Organic–inorganic nanocomposites prepared from fluoro-aramid and silica

Fluoro-aramid-based sol/gel-derived nanocomposites were synthesized by condensing a mixture of 4,4′-(hexafluoro-isopropylidene)dianiline and 1,3-phenylenediamine with terephthaloylchloride (TPC) in dimethylacetamide. TPC was added in slight excess to produce amide chains with carbonyl chloride end groups and then replaced with alkoxy groups using aminophenyltrimethoxysilane to develop bonding with the silica network. Mechanical, dynamic mechanical thermal, water absorption and morphological measurements were carried out on the thin hybrid films. Increase in the tensile strength and modulus was observed as compared to pristine polyamide. The thermal decomposition temperature was found in the range of 400–500 °C. The water absorption was found to be reduced with higher silica content. The glass transition temperature and the storage moduli increased with increasing silica concentration. The maximum increase in the T _g value (345 °C) was observed with 20 wt% silica. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the uniform distribution of silica in the matrix with an average particle size ranging from 8 to 50 nm.     

Uptake of Tm(III) ions onto polyurethane foam from H2O - ethanol mixture containing 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN)

Summary The sorption of microquantities of Tm(III) ions on washed polyurethane foam (PUF) from a mixture of aqueous solution and ethanol containing PAN was examined. The maximum sorption of 3.18^. 10^-6M solution of Tm(III) ions was observed at pH 8 with 30-minute equilibration time. The optimum ratio of aqueous-ethanol phase for the sorption of Tm(III) ions was found to be 3:1 v/v, respectively. The sorption rate of metal ions on PUF is followed a first order kinetics and obeyed the equation for an intra particle diffusion process. The equilibrium concentration data of Tm(III) ions could be described satisfactorily by several adsorption isotherms. The Freundlich adsorption isotherm constants 1/nand K_Fare 0.66±0.02 and (5.7±0.3)^. 10^-3mol^. g^-1, respectively. The Langmuir isotherm constants for monolayer coverage (Q) and binding strength of sorption (b) are (2.5±0.7)^. 10^-5mol^. g^-1and (1.6±0.1)^. 10⁴l^. mol^-1, respectively. The sorption capacity derived from Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm is (1.7±0.2)^. 10^-4mol^. g^-1and the sorption free energy (E) is 9.8±0.2 kJ^. mol^-1indicating chemisorption phenomena. The thermodynamic parameters indicate that the sorption of Tm(III) ions onto PUF is endothermic, entropy driven and spontaneous in nature.     

Sensory, physicochemical and microbiological quality of irradiated minimally processed cauliflower

Minimally processed cauliflower samples were irradiated, stored at 5 °C for 2 weeks and analyzed for sensory, physicochemical and microbiological qualities at 0th, 7th and 14th days. The data showed highest mean values of 7.93 and 7.57 for appearance and flavor, respectively, for 1.0 kGy treated samples. The D₁₀ values of contaminating microorganisms on cauliflower were 0.20 (Escherischia coli) and 0.24 kGy (Salmonella paratyphae A.) and the resulting 5D₁₀ value was 1.2 kGy. The study revealed that a dose of 1.5 kGy is enough for retention of quality and reduction of microbial load to 5D₁₀ values in cauliflower during 2 weeks storage at refrigerated temperature.     

The mechanisms of decomposition of the 1- and 2-phenyltetralin radical cations

Mechanisms for decomposition of 1- and 2-phenyltetralins were investigated using low resolution mass spectrometry and metastable ion techniques. Four primary decompositions were observed for 1-phenyltetralin radical cations: (1) the loss of C₆H₆ via a 1,4-elimination; (2) the elimination of ethene via competing losses from carbons 3 + 4 and carbons 2 + 3; (3) the loss of C₈H₈, probably through a stepwise Diels-Alder cycloreversion to expel styrene; and (4) the loss of methyl radical involving carbon 2 and possibly carbon 4. Three major decompositions were observed for 2-phenyltetralin radical cations: (1) the loss of C₈H₈, possibly through a Diels-Alder cycloreversion to expel styrene; (2) the loss of C₆H₆ via a 1,3 elimination; and (3) the loss of methyl radical from carbon 1. Various exchange reactions occur prior to these losses, but they proved to be incomplete even for metastable ions.     

Three new cholinesterase-inhibiting cis-clerodane diterpenoids from Otostegia limbata

Three new tricyclic cis-clerodane type diterpenoids trivially named as limbatolide A (1), limbatolide B (2) and limbatolide C (3) have been isolated from the roots of Otostegia limbata along with two known compounds; oleanic acid and beta-sitosterol. The structure elucidation of the new compounds was based primarily on two-dimensional (2D) NMR techniques. Compounds 1-3 displayed inhibitory potential in a concentration-dependent manner against acetylcholinesterase (AChE; EC 3.1.1.7) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE; EC 3.1.1.8) enzymes, respectively.     

Synthesis and structural characterization of a new heterobimetallic coordination complex of barium and cobalt for use as a precursor for chemical vapor deposition

Ba(dmae)2 (dmaeH=N,N-dimethylaminoethanol, C4H11NO) reacts with Co(acac)2 (acac=2,4-pentanedionate) to produce the trinuclear coordination complex [Ba2Co(acac)4(dmae)3(dmaeH)] in an 85% yield. Spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments indicate that the complex possesses a structure in which two barium atoms and a cobalt atom are bridged by acac and dmae groups. The barium centers are eight and nine coordinate with BaO7N and BaO7N2 coordination spheres while the cobalt is a more regular CoO5N octahedron. This 2:1 heterobimetallic molecular complex was investigated as precursor for the deposition of thin film by AACVD. The film was characterized by SEM and XRD. TGA shows that the complex starts thermal decomposition upon heating in nitrogen atmosphere at 105 degrees C to produce barium cobalt oxide material of a Ba2CoO3 composition with an orthorhombic structure. The synthetic approach detailed here represents a unique route to the formation of a heterobimetallic barium cobalt coordination complex.     

Structure determination of bioactive galloyl derivatives by NMR spectroscopy

The investigation of the chemical constituents of Symplocos racemosa Roxb led to the isolation of two new glycosides, symcomoside A (1) and symcomoside B (2), together with one known glycoside, tortoside C (3), which is reported for the first time from this plant. The structures of the new compounds were determined by 1D and 2D homonuclear and heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy, from chemical evidence and by comparison with published data for closely related compounds. Symcomoside B (2) showed potent inhibitory activity against alpha-glucosidase in a concentration-dependent fashion with an IC50 value of 0.733 +/- 0.033 mM whereas symcomoside A (1) showed very weak inhibitory activity against alpha-glucosidase (9.90% in 0.70 mM).     

Utility of certain pi-acceptors for the spectrophotometric determination of some penicillins

Two simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods are described for the determination of six penicillin derivatives. The methods are based on the reaction of these drugs as n-electron donors with either 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone (DDQ) or 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) as pi-acceptors, to give a highly coloured radical anion. The coloured products are quantified spectrophotometrically at 460 and 842 nm for DDQ and TCNQ, respectively. The optimization of the different experimental conditions is described. The interference from streptomycin sulphate and common degradation products was also studied. The proposed methods were applied successfully to the determination of the different penicillins investigated, either in pure or dosage forms, with good accuracy and precision. The results were compared with those given by the official United States Pharmacopeial XXI method.     

Dichotenone-a and -b: two new enones from the marine brown alga Dictyota dichotoma (Hudson) Lamour

Marine brown alga Dictyota dichotoma (Dictyotaceae) collected from Karachi coast of Arabian Sea yielded two new (1 and 2) enones (dolastane-diterpenoids) named: dichotenone-A and -B along with an olide (loliolide, 3) as a new source. Their structures have been characterized with the aid of 2D-NMR spectroscopic techniques.     

Spectrofluorometric determination of certain quinolone antibacterials using metal chelation

Simple, rapid, reliable, and sensitive spectrofluorometric methods were developed for the determination of eight quinolone antibacterials namely ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, lomefloxacin, difloxacin, amifloxacin, pefloxacin, ofloxacin, and nalidixic acid. The methods depend on the chelation of each of the studied drugs with zirconium, molybdenum, vanadium or tungsten to produce fluorescent chelates. Different factors affecting the relative fluorescence intensity of the resulting chelates were studied and optimised. At the optimum reaction conditions, the drug-metal chelates showed excitation maxima ranging from 274 to 295 nm and emission maxima ranging from 409 to 495 nm. The chelates were found to be stable at room temperature for 2 days and show good stability upon increasing temperature to 50 °C for about 1 h. Rectilinear calibration graphs were obtained in the range of 10-60 ng ml⁻¹ for each of the investigated drugs and the limits of detection and quantitation ranged from 1.214 to 2.046 and from 4.047 to 6.819 ng ml⁻¹, respectively. The molar ratios of the formed chelates were determined by Job's method and their association constants were also calculated. The developed methods were applied successfully for the determination of the studied drugs in their pharmaceutical dosage forms with a good precision and accuracy compared to official and reported methods as revealed by t- and F-tests. They were also applied for the determination of studied drugs in spiked urine and plasma samples.