Effective one-pot synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[b]pyran derivatives using nickel Schiff-base complex immobilized on iron oxide nanoparticles

Nickel Schiff-base complex immobilized on silica-coated Fe₃O₄ as a heterogeneous catalyst was designed and characterized by different techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The synthesized nanocatalyst has been explored as a new and efficient recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for the one-pot three-component synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[b]pyran derivatives. The reaction proceeds smoothly to supply the respective products in excellent yields and low reaction times. The catalyst can be easily recovered by a magnetic field and reused for eight consecutive reaction cycles without significant loss of activity.     

Enzyme immobilization strategies for the design of robust and efficient biocatalysts

Different strategies for the preparation of efficient and robust immobilized biocatalysts are here reviewed. Different physico-chemical approaches are discussed.i.- The stabilization of enzyme by any kind of immobilization on pre-existing porous supports.ii.- The stabilization of enzymes by multipoint covalent attachment on support surfaces.iii.- Additional stabilization of immobilized-stabilized enzyme by physical or chemical modification with polymers.These three strategies can be easily developed when enzymes are immobilized in pre-existing porous supports. In addition to that, these immobilized-stabilized derivatives are optimal to develop enzyme reaction engineering and reactor engineering. Stabilizations ranging between 1000 and 100,000 folds regarding diluted soluble enzymes are here reported.     

Lipophilicity and bio‐mimetic properties determination of phytoestrogens using ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography

This paper presents lipophilicity and bio‐mimetic property determination of 15 phytoestrogens, namely biochanin A, daidzein, formononetin, genistein, genistein‐4,7‐dimethylether, prunetin, 3,4,7‐trihydroxyisoflavon, 4,6,7‐trihydroxyisoflavon, 4,6,7‐trimethoxyisoflavon, daidzin, genistin, ononin, sissotrin, coumestrol and coumestrol dimethylether. High‐performance liquid chromatography with fast gradient elution and Caco‐2 cell line were used to determine the physicochemical properties of selected phytoestrogens. Lipophilicity was determined on octadecyl‐sylane stationary phase using pH 2.0 and pH 7.4 buffers. Immobilized artificial membrane chromatography was used for prediction of interaction with biological membranes. Protein binding was measured on human serum albumin and α‐1‐acid‐glycoprotein (AGP) stationary phases. Caco‐2 assay was used as a gold standard for assessing in vitro permeability. The obtained results differentiate phytoestrogens according to their structure where aglycones show significantly higher lipophilicity, immobilized artificial membrane partitioning, AGP binding and Caco‐2 permeability compared with glucosides. However, human serum albumin binding was very high for all investigated compounds. Furthermore, a good correlation between experimentally obtained chromatographic parameters and in silico prediction was obtained for lipophilicity and human serum albumin binding, while the somewhat greater difference was obtained for AGP binding and Caco‐2 permeability.     

Cu(II) immobilized on mesoporous organosilica as an efficient and reusable nanocatalyst for one‐pot Biginelli reaction under solvent‐free conditions

Cu(II) immobilized on mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (Cu²⁺@MSNs‐(CO₂^?)₂) has been synthesized, as a inorganic–organic nanohybrid catalyst, through a post‐grafting approach. Its characterization is carried out by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX), Thermogravimetric/differential thermal analyses (TGA‐DTA), and Nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. Cu²⁺@MSNs‐(CO₂^?)₂ exhibits high catalytic activity in the Biginelli reaction for the synthesis of a diverse range of 3, 4‐dihydropyrimidin‐2(1H)‐ones, under mild conditions. The anchored Cu(II) could not leach out from the surface of the mesoporous catalyst during the reaction and it has been reused several times without appreciable loss in its catalytic activity.     

Cu(II) immobilized on Fe3O4–diethylenetriamine: A new magnetically recoverable catalyst for the synthesis of 2,3‐dihydroquinazolin‐4(1H)‐ones and oxidative coupling of thiols

Cu(II) immobilized on Fe₃O₄–diethylenetriamine was designed as a new, inexpensive and efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of 2,3‐dihydroquinazolin‐4(1H )‐ones and the oxidative coupling of thiols. The structure of the nanomagnetic catalyst was comprehensively characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, thermogravimetric analysis, X‐ray diffraction and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Simple preparation of the catalyst from commercially available materials, high catalytic activity, simple operation, high yields, use of green solvents, easy magnetic separation and reusability of the catalyst with unaltered activity make our protocol a green and feasible synthetic strategy.     

Chromatographic separation simulation of metal‐chelating peptides from surface plasmon resonance binding parameters

Some metal‐chelating peptides have antioxidant properties, with potential nutrition, health, and cosmetics applications. This study aimed to simulate their separation on immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography from their affinity constant for immobilized metal ion determined in surface plasmon resonance, both technics are based on peptide‐metal ion interactions. In our approach, first, the affinity constant of synthetic peptides was determined by surface plasmon resonance and used as input data to numerically simulate the chromatographic separation with a transport‐dispersive model based on Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Then, chromatographic separation was applied on the same peptides to determine their retention time and compare this experimental t_R with the simulated t_R obtained from simulation from surface plasmon resonance data. For the investigated peptides, the relative values of t_R were comparable. Hence, our study demonstrated the pertinence of such numerical simulation correlating immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography and surface plasmon resonance.     

Quantification of Tin and Lead in Binary Alloys Using Voltammetry of Immobilized Microparticles

Voltammetry of immobilized microparticles (VMP) has been used in this work for the quantitative determination of tin and lead particles in their binary alloys. Carbon paste electrodes, which contained small amounts of tin and lead or their mixtures, were used as working electrodes and square wave voltammograms of each electrode were recorded. Quantification was performed using optimum experimental conditions, obtained by an experimental design technique. The calibration was made by measuring the percentage peak height of each metal taking the sum of peak currents of the both metals as 100 %. The results were compared with quantitative results of X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) technique to evaluate the capability of VMP method in its quantitative determination of solid samples.     

A Split-Flow Enzyme Thermistor

Abstract

The split-flow system is comprised of two identical micro-columns, one of which contains an immobilized enzyme preparation, the other an inert support material.

The heat produced in each column on introduction of a sample is measured with thermistors placed in these columns. The use of a reference column virtually eliminates the influence on the measurements of artifactual signals as unspecific heat, i.e., heat not produced by the enzymic reaction. The performance of the split-flow enzyme thermistor at a variety of pH's, ionic strengths or viscosities associated with the sample has been investigated and compared with previously described alternative enzyme thermistor arrangements. In this comparative study glucose at a concentration of 5 · 10^?4 M was used throughout. On passage through the imnobilized glucose oxidase preparation this solution gave rise to a heat change At of about 0.01°C. The insensitivity of the system described herein towards such variations makes it particularly suitable for the analysis of metabolities present in crude solutions such as urine and skim-milk.