Neutral coordination polymers based on a metal-mono(dithiolene) complex: synthesis, crystal structure and supramolecular chemistry of [Zn(dmit)(4,4'-bpy)]n, [Zn(dmit)(4,4'-bpe)]n and [Zn(dmit)(bix)]n (4,4'-bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine, 4,4'-bpe = trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethene, bix = 1,4-bis(imidazole-1-ylmethyl)-benzene

This article describes a unique synthetic route that enables a neutral mono(dithiolene)metal unit, {Zn(dmit)}, to link with three different organic molecules, resulting in the isolation of a new class of neutral coordination polymers. The species {Zn(dmit)} coordinates with 4,4'-bipyridine (4,4'-bpy), trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethene (4,4'-bpe) and 1,4-bis(imidazole-1-ylmethyl)-benzene (bix) as linkers giving rise to the formation of coordination polymers [Zn(dmit)(4,4'-bpy)](n) (1), [Zn(dmit)(4,4'-bpe)](n) (2) and [Zn(dmit)(bix)](n) (3) respectively. Compounds 1-3 were characterized by elemental analyses, IR, diffuse reflectance and single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Compounds 1 and 3 crystallize in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n, whereby compound 2 crystallizes in triclinic space group P1[combining macron]. In the present study, we chose three linkers 4,4'-bpy, 4,4'-bpe and bix (see , respectively, for their structural drawings), that differ in terms of their molecular dimensions. The crystal structures of compounds 1-3 are described here in terms of their supramolecular diversities that include π-π interactions, not only among aromatic stacking (compounds 1 and 3), but also between an aromatic ring and an ethylenic double bond (compound 2). The electronic absorption spectroscopy of compounds 1-3 support these intermolecular π-π interactions.     

Spectrophotometric determination of certain CNS stimulants in dosage forms and spiked human urine via derivatization with 2,4-Dinitrofluorobenzene

A new spectrophotometric method is developed for the determination of phenylpropanolamine HCl (PPA), ephedrine HCl (EPH) and pseudoephedrine HCl (PSE) in pharmaceutical preparations and spiked human urine. The method involved heat-catalyzed derivatization of the three drugs with 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) producing a yellow colored product peaking at 370 nm for PPA and 380 nm for EPH and PSE, respectively. The absorbance concentration plots were rectilinear over the range of 2-20 for PPA and 1-14 μg/mL for both of EPH and PSE, respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) values were 0.20, 0.13 and 0.20 μg/mL for PPA, EPH and PSE, respectively and limit of quantitation (LOQ) values of 0.60 and 0.40 and 0.59 μg/mL for PPA, EPH and PSE, respectively. The analytical performance of the method was fully validated and the results were satisfactory. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of the three studied drugs in their commercial dosage forms including tablets, capsules and ampoules with good percentage recoveries. The proposed method was further applied for the determination of PSE in spiked human urine with a mean percentage recovery of 108.17 ± 1.60 for (n = 3). Statistical comparison of the results obtained with those of the comparison methods showed good agreement and proved that there was no significant difference in the accuracy and precision between the two methods. The mechanism of the reaction pathway was postulated.     

The influence of nano silica particles on gamma-irradiation ageing of elastomers based on chlorosulphonated polyethylene and acrylonitrile butadiene rubber

The goal of this work was to study gamma irradiation ageing of rubber blends based on acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and chlorosulphonated polyethylene rubber (CSM) reinforced by silica nano particles. The NBR/CSM compounds (50: 50, w/w) filled with different content of filler (0–100 phr) were crosslinked by sulfur. The vulcanization characteristics were assessed using the rheometer with an oscillating disk. The vulcanizates were prepared in a hydraulic press. The obtained materials were exposed to the different irradiation doses (100, 200, 300 and 400 kGy). The mechanical properties (hardness, modulus at 100% elongation, tensile strength and elongation at break) and swelling numbers were assessed before and after gamma irradiation ageing.     

Synchronous Fluorescence as a Green and Selective Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Cetirizine and Azelastine in Aqueous Humor

A green, simple, quick and economical method is implemented for the first time for the simultaneous estimation of cetirizine (CTZ) and azelastine (AZE) as co-administered eye drops. The method relies on synchronous spectrofluorimetry with ?λ?=?60 nm. Cetirizine can be estimated at 231 nm and AZE can be measured at 294 nm, each at the other’s zero crossing point. All factors affecting the method were studied and properly optimized. Good correlation was obtained in the range of 0.1–2 µg mL^?1 for both drugs. The limits of detection were 0.014 and 0.010 µg mL^?1 and limits of quantitation were 0.043 and 0.029 µg mL^?1 for CTZ and AZE, respectively. Moreover, ICH guidelines were carried out to validate the adopted method. The method was suitable for the analysis of CTZ and AZE in synthetic mixtures, eye drops and aqueous humor. The mean percentage of recoveries of CTZ and AZE in spiked aqueous humor were 99.83 and 99.37, respectively. Furthermore, Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI) and analytical Eco-scale approaches were used to evaluate the greenness of the suggested method.

     

Copper oxide nanopowder modified carbon paste electrode for the voltammetric assay of vonoprazan

Vonoprazan (VPZ) is a novel promising member of gastric acid-suppressive medicinal administrated in Japan in 2015. Only a few HPLC analysis protocols were reported for VPZ assaying, therefore, the present work describes for the first time a novel copper oxide nanoparticles-based sensor as a promising analytical tool for differential pulse voltammetric determination of vonoprazan with enhanced sensitivity compared with the bare electrode. An irreversible oxidation process with the two-electron transfer was elucidated with scan rate measurements. At the optimized conditions, peak heights showed against VPZ in the concentration range from 0.99 to 20.00 µg mL^?1, and detection limit of 0.24 µg mL^?1. The proposed sensor showed prolonged stability with a 95% recovery of the original peak height within the first 30 days. Good reproducibility and repeatability of the fabrication protocol was reported with RSD 1.3%. Noticeable resolution between the VPZ, ascorbic acid, and uric voltammetric peaks allows accurate assaying of VPZ in biological fluids with average recoveries agreeable with the conventional HPLC techniques.     

Unsupervised neural network model optimized with evolutionary computations for solving variants of nonlinear MHD Jeffery-Hamel problem

A heuristic technique is developed for a nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics(MHD) Jeffery-Hamel problem with the help of the feed-forward artificial neural network(ANN) optimized with the genetic algorithm(GA) and the sequential quadratic programming(SQP) method. The two-dimensional(2D) MHD Jeffery-Hamel problem is transformed into a higher order boundary value problem(BVP) of ordinary differential equations(ODEs). The mathematical model of the transformed BVP is formulated with the ANN in an unsupervised manner. The training of the weights of the ANN is carried out with the evolutionary calculation based on the GA hybridized with the SQP method for the rapid local convergence. The proposed scheme is evaluated on the variants of the Jeffery-Hamel flow by varying the Reynold number, the Hartmann number, and the angles of the walls. A large number of simulations are performed with an extensive analysis to validate the accuracy, convergence, and effectiveness of the scheme. The comparison of the standard numerical solution and the analytic solution establishes the correctness of the proposed designed methodologies.     

Green phenol hydroxylation by ultrasonic-assisted synthesized Mg/Cu/Al-LDH catalyst with different molar ratios of Cu2+/Mg2+

Nitrate-intercalated Mg/Cu/Al-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) were successfully synthesized by the co-precipitation method under ultrasonic irradiation as a fast, simple, and low-cost technique. The LDHs were synthesized with six different molar ratios of Cu²⁺/Mg²⁺, and then they were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, TGA, ICP, BET, TEM, and FE-SEM analyses. The results showed that the nitrate ions were well intercalated between layers without any carbonate ions. According to the XRD and TGA results, increasing of Cu ions in the LDHs lowered the crystallization and improved the thermal stability of samples at the same time. The morphological studies carried out by FE-SEM and TEM analyses showed the morphological structure similar to the lamellar structure and plate-like shape particles. However, the surface property of binary LDHs, including Al and only one of Cu or Mg elements, was better than ternary ones. Furthermore, this catalyst was used for the phenol hydroxylation using H₂O₂ as oxidant and water as a solvent. The results exhibit that the CuMg₃₂Al-NO^3? catalyst had the best catalytic activity, as well as it was found that the catalyst is active under mild reaction conditions such as the temperature of 65 °C, phenol: oxidant ratio of 2:1, phenol/catalyst?=?100, and reaction time of 1 h. Thus, these conditions gave better activity with the conversion of 27%, the selectivity of 92.05% for catechol and hydroquinone, and CAT/HQ ratio of 1.5.

     

Influence of the thiazole backbone on the structural, redox, and optical properties of dithiolene and diselenolene complexes

Metalation of N-methyl-1,3-thiazoline-2-thione followed by reaction with elemental S or Se affords a simple and efficient approach to N-methyl-1,3-thiazoline-2-thione-4,5-dithiolate (Me-thiazdt) and the diselenolate (Me-thiazds) analogue. In the presence of metal II centers such as Zn, Ni, and Pd these ligands afford the corresponding dianionic dithiolene and diselenolene complexes. The Ni and Pd dianionic complexes are easily oxidized into the monoanionic species. Complexes were isolated and characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Most often a substitutional S/N-Me disorder is observed, attributable to the square-planar trans complexes disordered on two positions or coexistence of both cis and trans isomers on inversion centers. Monoanionic complexes exhibit a strong NIR absorption band with epsilon values up to 33 750 M(-1) cm(-1).     

Chiral supramolecular metal-organic architectures from dinuclear copper complexes

Two new chiral dinuclear Cu(II) complexes [Cu₂(μ-Cl)₂(HL¹)₂] · C₂H₅OH (1) and [Cu₂(μ-Cl)₂(HL²)₂] · CH₃OH (2), have been synthesized and structurally characterized, where the chiral ligands H₂L¹ and H₂L² are derived from the chiral amino alcohols (S)-(−)-2-amino-3-phenyl-1-propanol and (S)-(+)-2-phenylglycinol. Single-crystal X-ray crystallographic analyses revealed that in these complexes, the dominant hydrogen bonding property of metal bound chloride anion directs the self assembly of complex molecules through C–H···Cl hydrogen bonding interactions leading to the formation of intriguing hydrogen bonded metallo-supramolecular architectures in their respective crystal lattices. The supramolecular systems described here belong to the rare class of metal-organic architectures that are formed as a result of metal directed hydrogen bonding interactions among chiral complex molecules. Complexes 1 and 2 are further characterized by IR, ESR, UV–Vis and CD spectroscopy.     

Nanoparticles of Costus speciosus Ameliorate Diabetes-Induced Structural Changes in Rat Prostate through Mediating the Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines IL 6, IL1β and TNF-α

Diabetes mellitus is a common global health problem. Among the complications that are frequently associated with DM are the alternation of sexual function and fertility, especially in young men. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of nanoparticles of Costus speciosus (C. speciosus) in preserving the prostatic structure of diabetic rats and to explore the mechanism behind this effect. A model of DM was induced in male albino rats by a single intraperitoneally injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 60 mg/kg body weight). Five groups (n = 10 each) of rats were included in this study: the control, C. speciosus gold nanoparticles-treated (150 mg/kg body weight through gastric intubation for 30 days), untreated diabetic, metformin-treated diabetic (500 mg/kg/day gastric intubation for 30 days) and the C. speciosus-treated diabetic group. The blood glucose, insulin and testosterone levels as well as oxidants/antioxidants status were assessed in the serum. Gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL1β and IL-6 were assessed in the prostate homogenate. At the end of the experiment, the rats were sacrificed and the prostate was dissected out and prepared for histopathological and immunohistochemistry study using Ki67 and Bcl-2. C. Speciosus nanoparticles significantly decreased (p = 0.03) the blood glucose level while significantly increasing insulin (p = 0.01) and testosterone (p = 0.04) levels compared to the untreated diabetic rats. Oxidants/antioxidants status was markedly improved after administration of C. speciosus. Prostatic expression of the mRNA of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL1β and TNF-α was down-regulated in metformin- and C. speciosus-treated rats. The histological structure of the ventral prostate was preserved in metformin- and C. speciosus-treated diabetic rats with a significantly thicker epithelial cell layer and significant increase immunoexpression in Bcl-2 and Ki67. In conclusion, the protective effect induced by C. speciosus nanoparticles on the prostate of diabetic rats might be directly mediated through the down-regulation of inflammatory cytokines and the up-regulation of antioxidant activity and indirectly mediated through the anti-hyperglycemic effect through enhancing insulin secretion.