Chemical fingerprinting of Equisetum arvense L. using HPTLC densitometry and HPLC

Equisetum arvense L. is a herbaceous medicinal plant, commonly known as horsetail, whose extracts have been reported to possess diuretic and haemostatic properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of fingerprint chromatographic methods on commercially available raw materials or preparations of E. arvense L. in order to ascertain their quality and identify possible adulterants using HPLC and HPTLC densitometry. Two chromatographic methods were used to determine the chemical fingerprints of E. arvense and other allied species. The first was based on HPTLC identification followed by densitometric measurement at 350?nm. The second was based on HPLC separation. The ease of sample preparation and the possibility of simultaneous analysis of several samples in a short time make HPTLC a method of choice for the comprehensive quality evaluation of herbal products.     

Three solutions to a perturbed nonlinear discrete Dirichlet problem

Using critical point theory, we study the existence of at least three solutions for a perturbed nonlinear Dirichlet boundary value problem for difference equations depending on two positive parameters.     

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: X-ray crystallographic studies for the binding of N-substituted benzenesulfonamides to human isoform II

N-substituted benzenesulfonamides, incorporating the N-amino-, N-hydroxy- and N-methoxy-moieties at the sulfonamide zinc binding group, have been investigated as CAIs by means of inhibition and structural studies, unraveling interesting aspects related to their inhibition mechanism.     

Solvent effects on the complexation of 1-alkanols by parent and modified cyclodextrins. Calorimetric studies at 298 K

The formation of complexes of parent and alkylated cyclodextrins (CDs) with 1-heptanol and 1-octanol has been studied calorimetrically at 298 K in water and in concentrated aqueous solutions of urea. The forces involved in the association process are discussed in the light of the signs and values of the thermodynamic parameters obtained: association enthalpy, binding constant, Gibbs free energy, and entropy. It was inferred that: (i) in water, the formation of complexes for parent and substituted α-cyclodextrins (αCDs) is determined by enthalpy. For parent and substituted β-cyclodextrins (βCDs), instead, hydrophobic interactions are the prevailing forces determining complexation, as indicated by the small and negative or positive enthalpies and by the high and positive entropies. (ii) In urea, hydrophilic interactions are attenuated. The formation of complexes with alkylated CDs does not occur. (iii) The analysis of the thermodynamic properties confirms that inclusion is a process dominated by hydration phenomena. Modifications experienced by the solvent water in the hydration shells of the interacting substances upon association determine the formation of the complexes.     

A convenient synthesis of unsymmetrically substituted terphenyls of biologically active stilbenes via a double Suzuki cross-coupling protocol

A double Suzuki cross-coupling protocol has been devised as a practical route to a variety of terphenyls. Good chemoselectivity was observed. Unsymmetrically substituted triphenylenes were also easily prepared.     

La hessiana e i suoi problemi

This lecture shows synthetically the developments of the researches on the Hessian of an algebraic hypersurface ofd dimensions, with a particular view of the plane case (d = 2), and points out several solved and unsolved problems on this subject.     

Molecular recognition: A thermodynamic study of non bonded interactions in aqueous solutions of iminoacids. Effects of steric and geometric isomerism

Enthalpies of dilution of binary and ternary aqueous solutions containing L-and D-proline, cis-L- and cis-D-4-hydroxy proline, trans-L-4-hydroxy proline, have been determined by flow calorimetry at 25°C. Pairwise self-and cross-interaction coefficients of the virial expansion of the excess enthalpies were evaluated. They are positive for solutions of unsubstituted prolines. On the contrary, upon the introduction of a hydroxy group, they become negative, reaching the largest value for the cis-L-lcis-D-4-hydroxy proline system. The results are interpreted in terms of preferential configurations, stabilized by interactions between the hydrophilic groups.     

E → C phase transition in fatty acids: a spectroscopic study

Contrary to previous literature reports, crystallisation of behenic and lignoceric acids from warm acetone is found to give the crystalline modification E. The phase transition from E to the more stable C form was studied with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The structural evolution with temperature through the phase transition is discussed.