Selective Demethylations in 2, 3, 4-Trimethoxyaryl Carbonyl Compounds

2, 3, 4-Trimethoxybenzaldehyde, -acetophenone and -benzoic acid give the corresponding 2, 3-dihydroxy-4-methoxy compounds in good yield on treatment with BCl₃.     

Aggressive dereplication using UHPLC–DAD–QTOF: screening extracts for up to 3000 fungal secondary metabolites

In natural-product drug discovery, finding new compounds is the main task, and thus fast dereplication of known compounds is essential. This is usually performed by manual liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (LC-UV) or visible light-mass spectroscopy (Vis-MS) interpretation of detected peaks, often assisted by automated identification of previously identified compounds. We used a 15 min high-performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection (UHPLC–DAD)–high-resolution MS method (electrospray ionization (ESI)⁺ or ESI^?), followed by 10–60 s of automated data analysis for up to 3000 relevant elemental compositions. By overlaying automatically generated extracted-ion chromatograms from detected compounds on the base peak chromatogram, all major potentially novel peaks could be visualized. Peaks corresponding to compounds available as reference standards, previously identified compounds, and major contaminants from solvents, media, filters etc. were labeled to differentiate these from compounds only identified by elemental composition. This enabled fast manual evaluation of both known peaks and potential novel-compound peaks, by manual verification of: the adduct pattern, UV–Vis, retention time compared with log D, co-identified biosynthetic related compounds, and elution order. System performance, including adduct patterns, in-source fragmentation, and ion-cooler bias, was investigated on reference standards, and the overall method was used on extracts of Aspergillus carbonarius and Penicillium melanoconidium, revealing new nitrogen-containing biomarkers for both species.     

Bianchi Type-III Cosmological Models with Time Dependent Displacement Vector for Barotropic Fluid Distribution in Lyra Geometry

Bianchi Type-III cosmological models for perfect fluid distribution with time dependent displacement field in the framework of Lyra geometry are investigated. To get the deterministic model of the universe, we have assumed two conditions (i) shear (σ) is proportional to the expansion (θ). This leads to B=C ⁿ where B and C are metric potentials and n is a constant. (ii) Universe is filled with barotropic fluid distribution which leads to p=γ ρ, 0≤γ≤1, p being isotropic pressure and ρ the energy density. The physical and geometrical aspects of the model with a special case and singularities in the models are also discussed.     

The One Step Synthesis of 2-(2-Bromo-5- methoxyphenyl)-5-(3-arylidene)-1,3-thiazolo[3,2-b]- 1,2,4-triazol-6-(5H)-ones and the Evaluation of the Anticonvulsant Activity

A smooth one-step synthesis of 2-(2-bromo-5-methoxyphenyl)-5-(3-arylidene)-1,3-thiazolo[3,2-b]-1,2,4-triazol-6-(5H)-ones (4a–n) is described. The newly prepared compounds are characterized by analytical and IR, ¹ H NMR, ¹³ C NMR, and FABMS spectral analysis. A few compounds are screened for anticonvulsant activity. Compounds 4i and 4n exhibit promising anticonvulsant activity and are recommended for further studies.     

Electrochemical production, characterization, and application of MWCNTs

The subject of this study is production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using an original procedure of reduction of lithium molten salts onto graphite cathode; their structural characterization and application as support material for electrocatalysts aimed for hydrogen evolution. As-produced CNTs were characterized by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (DTA). SEM and TEM images have shown that nanotubes are mostly of curved shape with length of 1–20 μm and diameter of 20–40 nm. Raman peaks indicate that the crystallinity of produced nanotubes is rather low. The obtained results suggest that formed product contains up to 80 % multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), while the rest being non-reacted graphite and fullerenes. DTA curves show that combustion process of the nanotubes takes place in two stages, i.e., at 450 and 720 °C. At the lower temperature, combustion of MWCNTs occurs, while at higher one, fullerenes and non-reacted graphite particles burn. As-produced MWCNTs were used as electrocatalyst’s support materials and their performance was compared with that of traditional carbon support material Vulcan XC-72. MWNTs have shown almost twice higher real surface area, and electrocatalyst deposited on them showed better catalytic activity than corresponding one deposited on Vulcan XC-72.     

Adsorption and Equilibrium Isotherm Study of Removal of Copper (II) Ions from Aqueous Solution by Chemically Modified Abelmoschus esculentus Fibers

The present study explores surface modification of Abelmoschus esculentus by graft copolymerization reaction using acrylonitrile as a monomer and ascorbic acid/H₂O₂ as a redox initiator. Further, polyacrylonitrile grafted fibers were treated with hydroxylamine to convert the nitrile group of the grafted fiber into the amidoxime group to enhance adsorption of copper ions from wastewater. The graft copolymers and amidoximated fibers were characterized by FT-IR and FE-SEM. The effects of physicochemical parameters such as pH of the solution, initial metal ion concentration, and time on Cu(II) adsorption were studied to optimize condition for maximum adsorption. In addition, Langmuir, Freundlich, and Tempkin models were applied to describe the adsorption isotherm of Cu²⁺ ions.