A Short Synthesis of Astemizole

The synthesis of astemizole 6, a potent H₁-antihistaminic agent, was achieved in 20% overall yield. Compound 6 was obtained in high purity and on a multigram scale starting from 2-hydroxybenzimidazole.     

Evaluation of performance of three different hybrid mesoporous solids based on silica for preconcentration purposes in analytical chemistry: From the study of sorption features to the determination of elements of group IB

Several studies involving the physicochemical interaction of three silica based hybrid mesoporous materials with metal ions of the group IB have been performed in order to employ them for preconcentration purposes in the determination of traces of Cu(II), Ag(I) and Au(III). The three solids were obtained from mesoporous silica functionalized with 3-aminopropyl (APS), 3-mercaptopropyl (MPS) and N-[2-aminoethyl]-3-aminopropyl (NN) groups, respectively. Adsorption capacities for Au, Cu and Ag were calculated using Langmuir's isotherm model and then, the optimal values for the retention of each element onto each one of the solids were found. Physicochemical data obtained under thermodynamic equilibrium and under kinetic conditions - imposed by flow through experiments - allowed the design of simple analytical methodologies where the solids were employed as fillings of microcolumns held in continuous systems coupled on-line to an atomic absorption spectrometry. In order to control the interaction between the filling and the analyte at short times (flow through conditions) and thus, its effect on the analytical signal and the presence of interferences, the initial adsorption velocities were calculated using the pseudo second order model. All these experiments allowed the comparison of the solids in terms of their analytical behaviour at the moment of facing the determination of the three elements.Under optimized conditions mainly given by the features of the filling, the analytical methodologies developed in this work showed excellent performances with limits of detection of 0.14, 0.02 and 0.025 μg L⁻¹ and RSD % values of 3.4, 2.7 and 3.1 for Au, Cu and Ag, respectively.A full discussion of the main findings on the interaction metal ions/fillings will be provided. The analytical results for the determination of the three metals will be also presented.     

Organic bee pollen: botanical origin, nutritional value, bioactive compounds, antioxidant activity and microbiological quality

Organic bee pollen (BP, n = 22) harvested from the Douro International Natural Park (DINP, Portugal) was studied. Nine botanical families were found in the mixture of the samples. The water activity and pH ranged 0.21-0.37 and 4.3-5.2, respectively. The BP analyses averaged 67.7% carbohydrates, 21.8% crude protein, 5.2% crude fat and 2.9% ash. The energy ranged from 396.4 to 411.1 kcal/100 g. The principal fatty acid found was linolenic, followed by linoleic acid, palmitic acid and oleic acid. The phenolic and flavonoid contents varied from 12.9 to 19.8 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of extract and from 4.5 to 7.1 mg of catechin equivalents/g of extract, respectively. The scavenger activity and β-carotene bleaching assays values (EC??) were 3.0 ± 0.7 mg/mL and 4.6 mg/mL ± 0.9 mg/mL, respectively. E. coli, sulphite-reducing Clostridia, Salmonella and S. aureus were not found. Since there are studies indicating appreciable differences among BPs from different regions, the full characterization of BP from diverse origins still appears to be a sound research priority in order to obtain reliable data about this beehive product.     

OSMAC Strategy Integrated with Molecular Networking for Accessing Griseofulvin Derivatives from Endophytic Fungi of Moquiniastrum polymorphum (Asteraceae)

Three endophytic fungi isolated from Moquiniastrum polymorphum (Less.) G. Sancho (Asteraceae) were cultivated using the one strain many compounds (OSMAC) strategy to evaluate the production of griseofulvin derivatives. Extracts obtained were analyzed by HPLC–MS/MS and the chromatographic and spectrometric data used to elaborate a feature-based molecular network (FBMN) through the GNPS platform. This approach allowed the observation of differences such as medium-specific and strain-specific production of griseofulvin derivatives and variations of cytotoxic activity in most extracts. To evaluate the efficiency of the OSMAC approach allied with FBMN analysis in the prospection of compounds of biotechnological interest, griseofulvin and 7-dechlorogriseofulvin were isolated, and the relative concentrations were estimated in all culture media using HPLC–UV, allowing for the inference of the best strain–medium combinations to maximize its production. Malt extract-peptone broth and Wickerham broth media produced the highest concentrations of both secondary metabolites.     

A versatile PIFA-mediated approach to structurally diverse pyrrolo(benzo)diazepines from linear alkynylamides

The addition of the hypervalent iodine reagent PIFA [phenyliodine(III) bis(trifluoroacetate)] to a series of properly substituted N-(3-aminopropyl)alkynylamides results in the efficient formation of a functionalized 5-aroyl-2-pyrrolidinone skeleton. By proper manipulations of the N(1)-substituents, through consecutive deprotection and/or reductive amination steps, a second cyclization process occurs yielding the target heterocycles. As it will be disclosed, the overall process is open to structural modifications that gives rise to a series of pyrrolo(benzo)diazepine derivatives.     

The eigenvalue problem for solitary waves of a boussinesq equation,via a generalization of the rouché theorem

We consider the study of an eigenvalue problem obtained by linearizing about solitary wave solutions of a Boussinesq equation. Instead of using the technique of Evans functions as done by Pego and Weinstein in [R. Pego and M. Weinstein, Convective Linear Stability of Solitary Waves for Boussinesq equation. AMS, 99, 311–375] for this particular problem, we perform Fourier analysis to characterize solutions of the eigenvalue problem in terms of a multiplier operator and use the strong relationship between the eigenvalue problem for the linearized Boussinesq equation and the eigenvalue problem associated with the linearization about solitary wave solutions of a special form of the KdV equation. By using a generalization of the Rouché Theorem and the asymptotic behavior of the Fourier symbol corresponding to the eigenvalues problem for the Boussinesq equation and the Fourier symbol corresponding to the eigenvalues problem for the KdV equation, we show nonexistence of eigenvalues with respect to weighted space in a planar region containing the right-half plane.     

A Time‐Dependent Picture of the Ultrafast Deactivation of keto‐Cytosine Including Three‐State Conical Intersections

Using mixed quantum–classical dynamics, the lowest part of the UV absorption spectrum and the first deactivation steps of keto‐cytosine have been investigated. The spectrum shows several strong peaks, which mainly come from the S₁ and S₂ states, with minor contributions from the S₃. The semiclassical trajectories, launched from these three states, clearly indicate that at least four states are involved in the relaxation of keto‐cytosine to the ground state. Non‐adiabatic transfer between the ππ* and nπ* excited states and deactivation via three‐state conical intersections is observed in the very early stage of the dynamics. In less than 100 fs, a large amount of population is deactivated to the ground state via several mechanisms; some population remains trapped in the S₂ state. The latter two events can be connected to the fs and ps transients observed experimentally.     

On the location of conical intersections in CH2BrCl using MS-CASPT2 methods

Multiconfigurational second-order perturbation theory has been employed to calculate two-dimensional potential energy surfaces for the lowest low-lying singlet electronic states of CH2BrCl as a function of the two carbon-halogen bonds. The photochemistry of the system is controlled by a nonadiabatic crossing occurring between the A and B bands, attributed to the b1A' and c1A' states, which are found almost degenerate and forming a near-degeneracy line of almost equidistant C-Br and C-Cl bonds. A crossing point in the near-degeneracy line is identified as a conical intersection in this reduced two-dimensional space. The positions of the conical intersection located at CASSCF, single-state (SS)-CASPT2, and multistate (MS)-CASPT2 levels of theory are compared, also paying attention to the nonorthogonality problem of perturbative approaches. To validate the presence of the conical intersection versus an avoided crossing, the geometrical phase effect has been checked using the multiconfigurational MS-CASPT2 wave function.