Engineering nonspherical hollow structures with complex interiors by template-engaged redox etching

Despite the significant advancement in making hollow structures, one unsolved challenge in the field is how to engineer hollow structures with specific shapes, tunable compositions, and desirable interior structures. In particular, top-down engineering the interiors inside preformed hollow structures is still a daunting task. In this work, we demonstrate a facile approach for the preparation of a variety of uniform hollow structures, including Cu(2)O@Fe(OH)(x) nanorattles and Fe(OH)(x) cages with various shapes and dimensions by template-engaged redox etching of shape-controlled Cu(2)O crystals. The composition can be readily modulated at different structural levels to generate other interesting structures such as Cu(2)O@Fe(2)O(3) and Cu@Fe(3)O(4) rattles, as well as Fe(2)O(3) and Fe(3)O(4) cages. More remarkably, this strategy enables top-down engineering the interiors of hollow structures as demonstrated by the fabrication of double-walled nanorattles and nanoboxes, and even box-in-box structures. In addition, this approach is also applied to form Au and MnO(x) based hollow structures.     

Synthesis of 1‐(substituted phenylcarbonyl/sulfonylamino)‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydropyridine‐5‐carboxylic acid diethylamides as potential anti‐inflammatory agents

Fifteen novel 1‐(substituted phenylcarbonyl/sulfonylamino)‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydro‐ pyridine‐5‐carboxylic acid diethylamide ( 7, 15 ) were synthesized in fair to good yields via sodium borohydride reduction of the corresponding 1‐(substituted phenylcarbonyl/ sulfonylimino)‐3‐diethylcarbamoyl pyridinium ylides ( 6, 14 ) in absolute ethanol.     

Design,Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel 2-(4-Arylsubstituted-1H,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-N-{4-[2-(thiazol-2-yl)benzo[d]thiazol-6-yl]phenyl}acetamide Derivatives as Potent Anticancer Agents

Russian Journal of General Chemistry - A novel series of benzothiazole bearing 1,2,3-triazole derivatives 11a–11j are synthesized, and their structures are confirmed by 1H and 13C NMR, and...     

Protein and ligand preparation: parameters, protocols, and influence on virtual screening enrichments

Structure-based virtual screening plays an important role in drug discovery and complements other screening approaches. In general, protein crystal structures are prepared prior to docking in order to add hydrogen atoms, optimize hydrogen bonds, remove atomic clashes, and perform other operations that are not part of the x-ray crystal structure refinement process. In addition, ligands must be prepared to create 3-dimensional geometries, assign proper bond orders, and generate accessible tautomer and ionization states prior to virtual screening. While the prerequisite for proper system preparation is generally accepted in the field, an extensive study of the preparation steps and their effect on virtual screening enrichments has not been performed. In this work, we systematically explore each of the steps involved in preparing a system for virtual screening. We first explore a large number of parameters using the Glide validation set of 36 crystal structures and 1,000 decoys. We then apply a subset of protocols to the DUD database. We show that database enrichment is improved with proper preparation and that neglecting certain steps of the preparation process produces a systematic degradation in enrichments, which can be large for some targets. We provide examples illustrating the structural changes introduced by the preparation that impact database enrichment. While the work presented here was performed with the Protein Preparation Wizard and Glide, the insights and guidance are expected to be generalizable to structure-based virtual screening with other docking methods.     

Synthesis of N-Substituted Carbonylamino-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridines as Potential Anti-Inflammatory Agents

Several N-substituted carbonyl/sulfonylamino-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridines (5a–i and 9a, b) were synthesized via sodium borohydride reduction of the corresponding N-substitutedimino-pyridinium ylides (4a–i and 8a, b) in absolute ethanol.

Rapid shape-based ligand alignment and virtual screening method based on atom/feature-pair similarities and volume overlap scoring

Shape-based methods for aligning and scoring ligands have proven to be valuable in the field of computer-aided drug design. Here, we describe a new shape-based flexible ligand superposition and virtual screening method, Phase Shape, which is shown to rapidly produce accurate 3D ligand alignments and efficiently enrich actives in virtual screening. We describe the methodology, which is based on the principle of atom distribution triplets to rapidly define trial alignments, followed by refinement of top alignments to maximize the volume overlap. The method can be run in a shape-only mode or it can include atom types or pharmacophore feature encoding, the latter consistently producing the best results for database screening. We apply Phase Shape to flexibly align molecules that bind to the same target and show that the method consistently produces correct alignments when compared with crystal structures. We then illustrate the effectiveness of the method for identifying active compounds in virtual screening of eleven diverse targets. Multiple parameters are explored, including atom typing, query structure conformation, and the database conformer generation protocol. We show that Phase Shape performs well in database screening calculations when compared with other shape-based methods using a common set of actives and decoys from the literature.     

LC Separation of para and meta Isomers of Zafirlukast in Bulk Drug Samples and Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms Using a Chiral Stationary Phase

A simple, rapid and sensitive high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the separation and quantification of positional isomers of zafirlukast in bulk drugs and dosage forms using a chiral column. Elution time was 20 min in normal phase mode and ultra violet detection was carried out at 240 nm. Efficient separation was achieved on an immobilized amylose-based Chiralpak-IA column using n-hexane/ethanol/trifluoroacetic acid/diethyl amine (65:35:0.1:0.1, v/v) as the mobile phase. Resolutions between ortho, meta and para isomers of zafirlukast were found to be >3.0. The active pharmaceutical ingredient was extracted from tablets using tetrahydrofuran. The calibration graphs for meta and para isomers of zafirlukast were linear (r ² > 0.999) when ranging from the limit of quantitation to 0.3%. The method showed excellent recoveries for both zafirlukast isomers identified in bulk and formulated products. The test solution was found to be stable in the mobile phase for 48 h after preparation. The developed LC method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness.     

Studies on satellite and ground-based measurements of aerosols over urban environment

EP/TOMS satellite-derived aerosol index (AI) data have been analyzed over typical tropical urban environment corresponding to Hyderabad, India to study seasonal and annual distribution of UV-absorbing aerosols. Observations reveal that UV-absorbing aerosol loading is highly seasonal. During the years 1987, 1991 and 1992 high concentration of UV-absorbing aerosols into the atmosphere over Hyderabad region has been observed. UV-absorbing aerosols are high during summer period. Ground-based measurements of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and satellite-derived AI showed good correlation with AOD at .     

Development and Validation of a New Analytical Method for the Determination of Related Components in Tolterodine Tartarate Using LC

A novel liquid chromatographic method has been developed, and validated for the determination of tolterodine tartarate, for its potential three impurities in drug substances and drug products. Efficient chromatographic separation was achieved on a C8 stationary phase (150 × 4.6 mm, 3.5 μm particles) with a simple mobile phase combination delivered in an isocratic mode at a flow rate of 0.8 mL min^?1 and quantitation was carried out using ultraviolet detection. Microwave assisted degradation procedure was employed for stress testing studies in addition to the conventional way of a refluxing method. The results of both studies were compared. In the developed LC method, the resolution between tolterodine and its three potential impurities was found to be greater than 2.0. Regression analysis shows an r value (correlation coefficient) greater than 0.999 for tolterodine and for its three impurities. This method was capable to detect all three impurities of tolterodine at a level below 0.0038% with respect to a test concentration of 0.5 mg mL^?1 for a 10 μL injection volume. The inter- and intra-day precisions for all three impurities and for tolterodine were found to be within 1.1% RSD at its specification level. The method has shown good, consistent recoveries for tolterodine (98.9–101.6%) and for its three impurities (94.5–103.0%). The test solution was found to be stable in the diluent for 48 h. The drug was subjected to stress conditions of hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis and thermal degradation, as prescribed by ICH. Degradation was found to occur in alkaline stress condition, while the drug was stable to water hydrolysis, acid hydrolysis, oxidative stress, photolytic and thermal stress. The assay of stressed samples was calculated against a qualified reference standard and the mass balance was found close to 99.5%. Microwave degradations were very fast and comparable to the conventional way of the refluxing method. Robustness studies were carried out and suggested that system suitability parameters were unaffected by small changes in critical factors. The validated method was successfully applied for the determination of tolterodine tartarate in drug substances and drug products.     

Evaluation of co-polyaniline nanocomposite thin films as humidity sensor

Spin coated films of Co-Polyaniline nanocomposite are evaluated for their transmission properties using He-Ne laser for humidity sensing. The thickness (17-29 microm) of the films is varied by multiple deposition of Co-Polyaniline nanocomposite on a glass substrate. The samples exhibit typically two to three regions in their sensitivity curve when tested in the relative humidity (RH) range of 20-95%. The sensitivity ranges from 0.1 mV/%RH to 12.26 mV/%RH for lower to higher thickness. The sensors show quick response of 8s (20-95%RH), and a recovery time of 1 min (95-20%RH) with good repeatability, reproducibility and low hysteresis effect. The sensitivity of the sensor increases with humidity and thickness. Material characterization is done by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron micrograph (SEM) and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR).