Due to metal leaching and poor catalyst stability, the chemical industry’s fine chemical and pharmaceutical sectors have been historically reluctant to use supported transition metal catalysts to manufacture fine chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. With the advent of new generation supported metal catalysts and flow chemistry, we argue in this study, this situation is poised to quickly change. Alongside heterogenized metal nanoparticles, both single-site molecular and single-atom catalyst will become ubiquitous. This study offers a critical outlook taking into account both technical and economic aspects.

Recent advances in single-atom catalysis resulted in readily accessible materials whose application in most catalytic reactions mediated by conventional nanoparticle-based catalysts often results in higher activity and selectivity. Can we expect catalysis by atomically dispersed atoms to find practical applications? Which are the hurdles to be overcome prior to widespread uptake of atomically dispersed metals in industrial synthetic processes and in hydrogen fuel cells?

Today, enterococci (mainly Enterococcus faecalis) are one of the main causes of infective endocarditis in the world, generally affecting an elderly and fragile population, with a high mortality rate. enterococci are intrinsically resistant to many commonly used antimicrobial agents. All enterococci exhibit decreased susceptibility to penicillin and ampicillin, as well as high-level resistance to most cephalosporins and all semi-synthetic penicillins, as the result of expression of low-affinity penicillin-binding proteins, that precludes an unacceptable number of therapeutic failures with monotherapy with these drugs. For years, the synergistic combination of penicillins and aminoglycosides was the cornerstone of treatment, but the emergence of strains with high resistance to aminoglycosides led to the search for new alternatives, such as dual beta-lactam therapy. The development of multi-drug resistant strains of Enterococcus faecium is a matter of considerable concern due to its probable spread to E. faecalis and have forced the search of new alternatives with the combination of daptomycin, fosfomycin or tigecycline. Some of them have scarce clinical experience and others are still under investigation and will be analyzed in this review. In addition, the need for prolonged treatment (6-8 weeks) to avoid relapses has led to the consideration of viable options such as outpatient parenteral therapies or long-acting administrations with the new lipoglycopeptides (dalbavancin or oritavancin), and sequential oral treatments, which will also be discussed.

Objective: To evaluate the physical and chemical stability of the antibiotic temocillin at the recommended dose for severe infections and contained in infusion bags or elastomeric devices at different temperatures for its use in Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) programs.Method: Solutions of temocillin 12 g/L diluted in 0.9% sodium chloride were stored at 4ºC ± 2ºC, 25°C ± 2°C, 32°C ± 2°C and 37°C ± 2°C for 72 h both in polypropylene infusion bags and in polyisoprene elastomeric pumps. Physical and chemical stability were evaluated at 12, 24, 30 48 and 72 h after manufacturing. The solutions were considered stable if color, clearness and pH remained unchanged and if the percentage of intact drug was ≥90%. Results: There were no observed changes in color or clarity in any of the refrigerated (4°C) samples or in the samples incubated at 25ºC and 32ºC. At 37ºC, an increase in intensity of yellow color was observed at 30, 48 and 72 h in both infusion bags and elastomeric pumps samples. All samples remained within the pH range 6.84–6.06. At 4ºC, 25ºC and 32°C ± 2°C, temocillin attained the stability criteria of ≥90% of the original concentration for the whole experiment in both devices. At 37ºC, temocillin was stable for 24 h but its concentration dropped below 90% from that time point both in the infusion bags and in the elastomeric pumps.Conclusions: According to the data provided in this stability study, temocillin administrated by continuous infusion would be an appropriate candidate for the treatment of patients that can be discharge to complete therapy in an OPAT program.