APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200080002-5
Industrial organic and inorganic chemistry is strong in Italy. Monecatini-Edison is the largest employed of chemists in the country. In 1966 this company had about 5,100 chemists doing research on polymers, plastics, synthetic fibers, petrochemicals, dyes, agricultural chemicals, organic intermediates, and other industrial chemicals, involving an expenditure of about $32 million. The pharmaceutical industry and several universities synthesize drugs. The Italian chemical industry has been deteriorating rapidly in recent years and suffered a loss of nearly $400 million in 1971 and probably nearly as much in 1972. As a result, it has been difficult for the industry to carry out a development plan.
Much of the research in physical chemistry is directed toward physical chemistry is directed toward physical organic research. Francesco Minisci of the Milan Polytechnic Institute is known for his research on reactions of free radicals and on syntheses involving free radical reactions. Physical organic research at the University of Milan involves reaction kinetics, catalysts, and stereochemistry. There is research on reactions of aryl radicals and on conformational analysis at the University of Bologna and on reaction kinetics and mechanisms at the University of Padova. Several institutions are involved in electrochemical research. The work of Roberto Piontelli on electrode behavior, overvoltage effects, and metallic dispersions in molten salts at the Milan Polytechnic Institute is noteworthy. The University of Rome does research on electrochemical reductions of organic compounds and on anodizing of aluminum. There is general physical chemistry research at many of the universities.
Research in organic chemistry is widespread. Professor Luigi Sacconi of the University of Florence is noted for his research in coordination chemistry, particularly of nickel, cobalt, copper, and other metal complexes. Important work on metal carbonyl complexes involving nickel, cobalt, rhodium, and rhenium is done at the University of Milan.
Several of the Italian universities are strong in biochemistry. Particularly significant is the extensive work by Allessandro Rossi-Fanelli and Eraldo Antonini of the University of Rome on hemoglobin and myoglobin chemistry. This university also does research on proteins and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Also strong in biochemistry is the University of Padova, which does research on hemocyanin (a respiratory pigment of arthropods and mollusks), proteins, DNA, and various enzymatic reactions, such as mitochondrial oxidations and phosphorylations. The University of Milan does research on protein synthesis and on development of methods for analysis of plasma and urine for hormones and other constituents.
Although Italy has a large metals production industry that is of considerable economic importance, it has not developed a strong capability in metallurgical research and development. The research efforts have been directed principally toward improved methods in extractive metallurgy and in solving steel production problems. The research program lacks the depth and scope of that in most industrial European countries. The program is weak in the areas of fundamental physical metallurgy and metal physics, basic ferrous physical metallurgy, fatigue, creep and rupture, and damage criteria. In overall metallurgical research and development capabilities, Italy is considerably behind West Germany, France, and Czechoslovakia, it is about on a par with Switzerland, and is well ahead of Spain and Greece.
The most significant metallurgical research carried out in Italy is that done in the laboratories of Fiat, the industrial giant involved in automotive, aircraft, marine, diesel engine, and power plant construction. Significant research on ferrous metallurgy is also carried out in the laboratories of Italsider, the government-controlled steel company, and in the Cogne Steel Company in Aosta. Noteworthy work is done at the Institute of Light Metals and Alloys in Novara on nonferrous metallurgy and at CNR's Center for the Studies of the Preparation of Minerals in Rome on extractive metallurgy.
Fundamental studies of physical metallurgy and metal physics, which are normally undertaken at universities, are notably lacking. Most efforts along these lines in Italy are directed toward the study of defect structures in ionic compounds (metal halides) and semiconductors. Some excellent research on the electrochemical aspects of stress corrosion cracking of austenitic stainless steels has emanated from the University of Milan.
In the government-supported, nonacademic laboratories, fundamental research is conducted at the Center for Information, Studies, and Experimentation in Milan on point defects, diffusion, and radiation damage in metals and particularly in dilute copper, silver, and gold alloys. Euratom in Ispra has studies radiation-produced point defects in metals, internal friction phenomena in hydrogen-contaminated body-centered-cubic metals, and the potential of improving the ductility of aluminum-aluminum oxide sintered products, called SAP, for potential use as nuclear cladding material. In the field of extractive metallurgy, the CNR Center for Studies of the
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200080002-5
