Excellent photocatalytic reduction of nitroarenes to aminoarenes by BiVO4 nanoparticles grafted on reduced graphene oxide (rGO/BiVO4)

A novel heterogeneous composite material based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) was prepared and characterized by various techniques such as powder XRD, HRTEM, EADX, UV–Vis‐DRS, FT‐IR, Raman, BET and XPS analyses. The characterization results reveal that the rGO well decorated by BiVO₄. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) shows the increasing of charge transfer of rGO/BiVO₄ in presence of light irradiation. In this research, the pure BiVO₄ and rGO/BiVO₄ composite have been explored for photocatalytic reduction of nitroarenes. Among the prepared nanocomposites, rGO loaded with 10% BiVO₄ catalyst (noted as rGO/BiVO₄–10%) shows the best performance for the photo‐reduction of various nitroaromatic molecules to their corresponding amine compounds under visible‐light irradiation at room temperature. The catalyst exhibited in particular excellent photocatalytic activity for the conversion of 1,4‐dinitrobenzene to 4‐nitroanilline (100% conversion) in 20 min, 4‐chloronitrobenzene to 4‐chloroaniline and 2‐nitrophenol to 2‐aminophenol (100% conversion) in only 30 min. In addition, the conversion of 4‐bromonitrobenzene, 4‐iodonitrobenzene to their corresponding amine compounds (100% conversion) was achieved in 60 min. The catalyst was recovered for several times and reused without decreasing of its efficiency.     

Spectral and molecular docking studies of nucleic acids/protein binding interactions of a novel organometallic palladium (II) complex containing bioactive PTA ligands: Its synthesis,anticancer effects and encapsulation in albumin nanoparticles

The organometallic palladium complex with nitrogen-containing heterocycles is a potent antitumor agent. Coordination of phosphorus ligands to organometallic complexes increases their hydrophilicity, promotes ligand−DNA interactions and damage level to cancer cells, and blocks division in target cells. In this study, a phosphaadamantane palladium complex ([Pd{(C,N)- (C₁₂H₈NH₂)} (PTA) Cl], PTA = 1,3,5-Triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) ( 2 ) was synthesized via the reaction of biologically active PTA with binuclear palladacycles [Pd₂{(C,N)-(C₁₂H₈NH₂)}₂(μ-Cl)₂] ( 1 ). In vitro studies of the complex with DNA (calf-thymus) explored by UV–Vis, emission titration, circular dichroism and helix melting methods showed that the complex interacts with DNA via an intercalative mechanism. Furthermore, competitive binding studies using warfarin, digoxin and ibuprofen site markers containing definite binding sites revealed the binding of the complex to site I on bovine serum albumin. The in vitro release mechanism of the palladium complex exhibited a biphasic pattern characterized by an initial burst release followed by a slower sustained release. Ultimately, in vitro evaluation of cytotoxicity and cell death showed that the complexes were able to decrease the viability of human cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and Jurkat) in a dose-dependent manner, but lower decreases were observed in the viability of normal fibroblast cells ASF-4 at the dosages evaluated. Finally, the order of in vitro anticancer activities was found to be consistent with the DNA-binding affinities.     

Novel reaction of N,N'-bisarylmethanediamines with formaldehyde. Synthesis of some new 1,3,5-triaryl-1,3,5-hexahydrotriazines

The acid-catalyzed cyclocondensation of N,N'-bisaryl (aryl = 2-pyrimidinyl, 2-pyrazinyl and 4-nitrophenyl) methanediamines 5a-c with aqueous formaldehyde in refluxing acetonitrile leads to the formation of the corresponding 1,3,5-triaryl-1,3,5-hexa-hydrotriazines 6a-c. The stoichiometric reactions of 2-aminopyrimidine and 2-amino-pyrazine with aqueous formaldehyde in acetonitrile under reflux conditions also afforded 6a and 6b, respectively. Treatment of 2-aminopyrimidine with aqueous formaldehyde in a 3:2 ratio yielded N,N',N"-tris(2-pyrimidinyl)dimethylenetriamine (7a) as a sole product, which upon subsequent reaction with formaldehyde also afforded 6a. The reaction of N,N'-biphenylmethanediamine with formaldehyde was also investigated.     

On Shimura subvarieties generated by families of abelian covers of P1

We investigate the occurrence of Shimura (special) subvarieties in the locus of Jacobians of abelian Galois covers of ${\mathbb{P}}^1$ in $A_g$ and give classifications of families of such covers that give rise to Shimura subvarieties in the Torelli locus $T_g$ inside $A_g$. Our methods are based on Moonen–Oort works as well as characteristic p techniques of Dwork and Ogus and Monodromy computations.