Human intestinal bacteria capable of transforming secoisolariciresinol diglucoside to mammalian lignans, enterodiol and enterolactone

Seven metabolites were isolated after anaerobic incubation of secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (1) with a human fecal suspension. They were identified as (-)-secoisolariciresinol (2), 3-demethyl-(-)-secoisolariciresinol (3), 2-(3-hydroxybenzyl)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl)butane-1,4-diol (4), didemethylsecoisolariciresinol (5), 2(3-hydroxybenzyl)-3-(3,4-dihydroxybenzyl)butane-1,4-diol (6), enterodiol (7) and enterolactone (8). Furthermore, two bacterial strains, Peptostreptococcus sp. SDG-1 and Eubacterium sp. SDG-2, responsible for the transformation of 1 to a mammalian lignan 7, were isolated from a human fecal suspension. The former transformed 2 to 3 and 5, as well as 4 to 6, and the latter transformed 5 to 6 and 7.     

N‐bridgehead heterocyclic ylide as a privileged precursor in the design and skeletal diversity of heterocyclic Mono Methine and merocyanine dye motifs

N‐Bridge Head Heterocyclic Precursors (2a‐f, 3, 6a‐f & 13) were used as main key intermediates in the synthesis of N‐bridge head heterocyclic mono‐2(4)‐or 3 [4(1)] methine (4a‐h, 5a‐c, & 7a‐h), cyclic mero‐6(4)‐linkage position (8) cyanine dyes and bis‐3,6‐mono[4(2)]methine linkage positions (10, 11 & 12) & tri‐3(4)‐methine cyanine dye (14).The spectral behaviour, solvatochromic & acid‐base properties of such dyes was discussed.     

Inhibition of cytopathic effect of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 by various phorbol derivatives

Forty-eight derivatives of phorbol (9) and isophorbol (14) were evaluated for their inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 induced cytopathic effects (CPE) on MT-4 cells, as well as their activation of protein kinase C (PKC), as indices of anti-HIV-1 and tumor promoting activities, respectively. Of these compounds, the most potent inhibition of CPE was observed in 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (8) and 12-O-acetylphorbol 13-decanoate (6). The former also showed the strongest PKC activation activity, while the latter showed no activity at 10 ng/ml. Both activities were generally observed in those phorbol derivatives with an A/B trans configuration, but not in the isophorbol derivatives with an A/B cis configuration. Acetylation of 20-OH in the phorbol derivatives significantly reduced the inhibition of CPE, as shown in 12-O-, 20-O-diacetylphorbol 13-decanoate (6a) (IC100=15.6 microg/ml) vs. compound 6 (IC100=0.0076 microg/ml), and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13,20-diacetate (8a) (IC100=15.6 microg/ml) vs. 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (8) (IC100=0.00048 microg/ml), except in the case of 12-O-decanoylphorbol 13-(2-methylbutyrate) (4) and phorbol 12,13-diacetate (9c). The reduction of a carbonyl group at C-3 abruptly reduced the inhibition of CPE, as observed in 3beta-hydroxyphorbol 12,13,20-triacetate (9f) (IC100=500 microg/ml) vs. phorbol 12,13,20-triacetate (9d) (IC100=62.5 microg/ml). Although 8 was equipotent in the inhibition of CPE, and activation of PKC, both activities were abruptly decreased by the acetylation of 20-OH and methylation of 4-OH [as in 8a and 4-O-methyl-12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13,20-diacetate (8b), respectively]. On the other hand, its positional isomer (12-O-acetylphorbol 13-tetradecanoate (8c) showed neither activities. The removal of a long acyl group in 8 led to a substantial loss of both activities, as shown in phorbol 13-acetate (9b). Of the 12-O-acetyl-13-O-acylphorbol derivatives, the highest inhibition of CPE was observed in 6, which has a dodecanoyl residue at C-13. Both an increase and decrease in the number of fatty acid carbon chains resulted in significant reduction of the inhibition of CPE.     

Synthesis and Reactions of Some Heterocyclic Candidates Based on 2‐Amino‐4,5,6,7‐tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene Moiety as Anti‐Arrhythmic Agents

In continuation of our previous work, a series of novel thiophene derivatives 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 9a , 9b , 9c , 9d , 9e , 10 , 10a , 10b , 10c , 10d , 10e , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 were synthesized by the reaction of ethyl 2‐amino‐4,5,6,7‐tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene‐3‐carboxylate ( 1 ) or 2‐amino‐4,5,6,7‐tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene‐3‐carbonitrile ( 2 ) with different organic reagents. Fusion of 1 with ethylcyanoacetate or maleic anhydride afforded the corresponding thienooxazinone derivative 4 and N‐thienylmalimide derivative 5 , respectively. Acylation of 1 with chloroacetylchloride afforded the amide 6 , which was cyclized with ammonium thiocyanate to give the corresponding N‐theinylthiazole derivative 8 . On the other hand, reaction of 1 with substituted aroylisothiocyanate derivatives gave the corresponding thiourea derivatives 9a , 9b , 9c , 9d , 9e , which were cyclized by the action of sodium ethoxide to afford the corresponding N‐substituted thiopyrimidine derivatives 10a , 10b , 10c , 10d , 10e . Condensation of 2 with acid anhydrides in refluxing acetic acid afforded the corresponding imide carbonitrile derivatives 11 , 12 , 13 . Similarly, condensation of 1 with the previous acid anhydride yielded the corresponding imide ethyl ester derivatives 14 , 15 , 16 , respectively. The structures of newly synthesized compounds were confirmed by IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, MS spectral data, and elemental analysis. The detailed synthesis, spectroscopic data, LD₅₀, and pharmacological activities of the synthesized compounds are reported.     

Microwaves in organic synthesis: Facile synthesis of biologically active pyridazinone and iminopyridazine derivatives

Condensation of Wittig reagents 1a,b with arylhydrazones 2a,b by conventional and by microwave heating techniques furnished the corresponding pyridazines 3a‐e . The arylhydrazones 7a,b were allowed to react with 1a,b under the same conditions to produce the pyridazinones 10a,b and iminopyridazines 11a,b respectively. On the other hand, the arylhydrazones 12a‐c reacted with 1a to afford the pyridazinones 13a‐c . Treatment of 3b with dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (DMFDMA) produced the adduct 15 . The utility of microwave heating technique led to the reduction of the reaction times to few minutes and to the improvement of the yields of the products. The in vitro biological activity of some newly prepared compounds against four types of fungi was studied.     

Darcy–Brinkman Flow through a Three-Dimensional Bumpy Channel with Stationary Random Model in the Slip Regime

Colloid Journal - A perturbation analysis is presented to study the flow of a Newtonian fluid in a three-dimensional channel with impermeable walls of random tortuosity filled with a porous medium....     

Using waste flexible polyvinyl chloride treated with DOP/calcium hydroxide for enriching the performance of oxidizing bitumen

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Now it is possible to get environmentally friendly bituminous material with promising engineering properties by improving the oxidized bitumen which...     

Structure study of the furan–maleic anhydride copolymer

A structural study of furan–maleic anhydride copolymer (F–MAH) was undertaken to confirm its alternating nature and to determine its microstructure. The spectral properties of a model compound representing the alternating repeat unit, 2-(2-tetrahydrofuranyl)succinic anhydride, were compared with those of F–MAH. Their infrared (IR), ¹H, and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra (after compensating for the absence of the olefinic double bond) were in good agreement with those of the copolymer. Furthermore, the observed splitting in the ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR spectra of F–MAH were assigned to cis–trans linkages on both the F and MAH units, with cis linkage being favored on both units, especially the former. The structure of 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMeF)–MAH copolymer is similar to that of F–MAH copolymer, except that the preference of cis linkages is less pronounced. The structure of 2-methylfuran (MF)–MAH copolymer is a complex structure with numerous 2,3-furandiyl units. A mechanistic study was undertaken to elucidate the roles of F–MAH Diels–Alder adduct, and the charge-transfer (CT) complex in the radical initiated copolymerization. The adduct reverted substantially to monomers under the reaction conditions; but, the amount of adduct remaining at equilibrium was quite appreciable; therefore, its participation could be ruled out on this basis alone. However, on polymerizing the adduct in the presence of F-d₄, the latter was incorporated into the copolymer to an extent indicative of free monomer exchange. Therefore, the adduct cannot be directly involved in the polymerization.     

Atomic absorption spectroscopic, conductometric and colorimetric methods for determination of fluoroquinolone antibiotics using ammonium reineckate ion-pair complex formation

Three accurate, rapid and simple atomic absorption spectrometric, conductometric and colorimetric methods were developed for the determination of norfloxacin (NRF), ciprofloxacin (CIP), ofloxacin (OFL) and enrofloxacin (ENF). The proposed methods depend upon the reaction of ammonium reineckate with the studied drugs to form stable precipitate of ion-pair complexes, which was dissolved in acetone. The pink coloured complexes were determined either by AAS or colorimetrically at lambdmax 525 nm directly using the dissolved complex. Using conductometric titration, the studied drugs could be evaluated in 50% (v/v) acetone in the range 5.0-65, 4.0-48, 5.0-56 and 6.0-72 microg ml-1 of NRF, CPF, OFL and ENF, respectively. The optimizations of various experimental conditions were described. The results obtained showed good recoveries of 99.15 +/- 1.15, 99.30 +/- 1.40, 99.60 +/- 1.50, and 99.00 +/- 1.25% with relative standard deviations of 0.81, 1.06, 0.97, and 0.69% for NRF, CPF, OFL, and ENF, respectively. Applications of the proposed methods to representative pharmaceutical formulations are successfully presented.     

Investigation the Effects of Green-Synthesized Copper Nanoparticles on the Performance of Activated Carbon-Chitosan-Alginate for the Removal of Cr(VI) from Aqueous Solution

In the present investigation, green nano-zerovalent copper (GnZVCu), activated carbon (AC), chitosan (CS) and alginate (ALG) nanocomposites were produced and used for the elimination of chromium (VI) from a polluted solution. The nanocomposites GnZVCu/AC-CS-alginate and AC-CS-alginate were prepared. Analysis and characterization were performed by the following techniques: X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The SEM analysis revealed that the nanocomposites are extremely mesoporous, which leads to the greatest adsorption of Cr⁺⁶ (i.e., 97.5% and 95%) for GnZVCu/AC-CS-alginate and AC-CS-alginate, respectively. The adsorption efficiency was enhanced by coupling GnZVCu with AC-CS-alginate with a contact time of 40 min. The maximum elimination of Cr⁺⁶ with the two nanocomposites was achieved at pH 2. The isotherm model, Freundlich adsorption isotherm and kinetics model and P.S.O.R kinetic models were discovered to be better suited to describe the exclusion of Cr⁺⁶ by the nanocomposites. The results suggested that the synthesized nanocomposites are promising for the segregation of Cr⁺⁶ from polluted solutions, specially the GnZVCu/AC-CS-alginate nanocomposite.