(3‐Oxo‐[1,2,4]triazolidin‐1‐yl)bis (butane‐1‐sulfonic acid) functionalized magnetic γ‐Fe2O3 nanoparticles: A novel and heterogeneous nanocatalyst for one‐pot and efficient four‐component synthesis of novel spiro[indeno[1,2‐b]quinoxaline derivatives

The efficient synthesis of novel spiro[indeno[1,2‐b]quinoxaline derivatives via the four‐component condensation of amines, ninhydrin, isatoic anhydride, and о‐phenylenediamine derivatives catalyzed by ( 3‐oxo‐[1,2,4]triazolidin‐1‐yl)bis (butane‐1‐sulfonic acid) supported on γ‐Fe₂O₃ as novel heterogenous magnetic nanocatalyst was described. The novel nanocatalyst was characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE‐SEM), and thermal analysis (TGA‐DTG). The nanoparticles covered by (3‐oxo‐[1,2,4]triazolidin‐1‐yl)bis (butane‐1‐sulfonic acid) showed enhanced catalytic performance in the preparation of spiro[indeno[1,2‐b]quinoxaline derivatives in excellent yields. Moreover, this method showed several advantages such as mild conditions, high yields, easy work‐up, and being environmentally friendly. The catalyst can be easily separated from the reaction mixture by an external magnet, recycled, and reused several times without a noticeable decrease in catalytic activity.     

A novel and reusable magnetic nanocatalyst developed based on graphene oxide incorporated strontium nanoparticles for the facial synthesis of β‐enamino ketones under solvent‐free conditions

A novel magnetic SrFeGO nanocatalyst (NC) was synthesized through a simple sol–gel technique by introducing strontium and iron oxide nanoparticles onto graphene. The synthesized NC was characterized using FT‐IR and FE‐SEM. Subsequently, the catalytic activity of SrFeGO was tested in a reaction between β‐dicarbonyl compounds and aniline derivatives to gain β‐enamino ketone derivatives under solvent‐free conditions. It was found that SrFeGO NC is a potential catalyst for the synthesis of β‐enamino ketones. The β‐enamino ketone produced by such reactions could be isolated in high purity without the need for chromatographic purifications. The newly prepared magnetic graphene oxide nanocomposite could be recovered and reused for numerous times with no significant decrease in efficiency. Moreover, the protocol has the advantages of excellent yielding (up to 98%) in short a reaction time, benefitting an easy workup procedure and being environmentally friendly.     

Spectroscopic characterization,thermogravimetry, density functional theory and biological studies of some mixed‐ligand complexes of meloxicam and 2,2′‐bipyridine with some transition metals

The mixed‐ligand Mn(II), Fe(III), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Zr(IV) complexes of meloxicam (H₂mel) and 2,2′‐bipyridine (Bipy) were prepared and characterized. For all complexes, the analytical and spectroscopic results revealed that H₂mel acts in a monobasic bidentate manner through the oxygen of the amide and nitrogen of the thiazole groups, whereas Bipy coordinates through the two nitrogen atoms with slightly distorted octahedral geometry. Thermodynamic parameters (E, ΔS^*, ΔH^* and ΔG^*) were calculated using Coats–Redfern and Horowitz–Metzger methods. The geometries of H₂mel and the complexes were carefully studied using density functional theory to predict the properties of materials performed using the hybrid density functional method B3LYP. All studied complexes are soft with respect to H₂mel where η varies from 0.096 for Zn(II) complex to 0.067 for Fe(III) complex and σ varies from 10.42 to 14.93 eV, while η and σ for H₂mel are 0.14 and 7.14 eV, respectively. The antibacterial activities of the ligands and metal complexes were investigated and the data show that the complexes are active against some bacterial species compared with H₂mel.     

A Novel Copper Oxide Nanoparticle Conjugated by Thiosemicarbazone Promote Apoptosis in Human Breast Cancer Cell Line

The current study highlights the apoptotic activity of copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles functionalized by Glutamic acid and conjugated by thiosemicarbazone (TSC) toward human breast cancer (MCF-7) and normal (HEK293) cell lines. To this aim, the co-precipitation method was used for preparation the CuO nanoparticles. Afterward, the CuO nanoparticles functionalized by glutamic acid. After that the functionalized copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO@Glu) conjugated to thiosemicarbazone. In next step, the final nanoparticle product (CuO@Glu/TSC) was characterized by physico-chemical techniques including Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), zeta potential analysis and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The effects of in vitro cell viability in CuO@Glu/TSC nanoparticles showed the anti-proliferative properties with a dose-dependent manner (IC₅₀?=?133.97 µg/ml). The IC₅₀ of CuO@Glu/TSC on normal cell line was 230.2 µg/ml. This IC₅₀ deference shows high cytotoxicity of CuO@Glu/TSC nanoparticles on tumor cells and low cytotoxicity on non-tumorigenic cells (HEK293) and is considered as an important aspect for this nanoparticles. Also, CuO@Glu/TSC nanoparticles had efficient effects in inhibiting the growth of breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). In addition, the CuO@Glu/TSC nanoparticle induced apoptosis symptoms which were assessed by Caspase-3 activation assay, Annexin V/ propidium iodide flow cytometry, and Hoechst 33258 staining. Further, Bax and Bcl-2 genes expression was estimated by real time PCR. The expression of Bax increased 1.69 fold, while the expression of Bcl-2 decreased 0.6 fold. The results of the current study propose that CuO@Glu/TSC nanoparticles reveal effective anti-cancer activity against breast cancer cell line.

     

Immobilization of dihydrogen phosphate onto rice husk ash as a highly efficient and green catalyst for the synthesis of symmetrical N,N′-alkylidene bisamides

Research on Chemical Intermediates - The preparation and characterization of an environmentally-benign and low-cost catalyst consisting of KH2PO4 supported on silica from rice husk ash is reported....     

Heat transfer enhancement inside an eccentric cylinder with an inner rotating wall using porous media: a numerical study

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Porous media insert is a simple technique to enhance heat transfer, which has been used in different applications. This useful passive improvement...     

New hybrid Cartesian cut cell/enriched multipoint flux approximation approach for modelling and quantification of structural uncertainties in petroleum reservoirs

Efficient and profitable oil production is subject to make reliable predictions about reservoir performance. However, restricted knowledge about reservoir rock and fluid properties and its geometrical structure calls for history matching in which the reservoir model is calibrated to emulate the field observed history. Such an inverse problem yields multiple history‐matched models, which might result in different predictions of reservoir performance. Uncertainty quantification narrows down the model uncertainties and boosts the model reliability for the forecasts of future reservoir behaviour. Conventional approaches of uncertainty quantification ignore large‐scale uncertainties related to reservoir structure, while structural uncertainties can influence the reservoir forecasts more significantly compared with petrophysical uncertainty. Quantification of structural uncertainty has been usually considered impracticable because of the need for global regridding at each step of history matching process. To resolve this obstacle, we develop an efficient methodology based on Cartesian cut cell method that decouples the model from its representation onto the grid and allows uncertain structures to be varied as a part of history matching process. Reduced numerical accuracy due to cell degeneracies in the vicinity of geological structures is adequately compensated with an enhanced scheme of a class of locally conservative flux continuous methods (extended enriched multipoint flux approximation method or extended EMPFA). The robustness and consistency of the proposed hybrid Cartesian cut cell/extended EMPFA approach are demonstrated in terms of true representation of geological structures influence on flow behaviour. Significant improvements in the quality of reservoir recovery forecasts and reservoir volume estimation are presented for synthetic model of uncertain structures. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of electric field geometry on the performance of electromembrane extraction systems: Footprints of a third driving force along with migration and diffusion

The distribution of electric field vectors was first calculated for electromembrane extraction (EME) systems in classical and cylindrical electrode geometries. The results showed that supported liquid membrane (SLM) has a general field amplifying effect due to its lower dielectric constant in comparison with aqueous donor/acceptor solutions. The calculated norms of the electric field vector showed that a DC voltage of 50 V can create huge electric field strengths up to 64 kV m⁻¹ and 111 kV m⁻¹ in classical and cylindrical geometries respectively. In both cases, the electric field strength reached its peak value on the inner wall of the SLM. In the case of classical geometry, the field strength was a function of the polar position of the SLM whereas the field strength in cylindrical geometry was angularly uniform. In order to investigate the effect of the electrode geometry on the performance of real EME systems, the analysis was carried out in three different geometries including classical, helical and cylindrical arrangements using naproxen and sodium diclofenac as the model analytes. Despite higher field strength and extended cross sectional area, the helical and cylindrical geometries gave lower recoveries with respect to the classical EME. The observed decline of the signal was proved to be against the relations governing migration and diffusion processes, which means that a third driving force is involved in EME. The third driving force is the interaction between the radially inhomogeneous electric field and the analyte in its neutral form.     

Encapsulation of palladium chloride using 2‐formylbenzoic acid supported by Fe3O4 nanoparticles modified with SiO2 and propylamine,its characterization and its application for Suzuki coupling reaction

A magnetically separable heterogeneous nanocatalyst, Fe₃O₄@SiO₂(CH₂)₃N―CH―Ar@Pd(0), was simply prepared and characterized using various techniques. The catalytic activity of this nanocatalyst was evaluated via the Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling reaction of aryl halides with phenylboronic acid under various experimental conditions such as kind of base, solvent and temperature. This nanocatalyst is completely magnetically recoverable because of the superparamagnetic behaviour of Fe and can be reused with sustained selectivity and activity.