Ultrafast intramolecular charge transfer with strongly twisted aminobenzonitriles: 4-(di-tert-butylamino)benzonitrile and 3-(di-tert-butylamino)benzonitrile

The newly synthesized aminobenzonitriles with two bulky amino substituents 4-(di-tert-butylamino)benzonitrile (DTABN) and 3-(di-tert-butylamino)benzonitrile (mDTABN) have strongly twisted amino groups in the ground state. From X-ray crystal analysis it is found that the amino twist angle theta of mDTABN equals 86.5 degrees , whereas a twist angle of around 75 degrees is deduced for DTABN from the extinction coefficient of its lowest-energy absorption band in n-hexane. Because of the electronic decoupling between the amino and benzonitrile groups caused by these large twist angles, the absorption of DTABN and mDTABN is relatively weak below 40000 cm-1, with extinction coefficients around 25 times smaller than those of the planar 4-(dimethylamino)benzonitrile (DMABN). DTABN as well as mDTABN undergo efficient intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) in the singlet excited state, in nonpolar (n-hexane) as well as in polar (acetonitrile) solvents. Their fluorescence spectra consist of an ICT emission band, without evidence for locally excited (LE) fluorescence. The occurrence of efficient ICT with mDTABN is different from the findings with all other N,N-dialkylaminobenzonitriles in the literature, for which ICT only appears with the para-derivative. From solvatochromic measurements, an ICT dipole moment of 17 D is determined for DTABN as well as for mDTABN, similar to that of DMABN. The picosecond fluorescence decays of DTABN (time resolution 3 ps) are effectively single exponential. Their decay time is equal to the ICT lifetime tau'0(ICT), which increases with solvent polarity from 0.86 ns in n-hexane to 3.48 ns in MeCN at 25 degrees C. The femtosecond excited-state absorption (ESA) spectra of DTABN in n-hexane and MeCN at 22 degrees C show a decay of the LE and a corresponding rise of the ICT absorption. The ICT reaction time is 70 fs in n-hexane and 60 fs in MeCN. DTABN and mDTABN may have a strongly twisted ICT state, similar to that of 6-cyanobenzoquinuclidine but different from that of DMABN.     

A novel ethylene-bridged spiro[3.2]Hexane

3,3-Dichlorotricyclo[5.1.0.0^1,4]oct-5-en-2-one ($\text{1}$) was prepared by addition of dichloroketene to 1,3-cyclohexadiene followed by allylic bromination and dehydrobromination.     

Development of a solid‐phase microextraction LC–MS/MS method for determination of oxidative stress biomarkers in biofluids

Recently the connection between oxidative stress and various diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's, attracts notice as a pathway suitable for diagnostic purposes. 8‐Oxo‐deoxyguanosine and 8‐oxo‐deoxyadenosine produced from the interaction of reactive oxygen species with DNA become prominent as biomarkers. Several methods have been developed for their determination in biofluids, including solid‐phase extraction and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. However, still, there is a need for reliable and fast analytical methods. In this context, solid‐phase microextraction offers many advantages such as flexibility in geometry and applicable sample volume, as well as high adaptability to high‐throughput sampling. In this study, a solid‐phase microextraction method was developed for the determination of 8‐oxo‐deoxyguanosine and 8‐oxo‐deoxyadenosine in biofluids. The extractive phase of solid‐phase microextraction consisted of hydrophilic–lipophilic balanced polymeric particles. In order to develop a solid‐phase microextraction method suitable for the determination of the analytes in saliva and urine, several parameters, including desorption solvent, desorption time, sample pH, and ionic strength, were scrutinized. Analytical figures of merit indicated that the developed method provides reasonable interday and intraday precisions (<15% in both biofluids) with acceptable accuracy. The method provides a limit of quantification for both biomarkers at 5.0 and 10.0 ng/mL levels in saliva and urine matrices, respectively.     

SPME-GC-MS analysis of commercial henna samples (Lawsonia inermis L.)

The aim of this work was to provide a characterisation of volatile constituents from different commercial batches of henna (Lawsonia inermis) leaves of different geographic origin. Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was used for the purpose. A total of 72 components were identified by GC–MS in the headspace of different henna samples which proved to differ considerably from each other, because they were characterised by different classes of components, mainly aliphatic compounds (9.0–64.7%), terpenoids (5.8–45.5%) and aromatics (7.9–45.2%), with alkanes (0.9–18.5%), aldehydes (2.1–18.8%) and carboxylic acids (3.1–29.3%), monoterpenes (3.4–30.0%) and sesquiterpenes (0.8–23.7%) and phenyl propanoids (0.6–43.1%), being the most abundant, respectively. Major representatives of these groups were n-hexadecane (0.5–4.7%), (2E)-hexenal (0.5–11.7%) and acetic acid (2.8–24.5%), limonene (0.8–14.7%), carvol (3.8–7.1%), geranyl acetone (1.4–7.9%) and (E)-caryophyllene (3.3–8.4%), and (E)-anethole (0.6–35.0%), respectively. We assume that factors such as the manufacturing process, the storage conditions and the different geographic origin of the samples may contribute to such variability.     

Nutritional Value and Preventive Role of Nigella sativa L. and Its Main Component Thymoquinone in Cancer: An Evidenced-Based Review of Preclinical and Clinical Studies

In recent times, scientific attention has been paid to different foods and their bioactive components for the ability to inhibit the onset and progress of different types of cancer. Nigella sativa extract, powder and seed oil and its main components, thymoquinone and α-hederin, have showed potent anticancer and chemosensitizing effects against various types of cancer, such as liver, colon, breast, renal, cervical, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate and skin tumors, through the modulation of various molecular signaling pathways. Herein, the purpose of this review was to highlight the anticancer activity of Nigella sativa and it constitutes, focusing on different in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies and projects, in order to underline their antiproliferative, proapoptotic, cytotoxic and antimetastatic effects. Particular attention has been also given to the synergistic effect of Nigella sativa and it constitutes with chemotherapeutic drugs, and to the synthesized analogs of thymoquinone that seem to enhance the chemo-sensitizing potential. This review could be a useful step towards new research on N. sativa and cancer, to include this plant in the dietary treatments in support to conventional therapies, for the best achievement of therapeutic goals.     

Thermal properties of volatile ruthenium(III) complexes

Complexes of ruthenium(III) with the following beta-diketone derivatives: 2,4-pentanedione (Ru(acac)₃), 1,1,1,6,6,6-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedione (Ru(hfac)₃), and 2-methoxy-2,6-dimethyl-3,5-heptanedione (Ru(mdhd)₃) were synthesized, purified, and identified by chemical analysis and melting points. By difference-scanning calorimetry (DSC) in vacuum the thermodynamic characteristics of melting processes were defined. Using the static method with quartz membrane zero-manometer, the temperature dependencies of saturated and unsaturated vapor pressure were obtained for Ru(hfac)₃. The standard thermodynamic characteristics of vaporization processes enthalpy ?H _T* and entropy ?S° _T* were determined.