A planar conformation and the hydroxyl groups in the B and C rings play a pivotal role in the antioxidant capacity of quercetin and quercetin derivatives

The polyphenol quercetin (Q) that has a high antioxidant capacity is a lead compound in the design of antioxidants. We investigated the possibility of modifying quercetin while retaining its antioxidant capacity as much as possible. To this end, the antioxidant capacities of Q, rutin, monohydroxyethyl rutinoside (monoHER) and a series of synthesized methylated Q derivatives were determined. The results confirm that the electron donating effect of the hydroxyl groups is essential. It was also found that the relatively planar structure of Q needs to be conserved. This planar conformation enables the distribution of the electron donating effect through the large conjugated π-system over the entire molecule. This is essential for the cooperation between the electron donating groups. Based on the activity of the compounds tested, it was concluded that structural modification at the 5 or 7 position is the most optimal to retain most of the antioxidant capacity of Q. This was confirmed by synthesizing and testing Q5OMe (Q6) and Q7OMe (Q7) that indeed displayed antioxidant capacities closest to Q.     

Hierarchy of folding and unfolding events of protein G, CI2, and ACBP from explicit-solvent simulations

The study of the mechanism which is at the basis of the phenomenon of protein folding requires the knowledge of multiple folding trajectories under biological conditions. Using a biasing molecular-dynamics algorithm based on the physics of the ratchet-and-pawl system, we carry out all-atom, explicit solvent simulations of the sequence of folding events which proteins G, CI2, and ACBP undergo in evolving from the denatured to the folded state. Starting from highly disordered conformations, the algorithm allows the proteins to reach, at the price of a modest computational effort, nativelike conformations, within a root mean square deviation (RMSD) of approximately 1 A?. A scheme is developed to extract, from the myriad of events, information concerning the sequence of native contact formation and of their eventual correlation. Such an analysis indicates that all the studied proteins fold hierarchically, through pathways which, although not deterministic, are well-defined with respect to the order of contact formation. The algorithm also allows one to study unfolding, a process which looks, to a large extent, like the reverse of the major folding pathway. This is also true in situations in which many pathways contribute to the folding process, like in the case of protein G.     

Tuning the self-assembled monolayer formation on nanoparticle surfaces with different curvatures: investigations on spherical silica particles and plane-crystal-shaped zirconia particles

The ordering of dodecyl-chain self-assembled monolayers (SAM) on different nanoscopic surfaces was investigated by FT-IR studies. As model systems plane-crystal-shaped ZrO(2) nanoparticles and spherical SiO(2) nanoparticles were examined. The type of capping agent was chosen dependent on the substrate, therefore dodecylphosphonic acid and octadecylphosphonic acid were used for ZrO(2) and dodecyltrimethoxysilane for SiO(2) samples. The plane ZrO(2) nanocrystals yielded more ordered alkyl-chain structures whereas spherical SiO(2) nanoparticles showed significantly lower alkyl-chain ordering. Submicron-sized silica spheres revealed a significantly higher alkyl chain ordering, comparable to an analogously prepared SAM on a non-curved plane oxidized Si-wafer. In the case of ZrO(2) nanocrystals an intense alkyl-chain alignment could be disturbed by decreasing the grafting density from the maximum of 2.1 molecules/nm(2) through the variation of coupling agent concentration to lower values. Furthermore, the co-adsorption of a different coupling agent, such as phenylphosphonic acid for ZrO(2) and phenyltrimethoxysilane for SiO(2), resulted in a significantly lower alkyl-chain ordering for ZrO(2) plane crystals and for large SiO(2) spherical particles at high grafting density. An increasing amount of order-disturbing molecules leads to a gradual decrease in alkyl-chain alignment on the surface of the inorganic nanoparticles. In the case of the ZrO(2) nanoparticle system it is shown via dynamic light scattering (DLS) that the mixed monolayer formation on the particle surface impacts the dispersion quality in organic solvents such as n-hexane.     

Encapsulation versus aggregation of metal-organic cages controlled by guest size variation

The strength and mode of binding (inside vs outside) of bisanionic guest molecules to a cationic, self-assembled metal-organic cage depend on their size and the stoichiometry of the addition. Herein we show that the composition of the solid/liquid phase of a heterogeneous system can be kinetically controlled by the order of the addition of two different guest compounds.     

C-N bond-forming self-condensation of amide promoted by MoCl5 at room temperature

The acylamidinium complex MoOCl(4)[MeC(O)N(Ph)C(Me)═NHPh] (2) was obtained by selective self-condensation of MeC(O)NHPh promoted by MoCl(5). Otherwise, the stable chloroiminium salt [MoOCl(4){HC(O)NMe(2)}][CH(Cl)═NMe(2)] (3) was isolated from HC(O)NMe(2)/MoCl(5).     

Essential Oil of Cannabis sativa L: Comparison of Yield and Chemical Composition of 11 Hemp Genotypes

Cannabis sativa L. is an annual species cultivated since antiquity for different purposes. While, in the past, hemp inflorescences were considered crop residues, at present, they are regarded as valuable raw materials with different applications, among which extraction of the essential oil (EO) has gained increasing interest in many fields. The aim of the present study is the evaluation of the yield and the chemical composition of the EO obtained by hydrodistillation from eleven hemp genotypes, cultivated in the same location for two consecutive growing seasons. The composition of the EOs was analyzed by GC–MS, and then subjected to multivariate statistical analysis. Sesquiterpenes represented the main class of compounds in all the EOs, both in their hydrocarbon and oxygenated forms, with relative abundances ranging from 47.1 to 78.5%; the only exception was the Felina 32 sample collected in 2019, in which cannabinoids predominated. Cannabinoids were the second most abundant class of compounds, of which cannabidiol was the main one, with relative abundances between 11.8 and 51.5%. The statistical distribution of the samples, performed on the complete chemical composition of the EOs, evidenced a partition based on the year of cultivation, rather than on the genotype, with the exception of Uso-31. Regarding the extraction yield, a significant variation was evidenced among both the genotypes and the years of cultivation.