A di-μ-oxomolybdenum(V) complex of 6-acetonylisoxanthopterin,undergoing oxygen atom transfer with dimethyl sulphoxide

The new compound, Na[(Mo₂ ^VO₄)(pte)(OMe)(MeOH)₂] (pte = anion of 6-acetonylisoxanthopterin), has been prepared using the redox non-innocent title ligand in MeOH–H₂O, and characterized by elemental analysis and physico-chemical methods including e.s.m.s., i.r., u.v.–vis. and ¹H-n.m.r. spectra. Rate constants data (1.4 × 10^–3 s^–1 at 300 K) for its oxygen atom transfer with dimethyl sulphoxide tally with those of synthetic analogue systems reported earlier by different authors. The negative activation entropy (–206.3 J mol^–1 deg^–1) is consistent with an associative mechanism for this reaction.     

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.     

Spectrophotometric determination of organic nitrogen by a modified Lassaigne method and its application to meat products and baby food

A modified Lassaigne method was developed for N determination based on fusion of the organic substance with metallic Na, conversion of the cyanide in the aqueous leachate to thiocyanate by ammonium polysulfide treatment, and colorimetric measurement of the thiocyanate formed by the addition of excessive ferric ions in acidic medium. The mean molar absorptivity of the Fe(NCS)2+ complex at 480 nm is 2.96 x 10(3) L/mol x cm, enabling quantitation of 0.25-7.72 ppm N (linear range) in the final solution. The relative amounts of Na, (NH4)2S2, and Fe(III) with respect to nitrogen in the analyte were optimized. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of N in various brands of baby food, and it was compared statistically with the conventional Kjeldahl and elemental analysis methods. Protein nitrogen in a number of meat products was also precisely determined by the developed method. Thus, the total digestion time of the conventional Kjeldahl method was reduced considerably (e.g., to approximately 15 min for a dried sample) with a relatively simple spectrophotometric method requiring no sophisticated instrumentation.     

Bioactivity-Guided Isolation of Phytochemicals from Vaccinium dunalianum Wight and Their Antioxidant and Enzyme Inhibitory Activities

Vaccinium dunalianum Wight, usually processed as a traditional folk tea beverage, is widely distributed in the southwest of China. The present study aimed to investigate the antioxidant, α-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase inhibitory activities of V. dunalianum extract and isolate the bioactive components. In this study, the crude extract (CE) from the buds of V. dunalianum was prepared by the ultrasound-assisted extraction method in 70% methanol and then purified with macroporous resin D101 to obtain the purified extract (PM). Five fractions (Fr. A–E) were further obtained by MPLC column (RP-C18). Bioactivity assays revealed that Fr. B with 40% methanol and Fr. D with 80% methanol had better antioxidant with 0.48 ± 0.03 and 0.62 ± 0.01 nM Trolox equivalent (TE)/mg extract for DPPH, 0.87 ± 0.02 and 1.58 ± 0.02 nM TE/mg extract for FRAP, 14.42 ± 0.41 and 19.25 ± 0.23 nM TE/mg extract for ABTS, and enzyme inhibitory effects with IC₅₀ values of 95.21 ± 2.21 and 74.55 ± 3.85 for α-glucosidase, and 142.53 ± 11.45 and 128.76 ± 13.85 µg/mL for pancreatic lipase. Multivariate analysis indicated that the TPC and TFC were positively related to the antioxidant activities. Further phytochemical purification led to the isolation of ten compounds (1–10). 6-O-Caffeoylarbutin (7) showed significant inhibitory effects on α-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase enzymes with values of 38.38 ± 1.84 and 97.56 ± 7.53 µg/mL, and had the highest antioxidant capacity compared to the other compounds.     

Activity Guided Isolation of Phenolic Compositions from Anneslea fragrans Wall. and Their Cytoprotective Effect against Hydrogen Peroxide Induced Oxidative Stress in HepG2 Cells

Anneslea fragrans Wall., commonly known as “Pangpo Tea”, is traditionally used as a folk medicine and healthy tea for the treatment of liver and intestine diseases. The aim of this study was to purify the antioxidative and cytoprotective polyphenols from A. fragrans leaves. After fractionation with polar and nonpolar organic solvents, the fractions of aqueous ethanol extract were evaluated for their total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid contents (TFC) and antioxidant activities (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays). The n-butanol fraction (BF) showed the highest TPC and TFC with the strongest antioxidant activity. The bio-guided chromatography of BF led to the purification of six flavonoids (1–6) and one benzoquinolethanoid (7). The structures of these compounds were determined by NMR and MS techniques. Compound 6 had the strongest antioxidant capacity, which was followed by 5 and 2. The protective effect of the isolated compounds on hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced oxidative stress in HepG2 cells revealed that the compounds 5 and 6 exhibited better protective effects by inhibiting ROS productions, having no significant difference with vitamin C (p > 0.05), whereas 6 showed the best anti-apoptosis activity. The results suggest that A. fragrans could serve as a valuable antioxidant phytochemical source for developing functional food and health nutraceutical products.     

Organocatalytic Asymmetric Mannich Cyclization of Hydroxylactams with Acetals: Total Syntheses of (−)‐Epilupinine, (−)‐Tashiromine,and (−)‐Trachelanthamidine

An asymmetric, organocatalytic, one‐pot Mannich cyclization between a hydroxylactam and acetal is described to provide fused, bicyclic alkaloids bearing a bridgehead N atom. Both aliphatic and aromatic substrates were used in this transformation to furnish chiral pyrrolizidinone, indolizidinone, and quinolizidinone derivatives in up to 89 % yield and 97 % ee. The total syntheses of (?)‐epilupinine, (?)‐tashiromine, and (?)‐trachelanthamidine also achieved to demonstrate the generality of the process.     

Two New Disulfated Triterpenoids from Zygophyllum fabago

From the aerial parts of Zygophyllum fabago, two new monosodium salts of sulfated derivatives of ursolic acid, along with two known quinovic acid glycosides were isolated. The structures of the new compounds were determined as (3β,4α)‐3,23,30‐trihydroxyurs‐20‐en‐28‐al 3,23‐di(sulfate) sodium salt (1 : 1) ( 1 ) and of (3β,4α)‐3,23,28‐trihydroxyurs‐20‐en‐30‐yl β‐D ‐glucopyranoside 3,23‐di(sulfate) sodium salt (1 : 1) ( 2 ) with the molecular formula C₃₀H₄₇NaO₁₀S₂ and C₃₆H₅₉NaO₁₅S₂, respectively. The structures of the known compounds were 3‐O‐(2‐O‐sulfo‐β‐D ‐quinovopyranosyl)quinovic acid 28‐β‐D ‐glucopyranosyl ester ( 3 ) and 3‐O‐(β‐D ‐glucopyranosyl)quinovic acid 28‐β‐D ‐glucopyranosyl ester ( 4 ) (quinovic acid=(3β)‐3‐hydroxyurs‐12‐ene‐27,28‐dioic acid). The structures of all these compounds were determined by using 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR spectroscopic techniques.     

Abeliaside,a new phenolic glucoside from Abelia triflora

A new phenolic glucoside, abeliaside, along with four known compounds, 5,6,7,4′-tetrahydroxy flavones, caffeic acid, 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid and caffeic acid glucoside, was isolated from the leaves of Abelia triflora R. Br. (Caprifoliaceae). The structure of the new compound was elucidated by different spectroscopic techniques. Compounds 1–5 were assayed for their anticancer activities against two cancerous human cell lines, MCF-7 and PC-3 cells, and normal Vero cell line using the crystal violet staining method. From the results it could be seen that caffeic acid possessed the highest anticancer effect against MCF-7 (IC₅₀: 17 μg/mL) and PC-3 (IC₅₀: 20.1 μg/mL) compared to vinblastine sulphate as reference drug (IC₅₀: 4.6, 2.8 μg/mL). The other compounds showed weak anticancer activity on both cell lines.     

Study of cure kinetics of epoxy/DDS/nanosized (SiO2/TiO2) system by dynamic differential scanning calorimetry

In this study the curing kinetics of epoxy based on the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), 4,4′‐diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS) as a hardener, and SiO₂/TiO₂ (70:30) as a nanofiller was investigated by nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The effects of different weight contents of SiO₂/TiO₂ nanoparticles were studied using DSC in Dynamic Mode and the best value of the nanofiller was found to be 5 phr (parts per hundred). Dynamic measurements were used to obtain the total heat of reaction of the epoxy system as well as its activation energy (E_a) based on the isoconversional methods of Kissinger and Ozawa. The process revealed a dependence of the activation energy on conversion (α). The morphology of the cured system was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It showed a strong cross‐linking between the resin and hardner and a relatively better dispersion of surface modified filler nanoparticles. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Millimeter and submillimeter wave measurements of complex optical and dielectric parameters of materials

These coolant materials were chosen for the first in this series of measrements of the complex parameters of liquids over the entire millimeter and submillimeter wavelength range of the spectrum. The fluorocarbon coolants not reported here exhibit an order of magnitude lower loss. It is the characteristic of these liquids that the absorption coefficient increases monotonically with frequency.Partially supported by the Office of Fusion Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract W-7405-eng-26 with Union Carbide Corporation.Supported by the National Science Foundation.