Synthesis, crystal structure and magnetic properties of a new pillared perovskite La5Mo2.75V1.25O16

A new pillared perovskite compound La₅Mo_2.76(4)V_1.25(4)O₁₆, has been synthesized by solid-state reaction and its crystal structure has been characterized using powder X-ray and neutron diffraction. The magnetic properties of this compound have been investigated using SQUID magnetometry, and the magnetic structure has been studied using neutron diffraction data. A theoretical calculation of relative strengths of spin interactions among different magnetic ions and through different pathways has been performed using extended Hückel, spin dimer analysis. The crystal structure of this material contains perovskite-type layers that are connected through edge-sharing dimeric units of octahedra. The structure is described in space group C2/m with unit cell parameters a=7.931(2) Å, b=7.913(2) Å, c=10.346(5) Å and β=95.096(5)°. The material shows both short-range ferrimagnetic correlations from ∼200 to 110 K and long-range antiferromagnetic order below T_c∼100 K. The magnetic structure was investigated by neutron diffraction and is described by k=(0 0 ) as for other pillared perovskites. It consists of a ferrimagnetic arrangement of Mo and V within the layers that are coupled antiferromagnetically between layers. This is the first magnetic structure determination for any Mo-based pillared perovskite.     

Photodynamic Therapy with Zinc Phthalocyanine Inhibits the Stemness and Development of Colorectal Cancer: Time to Overcome the Challenging Barriers?

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a light-based cancer therapy approach that has shown promising results in treating various malignancies. Growing evidence indicates that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are implicated in tumor recurrence, metastasis, and cancer therapy resistance in colorectal cancer (CRC); thus, targeting these cells can ameliorate the prognosis of affected patients. Based on our bioinformatics results, SOX2 overexpression is significantly associated with inferior disease-specific survival and worsened the progression-free interval of CRC patients. Our results demonstrate that zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc)-PDT with 12 J/cm² or 24 J/cm² irradiation can substantially decrease tumor migration via downregulating MMP9 and ROCK1 and inhibit the clonogenicity of SW480 cells via downregulating CD44 and SOX2. Despite inhibiting clonogenicity, ZnPc-PDT with 12 J/cm² irradiation fails to downregulate CD44 expression in SW480 cells. Our results indicate that ZnPc-PDT with 12 J/cm² or 24 J/cm² irradiation can substantially reduce the cell viability of SW480 cells and stimulate autophagy in the tumoral cells. Moreover, our results show that ZnPc-PDT with 12 J/cm² or 24 J/cm² irradiation can substantially arrest the cell cycle at the sub-G1 level, stimulate the intrinsic apoptosis pathway via upregulating caspase-3 and caspase-9 and downregulating Bcl-2. Indeed, our bioinformatics results show considerable interactions between the studied CSC-related genes with the studied migration- and apoptosis-related genes. Collectively, the current study highlights the potential role of ZnPc-PDT in inhibiting stemness and CRC development, which can ameliorate the prognosis of CRC patients.     

Electroless deposition of silver nanofractals on copper wire by galvanic displacement as a simple technique for preparation of porous solid‐phase microextraction fibers

A novel and porous solid‐phase microextraction fiber was prepared by quick and simple galvanic displacement reaction and applied to the determination of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sunflower oil. The parameters affecting the porosity and thickness of the fiber, and parameters affecting the extraction efficiency, including the extraction time, temperature, and ionic strength, were investigated and optimized. The morphology of prepared fiber was characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy and thermal and chemical stabilities of the fiber were studied. Under the optimum conditions, the limits of detection ranged between 0.1 ng/mL for pyrene to 1.2 ng/mL for anthracene, and LOQ ranged between 0.3 ng/mL for pyrene to 3.6 ng/mL for anthracene. The relative standard deviations, including repeatability (within fibers) and reproducibility (between fibers), varied between 3.2–8.9 and 5.6–9.8%, respectively.     

Influence of diazonium-induced surface grafting on PES NF membrane fouling reduction in algal-rich water treatment

The algae bloom phenomenon incurs a major challenge to conventional drinking water treatment processes due to the discharges of a large amount of intracellular pollutant and odor compounds in the water sources. Membrane processes have been considered as promising technologies to treatment of algal-rich water due to complete algal cell rejection however, its application has been limited by membrane fouling. In this work, the high-performance loose antifouling PES NF membranes were fabricated using diazonium-induced grafting and applied for treating real algal effluent. The modified membranes exhibited complete algal dye removal and turbidity removal throughout the long-term filtration. Also, the coupling and radically modified membranes can be able to removed COD by up to 90% and 88%, respectively, while a removal efficiency of 24% was observed for bare membrane. It is worth noting that, a relative smooth behavior in permeate flux by loose modified membranes during prolonged algal dye filtration, demonstrating exceptional anti-fouling property of membranes. In addition, the fouled modified membranes were effectively recovered by water flushing. Both loose modified membranes exhibited excellent resistance in the strongly acidic environment. These high performance antifouling NF membranes affords an innovative methodology toward the treatment of algal-rich water.     

Synthesis of Core-Shell Magnetic Supramolecular Nanocatalysts based on Amino-Functionalized Calix[4]arenes for the Synthesis of 4H-Chromenes by Ultrasonic Waves

One of the most common phenol-formaldehyde cyclic oligomers from hydroxyalkylation reactions that exhibit supramolecular chemistry are calixarenes. These macrocyclic compounds are qualified to act as synthetic catalysts due to their specific features including being able to form host-guest complexes, having unique structural scaffolds and their relative ease of chemical modifications with a variety of functions on their upper rim and lower rim. Here, a functional magnetic nanocatalyst was designed and synthesized by using a synthetic amino-functionalized calix[4]arene. Its catalytic activity was evaluated in a one-pot synthesis of 2-amino-4H-chromene derivatives. Besides, this novel magnetic nanocatalyst was characterized by spectroscopic and analytical techniques such as FT-IR, EDX, FE-SEM, TEM VSM, XRD analysis.     

Modular Molecules: Site‐Selective Metal Substitution,Photoreduction, and Chirality in Polyoxometalate Hybrids

The first members of a promising new family of hybrid amino acid–polyoxometalates have emerged from a search for modular functional molecules. Incorporation of glycine (Gly) or norleucine (Nle) ligands into an yttrium‐tungstoarsenate structural backbone, followed by crystallization with p‐methylbenzylammonium (p‐MeBzNH₃⁺) cations, affords (p‐MeBzNH₃)₆K₂(GlyH)[As^III₄(Y^IIIW^VI₃)W^VI₄₄Y^III₄O₁₅₉(Gly)₈‐ (H₂O)₁₄] ? 47 H₂O ( 1 ) and enantiomorphs (p‐MeBzNH₃)₁₅(NleH)₃ [As^III₄(Mo^V₂Mo^VI₂)W^VI₄₄Y^III₄O₁₆₀(Nle)₉(H₂O)₁₁][As^III₄(Mo^VI₂W^VI₂)‐ W^VI₄₄Y^III₄O₁₆₀(Nle)₉(H₂O)₁₁] (generically designated 2 : L ‐Nle, 2 a ; D ‐Nle, 2 b ). An intensive structural, spectroscopic, electrochemical, magnetochemical and theoretical investigation has allowed the elucidation of site‐selective metal substitution and photoreduction of the tetranuclear core of the hybrid polyanions. In the solid state, markedly different crystal packing is evident for the compounds, which indicates the role of noncovalent interactions involving the amino acid ligands. In solution, mass spectrometric and small‐angle X‐ray scattering studies confirm maintenance of the structure of the polyanions of 2 , while circular dichroism demonstrates that the chirality is also maintained. The combination of all of these features in a single modular family emphasizes the potential of such hybrid polyoxometalates to provide nanoscale molecular materials with tunable properties.     

Mercury(II) complexes of new bidentate phosphorus ylides: synthesis,spectra and crystal structures

The reaction of dppm (1,1-bis(diphenylphosphino)methane) with 2-bromo-4-phenylacetophenone and benzyl bromoacetate in chloroform produces new phosphonium salts, [Ph₂PCH₂PPh₂CH₂C(O) C₆H₄Ph]Br (I) and [Ph₂PCH₂PPh₂CH₂COOCH₂Ph]Br (II). By allowing the phosphonium salts to react with the appropriate base, the bidentate phosphorus ylides, Ph₂PCH₂PPh₂=C(H)C(O)C₆H₄Ph (III) and Ph₂PCH₂PPh₂=C(H)C(O)OCH₂Ph (IV), were obtained. The reaction of these ligands with mercury(II) halides in dry methanol led to the formation of the mononuclear complexes {HgX₂[(Ph₂PCH₂PPh₂C(H)C(O)C₆H₄Ph)]} (X = Cl (V); X = Br (VI); X = I (VII)) and {HgX₂[(Ph₂PCH₂PPh₂C(H)COOCH₂Ph)]} (X = Cl (VIII); X = Br (IX); X = I (X)). The FTIR and ¹H, ³¹P and ¹³C NMR spectra were studied. The structure of compound III was unequivocally determined by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique. Single-crystal X-ray analysis of the {HgBr₂[(Ph₂PCH₂PPh₂C(H)C(O)C₆H₄Me)]} complex (XI) revealed the presence of a mononuclear complex containing the Hg atom in a distorted tetrahedral environment. In all complexes, the ylides referred to above were coordinated through the ylidic carbon and the phosphine atom.