A novel method for correlation of substituent constants in some aromatic esters using the shift reagent Eu(fod)3

The lanthanide induced chemical shifts of the ester methyl group were studied in eighteen m-, and p-substituted aromatic methyl esters with varying amounts of added shift reagent, Eu(fod)₃. Each time the lanthanide induced shift (LIS) was plotted against the molar ratio of shift reagent (SR)/substrate and a straight line was obtained upto one mole ratio of added shift reagent. The slopes of these plots correlated well with the Hammett's σ constants and yield a value of ?4.95 for the reaction constant ?. The method is therefore one of the simplest ways of correlating the substituent constants in aromatic esters.     

Flavone C-glycosides from Trichuriella monsoniae (L.f.) Bennet

In the first phytochemical investigation of Trichuriella monsoniae, three known flavonoidal C-glycosides, isoswertisin 1, 2″-O-β-d-galactosyl isoswertisin 2 and 2″-O-β-d-xylosyl isoswertisin 3 were isolated from the methanolic extract of the whole plant. Their structures were elucidated by extensive NMR spectroscopic studies including 2D NMR and HRMS, and the structure of 2 was supported by single crystal X-ray data studies. Further, NMR assignments for 3 are being reported for the first time.     

Single-Crystal-to-Single-Crystal Topochemical Synthesis of a Collagen-inspired Covalent Helical Polymer

There is much demand for crystalline covalent helical polymers. Inspired by the helical structure of collagen, we synthesized a covalent helical polymer wherein the repeating dipeptide Gly-Pro units are connected by triazole linkages. We synthesized an azide and alkyne-modified dipeptide monomer made up of the repeating amino acid sequence of collagen. In its crystals, the monomer molecules aligned in head-to-tail fashion with proximally placed azide and alkyne forming supramolecular helices. At 60 °C, the monomer underwent single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SCSC) topochemical azide-alkyne cycloaddition polymerization, yielding a covalent helical polymer as confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) analysis. Compared to the monomer crystals, the polymer single-crystals were very strong and showed three-fold increase in Young's modulus, which is higher than collagen, many synthetic polymers and other materials. The crystals of this covalent helical polymer could bear loads as high as 1.5 million times of their own weight without deformation. These crystals could also withstand high compression force and did not disintegrate even at an applied force of 98 kN. Such light-weight strong materials are in demand for various technological applications.     

Analysis of an order-up-to-level policy for perishables with random issuing

Much of the research in perishable items inventory management has focused on the first-in-first-out issue process. However, motivated by the technical characteristics of the blood unit issue process, we model an order-up-to-level policy under periodic review setting with random issue of items from inventory. We provide empirical evidence in support of the random issuing assumption using real data on serial numbers of blood units issued from a blood bank. For general demand distribution we derive exact expressions for per period expected shortage, expected wastage and expected cost as functions of the policy parameters R (order-up-to-level) and T (review period). Since the exact model becomes computationally burdensome with increase in the number of periods of life of the perishable item an approximate model for the random issuing process is developed. The accuracy of the approximation is affirmed using simulation analysis. A gradient search-based heuristic is provided to identify the optimum policy parameters for the approximate model. A real life application of the model is demonstrated in determining the optimum frequency and order-up-to-level for blood collection at a blood bank.     

La(OTf)3-catalyzed,three-component synthesis of spiro[Indolo-3,10′-indeno[1,2-b]quinolin]-2,4,11′-triones in PEG-400 under conventional heating and ultrasonic irradiation

An efficient La(OTf)₃-catalyzed three-component reaction has been developed for the synthesis of highly substituted spiro[indolo-3,10′-indeno[1,2-b]quinolin]-2,4,11′-triones in polyethylene glycol (PEG-400) under conventional heating and ultrasonic irradiation. The most exciting feature of this methodology is its mechanism involving the unusual ring opening of an isatin moiety followed by recyclization. All the reactions resulted in good yield of products. The important features of this reaction are use of green solvent, good yields, less reaction times, and recyclability of the catalyst.     

On the controllability of fractional neutral integrodifferential delay equations with nonlocal conditions

In this paper, by using the fractional calculus, measure of noncompactness, and the Mönch's fixed point theorem, we investigate the controllability results for fractional neutral integrodifferential equations with nonlocal conditions in Banach spaces. In the end, we give an example to illustrate the applications of the abstract conclusions. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

TiO2 nanoparticles/poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) bionanocomposite films for packaging applications

In this present study, biodegradable PBAT nanocomposites containing different weight percentages (1, 3, 5, 7, and 10% w/w) of TiO₂ nanoparticles were prepared by using solvent casting technique, chloroform as a solvent. The microstructure and morphology of the as‐synthesized poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT)/TiO₂ nanocomposite films were characterized by Fourier‐transform infrared, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscope. The thermal degradation of PBAT composites was studied by using thermogravimetric analysis. The mechanical strength of the films was improved by increasing TiO₂ concentration. Tensile strength increased from 32.60 to 63.26 MPa, respectively. Barrier properties of the PBAT/TiO₂ nanocomposites were investigated by using an oxygen permeability tester. The oxygen permeability (oxygen transmission rate) decreased with increasing the TiO₂ nanoparticle concentrations. The PBAT/TiO₂ nanocomposite films showed profound antimicrobial activity against both Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative foodborne pathogenic bacteria, namely, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, to understand to the zone of inhibition. These results indicated that filler–polymer interaction is important and the role of the TiO₂ as a reinforcement in the nanocomposites was evident. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emerging of Inorganic Hole Transporting Materials For Perovskite Solar Cells

Hole transporting material (HTM) is a significant component to achieve the high performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Over the years, inorganic, organic and hybrid (organic‐inorganic) material based HTMs have been developed and investigated successfully. Today, perovskite solar cells achieved the efficiency of 22.1 % with with 2,2’,7,7’‐tetrakis(N,N‐di‐p‐methoxyphenyl‐amine) 9,9‐spirobifluorene (spiro‐OMeTAD) as HTM. Nevertheless, synthesis and cost of organic HTMs is a major challenging issue and therefore alternative materials are required. From the past few years, inorganic HTMs showed large improvement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability. Recently CuO_x reached the PCE of 19.0% with better stability. These developments affirms that inorganic HTMs are better alternativesto the organic HTMs for next generation PSCs. In this report, we mainly focussed on the recent advances of inorganic and hybrid HTMs for PSCs and highlighted the efficiency and stability of PSCs improved by changing metal oxides as HTMs. Consequently, we expect that energy levels of these inorganic HTMs matches very well with the valence band of perovskites and improved efficiency helps in future practical deployment of low cost PSCs.     

Regioselective synthesis and structural elucidation of 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazole derivatives using 1D and 2D NMR spectral techniques

Regioselective synthesis of 2-[1-(2-oxo-2-phenylethyl)-1H-[1,2,3]triazol-4-ylmethoxy]-benzaldehyde derivatives was achieved by [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of 2-(prop)-2-ynyloxy-benzaldehyde derivatives with phenacyl azide. The regiochemistry and the spectral assignments of the synthesized triazole derivatives were studied using both 1D and 2D NMR spectral techniques in solution.