Pyrimidine based carboxylic acid terminated aromatic and semiaromatic hyperbranched polyamide-esters: synthesis and characterization

Carboxylic acid terminated aromatic and semiaromatic hyperbranched polyamide-esters (HBPAEs) containing pyrimidine moieties were prepared by polycondensation of 4-hydroxy-2,6-diaminopyrimidine (CBB′) to a double molar ratio of various diacid chlorides (A₂) without any catalyst. The products were soluble in organic solvents, such as N,N-dimethylformamide, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and displayed glass transition temperature (T_g) between 180 and 244 °C. The polymerization products have been investigated with FTIR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR analyses and the degree of branching was higher than 60%. Amorphous polymers had inherent viscosity (η_inh) ranging between 0.21-0.28 dL/g and had excellent thermal stability with 10% weight loss at 346-508 °C.     

Tanacetamide D: A New Ceramide from Tanacetum artemisioides

One new ceramide (=long‐chain base linked to a fatty acid via an amide bond), tanacetamide D ( 1 ), was isolated from Tanacetum artemisioides. Besides this, the two known constituents 5‐demethylnobiletin ( 2 ) and 5‐hydroxy‐3,6,7,8,3′,4′‐hexamethoxyflavone ( 3 ) were isolated for the first time from this species. The structure elucidation of the isolated compounds were based primarily on 2D‐NMR techniques including correlation spectroscopy (COSY), heteronuclear multiple‐quantum coherence (HMQC), heteronuclear multiple‐bond correlation (HMBC), and nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) experiments.     

Duboscic acid: a potent α-glucosidase inhibitor with an unprecedented triterpenoidal carbon skeleton from Duboscia macrocarpa

Duboscic acid (1), a triterpenoid with a unique carbon backbone, was isolated from Duboscia macrocarpa Bocq. It is the first member of a new class of triterpenoids, for which the name "dubosane" is proposed. Duboscic acid has a potent α-glucosidase inhibition, and its structure was unambiguously deduced by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study.     

Efficient catalytic cyclizations of three and two imine assemblies: direct access to tetrahydroimidazo[1,5-c]imidazol-7-ones and imidazoles

A cascade cyclization involving union of three imines by an organocatalyst proline is established to afford new fused-tetrahydroimidazo[1,5-c]imidazol-7-ones with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity. Another dehydrogenative cyclization by union of two imines is developed using the Cu(OTf)(2)-Ag(2)O combo catalyst to furnish functionalized imidazoles.     

Synergistic Effects of Drought Stress and Photoperiods on Phenology and Secondary Metabolism of Silybum marianum

Silybum marianum is an important medicinal plant of the family Asteraceae, well known for its set of bioactive isomeric mixture of secondary metabolites “silymarin”, primarily acting as a hepato-protective agent. Abiotic stress augments plant secondary metabolism in different plant tissues to withstand harsh environmental fluctuations. In the current study, our aim was to induce drought stress in vitro on S. marianum under the influence of different photoperiod treatments to study the effects, with respect to variations in secondary metabolic profile and plant growth and development. S. marianum was extremely vulnerable to different levels of mannitol-induced drought stress. Water deficiency inhibited root induction completely and retarded plant growth was observed; however, phytochemical analysis revealed enhanced accumulation of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and total protein content along with several antioxidative enzymes. Secondary metabolic content was positively regulated with increasing degree of drought stress. A dependent correlation of seed germination frequency at mild drought stress and antioxidative activities was established with 2 weeks dark?+?2 weeks 16/8 h photoperiod treatment, respectively, whereas a positive correlation existed for TPC and TFC when 4 weeks 16/8 h photoperiod treatment was applied. The effects of drought stress are discussed in relation to phenology, seed germination frequency, biomass build up, antioxidative potential, and secondary metabolites accumulation.     

Synthesis,in vitro lipoxygenase inhibition,docking study and thermal stability analyses of novel indole derivatives

A series of indole derivatives has been synthesized and biologically evaluated to identify potent new lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitors. All selected indole derivatives were screened for their LOX inhibition studies. Most of compounds showed good in vitro LOX inhibition properties exhibiting IC₅₀ values in the range of 53.61 ± 0.14 to 198.61 ± 0.11 μM (mean ± SEM), as compared to the standard inhibitor baicalein with IC₅₀ value 22.4 ± 1.3 μM. Structure activity relationship has been discussed and docking stimulation of most active compound 4f has also performed. Thermal stability and melting point of indole derivatives have been performed by thermal gravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry analysis under nitrogen atmosphere at heating rate of 20 °C min^?1. Compound 4f bearing bis-phenyl moiety has been found to be the most potent (IC₅₀ 53.61 ± 0.14 μM) and thermally most stable among the tested compounds. Imine (C=N) was found to be the key moiety for increasing the thermal stabilities of indole derivatives. FT-IR, NMR and elemental analysis techniques were performed for structural characterization.     

Visual and surface plasmon resonance sensor for zirconium based on zirconium-induced aggregation of adenosine triphosphate-stabilized gold nanoparticles

Owing to its high affinity with phosphate, Zr(IV) can induce the aggregation of adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP)-stabilized AuNPs, leading to the change of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption spectra and color of ATP-stabilized AuNP solutions. Based on these phenomena, visual and SPR sensors for Zr(IV) have been developed for the first time. The A_660 nm/A_518 nm values of ATP-stabilized AuNPs in SPR absorption spectra increase linearly with the concentrations of Zr(IV) from 0.5 μM to 100 μM (r = 0.9971) with a detection limit of 95 nM. A visual Zr(IV) detection is achieved with a detection limit of 30 μM. The sensor shows excellent selectivity against other metal ions, such as Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺, Cd²⁺, and Pb²⁺. The recoveries for the detection of 5 μM, 10 μM, 25 μM and 75 μM Zr(IV) in lake water samples are 96.0%, 97.0%, 95.6% and 102.4%, respectively. The recoveries of the proposed SPR method are comparable with those of ICP-OES method.     

Ion Beam Modification of Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) Polymer Matrix Filled with Organometallic Complex

A Nickel Dimethylglyoxime (Ni‐DMG) compound was dispersed in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) films at different concentrations. PMMA was synthesized by a solution polymerization technique. These films were irradiated with 120 MeV Ni¹⁰⁺ ions at the fluences of 1×10¹¹ and 1×10¹² ions/cm². The radiation induced changes in dielectric properties and average surface roughness were investigated by using an LCR meter in the frequency range 50 Hz to 10 MHz and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The electrical properties of irradiated films are found to increase with the fluence and also with the concentration of Ni‐DMG. From the analysis of frequency, f, dependence of dielectric constant, ?, it has been found that the dielectric response in both pristine and irradiated samples obey the Universal law given by ? α f ^n?1. The dielectric constant/loss is observed to change significantly due to the irradiation. This suggests that ion beam irradiation promotes (i) the metal to polymer bonding (ii) convert the polymeric structure in to hydrogen depleted carbon network due to the emission of hydrogen gas and/or other volatile gases. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) shows that the average surface roughness and surface morphology of irradiated films are observed to change.     

Computational and biological studies of novel thiazolyl coumarin derivatives synthesized through Suzuki coupling

The current investigation presents the synthesis, computational molecular-docking and biological activity studies of arylated thiazole coumarins. Aryl substituted thiazolyl coumarin derivatives were synthesized via Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. A detailed reaction condition optimization revealed that the Pd-PEPPSI-IPent precatalyst in only 2 mol% loading resulted in the desired product with high yield. The aim of this study was to examine the antimicrobial behavior of thiazole coumarin derivatives through in vitro and in silico studies. All the compounds showed activity against both antibacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, except 5d . Similarly, the compounds 5a , 5b , and 5d were found to be active against Trichoderma harzianum. The compound 5d of this series was found to have a higher activity with MIC 125 mg/ml against Trichoderma harzianum. Molecular studies showed the high activities of these compounds are due to the presence of strong H-bonding and π-π interaction with their respective targets. A good correlation was observed between computational and in vitro studies.     

Metal ion affinity-based biomolecular recognition and conjugation inside synthetic polymer nanopores modified with iron-terpyridine complexes

Here we demonstrate a novel biosensing platform for the detection of lactoferrin (LFN) via metal-organic frameworks, in which the metal ions have accessible free coordination sites for binding, inside the single conical nanopores fabricated in polymeric membrane. First, monolayer of amine-terminated terpyridine (metal-chelating ligand) is covalently immobilized on the inner walls of the nanopore via carbodiimide coupling chemistry. Second, iron-terpyridine (iron-terPy) complexes are obtained by treating the terpyridine modified-nanopores with ferrous sulfate solution. The immobilized iron-terPy complexes can be used as recognition elements to fabricate biosensing nanodevice. The working principle of the proposed biosensor is based on specific noncovalent interactions between LFN and chelated metal ions in the immobilized terpyridine monolayer, leading to the selective detection of analyte protein. In addition, control experiments proved that the designed biosensor exhibits excellent biospecificity and nonfouling properties. Furthermore, complementary experiments are conducted with multipore membranes containing an array of cylindrical nanopores. We demonstrate that in the presence of LFN in the feed solution, permeation of methyl viologen (MV(2+)) and 1,5-naphthalenedisulphate (NDS(2-)) is drastically suppressed across the iron-terPy modified membranes. On the basis of these findings, we envision that apart from conventional ligand-receptor interactions, the designing and immobilization of alternative functional ligands inside the synthetic nanopores would extend this method for the construction of new metal ion affinity-based biomimetic systems for the specific binding and recognition of other biomolecules.