Ru(II)‐based antineoplastic: A “wingtip” N‐heterocyclic carbene facilitates access to a new class of organometallics that are cytotoxic to common cancer cell lines

The syntheses, structures, and chemotherapeutic activities of Ag(I)‐, Au(I)‐, and Ru(II)‐complexes ligated to a novel N‐heterocyclic carbene ligand, 2‐(4‐nitrophenyl)imidazo[1,5‐a]pyridin‐2‐ylidene ( 1 ), are described. The corresponding complexes, [Ag( 1 )₂][PF₆], [Au( 1 )₂][PF₆] ( 3 ), and [Ru( 1 )(p‐cymene)Cl][PF₆] ( 4 ), were prepared using convenient transmetallation chemistry and characterized using a range of spectroscopic and analytical techniques. X‐ray crystallography revealed that complexes 2 and 3 adopted linear structures whereas 4 exhibited a prototypical “piano‐stool”‐like geometry; the structural assignments were further supported by DFT calculations. A series of in vitro studies revealed that while the aforementioned Ag(I), Au(I) and Ru(II) complexes exhibited significant cytotoxicities against the human colon adenocarcinoma (HCT 116), lung cancer (A549), and breast cancer (MCF7) cell lines, the Ru derivative was most prominent.     

Neutron moderation effects in phc contaiminated soil samples

Prompt gamma ray analysis of soil samples contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons(PHC) like benzene was carried out using 14 MeV neutron beams. Intensities of silicon, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen gamma rays were measured for soil samples containing 2.20–10.4 wt% benzene. With increasing benzene concentration, the intensity of the C gamma rays increased while those of Si, H, and O gamma rays decreased. The reduction in Si, H, and O gamma ray intensities may be due to increasing neutron moderation effect in benzene-contaminated soil samples. The experimental intensities of gamma rays are in good agreement with the calculated intensities.The neutron moderation effects in benzene contaminated soil samples are about 26% weaker than those reported for soil samples containing moisture. From the slopes of silicon gamma ray intensity as a function of benzene concentration as well as moisture concentration, a simple scheme has been suggested to correct for the loss in carbon counts caused by neutron moderation from PHC and moisture in the soil samples.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Antimony(III) Complexes of Thioamides,and Crystal Structure of {[Sb(Imt)2Cl2]2((2‐Imt)}Cl2(Imt=Imidazolidine‐2‐thione)

Antimony(III) complexes of thioamides [thioamides=thiourea (Tu), N,N′‐dimethylthiourea (Dmtu), tetramethylthiourea (Tmtu), imidazolidine‐2‐thione (Imt) and diazinane‐2‐thione (Diaz)] with the general formulae, Sb(thione)_nCl₃ (n=1, 2, 2.5, 3) were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and NMR (¹H, ¹³C) spectroscopic methods. The spectral data of the complexes are consistent with the coordination of the thiones to antimony(III). The crystal structure of one of them, {[Sb(Imt)₂Cl₂]₂(μ₂‐Imt)}Cl₂ ( 1 ), was determined by X‐ray crystallography, which shows that the complex is dinuclear consisting of two [Sb(Imt)₂Cl₂] units bridged by an Imt molecule. In 1 , the antimony atom is bonded to two chlorine atoms, two sulfur atoms of coordinated Imt molecules and one sulfur atom of a bridging Imt molecule. The antimony environment can be considered to be distorted octahedral with one Cl^? ion weakly bound to antimony.     

Optimization of a prompt gamma setup for analysis of environmental samples

A thermal neutron capture-based Prompt Gamma ray Activation Analysis setup has been designed to analyze the elemental concentration of environmental bulk samples using a D(d,n) reaction-based portable neutron generator. The performance of the setup was tested through mercury concentration measurements in Hg-contaminated water samples using a large volume cylindrical bismuth germinate (BGO) gamma ray detector. Excellent agreement of experimental count rate of 2.64, 3.19 + 3.29 and 4.67–5.05 MeV Hg prompt gamma rays with theoretical count rate obtained through Monte Carlo simulations, indicates excellent performance of the newly designed portable neutron generator-based PGNAA setup.     

Aspect-ratio dependent oscillatory thermocapillary convection in the floating half zone

The dependency of the critical Marangoni number on the geometrical aspect ratio of the floating half zone is essential to predict the onset of oscillatory thermocapillary convection.The experimental studies in the microgravity conditions on floating half zones of several centimeters in diameter have predicted that the critical Marangoni number increases with the increasing aspect ratio,and the terrestrial experimental studies have predicted the contradictory conclusion for floating half zones of several mil...     

Non-Gravitational Effects with Density-Matching in Evaluating the Influence of Sedimentation on Colloidal Coagulation

The method of density matching between the solid and liquid phases is often adopted to effectively eliminate the effect of sedimentation of suspensions in studies on dynamic behaviour of a colloidal system. However, the associated changes in the solvent composition may bring side effects to the properties investigated and therefore might lead to a faulty conclusion if the relevant correction is not made. To illustrate the importance of this side effect, we present an example of the sedimentation influence on the coagulation rate of suspensions of 2μm （diameter） polystyrene. The liquid mixtures, in the proper proportions of water （H2O）, deuterium oxide （D2O） and methanol （MeOH） as the liquid phase, density-matched and unmatched experiments are performed. Besides the influence of viscosity, the presence of methanol in solvent media, used to enhance the sedimentation effect, causes significant changes （reduction） in rapid coagulation rates compared to that in pure water. Without the relevant corrections for those non-gravitational factors it seems that gravitational sedimentation would retard the coagulation. The magnitude of the contribution from the non-gravitational factor is quantitatively determined, making the relevant correction possible. After necessary the influence of the sedimentation on coagulation rates at corrections for all factors, our experiments show that the initial stage of the coagulation is not observable.     

Spin squeezing and quantum correlations

We discuss the notion of spin squeezing considering two mutually exclusive classes of spin-s states, namely, oriented and non-oriented states. Our analysis shows that the oriented states are not squeezed while non-oriented states exhibit squeezing. We also present a new scheme for construction of spin-s states using 2s spinors oriented along different axes. Taking the case of s=1, we show that the ‘non-oriented’ nature and hence squeezing arise from the intrinsic quantum correlations that exist among the spinors in the coupled state.