Preparation and characterization of magnetic graphene nanocomposite containing Cu(proline)2 as catalyst for asymmetric aldol reactions

Research on Chemical Intermediates - A new catalyst has been prepared via immobilization of Cu(proline)2 complex onto the surface of magnetic graphene. The fabricated nanocatalyst was characterized...     

Synthesis of Highly Functionalized 1-Azadienes and Ketenimines

Summary. The 1:1 reactive intermediate generated by the addition of alkyl isocyanides to dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates was trapped by fairly strong NH-acids such as carbazole, indole, or pyrrole to yield highly functionalized 1-azadienes and ketenimines.     

(Liquid + liquid) and (liquid + solid) equilibrium of aqueous two-phase systems containing poly ethylene glycol di-methyl ether 2000 and di-sodium hydrogen phosphate

(Liquid + liquid) equilibrium (LLE) for the {poly ethylene glycol di-methyl ether 2000 (PEGDME₂₀₀₀) + Na₂HPO₄ + H₂O} system have been determined experimentally at T = (298.15, 308.15, 313.15, and 318.15) K. The effects of temperature on the binodals and tie-lines for the investigated aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) have been studied. An empirical non-linear expression developed by Merchuk was used for reproducing the experimental binodal data. In this work, the three fitting parameters of the Merchuk equation were obtained with the temperature dependence expressed in the linear form with (T ? T₀) K as a variable. Furthermore, the modified local composition segment-based NRTL and Wilson models and also osmotic virial equation were used to describe the LLE data of the studied system. Also, the effects of the type of salt on LLE are discussed. In addition, the effects of end groups of the polymers PEGDME₂₀₀₀ and poly ethylene glycol 2000 on phase forming ability were studied. The complete phase diagram for the poly ethylene {glycol di-methyl ether 2000 (PEGDME₂₀₀₀) + Na₂HPO₄ + H₂O} system has also been determined at T = 298.15 K.     

Reaction between alkyl isocyanides and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate in the presence of polyhydroxybenzenes. Synthesis of 4H-chromene derivatives

The reactive intermediate generated by the addition of alkyl isocyanides to dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate was trapped by phenols such as resorcinol, catechol, hydroquinone, pyrogallol, 2,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, or 8-hydroxyquinoline to produce highly functionalized 4H-chromenes in fairly good yields.     

Synthesis and characterization of cadmium selenide nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon and its efficient application for removal of muroxide from aqueous solution

In the first, Cadmium selenide Nanoparticle loaded on activated carbon (CdSe-NP-AC) has been synthesized and characterized by different techniques including XRD and SEM. Then, this new adsorbent successfully has been applied for the removal of muroxide (MO) from aqueous solution in batch studies, while the effect of various experimental parameters like initial pH (pH(0)), contact time, amount of (CdSe-NP-AC) and initial MO concentration (C(0)) on its removal percentage was examined by one at a time optimization method. It was found following optimization of variable, the adsorption of MO onto (CdSe-NP-AC) followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and show Tempkin and Langmuir models for interpretation of experimental data. It was observed that by increasing the temperature the removal percentage was improved and the positive change in entropy (ΔS°) and heat of adsorption (ΔH°) show the endothermic nature of process, while the high negative value in Gibbs free energy change (ΔG°) indicates the feasible nature of adsorption process.     

Magnetic Solid Phase Extraction Coupled with HPLC Towards Removal of Pigments and Impurities from Leaf-derived Paclitaxel Extractions of Taxus baccata and Optimization via Response Surface Methodology

A reusable and cost-effective magnetic graphite oxide (Fe₃O₄NPs@GO) nanocomposite was fabricated and applied for pre-purification of paclitaxel from leaf-derived crude extract of Taxus baccata. Furthermore, the potential roles of three crucial criteria (i.e., adsorbent dosage, sorption temperature and agitation/shaking power) on the two responses [i.e., efficiency of plant pigments removal (EPPR) and efficiency of taxol purity (ETP)] were examined and simultaneously optimized through response surface methodology. The nanocomposite was accurately characterized using TEM, AFM, BET, FT-IR, Raman and VSM. Moreover, for both proposed second-degree polynomial regression models, highly significant correlations were achieved between the experimental and predicted data (p < 0.0001). Meanwhile, the optimum conditions to simultaneously acquire the maximum EPPR (94.0 %) and ETP (11.4 %) were recorded as adsorbent dosage of 37.7 g L⁻¹, sorption temperature of 30.7 °C and agitation power of 153.1 rpm; and the predictive results were confirmed using experimental rechecking survey. Interestingly, upon five consecutive treatments, the nanocomposite still exhibited substantial potency in eliminating large amounts of plant pigments and impurities (up to 90 %), without significant reduction on sorption capacity and magnetism thereof. Our results demonstrated that the current nanocomposite, as SPE sorbent for MSPE, could be a simple, fast and reusable approach for HPLC-based purification studies of paclitaxel, and probably other plant secondary metabolites.

     

Cross-linking mechanisms of arginine and lysine with α,β-dicarbonyl compounds in aqueous solution

Cross-linking in proteins by α,β-dicarbonyl compounds is one of the most damaging consequences of reactive carbonyl species in vivo and in foodstuffs. In this article we investigate computationally the cross-linking of glyoxal and methylglyoxal with lysine and arginine residues using density functional theory and the wB97XD dispersion-corrected functional. Five pathways, A-E, have been characterized. In pathways A and B, the reaction proceeds via formation of the Schiff base, aldimine, followed by addition of arginine. In contrast, in pathways C-E, direct addition of arginine to the dicarbonyl compounds occurs first, leading to a dihydroxyimidazolidine intermediate, which then reacts with lysine after dehydration and proton transfer reactions. The results reveal that pathways A, C, and E are competitive whereas reactions via pathways B and D are much less favorable. Inclusion of up to five explicit water molecules in the proton transfer and dehydration steps is found to lower the energy barriers in the feasible pathways by about 5-20 kcal/mol. Comparison of the mechanisms of methylglyoxal-derived imidazolium cross-linking (MODIC) and glyoxal-derived imidazolium cross-linking (GODIC) shows that the activation barriers are lower for GODIC than MODIC, in agreement with experimental observations.     

Three-dimensional free vibration analysis of functionally graded piezoelectric annular plates on elastic foundations

Three-dimensional free vibration analysis of functionally graded piezoelectric (FGPM) annular plates resting on Pasternak foundations with different boundary conditions is presented. The material properties are assumed to have an exponent-law variation along the thickness. A semi-analytical approach which makes use of state-space method in thickness direction and one-dimensional differential quadrature method in radial direction is utilized to obtain the influences of the Winkler and shearing layer elastic coefficients of the foundations on the non-dimensional natural frequencies of functionally graded piezoelectric annular plates. The analytical solution in the thickness direction can be acquired using the state-space method and approximate solution in the radial direction can be obtained using the one-dimensional differential quadrature method. Numerical results are given to demonstrate the convergency and accuracy of the present method. The influences of the material property graded index, circumferential wave number and thickness of the annular plate on the dynamic behavior are also investigated. Since three-dimensional free vibration analysis of FGPM annular plates on elastic foundations has not been implemented before, the new results can be used as benchmark solutions for future researches.