Theoretical studies on conjugated phenyl-cored thiophene dendrimers for photovoltaic applications

Pi-conjugated dendrimers are an important class of materials for optoelectronic devices, especially for light-harvesting systems. We report here a theoretical investigation of the optical response and of the excited-state properties of three-arm and four-arm phenyl-cored dendrimers for photovoltaic applications. A variety of theoretical methods are used and evaluated against each other to calculate vertical transition energies, absorption and excitation spectra with vibronic structure, charge transport, and excitonic behavior upon photoexcitation and photoemission processes. Photophysical phenomena in these dendrimers are, in general, better explained with ab initio methods rather than with semiempirical techniques. Calculated reorganization energies were found to correlate well with the device photocurrent data where available. The excitons formed during photoexcitation are calculated to be more delocalized than the ones formed after vibrational relaxation in the excited states for fluorescence emission. The localization of excitons in emission processes is a result of geometrical changes in the excited state coupled with vibronic modes. Correlated electron-hole pair diagrams illustrate breaking of pi-conjugation in three-arm dendrimers due to meta linkage of arms with the core, whereas four-arm dendrimers are not affected by such breaking due to presence of ortho and para branching. Yet, ortho branching causes large twist angles between the core and the arms that are detrimental to pi-electron system delocalization over the structure.     

Two new triterpenoids and a steroidal glycoside from the aerial parts of Ocimum basilicum

Studies on the chemical constituents of the aerial parts of Ocimum basilicum have led to the isolation of three new compounds, basilol (1), ocimol (2), and basilimoside (3), along with two known constituents betulinic acid and oleanolic acid. The structures of the new constituents have been elucidated through spectral studies including 2D-NMR experiments (HMQC, HMBC, COSY, NOESY, and J-resolved) and chemical transformation, as p-formylphenyl 3beta-hydroxyolean-12-en-28-oate (1), 2-methoxy-4-carbomethoxyphenyl 3beta-hydroxy-lup-20(29)-en-28-oate (2), and (22E)-24xi-ethyl-25-methylcholesta-5,22-diene-3beta-ol-3-O-D-glucopyranoside (3).     

Chromenone Glucosides Acylated with Monoterpene Acids from the Leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis var. obtusa

Three new chromenone glucosides acylated with monoterpene acids, eucamaldusides A ( 1 ), B ( 2 ), and C ( 3 ), were isolated from the leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis var. obtusa, together with the five known compounds ursolic acid lactone, obtusilin, β‐sitosterol glucoside, 4‐hydroxybenzoic acid, and cypellocarpin C. The structures of the new compounds were established by exhaustive 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR spectroscopic studies. Their configuration was determined by measuring the [α]_D of the known methyl esters of the monoterpene acids obtained by methanolysis of 1 – 3 .     

Two new pentacyclic triterpenoids from Lantana camara LINN

Two new pentacyclic triterpenoids, namely lantanoic acid (1) and camaranoic acid (2), and six known compounds such as lantic acid, camarinic acid, camangeloyl acid, camarinin, oleanonic acid, and ursonic acid were isolated from the aerial parts of Lantana camara LINN. Structures of the new constituents were elucidated by chemical transformation and spectral studies including 1D ((1)H- and (13)C-NMR) and 2D ((1)H-(1)H correlation spectroscopy (COSY), nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY), (1)H-(1)H total correlation spectroscopy (TOCSY), J-resolved, (1)H-detected heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence (HMQC), and heteronuclear multiple bond connectivity (HMBC)) NMR spectroscopy.     

Effect of various additives on the performance of a newly developed PVC based potentiometric sensor for anionic surfactants

A new poly(vinyl chloride) PVC membrane electrode to determine monomer concentrations of dodecylbenzenesulphonate ions (DBS⁻) based on a neutral ion-pair carrier complex of dodecyltrimethylammonium–dodecylbenzenesulphonate (DTA⁺–DBS⁻), is reported here. The electrode exhibits a slope of 51.25 mV per decade for DBS⁻ ions. The DBS⁻ ion selective electrode (ISE) can determine monomer units down to concentrations as low as 3.32 × 10⁻⁴ M. The effect of three kinds of additives, i.e. alcohols, glycols and triblock polymers on the performance of the surfactant selective electrode is studied systematically. The effect of foreign anions along with primary ions on the performance of ion-selective electrode is investigated in terms of potentiometric selectivity coefficients, which were determined using the fixed interference method (FIM) at 1.0 × 10⁻² M concentration of foreign anions. The sensor responds well to the surfactant ions in the presence of additives at lower concentration. The Gibbs free energy of micelle formation (ΔG_m) of sodium dodecylbenzenesulphonate (SDBS) in the presence of various additives is calculated and found to vary differently with respect to the increase in the amount of additives. The sensor worked in the acidic pH range with a short response time of 30 s. The lifetime of the sensor is more than three months. The sensor was further used to determine the amount of DBS⁻ in local detergents. This method of determining anionic surfactants was found to be quite accurate when compared with classical methods.     

UV protective effects of DNA repair enzymes and RNA lotion

Solar UV radiation is known to cause immune suppression, believed to be a critical factor in cutaneous carcinogenesis. Although the mechanism is not entirely understood, DNA damage is clearly involved. Sunscreens function by attenuating the UV radiation that reaches the epidermis. However, once DNA damage ensues, repair mechanisms become essential for prevention of malignant transformation. DNA repair enzymes have shown efficacy in reducing cutaneous neoplasms among xeroderma pigmentosum patients. In vitro studies suggest that RNA fragments increase the resistance of human keratinocytes to UVB damage and enhance DNA repair but in vivo data are lacking. This study aimed to determine the effect of topical formulations containing either DNA repair enzymes ( Micrococcus luteus ) or RNA fragments (UVC-irradiated rabbit globin mRNA) on UV-induced local contact hypersensitivity (CHS) suppression in humans as measured in vivo using the contact allergen dinitrochlorobenzene. Immunohistochemistry was also employed in skin biopsies to evaluate the level of thymine dimers after UV. Eighty volunteers completed the CHS portion. A single 0.75 minimum erythema dose (MED) simulated solar radiation exposure resulted in 64% CHS suppression in unprotected subjects compared with unirradiated sensitized controls. In contrast, UV-induced CHS suppression was reduced to 19% with DNA repair enzymes, and 7% with RNA fragments. Sun protection factor (SPF) testing revealed an SPF of 1 for both formulations, indicating that the observed immune protection cannot be attributed to sunscreen effects. Biopsies from an additional nine volunteers showed an 18% decrease in thymine dimers by both DNA repair enzymes and RNA fragments, relative to unprotected UV-irradiated skin. These results suggest that RNA fragments may be useful as a photoprotective agent with in vivo effects comparable to DNA repair enzymes.     

Highly enantioselective aryl transfer to aldehydes: a remarkable effect of sulfur substitution in amino thioacetate ligands

Chiral amino thioacetate ligands were prepared from the corresponding amino alcohols and used as catalysts for enantioselective aryl transfer reaction. The amino thioacetates were remarkably superior to the corresponding amino alcohols. Low catalyst loadings of only 1-2.5 mol % were sufficient to achieve excellent enantioselectivity as well as high conversion in short reaction time. The results reveal that the thioacetoxy moiety of the amino thioacetates has a surprisingly beneficial effect in enhancing the asymmetric induction.     

Antimycobacterial and antioxidant activities of reserpine and its derivatives

In view of the attributed medicinal properties of reserpine, a number of acyl reserpine derivatives were prepared and tested for antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, strain H(37)Rv and antioxidant activities. The results indicated that in the case of antimycobacterial activity, 10 out of 18 derivatives caused more inhibition than that caused by reserpine itself. The results of antioxidant activity revealed that acylation in benzene ring of reserpine decreases the percentage inhibition of DPPH in all the derivatives compared to the parent compound (1).     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a Cyanido-Bridged Bimetallic Copper(II)–Silver(I) Complex of Imidazole and [Ag(CN)<Subscript>2</Subscript>]<Superscript>−</Superscript>: [Cu(Imidazole)<Subscript>4</Subscript>{Ag(CN)<Subscript>2</Subscript>}<Subscript>2</Subscript>]

Abstract  

A cyanido-bridged Cu(II)–Ag(I) bimetallic complex, [Cu(Imidazole)₄{Ag(CN)₂}₂] has been prepared and structurally characterized. The compound crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pmna. The crystal structure of the complex consists of trinuclear molecules made up of one [Cu(Imidazole)₄]⁺² and two [Ag(CN)₂]⁻ units. The trinuclear molecules are interlinked to each other through N–H–N and C–H–N hydrogen bonds. The Cu(II) ions are located on mirrors and assume distorted octahedral geometry with the basal plane consisting of four imidazole N-atoms.     

Axiomatisability problems for S-acts, revisited

This paper discusses necessary and sufficient conditions on a monoid S, such that a class of left S-acts is first order axiomatisable. Such questions have previously been considered by Bulman-Fleming, Gould, Stepanova and others. Let $\mathcal{C}$ be a class of embeddings of right S-acts. A left S-act B is $\mathcal{C}$ -flat if tensoring with B preserves the embeddings in $\mathcal{C}$ . We find two sets (depending on a property of $\mathcal{C}$ ) of necessary and sufficient conditions on S such that the class of all $\mathcal{C}$ -flat left S-acts is axiomatisable. These results are similar to the ??replacement tossings?? results of Gould and Shaheen for S-posets. Further, we show how to axiomatise some classes using both replacement tossings and interpolation conditions, thus throwing some light on the former technique.