Terrenolide S,a new antileishmanial butenolide from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus terreus

Terrenolide S, a new butenolide derivative (6), together with six known compounds: (22E,24R)-stigmasta-5,7,22-trien-3-β-ol (1), stigmast-4-ene-3-one (2), stigmasta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one (3), terretonin A (4), terretonin (5) and butyrolactone VI (7) have been isolated from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus terreus isolated from the roots of Carthamus lanatus (Asteraceae). Their structures were established by extensive spectroscopic analyses (1D, 2D NMR and HRESIMS), as well as optical rotation measurement and comparison with literature data. Compound 1 displayed a potent activity towards methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Cryptococcus neoformans with IC₅₀ values of 2.29 and 10.68 µM, respectively. Moreover, 1, 2 and 6 exhibited antileishmanial activity towards Leishmania donovani with IC₅₀ values of 11.24, 15.32 and 27.27 µM, respectively and IC₉₀ values of 14.68, 40.56 and 167.03 µM, respectively.     

Band-edge ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy of core/shell CdSe/CdS rods: assessing electron delocalization by effective mass calculations

CdSe/CdS dot/rods nanocrystals show interesting physical properties related to the band-alignment at the hetero-interface, which controls the band-edge electron delocalization over the rods. Here the differential transmission spectra of CdSe/CdS nanorod samples with different core sizes have been measured using excitation resonant to the core transition. The photo bleaching ratio between dot and rod transitions increases with the dot size, indicating a trend towards electron localization. This trend has been further quantified by performing effective mass calculations in which the conduction band misalignment was varied in order to reproduce the observed bleaching feature ratio. The best agreement was found for negligible conduction band misalignment for small dots of around 2.3 nm in diameter, and about -0.1 eV misalignment was estimated for the larger dots, above 3.5 nm in diameter. This shows that the band misalignment might be dependent on the geometry of the system, and we argue that this might be related to different strain developed at the hetero-interface.     

A relativistic DFT study of magnetic exchange coupling in ketimide bimetallic uranium(IV) complexes

Magnetic exchange couplings in bis(ketimide) binuclear U^IV/U^IV complexes [Cp′₂UCl]₂(μ-ketimide) diuranium(IV) and [(C₅H₅)₂(Cl)An]₂(μ-ketimide) (Cp′ = C₅Me₄Et; ketimide = N=CMe-(C₆H₄)-MeC=N) have been investigated computationally using relativistic density functional theory (DFT) combined with the broken symmetry (BS) approach. Using the B3LYP hybrid functional, the BS ground state of these U^IV/U^IV 5f ²–5f ² complexes has been found of lower energy than the high spin (HS) quintet state, indicating an antiferromagnetic character (estimated coupling constant |J| < 5 cm⁻¹) which has not yet been evidenced unambiguously experimentally. On the contrary, the BP86 GGA functional overestimates greatly the antiferromagnetic character of the complexes (|J| > 100 cm⁻¹). As recently reported for para-bis(imido) [(C₅H₅)₃U]₂(μ-imido) uranium(V) complex, spin polarization is mainly responsible for the antiferromagnetic coupling through the π-network orbital pathway within the bis(ketimide) bridge. Furthermore, spin polarization is exalted by the combined roles of the 5f metal orbitals and of the π-conjugated ketimide bridging ligand which permit electronic communication between the two uranium atoms albeit separated by a distance of the order of 10 ?. The MO analysis clarifies which MOs contribute to the antiferromagnetic coupling in the binuclear complexes under consideration and brings to light the 5f orbitals driving contribution.     

Mild method for the synthesis of 1H-indazoles through oxime-phosphonium ion intermediate

The synthesis of 1H-indazoles from o-aminobenzoximes is achieved via N–N bond formation using triphenylphosphine, I₂, and imidazole. Selective formation of oxime-phosphonium ion intermediate in the presence of the amino group is the driving force for this reaction. The nucleophilicity of the arylamino group and electrophilicity toward the N–O bond of oxime also control the reaction. The reaction proceeds at a faster rate with good to excellent yield under this mild reaction condition and is amenable to scale-up.     

FRET based selective and ratiometric ‘naked-eye’ detection of CN in aqueous solution on fluorescein–Zn–naphthalene ensemble platform

We have developed a FRET-based ratiometric fluorescent probe for the detection of CN⁻ using a fluorescein–Zn–naphthalene ensemble (NFH·Zn²⁺). The sensing mechanism was ascribed by displacement approach. The chemosensor exhibits high selectivity and sensibility for CN⁻. The speculation was supported by fluorescence emission spectra, UV–vis spectrum, ¹H NMR titration experiments, and mass spectra. The interconversion of probe NFH and NFH·Zn²⁺ via the complexation/decomplexation by the modulation of Zn²⁺/CN⁻ mimics INHIBIT gate. In addition, it also shows an excellent performance in ‘dip stick’ method.