Synthesis and physico-chemical studies of some polynuclear mixed carboxylate complexes of nickel(II)

A number of polynuclear mixed carboxylates of nickel(II) with the general composition [Ni(OOCCH₃)_2–n (OOCR) _n ] _x (whereR=C₁₃H₂₇, C₁₅H₃₁, C₁₇H₃₅ and C₂₁H₄₃ andn=1 or 2) have been synthesized by the transacylation reactions of anhydrous nickel acetate with higher carboxylic acids in refluxing toluene. On recrystallization from benzene-alcohol mixtures, mono-alcoholate complexes, Ni(OOCCH₃)_2–n (OOCR) _n ·ROH (whereR=CH₃ and C₂H₅) have been isolated. All these derivatives have been characterized by the molecular weight determinations, infra-red and electronic reflectance spectra and magnetic susceptibility measurements.

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Synthese und Eigenschaften einiger gemischter Carboxylat-Komplexe von Nickel(II)

Zusammenfassung Komplexe des Typs [Ni(OOCCH₃)_2–n (OOCR) _n ] _x (mitR=C₁₃H₂₇, C₁₅H₃₁, C₁₇H₃₅ und C₂₁H₄₃,n=1 oder 2) wurden aus wasserfreiem Nickelacetat mit höheren Carbonsäuren in siedendem Toluol erhalten. Bei der Kristallisation aus Benzol-Alkohol-Mischungen wurden Monoalkoholate Ni(OOCCH₃)_2–n (OOCR) _n ·ROH (mitR=CH₃ und C₂H₅) isoliert. Die Charakterisierung der Komplexe erfolgte mittels Molekulargewichtsbestimmung, Infrarot- und Elektronenspektren und der Messung der magnetischen Susceptibilität.

     

Synthesis and Enzyme Inhibitory Activities of Highly Functionalized Pyridylmethyl-C-β-D-Glycosides

Several pyridylmethyl-C-β-D-glycosides (3a–3l, 6a, and 6h) were synthesized by refluxing 3-(β-D-glucopyranosyl)/(β-D-cellobiosyl)-propanones and dicyanobenzylidenes with ammonium acetate in anhydrous toluene in moderate to good yields. The reaction involves a C?C Michael addition of enamine, formed from glycosyl ketone and ammonium acetate, to the dicayanobenzylidene derivative; subsequent dehydrative cyclization; and oxidative aromatization. Two of these prototypes, compounds 3e and 3k, were deacetylated to the respective glucopyranosyl methyl pyridines 4e and 4k with NaOMe/MeOH. The synthesized compounds were screened for their in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activities and one of the compounds showed 20% inhibition as compared to standard drug acarbose displaying 39% inhibition.     

Application of butenonyl-C-glucosides in the synthesis of pyrazolinyl-, aminopyrimidinyl- and biphenyl methyl-��-d-C-glucopyranosides

An access to different glycohybrids involving nucleophilic addition of N- and C-nucleophiles to the butenonyl glycosides followed by cyclization and subsequent reactions is reported. In the present communication, three different prototypes, β-D-glucopyranosylmethyl pyrazolines, β-D-glucopyranosylmethyl pyrimidines and β-D-glucopyranosylmethyl biphenyls, were prepared in moderate to good yields.     

Quantum harmonic oscillator algebras as non-relativistic limits of multiparametric gl(2) quantizations

Multiparametric quantum gl(2) algebras are presented according to a classification based on their corresponding Lie bialgebra structures. From them, the non-relativistic limit leading to quantum harmonic oscillator algebras is implemented in the form of generalized Lie bialgebra contractions.     

Asynchronous replica exchange for molecular simulations

An asynchronous implementation of the replica exchange method that addresses some of the limitations of conventional synchronous replica exchange implementations is presented. In asynchronous replica exchange pairs of processors initiate and perform temperature replica exchanges independently from the other processors, thereby removing the need for processor synchronization found in conventional synchronous implementations. Illustrative calculations on a molecular system are presented that show that asynchronous replica exchange, contrary to the synchronous implementation, is able to utilize at nearly top efficiency loosely coupled pools of processors with heterogeneous speeds, such as those found in computational grids and CPU scavenging environments. It is also shown that employing non-nearest-neighbor temperature exchanges, which are straightforward to implement within the asynchronous algorithm, can lead to faster temperature equilibration across processors.     

In Vitro Antiviral Activity of α-Mangostin against Dengue Virus Serotype-2 (DENV-2)

Dengue virus (DENV), a member of the family Flaviviridae, is a threat for global health as it infects more than 100 million people yearly. Approved antiviral therapies or vaccines for the treatment or prevention of DENV infections are not available. In the present study, natural compounds were screened for their antiviral activity against DENV by in vitro cell line-based assay. α-Mangostin, a xanthanoid, was observed to exert antiviral activity against DENV-2 under pre-, co- and post-treatment testing conditions. The antiviral activity was determined by foci forming unit (FFU) assay, quantitative RT-PCR and cell-based immunofluorescence assay (IFA). A complete inhibition of DENV-2 was observed at 8 µM under the co-treatment condition. The possible inhibitory mechanism of α-Mangostin was also determined by docking studies. The molecular docking experiments indicate that α-Mangostin can interact with multiple DENV protein targets such as the NS5 methyltransferase, NS2B-NS3 protease and the glycoprotein E. The in vitro and in silico findings suggest that α-Mangostin possesses the ability to suppress DENV-2 production at different stages of its replication cycle and might act as a prophylactic/therapeutic agent against DENV-2.     

A microfluidic platform for high-sensitivity, real-time drug screening on C. elegans and parasitic nematodes

This paper describes a new microfluidic platform for screening drugs and their dose response on the locomotion behavior of free living nematodes and parasitic nematodes. The system offers a higher sensitivity drug screening chip which employs a combination of existing and newly developed methods. Real-time observation of the entire drug application process (i.e. the innate pre-exposure locomotion, the transient response during drug exposure and the time-resolved, post-exposure behavior) at a single worm resolution is made possible. The chip enables the monitoring of four nematode parameters (number of worms responsive, number of worms leaving the drug well, average worm velocity and time until unresponsiveness). Each parameter generates an inherently different dose response; allowing for a higher resolution when screening for resistance. We expect this worm chip could be used as a robust cross species, cross drug platform. Existing nematode motility and migration assays do not offer this level of sophistication. The device comprises two principal components: behavioral microchannels to study nematode motility and a drug well for administering the dose and observing drug effects as a function of exposure time. The drug screening experiment can be described by three main steps: (i) 'pre-exposure study'- worms are inserted into the behavioral channels and their locomotion is characterized, (ii) 'dose exposure'- worms are guided from the behavioral microchannels into the drug well and held for a predefined time, during which time their transient response to the dose is characterized and (iii) 'post-exposure study'- worms are guided back into the behavioral microchannels where their locomotion (i.e. their time-resolved response to the dose) is characterized and compared to pre-exposure motility. The direction of nematodes' movement is reliably controlled by the application of an electric field within a defined range. Control experiments (e.g. in the absence of any drug) confirm that the applied electric fields do not affect the worms' motility or viability. We demonstrate the workability of the microfluidic platform on free living Caenorhabditis elegans (wild-type N2 and levamisole resistant ZZ15 lev-8) and parasitic Oesophagotomum dentatum (levamisole-sensitive, SENS and levamisole-resistant, LEVR) using levamisole (a well-studied anthelmintic) as the test drug. The proposed scheme of drug screening on a microfluidic device is expected to significantly improve the resolution, sensitivity and data throughput of in vivo testing, while offering new details on the transient and time-resolved exposure effects of new and existing anthelmintics.     

Anisotropic magnetic porous assemblies of oxide nanoparticles interconnected via silica bridges for catalytic application

We report the microfluidic chip-based assembly of colloidal silanol-functionalized silica nanoparticles using monodisperse water-in-oil droplets as templates. The nanoparticles are linked via silica bridges, thereby forming superstructures that range from doublets to porous spherical or rod-like micro-objects. Adding magnetite nanoparticles to the colloid generates micro-objects that can be magnetically manipulated. We functionalized such magnetic porous assemblies with horseradish peroxidase and demonstrate the catalytic binding of fluorescent dye-labeled tyramide over the complete effective surface of the superstructure. Such nanoparticle assemblies permit easy manipulation and recovery after a heterogeneous catalytic process while providing a large surface similar to that of the individual nanoparticles.