Enzymatic synthesis of kojic acid esters and their potential industrial applications

In this paper, enzymatic methods for the synthesis of 5-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)-4H-pyran-4-one (kojic acid) esters are reviewed. Important process parameters related to the synthesis of kojic acid esters such as the type of immobilized lipase, solvent, temperature, initial water activity, water content, pH, metal salts, enzyme loading, substrates mole ratio, and acyl donors are highlighted and discussed. The properties of kojic acid esters related to their solubility, stability, cytotoxicity, depigmenting activity, tyrosinase inhibitory, metal-chelating, anti-oxidant, and other biological activities are also highlighted. At present, kojic acid and its esters are widely used in cosmetic and skin health industries as skin whitening agents. The advantages and disadvantages of various kojic acid esters are compared and possible industrial applications of these derivatives are also discussed.     

Acoustic Characteristics of Vowels by Normal Malaysian Malay Young Adults

The acoustic characteristics of sustained vowel have been widely investigated across various languages and ethnic groups. These acoustic measures, including fundamental frequency (F₀), jitter (Jitt), relative average perturbation (RAP), five-point period perturbation quotient (PPQ5), shimmer (Shim), and 11-point amplitude perturbation quotient (APQ11) are not well established for Malaysian Malay young adults. This article studies the acoustic measures of Malaysian Malay adults using acoustical analysis. The study analyzed six sustained Malay vowels of 60 normal native Malaysian Malay adults with a mean of 21.19 years. The F₀ values of Malaysian Malay males and females were reported as 134.85 ± 18.54 and 238.27 ± 24.06 Hz, respectively. Malaysian Malay females had significantly higher F₀ than that of males for all the vowels. However, no significant differences were observed between the genders for the perturbation measures in all the vowels, except RAP in /e/. No significant F₀ differences between the vowels were observed. Significant differences between the vowels were reported for all perturbation measures in Malaysian Malay males. As for Malaysian Malay females, significant differences between the vowels were reported for Shim and APQ11. Multiethnic comparisons indicate that F₀ varies between Malaysian Malay and other ethnic groups. However, the perturbation measures cannot be directly compared, where the measures vary significantly across different speech analysis softwares.     

Phase behavior and crystal morphology in poly(ethylene succinate) biodegradably modified with tannin

Specific interactions, growth kinetics, and dendritic morphology in poly(ethylene succinate) (PESu) biodegradably modified with various contents of tannic acid (TA) were characterized using differential scanning analysis, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, polarized-light optical microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Strong interactions and highly retarded growth between PESu and a macromolecular ester with polyphenol groups, TA, interaction-induced highly retarded growth rates for the PESu/TA (80:20) composition are proven to lead to single-crystal-like dendrites when crystallized at high crystallization temperature (T _c). At T _c = 70 °C, the growth rate for neat PESu is 12 μm/min while it is dramatically depressed to one tenth-fold at 1.5 μm/min with 20 wt.% TA in the blend. Strong specific interactions between the carbonyl group of polyesters and the phenolic hydroxyl group of TA are confirmed by (1) the blend’s glass transition temperature (T _g)–composition relationship exhibits a sigmoidal curve, well fitted by the Kwei T _g model for miscible blends with large negative q = −90; (2) thermal analysis on crystal melting revealed an interaction parameter χ = −0.64 between PESu and TA; and (3) IR peak shifting analyzed using two-dimensional FTIR technique. A comparative blend of another polyester poly(hexamethylene sebacate) with TA, lacking the specific interactions, does not exhibit such single crystals upon similar melt crystallization.     

Bohr radius for subordinating families of analytic functions and bounded harmonic mappings

The class consisting of analytic functions f   in the unit disk satisfying f+αzf^′+γz²f^″$f+\alpha z{f}^{\prime }+\gamma z^2{f}^{″}$ subordinated to some function h is considered. The Bohr radius for this class is obtained when h is respectively convex or starlike. The Bohr radius for analytic functions mapping the unit disk into a concave-wedge domain as well as for bounded harmonic mappings are also established.     

Pickering Emulsions as Vehicles for Bioactive Compounds from Essential Oils

Pickering emulsions are emulsion systems stabilized by solid particles at the interface of oil and water. Pickering emulsions are considered to be natural, biodegradable, and safe, so their applications in various fields—such as food, cosmetics, biomedicine, etc.—are very promising, including as a vehicle for essential oils (EOs). These oils contain volatile and aromatic compounds and have excellent properties, such as antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, and antioxidant activities. Despite their superior properties, EOs are prone to evaporation, decompose when exposed to light and oxygen, and have low solubility, limiting their industrial applications. Several studies have shown that EOs in Pickering emulsions displays less sensitivity to evaporation and oxidation, stronger antibacterial activity, and increased solubility. In brief, the application of Pickering emulsions for EOs is interesting to explore. This review discusses recent progress in the application of Pickering emulsions, particularly as EO carriers, drug carriers, antioxidant and antimicrobial carriers, and in active packaging.     

Phase behavior of poly(4‐tert‐butylstyrene‐stat‐4‐tert‐ butoxystyrene)/polyisoprene blends with competitive interactions

The phase behavior of statistical copolymers composed of (4‐tert‐butylstyrene) (B) and (4‐tert‐butoxystyrene) (O), abbreviated as s‐BO, with polyisoprene (I) was investigated by optical microscopic (OM) observation and small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements. It has been known that B/I blend shows lower critical solution temperature (LCST) type phase diagram, while O/I blend has upper critical solution temperature (UCST) type one. Several blends of s‐BOs having mol fraction of B, m_B, comparable to 0.50, with I showed both UCST and LCST type phase diagram. Furthermore, UCST type phase behavior was observed for blends having small m_B, while LCST type one was for that of large m_B at all used temperatures. Hence, the phase behavior of s‐BO/I blend can be understood as a result of the competition of two interactions having opposite temperature dependence. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 2272–2280, 2009     

Synthesis and characterization of mixed-ligand copper(II) saccharinate complexes containing tridentate NNS Schiff bases. X-ray crystallographic analysis of the free ligands and one complex

Four new Schiff bases containing N and S heteroatoms (HL1–HL4) have been prepared and characterized, including determination of the X-ray crystal structures of HL1 and HL3. Spectroscopic evidence indicates that these Schiff bases behave as uninegatively charged tridentate NNS ligands in complexes of general formula [Cu(Ln)sac] (Ln is the anionic form of NNS, and sac represents saccharinate anion). Crystals of both HL1 and [Cu(L4)sac)(H₂O)]·Hsac crystallized in triclinic system with P $ \bar{1} $ space group, while HL3 crystallized in monoclinic system with P 2₁/c space group. [Cu(L4)sac)(H₂O)]·Hsac has a distorted square-pyramidal structure with a non-bonded saccharin molecule present in the outer coordination sphere. The tridentate NNS ligands are coordinated to Cu through pyridine nitrogen, azomethine nitrogen and thiolate sulfur atoms, while the fourth and fifth coordination positions are occupied by the N-bonded saccharinate anion and a water ligand, respectively.     

Antibacterial and antioxidant activity of naphthofuranquinones from the twigs of tropical mangrove Avicennia officinalis

Abstract

Mangrove plants are endowed with various biologically active compounds which have potent antibacterial and antioxidant properties. In present study, a bioactivity-guided fractionation for antibacterial and antioxidant active metabolites from the twigs of Avicennia officinalis collected from Kuala Selangor Nature Park, Selangor, Malaysia gave 13 major fractions. The antibacterial activity of A. officinalis fractions using well-diffusion showed strong selectivity on the Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus epidermidis, S. aureus and Bacillus subtilis) with minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) values of 0.156-5.00?mg/mL. However, no antibacterial activities were observed on the Gram-negative bacteria (Vibrio cholera, Enterobacter cloacae and Escherichia coli). The active antibacterial fractions were further isolated using several chromatographic techniques to give two naphthofuranquinones, namely, avicenol C (1) and stenocarpoquinone B (2). Meanwhile, the antioxidant activity of A. officinalis fractions were evaluated using DPPH radical scavenging assay exhibited low antioxidant activities. Molecular structure of the naphthofuranquinones was elucidated using 1?D and 2?D NMR spectroscopy.