Electrostatic potential minimum of the aromatic ring as a measure of substituent constant

The molecular electrostatic potential minimum (Vmin) observed for the arene pi system of a substituted benzene derivatives is found to correlate linearly with the substituent constant sigma(p) degrees . The use of Vmin as a measure of substituent effect is further confirmed by obtaining a linear correlation between Vmin and a thermodynamic measure of the substituent effect obtained from an isodesmic reaction scheme involving benzene derivatives. Vmin and the recently proposed electrostatic potential value at the nucleus of the para carbon atom (Vc) show a nearly identical trend toward quantification of substituent effects. Both quantities have been compared at three different density functional theory methods, viz. B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,2p), BPW91/6-311G(d,p), and B3LYP/aug-cc-pvtz, as well as the at the MP2/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory, showing remarkable consistency among them.     

Synthesis and characterization of monomers and polymers of acrylated phosphonate esters derived from glycerol,D-mannitol,D-sorbitol,pentaerythritol, and dipentaerythritol

Phosphonic acid ester derivatives of glycerol, D -mannitol, D -sorbitol, pentaerythritol, and dipentaerythritol have been synthesized by transacetalation reactions with diethyl 2,2-diethoxyethylphosphonate. These phosphonated derivatives of polyols and carbohydrates have been esterified to from the corresponding methacrylates. All these compounds have been characterized on the basis of their elemental analysis and spectroscopic (infrared including FT–IR, ¹H-, ¹³C-, ³¹P-NMR, and mass) methods. Transacetalation reactions with dialkyl 2,2-dialkoxyethylphosphonate lead to the synthesis of 1,3-dioxane derivatives in the case of D -mannitol, pentaerythritol, and dipentaerythritol, whereas a mixture of both 1,3-dioxane and 1,3-dioxolane derivatives is obtained with D -sorbitol and glycerol. The methacrylates of phosphonylated polyol derivatives show the capacity to dissolve and interact with metal salts such as bismuth bromide and uranyl nitrate. Some of the polymers obtained from these monomers have been characterized on the basis of their spectral and thermal (differential scanning calorimetry) properties.     

Nanocomposite Hydrogel of Pd@ZIF-8 and Laponite®: Size-Selective Hydrogenation Catalyst under Mild Conditions

The composite hydrogel of a nanoscale metal–organic framework (NMOF) and nanoclay has emerged as a new soft-material with advanced properties and applications. Herein, we report a facile synthesis of a hydrogel nanocomposite by charge-assisted self-assembly of Pd@ZIF-8 nanoparticles with Laponite^® nanoclay which coat the surface of Pd@ZIF-8 nanoparticles. Such surface coating significantly enhanced the thermal stability of the ZIF-8 compared to the pristine framework. Further, the Pd@ZIF-8+LP hydrogel nanocomposite shows better size-selective catalytic hydrogenation of olefins than Pd@ZIF-8 nanoparticles based on selective diffusion of the substrate.     

Ionic liquid mediated synthesis and in vitro mechanistic exploration of polycyclic cage-like heterocyclic hybrid

A three-component, [3 + 2]-cycloaddition/annulation domino protocol is described for the synthesis in excellent yield of a polycyclic cage-like heterocyclic hybrid (PCHH) that comprises various advantaged structural units viz., α,β-unsaturated ketone moiety, 4-pyridinone and pyrroloisoquinoline in a cage-like framework. The antitumor activity of PCHH on human breast (MCF7), colon (HCT116), cervical (JURKAT) and lung (NCI-H460) malignant cell lines inhibited the propagation of all cell lines. This hybrid molecule displayed increased broad-spectrum anticancer activity with higher doses of PCHH. Furthermore, the compound induced 45.21% of early apoptosis and 46.32% of late apoptosis in the Jurkat cancer cell line. Cell cycle analysis showed that this cage-like compound caused cell cycle arrest of Jurkat cells at the S phase and sub G0/G1 phase. Additionally, it led to increased DNA fragmentation and mitochondrial membrane permeabilization through activation of caspase-3 enzyme. Present investigation demonstrates the specific cytotoxic activity of the cage-like compound and the induction of apoptosis through the intrinsic pathway of Jurkat cells.     

Biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using Euphorbia milii leaf constituents: Characterization and improved photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye under natural sunlight

A facile biosynthesis route was followed to prepare zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using Euphorbia milii (E. milii) leaf constituents. The SEM images exhibited presence of spherical ZnO NPs and the corresponding TEM images disclosed monodisperse nature of the ZnO NPs with diameter ranges between 12 and 20 nm. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis revealed that the ZnO NPs have specific surface area of 20.46 m²/g with pore diameter of 2 nm–10 nm and pore volume of 0.908 cm³/g. The EDAX spectrum exemplified the existence of Zn and O elements and non-appearance of impurities that confirmed pristine nature of the ZnO NPs. The XRD pattern indicated crystalline peaks corresponding to hexagonal wurtzite structured ZnO with an average crystallite size of 16.11 nm. The FTIR spectrum displayed strong absorption bands at 512 and 534 cm^?1 related to ZnO. The photocatalytic action of ZnO NPs exhibited noteworthy degradation of methylene blue dye under natural sunlight illumination. The maximum degradation efficiency achieved was 98.17% at an illumination period of 50 min. The reusability study proved considerable photostability of the ZnO NPs during photocatalytic experiments. These findings suggest that the E. milii leaf constituents can be utilized as suitable biological source to synthesis ZnO NPs for photocatalytic applications.     

Nelumbo nucifera leaves as source of water-repellent wax: Extraction through polar and non-polar organic solvents

Nelumbo nucifera leaves are rich source of natural wax possessing super-hydrophobic properties. It provides protection to them from ecological turbulences and climatic wear and tear. In this study, various experiments have been conducted to observe the yield of extraction and the determination of various functional groups, which are present in natural wax, derived from Nelumbo nucifera leaves. The natural wax has been extracted from lotus leaves through non-polar (hexane) and polar (ethanol) solvent via different extraction methods. The superhydrophobic wax has been successfully extracted with hexane. Whereas, ethanol did not extract the water-repellent wax of lotus leaf. Considering the cumulative amount, i.e. (desired + undesired), the maceration shows the extraction of 2.9% (%w/w, through hexane) and 10.2% (%w/w, through ethanol), while it was found 2.5% (%w/w, cycle period 15 min) and 9.0% (%w/w, cycle period 26 min) respectively, in case of Soxhlet extraction technique. For this specific case of natural wax recovery from biomass (lotus leaf), the maceration (traditional method) resulted a little bit superior extraction yield in comparison to the Soxhlet extraction method for extraction of crude wax. In the case of non-polar solvent (hexane), an extraction yield of 1.97% (%w/w) through maceration method was observed while in the case of non-polar solvent (ethanol), an extraction yield of 1.62% (%w/w) through Soxhlet extraction was observed. The TLC analysis on both types of extracts was performed. For the detection of various hydrocarbon chains in the crude wax extracts, FTIR was also performed. Topography of wax surface and wax-coated waterproof fabric was compared through SEM.     

Highly-oxygenated isopimarane-type diterpenes from Orthosiphon stamineus of Indonesia and their nitric oxide inhibitory activity

From the methanolic extract of Indonesian Orthosiphon stamineus, nine new highly-oxygenated isopimarane-type diterpenes [7-O-deacetylorthosiphol B (1), 6-hydroxyorthosiphol B (2), 3-O-deacetylorthosiphol I (3), 2-O-deacetylorthosiphol J (4), siphonols A-E (5-9)] have been isolated together with nine known diterpenes [orthosiphols H (10), K (11), M (12) and N (13); staminols A (14) and B (15); neoorthosiphols A (16) and B (17); norstaminol A (18)]. Their structures were determined based on the spectroscopic data. The isolated diterpenes inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophage-like J774.1 cells. Compounds 4-7, 9, 10, 14, and 17 showed inhibitory activities more potent (IC(50), 10.8-25.5 microM) than a positive control N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA; IC(50), 26.0 microM).     

Gold nanoparticle-decorated keggin ions/TiO2 photococatalyst for improved solar light photocatalysis

We demonstrate a facile localized reduction approach to synthesizing a Au nanoparticle-decorated Keggin ion/TiO(2) photococatalyst for improved solar light photocatalysis application. This has been achieved by exploiting the ability of TiO(2)-bound Keggin ions to act as a UV-switchable, highly localized reducing agent. Notably, the approach proposed here does not lead to contamination of the resultant cocatalyst with free metal nanoparticles during aqueous solution-based synthesis. The study shows that for Keggin ions (phosphotungstic acid, PTA), being photoactive molecules, the presence of both Au nanoparticles and PTA on the TiO(2) surface in a cocatalytic system can have a dramatic effect on increasing the photocatalytic performance of the composite system, as opposed to a TiO(2) surface directly decorated with metal nanoparticles without a sandwiched PTA layer. The remarkable increase in the photocatalytic performance of these materials toward the degradation of a model organic Congo red dye correlates to an increase of 2.7-fold over that of anatase TiO(2) after adding Au to it and 4.3-fold after introducing PTA along with Au to it. The generalized localized reduction approach to preparing TiO(2)-PTA-Au cocatalysts reported here can be further extended to other similar systems, wherein a range of metal nanoparticles in the presence of different Keggin ions can be utilized. The composites reported here may have wide potential implications toward the degradation of organic species and solar cell applications.