Sol–gel encapsulation of bromothymol blue pH indicator in presence of Gemini 12-2-12 surfactant

A sol–gel approach was used to encapsulate bromothymol blue (BTB) C₂₇H₂₈Br₂O₅S pH indicator into mesoporous silica material, in presence of ethanediyl-1,2-bis(dimethyldodecylammonium chloride) (Gemini 12-2-12) surfactant. An ordered mesoporous inorganic matrix including Gemini 12-2-12 and BTB was obtained. It is found that encapsulated BTB/Gemini 12-2-12 exhibit same behavior for pH change as that of the free BTB, which indicate that only physical interaction between BTB molecules and host mesoporous silica network are obtained. The addition of Gemini 12-2-12 surfactant has increased the porosity of the host silica material and increased its sensing capability. The presence of Gemini 12-2-12 surfactant has shifted pKa values of the system to more acidic in comparison with that of free BTB, BTB entrapped silica and BTB/CTAB entrapped silica.     

Acetylenic ketones. VII—Structural analyses by mass spectrometry of the products obtained from the reaction of acetylenic ketones with nucleophilic sulphur compounds

The mass spectra of β-hydroxy-α-thiobenzoylstyrene derivatives and (E, Z)- or (E, E)-β,β-di(α-aroylstyryl)sulphides as well as β,β′di(α-aroylstyryl)disulphides are discussed. The fragmentation patterns support their proposed structure and configuration.     

Synthesis of pyrazolo[3,4-c][1,2]thiazin-4(3H)-one 2,2-dioxides,new heterocycles

The reaction of substituted ethyl 5-aminopyrazole-4-carboxylates with two equivalents of methanesul-fonyl chloride gave the substituted ethyl 5-[bis(methylsufonyl)amino]-1H.-pyrazole-4-carboxylates II . Removal of one of the methanesulfonyl groups, followed by alkylation of the ethyl 5-[(methylsulfonyl)amino]-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxylates III with methyl iodide produced the substituted ethyl 5-[methyl(methylsulfonyl)amino]-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxylates IV . Treatment of IV with sodium hydride gave the 7-substituted 1,7-dihydro-1-methylpyrazolo[3,4-c][1,2]thiazin-4(3H)-one 2,2-dioxides V .     

Substituted ethyl 2-acyl-3-amino-6-methylthieno[2,3-b]pyridine-4-carboxylates as synthons for novel heterocycles

The triethylamine-catalyzed reaction of 4-substituted ethyl 2-acyl-3-amino-6-methylthieno[2,3-b]pyridine-4-carboxylates IIIa-h with 2,2,6-trimethyl-4H-1,3-dioxin-4-one IV gave 4-substituted ethyl 3-acetyl-2-hydroxy-7-methylthieno[2,3-b:4,5-b′]dipyridine-9-carboxylates Va-h. Some of the thienodipyridines ( V ) reacted with excess IV to give 5-substituted ethyl 3-acetyl-4,8-dimethyl-2-oxo-2H-pyrano[2,3-b]-pyrido[3′,2′:4,5]thieno[2,3-e]pyridine-10-carboxylates VI .     

The influence of temperature and density functional models in ab initio molecular dynamics simulation of liquid water

The performance of density functional theory methods for the modeling of condensed aqueous systems is hard to predict and validation by ab initio molecular simulation of liquid water is absolutely necessary. In order to assess the reliability of these tests, the effect of temperature on the structure and dynamics of liquid water has been characterized with 16 simulations of 20 ps in the temperature range of 280-380 K. We find a pronounced influence of temperature on the pair correlation functions and on the diffusion constant including nonergodic behavior on the time scale of the simulation in the lower temperature range (which includes ambient temperature). These observations were taken into account in a consistent comparison of a series of density functionals (BLYP, PBE, TPSS, OLYP, HCTH120, HCTH407). All simulations were carried out using an ab initio molecular dynamics approach in which wave functions are represented using Gaussians and the density is expanded in an auxiliary basis of plane waves. Whereas the first three functionals show similar behavior, it is found that the latter three functionals yield more diffusive dynamics and less structure.     

On variational expressions for quantum relative entropies

Distance measures between quantum states like the trace distance and the fidelity can naturally be defined by optimizing a classical distance measure over all measurement statistics that can be obtained from the respective quantum states. In contrast, Petz showed that the measured relative entropy, defined as a maximization of the Kullback–Leibler divergence over projective measurement statistics, is strictly smaller than Umegaki’s quantum relative entropy whenever the states do not commute. We extend this result in two ways. First, we show that Petz’ conclusion remains true if we allow general positive operator-valued measures. Second, we extend the result to Rényi relative entropies and show that for non-commuting states the sandwiched Rényi relative entropy is strictly larger than the measured Rényi relative entropy for \(\alpha \in (\frac{1}{2}, \infty )\) and strictly smaller for \(\alpha \in [0,\frac{1}{2})\). The latter statement provides counterexamples for the data processing inequality of the sandwiched Rényi relative entropy for \(\alpha < \frac{1}{2}\). Our main tool is a new variational expression for the measured Rényi relative entropy, which we further exploit to show that certain lower bounds on quantum conditional mutual information are superadditive.     

Towards the Pharmacological Validation and Phytochemical Profiling of the Decoction and Maceration of Bruguiera gymnorhiza (L.) Lam.—A Traditionally Used Medicinal Halophyte

Decoctions (leaves and roots) of Bruguiera gymnorhiza (L.) Lam. are traditionally used against diabetes in many countries, including Mauritius. This study endeavoured to evaluate the inhibitory potential of leaves, roots, twigs and fruits extracts (decoction and maceration) of B. gymnorhiza against key enzymes relevant to diabetes. Considering complications related to diabetes, other clinical enzymes, namely, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), tyrosinase, elastase and pancreatic lipase, were used. Identification of compounds was carried out using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS). Antioxidant capacities were assessed using DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, CUPRAC, phosphomolybdenum, metal chelating. The relationship between mode of extraction, plant parts and biological activities was determined using multivariate analysis. Macerated fruits, rich in phytochemicals (phenolic, flavanol, tannin, and triterpenoid), exhibited substantially high antioxidant capacities related to radical scavenging (DPPH: 547.75 ± 10.99 and ABTS: 439.59 ± 19.13 mg TE/g, respectively) and reducing potential (CUPRAC: 956.04 ± 11.90 and FRAP: 577.26 ± 4.55 mg TE/g, respectively). Additionally, the same extract significantly depressed AChE and BChE (3.75 ± 0.03 and 2.19 ± 0.13 mg GALAE/g, respectively), tyrosinase (147.01 ± 0.78 mg KAE/g), elastase (3.14 ± 0.08 mg OE/g) and amylase (1.22 ± 0.01 mmol ACAE/g) enzymatic activities. Phytochemical results confirmed the presence of 119 compounds in all maceration and 163 compounds in all decoction samples. The screening also revealed important compounds in the extracts, namely, quinic acid, brugierol, bruguierol A, epigallocatechin, chlorogenic acid, to name a few. Multivariate analysis reported that the plant parts of B. gymnorhiza greatly influenced the observed biological activities in contrast to the types of extraction methods employed. Docking calculations have supported the findings of the experimental part through the high binding affinity and strong interactions of some compounds against tyrosinase, AChE, BChE and elastase enzymes. The decocted root and leaf of B. gymnorhiza showed low to moderate antidiabetic activity, thereby partially supporting its traditional uses in the management of diabetes. However, the fruit, the most active organ, can be used as a diet supplement to reduce the risk of diabetes complications after evaluating its cytotoxic effects.     

Simultaneous dual molecular contrasts provided by the absorbed photons in photoacoustic microscopy

We investigated the feasibility of simultaneously imaging two distinctive molecular contrasts provided by the absorbed photons in biological tissues with a single light source. The molecular contrasts are based on two physical effects induced by the absorbed photons: photoacoustics (PA) and autofluorescence (AF). In an integrated multimodal imaging system, the PA and AF signals were detected by a high-sensitivity ultrasonic transducer and an avalanche photodetector, respectively. The system was tested by imaging ocular tissue samples, including the retinal pigment epithelium and the ciliary body. The acquired images provided information on the spatial distributions of melanin and lipofuscin in these samples.