Unveiling the relevance of the redox character of nitroaromatic and nitroheteroaromatic compounds as potential medicines

This review discusses the state of the art, challenges, and perspectives in recent applications of nitroaromatics and nitroheteroaromatics, which are redox-bio-activated drugs or leads, in Medicinal Chemistry. It deals mainly with the electrochemical approach toward the electron transfer-based molecular mechanisms of drug action, drug design, estimation and measurement of redox potentials, correlation of physicochemical and pharmacological data, and electrochemical studies of the main representatives of nitro-containing prodrugs, along with approaches to combat their toxicity issues, aiming at a better therapeutic profile. Electrochemical investigation plays essential roles, being strategic in the design and discovery of potential medicines.     

Host-guest Assembly Based on γ-Cyclodextrin-functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes for Rutin Electrochemical Sensing

Here, we report multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) functionalized with γ-cyclodextrins (γCD) as a novel electrochemical strategy for Rutin determination, showing superior performance than β-cyclodextrins (βCD) modified MWCNTs, suggesting an adequate environment for host-guest interactions. Under optimized conditions, the sensor showed a linear range of 39–975 nmol L⁻¹ and a limit of detection of 7 nmol L⁻¹. When tested with quercetin, catechin, and caffeine, the platform presented high selectivity with an interference response <10 %. The method was employed to quantify Rutin in spiked pharmaceutical and herbal extracts, providing recovery of 93–98.4 %. Also, HPLC-PDA confirmed the method‘s accuracy.     

Complexes with Atomic Gold Ions: Efficient Bis-Ligand Formation

Complexes of atomic gold with a variety of ligands have been formed by passing helium nanodroplets (HNDs) through two pickup cells containing gold vapor and the vapor of another dopant, namely a rare gas, a diatomic molecule (H₂, N₂, O₂, I₂, P₂), or various polyatomic molecules (H₂O, CO₂, SF₆, C₆H₆, adamantane, imidazole, dicyclopentadiene, and fullerene). The doped HNDs were irradiated by electrons; ensuing cations were identified in a high-resolution mass spectrometer. Anions were detected for benzene, dicyclopentadiene, and fullerene. For most ligands L, the abundance distribution of AuL_n⁺ versus size n displays a remarkable enhancement at n = 2. The propensity towards bis-ligand formation is attributed to the formation of covalent bonds in Au⁺L₂ which adopt a dumbbell structure, L-Au⁺-L, as previously found for L = Xe and C₆₀. Another interesting observation is the effect of gold on the degree of ionization-induced intramolecular fragmentation. For most systems gold enhances the fragmentation, i.e., intramolecular fragmentation in AuL_n⁺ is larger than in pure L_n⁺. Hydrogen, on the other hand, behaves differently, as intramolecular fragmentation in Au(H₂)_n⁺ is weaker than in pure (H₂)_n⁺ by an order of magnitude.     

Matched/Mismatched Interactions in Chiral Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Glycosylation Reactions with 2-Deoxy-Sugar Trichloroacetimidate Donors

The stereochemical outcome of glycosylation reactions of 2-deoxy-sugar trichloroacetimidates promoted by chiral Brønsted acids is shown to be dependent on both the chirality of the catalyst and the configuration of the leaving group. High levels of selectivity (1:16 α:β) can be obtained with (S)-catalysts and an α-trichloroacetimidate donor. Conversely, (R)-catalysts require longer reaction times and provide the product in much lower selectivity (6.6:1 α:β). These observations demonstrate that stereochemical “match” and “mismatch” between donor and acceptor are important factors in chiral Brønsted acid-promoted glycosylations.     

Modified Carbon Paste Electrode for Kinetic Investigation and Simultaneous Determination of Ascorbic and Uric Acids

The present work explores, for the first time, the electrocatalytic oxidation of ascorbic acid (AscH₂) and its determination in the presence of uric acid (UA) on the in situ activated 4‐nitrophthalonitrile modified carbon paste electrode. The kinetic constant κ for the catalytic reaction for the electrocatalytic oxidation of ascorbic acid, evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and RDE voltammetry provided values around 10⁶ L mol^?1 s^?1. The sensor provided a linear response range for AscH₂ and UA from 5.0 up to 120.0 μmol L^?1 with detection limits of 1.6 μmol L^?1and 1.3 μmol L^?1, respectively. The sensor was applied for the simultaneous determination of AscH₂ and UA in urine samples and the average recoveries for these samples were 99.8 (±3.1)% and 99.9 (±2.1)%, respectively .     

Preparation and characterization of microcapsules loaded with polyphenols-enriched Uncaria tomentosa extract using spray-dryer technique

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - This work prepared and characterized microcapsule of Uncaria tomentosa (UT) in order to standardize a spray-dryer Uncaria tomentosa extract. The UT...     

NMR characterization of new 10-membered-ring macrolactones and dihydrobenzophenazine-5-one, oxidized derivatives of benzo[a]phenazines

Peroxidation of the phenazine of beta-lapachone using m-ClC6H4CO3H-CH2Cl2 furnished a macrolactone with a rigid 10-membered ring, and the corresponding N-oxide, along with a dihydrobenzophenazine-5-one. All of the new compounds were fully characterized by spectroscopic methods, with the unambiguous assignment of the hydrogens and carbon NMR signals for the N-oxide, with the aid of 2-D NMR, mainly COSY, HMQC, HSQC and HMBC. For the other two compounds some signals could not be assigned owing to their own intrinsic features.     

Selective synthesis of 4-thiomethyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-ones under microwave irradiation using an environmentally benign KF/Al2O3/PEG-400 system

Research on Chemical Intermediates - We describe a simple and rapid method for selective synthesis of 4-thiomethyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-ones promoted by KF/Al2O3 using PEG-400 as solvent under microwave...     

Metastability in the Potts model on the Cayley tree

Metastability in the ferromagneticp-state Potts model defined on the Cayley tree is discussed. It is shown that the sign of the boundary fieldH _s determines the order of the transition as well as the stability of the low-temperature phase. Lowering the temperature withH _s >0, a system withp<2 (p>2) will display a second (first)-order transition to a metastable (stable) phase. ForH _s >0 a second (first)-order transition to a metastable (stable) phase occurs ifp>2 (p<2). In this case the system also has a residual entropy which is negative forp<2.     

The effects of a eutectic modifier on microstructure and surface corrosion behavior of Al-Si hypoeutectic alloys

Hypoeutectic aluminum–silicon alloys can have significant improvements in mechanical properties by inducing structural modification in the normally occurring eutectic. The eutectic modification may affect not only the mechanical properties but also the corrosion resistance of such alloys. It is well known that structural parameters such as grain size and interdendritic spacing can significantly affect corrosion resistance of alloys. However, to date, few researches have been performed to experimentally evaluate the effects of an effective modification of eutectic morphology on surface corrosion behavior of Al–Si alloys. In the present study, modified and unmodified samples of an Al 9 wt.% Si alloy were solidified under similar solidification conditions, and after metallographic procedures, the corrosion resistance was analyzed by both the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique and the Tafel extrapolation method carried out in a 0.5 M NaCl test solution at 25 °C. The impedance parameters and corrosion rate were obtained from an equivalent circuit analysis. It was found that the Al-9 wt.% Si alloy casting in the modified condition tends to have its corrosion resistance decreased when compared to the unmodified alloy.