Synthesis of Copper Oxide-Based Nanoformulations of Etoricoxib and Montelukast and Their Evaluation through Analgesic,Anti-Inflammatory,Anti-Pyretic,and Acute Toxicity Activities

Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) were synthesized through the coprecipitation method and used as nanocarriers for etoricoxib (selective COX-2 inhibitor drug) and montelukast (leukotriene product inhibitor drug) in combination therapy. The CuO NPs, free drugs, and nanoformulations were investigated through UV/Vis spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, SEM, and DLS. SEM imaging showed agglomerated nanorods of CuO NPs of about 87 nm size. The CE1, CE2, and CE6 nanoformulations were investigated through DLS, and their particle sizes were 271, 258, and 254 nm, respectively. The nanoformulations were evaluated through in vitro anti-inflammatory activity, in vivo anti-inflammatory activity, in vivo analgesic activity, in vivo anti-pyretic activity, and in vivo acute toxicity activity. In vivo activities were performed on albino mice. BSA denaturation was highly inhibited by CE1, CE2, and CE6 as compared to other nanoformulations in the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. The in vivo bioactivities showed that low doses (5 mg/kg) of nanoformulations were more potent than high doses (10 and 20 mg/kg) of free drugs in the inhibition of pain, fever, and inflammation. Lastly, CE2 was more potent than that of other nanoformulations.     

Effects of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> on the hydrophilicity of сotton/polyester (50/50) blend fabric under UV irradiation

Alkaline TiO₂ nanoparticles treated cotton/polyester (50/50) blend fabric were prepared, and then exposed to UV irradiation. It was found that the addition of a small amount of TiO₂ nanoparticles to the coating solution improves the hydrophilicity and mechanical strength of the fabrics. The treated fabrics exhibited high water absorption as well as better hydrophilicity compared to the untreated sample. Compared to the surface of untreated blend fabric, scanning electron microscopy showed that the surface of the modified blend fabric becomes rough and covered by a layer of other materials. Furthermore, X-ray diffraction demonstrated the formation of crystalline material. In addition, thermograms showed that the modification process improved the thermostability of blend fabric.     

Heavy reflux PSA cycles for CO2 recovery from flue gas: Part I. Performance evaluation

This study evaluated nine stripping PSA cycle configurations, all with a heavy reflux (HR) step, some with a light reflux (LR) step, and some with a recovery (REC) or feed plus recycle (F+R) step, for concentrating CO₂ from stack and flue gas at high temperature (575 K) using a K-promoted HTlc. Under the process conditions studied, the addition of the LR step always resulted in a better process performance; and in all cases, the addition of a REC or F+R step surprisingly did not affect the process performance except at low feed throughputs, where either cycle step resulted in a similar diminished performance. The best cycle based on overall performance was a 5-bed 5-step stripping PSA cycle with LR and HR from countercurrent depressurization (CnD) (98.7% CO₂ purity, 98.7% CO₂ recovery and 5.8 L STP/hr/kg feed throughput). The next best cycle was a 5-bed 5-step stripping PSA cycle with LR and HR from LR purge (96.5% CO₂ purity, 71.1% CO₂ recovery and 57.6 L STP/hr/kg feed throughput). These improved performances were caused mainly by the use of a very small purge to feed ratio (γ=0.02) for the former cycle and a larger one (γ=0.50) for the latter cycle. The former cycle was good for producing CO₂ at high purities and recoveries but at lower feed throughputs, and the latter cycle was useful for obtaining CO₂ at high purities and feed throughputs but at lower recoveries. The best performance of a 4-bed 4-step stripping PSA cycle with HR from CnD was disappointing because of low CO₂ recoveries (99.2% CO₂ purity, 15.2% CO₂ recovery and 72.0 L STP/hr/kg feed throughput). This last result revealed that the recoveries of this cycle would always be much lower than the corresponding cycles with a LR step, no matter the process conditions, and that the LR step was very important to the performance of these HR cycles for this application and process conditions studied.     

Dendritic effects in catalysis by Pd complexes of bidentate phosphines on a dendronized support: Heck vs. carbonylation reactions

Bidentate phosphine ligands have been prepared on polystyrene beads modified with polyether dendron spacers. When complexed to Pd(0), these systems exhibited a negative dendritic effect on Heck catalysis (contrary to the analogous monodentate phosphine systems), but mostly a positive influence on carbonylation. This opposite influence of the dendronization falls into line with other differences in the optimal ligand structure for the two reactions. The negative effect on the Heck catalysis with bidentate phosphines may indicate that dendrimer-induced reduction in the cross-linking upon Pd complexation is responsible for the positive effect in the corresponding monodentate phosphine systems.     

A novel catalyst-free,eco-friendly,on water protocol for the synthesis of 2,3-dihydro-1H-perimidines

The first greenest methodology for the synthesis of 2,3-dihydro-1H-perimidines on water is described. 1,8-Diamino naphthalene was reacted with different types of aldehydes at room temperature to furnish the product in moderate to excellent yields in 30 min. A multi-gram scale reaction is also performed to ensure the scalability of the reaction.     

Investigation of the scope and mechanism of copper catalyzed regioselective methylthiolation of aryl halides

Methylthiolation of structurally diverse aryl halides was accomplished under fluoride free conditions using catalytic amounts of CuI, and DMSO as the methylthiolation source. Optimization studies unveiled several varieties of promoters among which Zn(OAc)₂ was found ideal. The analogous reaction with DMSO-d₆ afforded corresponding deuterated aryl methyl thioether with 99% purity. Mechanistic studies revealed CuSMe as the active methylthiolation agent.     

Simultaneous determination of uric acid,xanthine, hypoxanthine and caffeine in human blood serum and urine samples using electrochemically reduced graphene oxide modified electrode

This paper describes the fabrication of graphene on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by electrochemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) attached through 1,6-hexadiamine on GCE and the simultaneous determination of structurally similar four purine derivatives using the resultant electrochemically reduced GO (ERGO) modified electrode. The electrocatalytic activity of ERGO was investigated toward the oxidation of four important purine derivatives, uric acid (UA), xanthine (XN), hypoxanthine (HXN) and caffeine (CAF) at physiological pH. The modified electrode not only enhanced the oxidation currents of the four purine derivatives but also shifted their oxidation potentials toward less positive potentials in contrast to bare GCE. Further, it successfully separates the voltammetric signals of the four purine derivatives in a mixture and hence used for the simultaneous determination of them. Selective determination of one purine derivative in the presence of low concentrations other three purine derivatives was also realized at the present modified electrode. Using differential pulse voltammetry, detection limits of 8.8 × 10⁻⁸ M, 1.1 × 10⁻⁷ M, 3.2 × 10⁻⁷ M and 4.3 × 10⁻⁷ M were obtained for UA, XN, HXN and CAF, respectively. The practical application of the modified electrode was demonstrated by simultaneously determining the concentrations of UA, XN, HXN and CAF in human blood plasma and urine samples.