Ethyl[tris(3‐tert‐butyl‐5‐methylpyrazol‐1‐yl)hydridoborato]zinc(II)

The X‐ray crystal structure of the title compound, [Zn(C₂H₅)(C₂₄H₄₀BN₆)], or Tp^tBu,MeZnEt [Tp^tBu,Me is tris(3‐tert‐butyl‐5‐methylpyrazolyl)hydridoborate], reveals a distorted tetrahedral geometry around the Zn atom. The Zn center is coordinated by three N atoms of the borate ligand and by one C atom of the ethyl group. The present structure and other tetrahedral Tp zinc alkyl complexes are compared with similar Ttz ligands (Ttz is 1,2,4‐triazolylborate), but no major differences in the structures are noted, and it can be assumed that variation of the substitution pattern of Tp or Ttz ligands has little or no influence on the geometry of alkylzinc complexes. Refinement of the structure is complicated by a combination of metric pseudosymmetry and twinning. The metrics of the structure could also be represented in a double‐volume C‐centered orthorhombic unit cell, and the structure is twinned by one of the orthorhombic symmetry operators not present in the actual structure. The twinning lies on the borderline between pseudomerohedral and nonmerohedral. The data were refined as being nonmerohedrally twinned, pseudomerohedrally twinned and untwinned. None of the approaches yielded results that were unambiguously better than any of the others: the best fit between structural model and data was observed using the nonmerohedral approach which also yielded the best structure quality indicators, but the data set is less than 80% complete due to rejected data. The pseudomerohedral and the untwinned structures are complete, but relatively large residual electron densities that are not close to the metal center are found with values up to three times higher than in the nonmerohedral approach.     

A novel retro-reaction strategy toward designing a selective fluorescence Cu(II) chemodosimeter

A novel C9 acridane-adduct, featuring ketobenzimidazole chelate, functions as a highly selective fluorescent chemodosimeter for Cu²⁺, while other metal ions pose little interferences, if any. The signaling strategy operates via the Cu²⁺-mediated retro-reaction, generating a strongly fluorescent acridinium ion at the expense of the weakly emitting probe.     

Design and Biocatalytic Synthesis of Pluronics-based Nanomicellar Self-assembly Systems for Drug Encapsulation Applications

Nano medicine is an emerging branch of pharmaceuticals, which is gaining considerable attention mainly due to its new and effective way of drug delivery. Various modes of drug delivery are still in their adolescent stage, polymer-based drug delivery system is one among these. In order to develop a novel and biocompatible nano-carrier for drug delivery through a “green” and, environmentally benign approach, herein, we report the design, synthesis and characterization of four novel pluronic-based amphiphilic copolymers. Candida antartica lipase was used to catalyze polymerization in the presence of molecular sieves under solventless conditions. The resulting copolymers were also investigated for their supramolecular organization and drug encapsulation capacity for biomedical applications.     

Design and Synthesis of Novel Pegylated 4‐Methylcoumarins

Coumarins are well known for their antioxidant and anti‐edema activities. Their antioxidant property gets enhanced with a methyl group at the C‐4 position of the pyran ring. To increase the antioxidant potential and their hydrophilicity, a lipase (Novozyme 435) catalyzed copolymerization of 4‐methylcoumarin diesters and polyethylene glycols (PEGs) has been carried out to give novel copolymers.     

Hybrid recoil mass analyzer at IUAC — First results using gas-filled mode and future plans

Hybrid recoil mass analyzer (HYRA) is a unique, dual-mode spectrometer designed to carry out nuclear reaction and structure studies in heavy and medium-mass nuclei using gas-filled and vacuum modes, respectively and has the potential to address newer domains in nuclear physics accessible using high energy, heavy-ion beams from superconducting LINAC accelerator (being commissioned) and ECR-based high current injector system (planned) at IUAC. The first stage of HYRA is operational and initial experiments have been carried out using gas-filled mode for the detection of heavy evaporation residues and heavy quasielastic recoils in the direction of primary beam. Excellent primary beam rejection and transmission efficiency (comparable with other gas-filled separators) have been achieved using a smaller focal plane detection system. There are plans to couple HYRA to other detector arrays such as Indian national gamma array (INGA) and 4π spin spectrometer for ER tagged spectroscopic/spin distribution studies and for focal plane decay measurements.     

Quality control assessment of polyherbal formulation based on a quantitative determination multimarker approach by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry using polarity switching combined with multivariate analysis

An ultra high performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of 28 major bioactive compounds in Mentat tablet, a complex Indian herbal medicine used in the treatment of neurological disorder and improvement of mental health. Multiple‐reaction monitoring scanning was employed for quantification in positive and negative ion switching mode. The analysis was accomplished on Waters ACQUITY UPLC BEH C₁₈ column with linear gradient elution of water/formic acid (0.1%) and acetonitrile/formic acid (0.1%) at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The proposed method was validated with acceptable linearity (r², 0.9984–0.9999), precision (RSD, 0.22–2.11%), stability (RSD, 0.16–1.78%), and recovery (RSD ≤ 3.74%), under optimum conditions. The limits of quantitation ranged from 0.28 to 3.88 ng/mL. The method was successfully applied for simultaneous determination of 28 compounds in 20 batches of Mentat tablet. Hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis were performed to evaluate the similarity and variation of the 20 samples based on the characteristics of 28 bioactive compounds. Results indicated that this method is rapid, sensitive, and reliable to show the quality of the Mentat tablet's composition, hence may be used for quality control of polyherbal formulations having similar markers/raw herbs.     

Nanowear studies in chemically heterogeneous responsive polymeric brushes by surface force microscopy

In this study, we present nanowear studies using surface force microscopy (SFM), on nanoscopic thin films of reversibly switchable binary polymer brushes [polystyrene (PS) + poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP)] and respective monobrushes [polystyrene and poly(2-vinylpyridine)] synthesized via “grafting to” method. The aim was to tune the wear in nanothin polymer brush surfaces. Therefore, the effect of conformational switching of PS + P2VP brush on treatment with selective solvents for PS and P2VP chains on the wear process was investigated. Wear process on thick spin-coated films of PS and P2VP was also investigated for comparison. Nanowear experiments were performed using SFM tip by repeating scans over the surface to follow the wear process closely. The wear process on different surfaces was explained on the basis of molecular entanglement as well as adhesion and friction on the sample surface. For spin-coated PS film as well as PS and PS + P2VP brush surfaces (treated with toluene) with molecular entanglements at surface, wear mechanism involved formation of ripples. However, in case of spin-coated P2VP films as well as P2VP and PS + P2VP brush surfaces (treated with ethanol) with no molecular entanglements at surface, wear occurred via removal of polymer chains and their accumulation at the rim. For PS + P2VP surface treated with acidic water, wear mechanism was complex and inhomogeneous ripple formation was followed by formation of heaps of polymeric material in the center of scanned area. The extent of wear as measured either by root mean square roughness of the surface or spacing between the ripples, increased with the number of scans for all the surfaces. Our study shows that wear mode of polymer brush surfaces is different for different polymers and can be controlled/tuned by the use of binary polymer brushes.     

Effect of polycarboxylate type of super plasticizer on the hydration properties of composite cements

The work aims to study the effect of polycarboxylate type of super plasticizer on the hydration of composite cements. In this paper we have studied the hydration of 20 wt% fly ash (FA) blended Portland cement in the presence of 0.1 wt% super plasticizer (SP). Water consistency, setting times, non-evaporable water contents, compressive strength, water percolation, and air content measurements were carried out. In addition, X-ray diffraction studies were carried out to understand the hydration process. The results indicated the increase in compressive strength of the FA blended Portland cement in the presence of SP and with the increase of the hydration time.     

Radon exhalation potential and natural radioactivity in soil collected from the surrounding area of a thermal power plant

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - In the present study, radon (222Rn), thoron (220Rn) exhalation rates, and the specific activities of 238U,232Th, and 40K of 75 soil samples...