Isolation and biological evaluation of chromone alkaloid dysoline,a new regioisomer of rohitukine from Dysoxylum binectariferum

The chromone alkaloid dysoline (1), a new regioisomer of rohitukine (2) along with rohitukine and rohitukine-N-oxide (3) were isolated from the stem barks of Dysoxylum binectariferum. The structure of dysoline (1) was determined by extensive 2D-NMR studies and the absolute configuration was established by NOESY and CD spectra. Dysoline (1) consisted of a 5,7-dihydroxy-2-methylchromone nucleus substituted with a 2′-hydroxylated N-Me piperidine ring at the C-6 position. Dysoline differs from rohitukine by the position of the piperidine ring on the chromone nucleus. Dysoline displayed promising cytotoxicity in HT1080 fibrosarcoma cells with an IC₅₀ of 0.21 μM, and also displayed significant inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6.     

A facile electrochemical method for the synthesis of new sulfonamide derivatives of potential biological significance

The electrochemical synthesis of some new sulfonamide derivatives was carried out via the electrochemical oxidation of 2,3-dihydrophthalazine-l,4-dione （1） in the presence of arylsulfinic acids （2a and 2b） as nucleophiles. The results show that, the electrogenerated phthalazine-l,4-dione （lox） participates in a Michael type addition reaction with 2a or 2b and via an EC mechanism to produce the corresponding sulfonamide derivatives. This method provides a one-pot procedure for the synthesis of new sulfonamide derivatives of potential biological significance in good yields without using toxic reagents at a carbon electrode in an environmentally friendly manner.     

Neutron diffraction study of antiferromagnetism in YbVO4

The antiferromagnetism of YbVO₄ has been studied by neutron diffraction down to 50 mK. The structure is collinear with the spins along the c-axis. The Néel point is at 93 mK and the saturated moment on the ytterbium is (3.1 ± 0.16)μB. The results are in reasonable agreement with Mössbauer work.     

Antiferromagnetic ordering in the ytterbium aluminum perovskite YbAlO3

The antiferromagnetic ordering in YbAlO₃ at low temperatures has been studied. Susceptibility measurements are in agreement with certain features of a quasi one-dimensional Ising system. Neutron diffraction below 0.8 K suggests a structure of the type A_xG_y. The spontaneous magnetic moment at 100 mK compares well with the value from the ground state doublet and is in disagreement with Mössbauer results.     

Thermal, mechanical, electrical, linear and nonlinear optical properties of a nonlinear optical l-ornithine monohydrochloride single crystal

Optically transparent semiorganic nonlinear optical bulk single crystal of l-ornithine monohydrochloride (LOMHCL) of dimension 11×3×2 mm³ has been grown from its aqueous solution by slow solvent evaporation technique. The grown crystal was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction to confirm the crystal structure. Investigation has been carried out to assign the vibrational frequencies of the grown crystals by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy technique. Thermal behavior of the grown crystals was studied by thermogravimetric analysis. The second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency of LOMHCL was determined by Kurtz and Perry powder technique. The optical absorption study confirms the suitability of the crystal for device applications. The mechanical properties of the grown crystals have been studied using Vickers microhardness tester. Dielectric and photoconductivity studies are also carried out for the grown samples.     

Looking for SUSY with EDELWEISS-I and-II

The latest results obtained by the EDELWEISS WIMP (weakly interacting massive particles) direct detection experiment using three heat-and-ionization 320-g germanium bolometers are given. Presently the most sensitive WIMP direct detection experiment for WIMP mass >30 GeV, EDELWEISSI is testing a first region of SUSY models compatible with accelerator constraints. The status and main characteristics of EDELWEISS-II, involving in a first stage 28 germanium bolometers and able to accommodate up to 120 detectors, are briefly presented, together with neutron background estimates.     

Efficient One-Pot Synthesis of the GABAB Positive Allosteric Modulator (R,S)-5,7-Di-tert-butyl-3-hydroxy-3-trifluoromethyl-3H-benzofuran-2-one

The GABA_B positive allosteric modulator (R,S)-5,7-di-tert-butyl-3-hydroxy-3-trifluoromethyl-3H-benzofuran-2-one (1) was synthesized in one pot from the anhydrous lithium salt of 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol and methyl trifluoropyruvate mediated by a stoichiometric amount of anhydrous gallium(III) chloride in 64% overall yield. The enantiomers of 1 were separated by chiral-phase HPLC (Chiralpak AD®), and the absolute configuration was determined by X-ray crystallography.     

Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of Helleborus odorus Waldst. & Kit, H. multifidus Vis. and H. hercegovinus Martinis

This study was undertaken in order to evaluate possible antioxidative and antiproliferative activities of three Helleborus taxa. The dry leaves and roots of three Helleborus taxa were extracted with ethanol and water. A phytochemical evaluation of the selected extracts was performed using spectrophotometric methods and a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity assay was used for measuring the antioxidative activity of extracts. The antiproliferative activity of the three Helleborus taxa was studied using Burkitt's lymphoma B cells (BJAB) cell lines. The phytochemical evaluation showed that the leaves contain high levels of total phenolic and flavonoid content. Results from the DPPH assay indicated that the activity of the ethanol and water extracts of the leaves was higher than that of positive control (thymol). Extracts from the roots of H. odorus also displayed higher antioxidant activity than the positive probe, while H. mulifidus and H. hercegovinus root extracts were less effective. A statistically significant correlation between total phenolic content and antioxidative properties indicates that these compounds contribute to the antioxidant activity. The highest percentage of cell growth inhibition was observed when testing the water root extracts of H. multifidus (50.14%) and H. hercegovinus (49.04%). In contrast, the water leaf extract of H. hercegovinus exhibited the lowest inhibition of cell growth (8.59%), although it showed strong antioxidant activity.     

Linear and nonlinear optical properties of N-(3-nitrophenyl) acetamide single crystals

Optically transparent nonlinear optical bulk single crystal of N-(3-nitrophenyl) acetamide (3NAA) of dimension 7 mm × 6 mm × 5 mm has been grown from its aqueous solution by slow solvent evaporation technique. The grown crystal was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction to confirm the crystal structure. Investigation has been carried out to assign the vibrational frequencies of the grown crystals by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and FT-NMR technique. Thermal behaviour of the grown crystals was studied by thermogravimetric analysis. The second harmonic generation efficiency of 3NAA was determined by Kurtz and Perry powder technique. The optical absorption study confirms the suitability of the crystal for device applications. The mechanical properties of the grown crystals have been studied using Vickers microhardness tester. Dielectric, microhardness and photoconductivity studies also carried out for the grown sample.