Dr. Anis Tlili is a Tunisian scientist who works as a researcher at the French National Center for Research (Tlili).
The young Tunisian researcher, Dr. Anis Tlili, received a bronze medal from the French Center for Scientific Research in recognition of his work in the field of molecular chemistry, which made it possible to manufacture alternative molecules for some of the most environmentally harmful substances.
This award rewards the distinguished research work of researchers at the beginning of their scientific career, to encourage them to continue their ongoing research, which has reached fruitful and promising results.
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net via social media, Dr. Anis Al-Talili reviewed his scientific career, indicating the importance of the methods he developed to get rid of harmful industrial chemical compounds by using them in the manufacture of safe and useful alternative compounds.
Who is Anis Tlili?
Dr. Anis Tlili is a researcher at the French National Center for Research. He studied high school in his home city of Gafsa, southern Tunisia, before completing his studies at the University of Bourgogne in the French city of Dijon, where he obtained a master’s degree in chemistry. He then joined the National Higher School of Chemistry in Montpellier to obtain a doctorate in Organic Chemistry in 2011. In his thesis, Al-Talili presented innovative methods for manufacturing chemical catalytic compounds based on the element copper, which are characterized by being less toxic than traditional catalysts and preserving the environment.
The following year, after obtaining his doctorate, Al-Talili began a post-doctoral phase that lasted a year and a half in the laboratory of the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LECAT) in the city of Rostock, which is one of the largest laboratories in chemistry in Germany. It has made major contributions to the chemical industry in the world, and has developed many One of the well-known chemical applications.
Dr. Al-Talili did not stay in Germany for long and returned again to France, where he continued another specialization stage at the Commissariat for Atomic Energy (CEA) in Paris before he was appointed a research fellow at the Institute of Molecular, Biochemical and Supramolecular Chemistry in Lyon, affiliated with the French National Center for Research in year 2014.
Anis Al-Talili is working to get rid of hexafluorofluoride gas (SF6) by using it to develop compounds that are not harmful to the environment (Al-Talili)
Hazardous industrial chemical compounds
Dr. Anis Al-Talili, along with his research team that he supervises, is working to find innovative solutions to reduce the risks of some highly dangerous chemical compounds to the environment, such as hexafluoride gas (SF6).
This gas is widely used in electrical insulation, especially in high-voltage devices, but it is extremely dangerous to the environment due to its high ability to cause warming, which is about 24,000 times greater than that of carbon dioxide, and the life of a single molecule of it in the atmosphere can extend to 3,200 years. general.
Al-Talili told Al-Jazeera Net, "These gases are difficult to employ, but we are trying to develop innovative ways to use them in manufacturing chemical compounds that are useful and not harmful to the environment," and revealed that "one of their most important works is to use these harmful gases to develop new types of medicines."
Many people may not know that 20% of the medications currently circulating on the market contain organic chemical molecules that contain multiple fluorine atoms called polyfluorinated compounds (PFAS), and these substances in themselves represent a major environmental concern due to their toxicity and danger to the environment. And the ease of their leakage into water sources. “Recent studies have proven that these molecules are carcinogenic, so we are also working to find solutions that enable them to be used in useful areas,” says Al-Talili.
Dr. Anis Al-Talili succeeded in manufacturing alternative compounds used in the pharmaceutical industry (Shutterstock)
Innovative ways to get rid of dangerous vehicles
Dr. Al-Talili's laboratory received funding from the European Union to solve this problem, by replacing polyfluorinated compounds with innovative molecules that have decomposition properties in nature and do not harm the environment.
We are currently working to develop these molecules and enable the chemical industries to use these molecules.
Al-Talili and his team developed a new strategy for activating the bonds of hexafluoride gas, known as SF6 activation, under visible light, which makes it possible to obtain new chemical reagents (reactants) that can be used directly to introduce polyfluorinated compounds onto organic molecules.
The latter works to modify the properties of the organic compounds it contains to become very useful in the fields of the pharmaceutical industry and the agricultural chemical industry.
This process has a dual environmental benefit by allowing the elimination of greenhouse gases through their use in the production of substances of interest in the manufacture of medicines, thus avoiding the use of harmful products such as polyfluorinated compounds.
Regarding the impact of the award on Dr. Anas Al-Talili’s research path in the future, he says: He was very happy to receive it and it will be an important incentive to continue his research, adding that “when the researcher wakes up in the morning, he does not seek to obtain awards, but rather to leave an impact on society and contribute to the advancement of knowledge.”
Source: Al Jazeera