Are Unsaturated Isocyanides so Different from the Corresponding Nitriles?

Simple unsaturated and cyclopropylic isocyanides are synthesized by an efficient and simple approach. These compounds with gradually increasing distance between the unsaturated moiety and the isonitrile group are studied by UV photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations, and also compared to the corresponding nitriles. The first photoelectron band of the unsaturated compounds is linked to removal of an electron from the HOMO, which corresponds to CC multiple-bond ionization in antibonding interaction with the π-isocyanide bond (in the same plane) for conjugated systems, or in antibonding interaction with the pseudo-π-CH(2) group for isolated systems. For the 1-ethenyl derivatives, both cyano and isocyano groups act as a π-electron acceptor from the vinyl group, but the isocyano π system is much more strongly destabilized (ionization energies (IEs) shift to smaller values) by vinyl (3.12 eV) than the cyano π system is (2.70 eV). In comparison with the 1-ethynyl derivatives, a less pronounced destabilization (2.69 eV) of π(NC) by the ethynyl system (1.86 eV for π(CN)), and nearly the same order of magnitude of the energetic gap between the total antibonding (π(CC)-π(NC)) and the total bonding (π(CC)+π(NC)) IEs for ethenyl and ethynyl compounds are noted. The huge values of these last-named data for H(2)C=CH-NC (3.85 eV) and for HC≡C-NC (4.04 eV) reflect the strong interaction between the unsaturated carbon-carbon moiety and the isocyanide group, and thus more efficient conjugation than for the corresponding nitriles.     

Predicting initial erosion during the hole erosion test by using turbulent flow CFD simulation

CFD simulation with enhanced modeling of turbulence and near-wall treatment is used to model water–clay mixtures flowing through a cylindrical pipe domain. Effects on the wall-shear stress resulting from varying water clay content and applied hydraulic gradient are analyzed. Various parametric studies were performed and had shown that the two-dimensional modelling introduced in the present study does not yield a uniform wall-shear stress along the pipe wall and that clay concentration affects significantly the wall-shear stress value. This is in contrast with the common hypothesis used in one-dimensional modeling approaches where this stress is assumed constant and which gives rise to uniform erosion along the pipe wall. The obtained results had enabled predicting more realistically erosion amount and had allowed for understanding the irregular eroded hole wall shape as observed experimentally after performing the standard hole erosion test.     

Correlation between chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils from fifteen Eucalyptus species growing in the Korbous and Jbel Abderrahman arboreta (North East Tunisia)

The essential oils of fifteen Eucalyptus species harvested from the Jbel Abderrahman and Korbous arboreta (North East Tunisia) were screened for their antibacterial activities by the agar disc diffusion method. Eighteen major components as identified by GC/FID and GC/MS were selected for a study of the chemical and biological activity variability. The main one was 1,8-cineole, followed by spathulenol, trans-pinocarveol, α-pinene, p-cymene, globulol, cryptone, β-phellandrene, viridiflorol, borneol, limonene and isospathulenol. The chemical principal component analysis identified five species groups and subgroups, where each group constituted a chemotype, however that of the values of zone diameter of the inhibition (zdi) identified six groups of Eucalyptus oils, characterized by their antibacterial inhibition ability. The strongest activity was shown by E. platypus oil against Enterococcus faecalis and by E. lamannii oil against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. A correlation between the levels of some major components and the antibacterial activities was observed.     

Two additional 1,9-diarylnonanoid 3-glucosides from Erica cinerea among which an unusual α-dione in conformational equilibrium

Continuation of the phytochemical analysis of Erica cinerea fresh aerial parts resulted in the isolation of two new compounds with a very close chromatographic behavior. On the basis of spectroscopic evidence (UV, MS and NMR), the structures were established as (−)-(3S,6E)-1,9-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxynon-6-en-5-one 3-O-β-d-glucoside named 6,7-anhydroericaone 3-O-β-d-glucoside and (−)-(3S)-1,9-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxynonan-5,6-dione 3-O-β-d-glucoside named α-ericadione 3-O-β-d-glucoside. Unanticipated by its α-alkadione type structure —a very unusual feature in the plant kingdom— the latter metabolite was found as a mixture of the minor s-cis and the major s-trans conformers. Moreover, the GC-MS analysis of the aglycone moieties of such glucosides, pointed out the permanent absence of the molecular ion and the constant hydroxybenzylium base peak, as well as the conversion of the α-dione into the major α-keto-enol tautomer.     

A ruthenium(II) complex with p‐cymene and (S)‐2‐(anilinomethyl)pyrrolidine

The title compound, [(S)‐2‐(anilino­methyl)­pyrrolidine‐N,N′]‐chloro(η⁶‐para‐cymene)­ruthenium(II) chloride, [RuCl‐(C₁₀H₁₄)(C₁₁H₁₆N₂)]Cl, has been synthesized by the reaction of [RuCl₂(p‐cymene)]₂ (p‐cymene is para‐iso­propyl­toluene) with (S)‐2‐(anilinomethyl)­pyrrolidine in triethyl­amine/2‐propanol. The Ru atom is in a pseudo‐tetrahedral environment coordinated by a chloride ligand, the aromatic hydro­carbon is linked in a η⁶ manner and the amine is linked via its two N atoms. The chloride anion is involved in hydrogen bonding with the di­amine moieties through N—H?Cl interactions, with N?Cl distances of 3.273 (4) and 3.352 (4) Å.     

Non-oscillating/Oscillating Shear Layer over a Large Deep Cavity at Low-Subsonic Speeds

The flow over a deep cavity at low subsonic velocity is considered in the present paper. The cavity length-to-depth aspect ratio is L/H = 0.2. Single hot-wire measurements characterized the incident turbulent boundary layer and show the influence of the cavity on the streamwise statistic components just downstream from the cavity. The streamwise mean and fluctuating velocity profiles are affected by the cavity. PIV measurements reveal the presence for ejection-like events responsible of local perturbations of the skewness and the flatness coefficients. Time-resolved PIV technic is also used to characterize phase properties of shear layer oscillating cycle. It is shown that for deep cavity with first Rossiter mode, only one vortical structure is formed at the cavity leading edge. Then, it grows while convecting downstream along the shear layer. A well-defined ejection process begins after the vortex impact near the cavity downstream corner. A cylinder device placed spanwisely near the cavity leading edge eliminates the resonance and highly modifies the behavior of the shear layer flow. In fact, the shear layer could be divided into upper and lower parts with different structure aspects.     

Synthesis and antiproliferative evaluation of glucosylated pyrazole analogs of K252c

Pyrazole analogs of the staurosporine aglycon K252c were recently described as potent inhibitors of the three Pim protein kinase isoforms. To evaluate the impact of the introduction of a sugar moiety on the biological activities of this heterocyclic scaffold, four new glucosylated pyrazole analogs of K252c were synthesized. Their biological evaluation demonstrated that most active compounds 11 and 19 substituted by a β-d-glucosyl moiety at N12 or N13 positions exhibited antiproliferative activities toward HCT116 cells.     

K2CsYb(PO4)2

The crystal structure of dipotassium caesium ytterbium bis(phosphate) is built up from regular independent PO₄ tetrahedra and YbO₆ octahedra sharing corners and arranged in layers. The structure is, in many respects, similar to that of glaserite.     

Determination of the Phenolic Profile by Liquid Chromatography,Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity and Toxicity of Moroccan Erica multiflora,Erica scoparia,and Calluna vulgaris (Ericaceae)

This study aimed to investigate the phenolic profile and selected biological activities of the leaf and aerial extracts of three Ericaceae species, namely Erica multiflora, Erica scoparia, and Calluna vulgaris, collected from three different places in the north of Morocco. The phenolic composition of all extracts was determined by LC coupled with photodiode array and mass spectrometry detection. Among the investigated extracts, that of E. scoparia aerial parts was the richest one, with a total amount of polyphenols of 9528.93 mg/kg. Up to 59 phenolic compounds were detected: 52 were positively identified and 49 quantified—11 in C. vulgaris, 14 in E. multiflora, and 24 in E. scoparia. In terms of chemical classes, nine were phenolic acids and 43 were flavonoids, and among them, the majority belonged to the class of flavonols. The antioxidant activity of all extracts was investigated by three different in vitro methods, namely DPPH, reducing power, and Fe²⁺ chelating assays; E. scoparia aerial part extract was the most active, with an IC₅₀ of 0.142 ± 0.014 mg/mL (DPPH test) and 1.898 ± 0.056 ASE/mL (reducing power assay). Further, all extracts were non-toxic against Artemia salina, thus indicating their potential safety. The findings attained in this work for such Moroccan Ericaceae species, never investigated so far, bring novelty to the field and show them to be valuable sources of phenolic compounds with interesting primary antioxidant properties.     

Electronic structure and energy decomposition of binuclear transition metal complexes containing β-diketiminate and imido ligands: spin state and metal’s nature effects

DFT calculations with full geometry optimization using BP86-D and OPBE functionals have been performed on series of [(BDI)M(NH)]₂(Bz) and [(BDI)M(NH)]₂(Tol) (M = Ti, V, Nb, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni; BDI = β-diketiminate; NH = imido group; Bz = benzene; and Tol = toluene) of various spin states (singlet S = 0, triplet S = 1, quintet S = 2, and singlet S = 0 of broken symmetry method). Depending on the metal nature and its electron count and the spin state, the six-membered ring in [(BDI)M(NH)]₂(Bz) and [(BDI)M(NH)]₂(Tol) adopts various hapticities that involve full or partial coordination, giving rise to a flat or a distorted ring, respectively. The NH^2? imido group is linear or bent with respect to its sp or sp² hybridization acting as a six- or a four-electron donor, respectively. The (BDI)^? anion is a bidentate ligand as a six-electron donor. The optimized geometries do not show direct metal-metal bonding and correspond to long separations. The optimized structures for Nb metal are comparable to the available experimental ones. The Ziegler-Rauk energy decomposition analysis scheme was employed to characterize the geometry distortion, the steric interaction (electrostatic and Pauli), and the orbital interaction terms in the total bonding energy. The results showed that the interaction terms in all the studied complexes are governed by one third covalent and two thirds ionic characters, which are in agreement with the ΔE_elstat (electrostatic) and ΔE_orb (orbital) contributions, respectively, into the total attractive interaction (ΔE_elstat + ΔE_orb).