Cytotoxic copper(II) complex of tripyridoquinoxaline with DNA hydrolase activity

A monomeric copper(II) complex, [Cu(tpq)₂(H₂O)₂](ClO₄)₂, (tpq = tripyridoquinoxaline), has been synthesized and characterized spectroscopically. This complex has been found to bind DNA intercalatively and the DNA binding constant, K_b, for this complex has been determined from absorption measurements and was found to be (5.7 ± 0.3) × 10³ M⁻¹. This complex successfully promotes hydrolytic cleavage of plasmid DNA, producing single and double DNA strand breaks in the absence of any added cofactor. The amount of conversion of the supercoiled form of plasmid to the nicked circular form depends on the concentration of the copper complex as well as the duration of the incubation of the complex with DNA. The rate of conversion of SC to NC has been determined to be 2.65 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹ at pH 7.2 in the presence of 80 μM of the complex. This complex has also been shown to be cytotoxic towards A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells. This complex has been shown to bring about apoptosis of the cancerous A549 cell line.     

Real Time Anti-<em>Toxoplasma gondii </em>Activity of an Active Fraction of <em>Eurycoma longifolia</em> Root Studied by <em>in Situ</em> Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy

The inhibitory effect of active fractions of Eurycoma longifolia (E. longifolia) root, namely TAF355 and TAF401, were evaluated against Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). In our previous study, we demonstrated that T. gondii was susceptible to TAF355 and TAF401 with IC₅₀ values of 1.125 μg/mL and 1.375 μg/mL, respectively. Transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations were used to study the in situ antiparasitic activity at the IC₅₀ value. Clindamycin was used as positive control. SEM examination revealed cell wall alterations with formation of invaginations followed by completely collapsed cells compared to the normal T. gondii cells in response to the fractions. The main abnormality noted via TEM study was decreased cytoplasmic volume, leaving a state of structural disorganization within the cell cytoplasm and destruction of its organelles as early as 12 h of treatment, which indicated of rapid antiparasitic activity of the E. longifolia fractions. The significant antiparasitic activity shown by the TAF355 and TAF401 active fractions of E. longifolia suggests their potential as new anti-T. gondii agent candidates.      

Cu(I)-catalyzed annulation for the synthesis of substituted naphthalenes using o-bromobenzaldehydes and β-ketoesters as substrates

Cu(I)-catalyzed reaction of o-bromobenzaldehydes with β-ketoesters using Cs(2)CO(3) as a base and 2-picolinic acid as an additive proceeds under mild conditions and gives access to substituted naphthalenes in a single step with yields ranging from 71 to 86%. The new annulation process relies on a domino Knoevenagel condensation/C-arylation/1,2-addition/carboxylic acid cleavage. The annulation can also be achieved with o-iodobenzaldehyde.     

Efect of Varying Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya Interaction on the Bistable Nano-Scale Soliton Switching

The efect of Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya(D-M) interaction on the bistable nano-scale soliton switching ofers the possiblity of developing a new innovative approach for data storage technology. The dynamics of Heisenberg ferromagnetic spin system is expressed in terms of generalized inhomogeneous higher order nonlinear Schro¨dinger(NLS) equation. The bistable soliton switching in the ferromagnetic medium is established by solving the associated coupled evolution equations for amplitude and velocity of the soliton using the fourth order Runge–Kutta method numerically.     

Breather-like director reorientations in a nematic liquid crystal with nonlocal nonlinearity

The nature of nonlinear molecular deformations in a homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal (NLC) is presented. We start from the basic dynamical equation for the director axis of a NLC with elastic deformations and adopt space curve mapping procedure to analyze the dynamics. The NLC is governed by an integro-differential perturbed nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger equation and we solve the same using Jacobi elliptic function method aided with symbolic computation and construct an exact solitary wave solution. In order to better understand the effect of nonlocality on the director reorientations of nematic liquid crystal, we have constructed the component forms of director axis using Darboux vector transformation. This intriguing property as a result of the relation between the coherence of the breather-like solitary deformation and the nonlocality reveals a strong need for a deeper understanding in the theory of self-localization in NLC systems.     

A TFAA-H3PO4-mediated direct, metal-free and high-speed synthesis of aryl carboxylate esters from phenols

An operationally simple, mild and single-step method for the direct and metal-free synthesis of aryl carboxylate esters is described under a solvent free condition. The reaction of phenols including 2-naphthol (or 1-naphthol) with a variety of carboxylic acids in the presence of TFAA and 85% H₃PO₄ provided a range of aryl carboxylate esters in good yields within few minutes.     

Open versus closed 1,3-dipolar additions of C60: a theoretical investigation on their mechanism and regioselectivity

[reactions: see text] 1,3-Dipolar additions of C60 with dipoles, diazomethane, nitrile oxide, and nitrone have been modeled at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p)//AM1 level, and their mechanism, regiochemistry, and nature of addition are investigated. All of these reactions lead to the formation of fullerene fused heterocycles; theoretically, these reactions can take up four types of additions, viz., closed [6,6], open [5,6], closed [5,6], and open [6,6] additions, and all of them have been examined. Energetics and thermodynamic analysis of these reactions show that closed [5,6] and open [6,6] additions are not probable and that closed [6,6] additions are the most favored ones and follow a concerted mechanism. Experimental evidence that C60-diazomethane reactions yielded closed [6,6] fullerenopyrazoline provides good support to the theoretical predictions. The observed order of reactivity has been explained based on the double bond character, forcing double bonds in the pentagons of C60, and strain. During the addition, dipoles distort more than C60 and concerted closed [6,6] TSs are found to be more reactant-like or early TS. Inclusion of toluene as solvent through the PCM model increases the reaction rate and exothermicity. NICS values computed at the centers of the reacting benzenoid ring of fullerene clearly reveal, in both open and closed additions, the loss in them of aromaticity during the reaction.     

Growth and vibrational spectroscopic studies of pure and yttrium doped single crystals of trisodium barium pentachloride dihydrate

Single crystals of pure and rare earth doped trisodium barium pentachloride dihydrate have been grown by slow evaporation solution growth. The solubility of both pure and doped forms of Na3BaCl5 x 2H2O has been estimated. Vibrational spectra were recorded to determine the symmetries of molecular vibrations. The observed Raman and infrared bands were assigned and discussed in detail. The optical transparencies of the grown crystals were tested by UV-vis spectrophotometer.     

Controlled Radical Polymerization of Furfuryl Methacrylate

Atom transfer radical polymerization provides a new method of controlled radical polymerization. The most important advantage of ATRP is that it is tolerant to the different functional groups present in the initiator as well as in the monomer. Furfuryl Methacrylate (FMA) is a specialty monomer, which has applications in coatings, adhesives and in biomedicals. Conventional radical polymerization of FMA leads to excessive gel formation, which limits its applications. In this investigation homo and co-polymerization of FMA has been carried out via ATRP. ATRP of FMA was carried out using CuBr as catalyst and 1, 1, 4, 7, 10, 10 hexamethyltriethylenetetramine (HMTETA) as ligand. There was no gel formation during the polymerization. ATRP of FMA was well controlled with a linear increase of molecular weight (Mn) with monomer conversion. The polymers were characterized by using ¹HNMR, FT-IR and GPC analysis. Interestingly, it was observed that the furfuryl ring was not affected during polymerization.     

Acridine N-Heterocyclic Carbene Gold(I) Compounds: Tuning from Yellow to Blue Luminescence

The synthesis and the luminescence features of three gold(I)-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes are presented to study how the n-alkyl group can influence the luminescence properties in the crystalline state. The mononuclear gold(I)-NHC complexes, [( L¹ )Au(Cl)] ( 1 ), [( L² )Au(Cl)] ( 2 ), and [( L³ )Au(Cl)] ( 3 ) were isolated from the reactions between [(tht)AuCl] and corresponding NHC ligand precursors, [N-(9-acridinyl)-N’-(n-butyl)-imidazolium chloride, ( L¹ .HCl)], [N-(9-acridinyl)-N’-(n-pentyl)-imidazolium chloride, ( L² .HCl)] and [N-(9-acridinyl)-N’-(n-hexyl)-imidazolium chloride, ( L³ .HCl)]. Their single-crystal X-ray analysis reveals the influence of the n-alkyl groups on solid-state packing. A comparison of the luminescence features of 1 – 3 with n-alkyl substituents is explored. The molecules 1 – 3 depicted blue emission in the solution state, while the yellow emission (for 1 ), greenish-yellow emission (for 2 ), and blue emission (for 3 ) in the crystalline phase. This paradigm emission shift arises from n-butyl to n-pentyl and n-hexyl in the crystalline state due to the carbon-carbon rotation of the n-alkyl group, which tends to promote unusual solid packing. Hence n-alkyl group adds a novel emission property in the crystalline state. Density Functional Theory and Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory calculations were carried out for monomeric complex, N-(9-acridinyl)-N’-(n-heptyl)imidazole-2-ylidene gold(I) chloride and dimeric complex, N-(9-acridinyl)-N’-(n-heptyl)imidazole-2-ylidene gold(I) chloride to understand the structural and electronic properties.