Catalytic asymmetric Pictet-Spengler reaction

A catalytic asymmetric Pictet-Spengler reaction has been developed, wherein treating substituted tryptamines with an aldehyde in the presence of a catalytic amount of a chiral phosphoric acid provides the corresponding tetrahydro-beta-carboline derivatives in high yields and enantiomeric excesses. The reaction works well with both aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes.     

Extension of VIKOR method for decision making problem with interval numbers

The VIKOR method was developed for multi-criteria optimization of complex systems. It determines the compromise ranking list and the compromise solution obtained with the initial (given) weights. This method focuses on ranking and selecting from a set of alternatives in the presence of conflicting criteria. It introduces the multi-criteria ranking index based on the particular measure of “closeness” to the “ideal” solution. The aim of this paper is to extend the VIKOR method for decision making problems with interval number. The extended VIKOR method’s ranking is obtained through comparison of interval numbers and for doing the comparisons between intervals, we introduce α as optimism level of decision maker. Finally, a numerical example illustrates and clarifies the main results developed in this paper.     

Biogenic Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Catharanthus roseus and Its Cytotoxicity Effect on Vero Cell Lines

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is a chronic and sometimes fatal condition which affects people all over the world. Nanotherapeutics have shown tremendous potential to combat chronic diseases—including DM2—as they enhance the overall impact of drugs on biological systems. Greenly synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from Catharanthus roseus methanolic extract (C. AgNPs) were examined primarily for their cytotoxic and antidiabetic effects. Methods: Characterization of C. AgNPs was performed by UV–vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The C. AgNPs were trialed on Vero cell line and afterwards on an animal model (rats). Results: The C. AgNPs showed standard structural and functional characterization as revealed by FTIR and XRD analyses. The zetapotential analysis indicated stability while EDX analysis confirmed the formation of composite capping with Ag metal. The cytotoxic effect (IC50) of C. AgNPs on Vero cell lines was found to be 568 g/mL. The animal model analyses further revealed a significant difference in water intake, food intake, body weight, urine volume, and urine sugar of tested rats after treatment with aqueous extract of C. AgNPs. Moreover, five groups of rats including control and diabetic groups (NC1, PC2, DG1, DG2, and DG3) were investigated for their blood glucose and glycemic control analysis. Conclusions: The C. AgNPs exhibited positive potential on the Vero cell line as well as on experimental rats. The lipid profile in all the diabetic groups (DG1-3) were significantly increased compared with both of the control groups (p < 0.05). The present study revealed the significance of C. AgNPs in nanotherapeutics.     

Electroanalytical performance of a Bismuth/Antimony composite glassy carbon electrode in detecting lead and cadmium

This work reports on the electroanalytical performance of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with antimony and bismuth (Sb/Bi-GCE) in detecting heavy metal ions using lead and cadmium as model analytes. The electroanalytical performance of the Sb/Bi-GCE surface was compared to the bismuth modified glassy carbon electrode (Bi-GCE) as well as the antimony modified glassy carbon electrode (Sb-GCE). The Sb/Bi-GCE exhibited excellent figures of merit compared to Bi-GCE and Sb-GCE surfaces. For example, the limit of detection for lead was 0.01 ppb using Sb/Bi-GCE and 0.1 and 1 ppb on Bi-GCE and Sb-GCE, respectively.     

ChemInform Abstract: The Ground-State Potential Energy Surface of Diazene

has been studied by using a complete active space MCSCF wave function generated by distributing eight electrons among eight orbitals.