were completed by 276 adult consumers in the United States. Multiple regression analyses were performed to identify relationships and create predictive models between constructs of a modified theory of planned behavior, sociodemographics, and organic consumption. Key findings revealed that a modified theory of planned behavior, which included descriptive norms, predicted intent to consume organics stronger than the nonmodified theory of planned behavior. Attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and descriptive norms were significant predictors of intention to consume organics. Health was perceived as the major product attribute for organic consumption and low willingness to pay was perceived as the major barrier. This study has implications for positive social change such that it contributes to understanding motivational factors behind American's food choices and consumption, which can be used to modify and target consumer behaviors and market campaigns.

The thesis entitled “Total synthesis of bio-active natural products microcarpalide, synargentolide A, jaspine B and anamarine.” demonstrates the utility of chiral pool tartaric acid as the source in the synthesis of bio-active natural products. The thesis was divided into four sections. Section I of the thesis deals with the enantiodivergent synthesis of microcarpalide from tartaric acid. Microcarpalide is a 10-membered lactone of polyketide origin isolated from the fermentation broths of an unidentified endophytic fungi, found to be weekly cytotoxic to mammalian cells and acts as a microfilament discrupting agent. Stereoselective approach for the synthesis of ()-microcarpalide is described from D- and L-tartaric acids, while enantiodivergent approach for the synthesis of both enantiomers is described from L-tartaric acid using ring closing metathesis as the Scheme 2: Enantiodivergent total synthesis of microcarpalide. In section II of the thesis, stereoselective synthesis of synargentolide A is described. Synargentolide A is a polyhydroxy -lactone, isolated from Syncolostemon argenteus, which was founf to exhibit cytotoxic and antitumor properties. Stereoselective synthesis of synargentolide A was accomplished, starting from L-tartaric acid employing, Keck and Brown allylations and ring closing metathesis, as the key steps. Scheme 3: Stereoselective total synthesis of ()-synargentolide A. Section III of the thesis deals with the synthesis of ()-jaspine B. Pachastrissamine (jaspine B), is an anhydrophytoshingosine derivative, isolated from marine sponges Pachastrissa and Jaspis speces. Pachastrissamine was shown to exhibit cytotoxicity (IC 50 0.01 g/mL) against P388, A549, HT29, and MEL28 cell lines. Enantioselective synthesis of jaspine B is accomplished from L-tartaric acid employing, Keck allylation, acid mediated formation of tetrahydrofuran, and olefin cross metathesis as the key reactions. In section IV of the thesis, enantioselective synthesis of ()-anamarine is described. Anamarine is a polyhydroxy -lactone isolated from the flowers and leaves of Peruvian hyptis, possessing cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines. Enantioselective synthesis of -anamarine is accomplishedelaboration of hitherto unknown -keto phosphonate derived from tartaric acid amide. In an appendix for the thesis, enantiodivergent synthesis for 4-siloxy-pent-2-enone was described. The usefulness of asymmetric aldol reaction is exemplifiedin this section. hydroxy amide synthesized from crotonaldehyde is suitably elaborated to the diene which on RCM yielded 4-silyloxycyclopent-2-enone. Further synthetic modification of this compound afforded the other enantiomer. Scheme 6: Enantiodivergent synthesis of hydroxy cyclopentenones. (For structural formula pl the abstract pdf file)