Degree: Doctor

Affiliation(s):

FCUP

Bio

Ana Lobo Ferreira graduated in Chemistry in 2001 by Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto (FCUP), where was awarded with the Academic Award Mendonça Monteiro, attributed to the best student in Physical Chemistry and with the best skills for research at FCUP. In 2006, she completed the PhD in Chemistry from the same institution (FCUP), exploring the topic of thermodynamics and energetic study of halogenated aromatics compounds. From 2006 to 2018, Ana Ferreira was a Post-Doctoral researcher at Centro de Investigação em Química of the University of Porto (CIQ-UP). Since 2019, ALF has a researcher contract with the R&D Unit, where she also teaches in BSc and MSc courses of Chemistry. Currently she is a member of the IMS-Institute of Molecular Sciences & CIQUP - "Centro de Investigação em Química da Universidade do Porto". 

The Scientific career and R&D background of Ana Lobo Ferreira was initially centered in the field of thermodynamics and energetic study of organic compounds, where she developed and established some skills concerning the specialised field; methodology of combustion calorimetry; energetic and structural study of halogenated and non-halogenated organic materials; vapor pressure measurements. Recently, she focus on the study of physical chemical properties of pure ionic liquids; solid-liquid equilibrium; binary mixtures of selected pure ILs and ILs + Molecular Solvents; and of experimental enthalpies of solution of alkali metal nitrates [LiNO3, NaNO3, KNO3 ...] in ILs [EAN] to calculate the hypothetical heat of solvation; thermal behaviour of materials (DSC; TGA); thermal behaviour and oxidative stability of biodiesel; Calvet differential microcalorimetry; "Drop" calorimetry for measurement of calorific capacities; measurement of vapor pressures using the Knudsen effusion method; Knudsen's effusion method coupled with Quartz crystal microbalance with the development of experimental methodologies in the field of experimental physical chemistry.

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Publications
Showing 5 latest publications. Total publications: 61
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1. A combined experimental and computational thermodynamic study of fluoronitrophenol isomers, Ferreira, AIMCL Amaral, LMPF; da Silva, MAVR in JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL THERMODYNAMICS, 2023, ISSN: 0021-9614,  Volume: 178, 
Article,  Indexed in: crossref, scopus, wos  DOI: 10.1016/j.jct.2022.106954 P-00X-PM4
Abstract Combustion energies of the 5-fluoro-2-nitrophenol, 4-fluoro-2-nitrophenol, 3-fluoro-4-nitrophenol and 2-fluoro-4-nitrophenol isomers were obtained by means of a rotating-bomb combustion calorimeter. From these de-terminations, standard molar combustion enthalpies and standard molar formation enthalpies, at T = 298.15 K, in the crystalline state, were derived. The Knudsen mass-loss effusion technique was used to determine the standard molar enthalpies, entropies and Gibbs energies of sublimation, at T = 298.15 K, of the studied com-pounds. The standard molar enthalpies of sublimation of the four isomers were also measured by Calvet microcalorimetry. The gas-phase standard molar enthalpies of formation were derived from the experimental measurements, at T = 298.15 K, for the fluoronitrophenols studied.Additionally, the standard molar enthalpies of formation were estimated by means of computational meth-odology at the G3(MP2)//B3LYP level. The estimated values are in very good agreement with experimental data, giving us support to estimate the gas-phase enthalpies of formation of the remaining isomers whose values have not been determined experimentally.A simple group additivity scheme was successfully applied for prediction of molar enthalpies of formation. The computational study was also extended to the determination of O-H bond dissociation enthalpies for all the isomers.

2. Liquefying Flavonoids with Terpenoids through Deep Eutectic Solvent Formation, Teixeira, G; Abranches, DO; Silva, LP; Vilas-Boas, SM; Pinho, SP; Ferreira, AIMCL Santos, LMNBF Ferreira, O; Coutinho, JAP in MOLECULES, 2022, ISSN: 1420-3049,  Volume: 27, 
Article,  Indexed in: crossref, scopus, wos  DOI: 10.3390/molecules27092649 P-00W-J7G
Abstract The formation of deep eutectic solvents (DES) is tied to negative deviations to ideality caused by the establishment of stronger interactions in the mixture than in the pure DES precursors. This work tested thymol and menthol as hydrogen bond donors when combined with different flavonoids. Negative deviations from ideality were observed upon mixing thymol with either flavone or flavanone, two parent flavonoids that only have hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) groups, thus forming non-ionic DES (Type V). On the other hand, the menthol systems with the same compounds generally showed positive deviations from ideality. That was also the case with the mixtures containing the more complex hydroxylated flavonoid, hesperetin, which resulted in positive deviations when mixed with either thymol or menthol. COSMO-RS successfully predicted the behavior of the solid-liquid phase diagram of the studied systems, allowing for evaluation of the impact of the different contributions to the intermolecular interactions, and proving to be a good tool for the design of DES.

3. Enthalpy of solvation of alkali metal salts in a protic ionic liquid: Effect of cation charge and size, Parajo, JJ; Otero-Mato, JM; Ferreira, AIMCL Varela, LM; Santos, LMNBF in JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR LIQUIDS, 2022, ISSN: 0167-7322,  Volume: 360, 
Article,  Indexed in: crossref, scopus, wos  DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2022.119228 P-00W-MH8
Abstract An experimental and theoretical study of solution and solvation of mono-and divalent alkali metal cations in the protic ionic liquid (IL) ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) is reported. High precision solution-reaction calorimetry was used to obtain the heat of solvation, which was used for the analysis of the thermodynamics. A close relation between the structure of the salts in the crystalline phase and its enthalpy of solvation in the IL is reported. A detailed picture of the molecular environments in the solvation shells around the metal cations is provided by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The analysis of the energetics and structure of solvation confirms the well-known water-like solvation properties of EAN, with the solvation shell around the metal cations in both media being very similar. On the other hand, the results show that it is energetically more favourable to solvate smaller cations with higher valence. Indeed, the simulations show that the long-range electrostatic interactions are the main contribution to solvation interaction, with the electric field at the surface of the alkali metal cations as the basic magnitude controlling it.

4. Thermodynamic Stability of Fenclorim and Clopyralid, Almeida, ARRP Pinheiro, BDA; Ferreira, AIMCL Monte, MJS in MOLECULES, 2022, Volume: 27, 
Article,  Indexed in: crossref, scopus, wos  DOI: 10.3390/molecules27010039 P-00V-ZJW
Abstract The present work reports an experimental thermodynamic study of two nitrogen heterocyclic organic compounds, fenclorim and clopyralid, that have been used as herbicides. The sublimation vapor pressures of fenclorim (4,6-dichloro-2-phenylpyrimidine) and of clopyralid (3,6-dichloro-2-pyridinecarboxylic acid) were measured, at different temperatures, using a Knudsen mass-loss effusion technique. The vapor pressures of both crystalline and liquid (including supercooled liquid) phases of fenclorim were also determined using a static method based on capacitance diaphragm manometers. The experimental results enabled accurate determination of the standard molar enthalpies, entropies and Gibbs energies of sublimation for both compounds and of vaporization for fenclorim, allowing a phase diagram representation of the (p,T) results, in the neighborhood of the triple point of this compound. The temperatures and molar enthalpies of fusion of the two compounds studied were determined using differential scanning calorimetry. The standard isobaric molar heat capacities of the two crystalline compounds were determined at 298.15 K, using drop calorimetry. The gas phase thermodynamic properties of the two compounds were estimated through ab initio calculations, at the G3(MP2)//B3LYP level, and their thermodynamic stability was evaluated in the gaseous and crystalline phases, considering the calculated values of the standard Gibbs energies of formation, at 298.15 K. All these data, together with other physical and chemical properties, will be useful to predict the mobility and environmental distribution of these two compounds.

5. The effect of oxidation state and tert-butyl substituents on the thermal behavior and thin-film morphology of cobalt-complexes (FK 102 and FK 209), Costa, JCS Carvalho, RM; Silva, RMA; Lobo Ferreira, AIMC Santos, LMNBF in Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, 2022, ISSN: 0021-9614,  Volume: 174, 
Article,  Indexed in: crossref, scopus, unpaywall  DOI: 10.1016/j.jct.2022.106856 P-00W-V1G
Abstract This work reports the thermodynamic and morphological study and characterization of four salts consisting of a divalent/trivalent cobalt complex with pyrazole-pyridine ligands (FK 102 and FK 209 samples) and bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (TFSI) moieties as counter anions. The oxidation state of the central metal (Co(II) or Co(III)) and the presence of tert-butyl (t-Bu) groups in the ligand structure were found to have a strong impact on the thermal behavior, phase stability, heat capacities, and thin-film morphology of each salt. The Co(II) complexes exhibited good thermal stability up to 600 K. Lower thermal stability was observed for the Co(III) congeners. The FK 209 Co(III) displayed a higher melting temperature but a partial decomposition during or above melting was detected. The higher melting temperatures observed for the Co(III) complexes were found to be entropically driven. However, the addition of t-Bu in the ligand (FK 209) leads to an increase in the melting temperature, which is driven by the enthalpy of fusion. The four compounds studied evidenced a large glass-forming ability. Moreover, the thermal stability of the glassy state was clearly increased when the ligands comprised t-Bu groups. The contribution of the t-Bu group for the molar heat capacity in the solid phase, at T = 298.15 K, was found to be (110 ± 3) J·K−1·mol−1 and (98 ± 4) J·K−1·mol−1 for the Co(II) and Co(III) complexes, respectively. These results are in good agreement with the contribution of the t-Bu group observed for both solid and liquid phases in other materials, indicating that the t-Bu groups are relatively unhindered in the crystalline phase of the salts. The morphological behavior of the thin films of FK 102 samples was found to be quite similar to the observed for typical ionic liquids, with the formation of micro- and nanodroplets onto different substrates. The introduction of t-Bu substituents in the ligand structure was found to have a strong impact on the formation of homogeneous and compact nanofilms for the FK 209 salts. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd