National industrial effluent remediation strategies are largely outdated, which makes these processes costly and at the same time inefficient. Among the most worrying compounds are heavy metals, which have bioaccumulative and toxic characteristics to living beings. In addition to these, high nutrient loads constitute a huge environmental problem, since the devastation promoted by eutrophic niches is capable of disrupting complex food chains. This paper presents a bibliographical review of the current researches that are applying biomass from microalgae in effluent bioremediation, both domestic and industrial (mainly the latter, since its pollution potential is abruptly greater). Such strategy is interesting since the diversity of these microorganisms is abundant, propitiating the application of them in various conditions. Another point to be taken into consideration is the fact that many species of microalgae produce large amounts of lipids, many of which have potential application in the production of biodiesel.

Uma série de calcogeno ésteres, 1a, 6a e 6b foi obtida em uma rota sintética conveniente. A análise de microscopia óptica de luz polarizada (POM) e calorimetria diferencial de varredura (DSC) mostrou que estes calcogeno ésteres apresentam uma ampla faixa de mesofase nemática. Além disso, espectros de absorção na região do UV-Vis em solução (ca.10-5 mol L-1) também foram obtidos de maneira a se obter a diferença de energia entre os orbitais moleculares HOMO-LUMO, para posterior comparação com os resultados teóricos. Os valores calculados para o gap de HOMO-LUMO estão de acordo com os valores experimentais obtidos, onde a eletronegatividade do heteroátomo (O, S e Se) deve ser o principal fator para a localização do máximo de absorção. Um estudo teórico foi realizado utilizando cálculos de DFT/B3LYP com método híbrido de Becke aplicando uma correlação funcional de Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) com a base DGDZVP a fim de avaliar algumas propriedades físico-químicas relacionadas com o mesomorfismo e as propriedades eletrônicas espectrais. Através da síntese destes compostos, a influência do átomo de calcogênio nas propriedades fotofísicas e mesomórficas pôde ser avaliada de uma forma mais precisa.

A series of chalcogeno esters 1a, 6a and 6b have been synthesized in a straightforward manner. Polarized-light optical microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that these chalcogeno esters displayed a wide nematic range of mesophase. In addition, UV-Vis in solution (ca.10-5 mol L-1) was applied in order to obtain the HOMO-LUMO gap for further comparison with the theoretical results. The calculated values to the HOMO-LUMO gap are in excellent agreement with the experimental results, where the electronegativity of the heteroatom (O, S and Se) seems to play a fundamental role in the absorption maxima location. A theoretical study was performed using a DFT/B3LYP calculations with Becke's three-parameter hybrid method applying the Lee-Yang-Parr functional correlation (B3LYP) with DGDZVP basis set in order to evaluate some physical chemistry data related with mesomorphic and spectral eletronic properties. By synthesizing these compounds we were able to get a more precise description about the influence of the chalcogen atom on the mesomorphic and photophysical properties.