Synthesis, characterization, and antimicrobial activity of silver carbene complexes derived from 4,5,6,7-tetrachlorobenzimidazole against antibiotic resistant bacteria

Silver N-heterocyclic carbene complexes have been shown to have great potential as antimicrobial agents, affecting a wide spectrum of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. A new series of three silver carbene complexes (SCCs) based on 4,5,6,7-tetrachlorobenzimidazole has been synthesized, characterized, and tested against a panel of clinical strains of bacteria. The imidazolium salts and their precursors were characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The silver carbene complexes, SCC32, SCC33, and SCC34 were characterized by elemental analysis, (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, and single crystal X-ray diffraction. These complexes proved highly efficacious with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 0.25 to 6 μg mL(-1). Overall, the complexes were effective against highly resistant bacteria strains, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), weaponizable bacteria, such as Yersinia pestis, and pathogens found within the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Alcaligenes xylosoxidans, and Burkholderia gladioli. SCC33 and SCC34 also showed clinically relevant activity against a silver-resistant strain of Escherichia coli based on MIC testing.     

Kinetics of pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse: effect of catalyst on activation energy and yield of pyrolysis products

Cellulose - In this work we have attempted to use biomass as energy source which is abundantly available throughout the world. The work is focused on pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse in a...     

Chiral separations in microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography. Use of micelle polymers and microemulsion polymers

In this study, microemulsions of the chiral surfactant polysodium N-undecenoyl-D-valinate (poly-D-SUV) was utilized for enantiomeric separation by investigating two approaches using polymeric chiral surfactant in microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC). In the first approach, poly-D-SUV was used as an emulsifier surfactant along with 1-butanol and n-heptane. Enantioseparation of anionic or partially anionic binaphthyl derivatives, anionic barbiturates, and cationic paveroline derivatives were achieved by varying the mass fraction of 1-butanol, n-heptane and poly-D-SUV. For anionic or partially anionic analytes, relatively lower mass fractions of n-heptane, and poly-D-SUV were found to give optimum chiral separations as compared to that for cationic solutes. In the second approach, the chiral microemulsion polymer was prepared by polymerizing mixtures of 3.50% (w/w) of sodium N-undecenoyl-D-valinate (D-SUV) and 0.82% (w/w) of n-heptane (core phase) at varying concentration of 1-butanol. After polymerization, the n-heptane and 1-butanol were removed to yield solvent free microemulsion polymers (MPs) which were then utilized for the separation of anionic binaphthyl derivatives and anionic barbiturates. When MPs of D-SUV were utilized for chiral separation, 1.00% (w/w) 1-butanol and 3.50% (w/w) 1-butanol was optimum for enantioseparation of (+/-)-BNP and (+/-)-BOH, respectively. On the other hand, for anionic (+/-)-barbiturates very low concentration of butanol (0.25%, w/w) provided optimum resolution. Compared with micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), the use of micelle polymers or microemulsion polymers in MEEKC showed dramatic enhancement for resolution of (+/-)-BNP, while this enhancement was less dramatic for other binaphthyls [(+/-)-BOH, (+/-)-BNA] as well as for (+/-)-barbiturates and (+/-)-paveroline derivatives. However, higher separation efficiency of the enantiomers was always observed with MEEKC than in MEKC.     

Simultaneous quantification of brexpiprazole and sertraline HCl in synthetic mixture by thin-layer chromatography method

According to the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) Q2 (R1) guideline, a sensitive, precise, accurate and robust high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of a newer combination of brexpiprazole (BREX) and sertraline HCl (SERT) in bulk and synthetic mixture. Stationary phase selected was pre-coated silica gel aluminum plate 60 F_254, and n-propanol‒hexane‒toluene‒triethylamine (7:2:1:0.1, V/V) was used as developing mobile phase. An appreciable absorbance shows at 254 nm, therefore the common detection wavelength was selected for the simultaneous quantification of BREX and SERT. The method was validated for different parameters: linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness, limit of detection and limit of quantification as per ICH guideline. The correlation coefficients (r²) for BREX and SERT were found to be 0.9940 and 0.9911, respectively. The mean of percentage recoveries for BREX and SERT were found to be 99.40–102.10% and 99.52–101.05%, respectively. The proposed HPTLC method has potential application for the quantification of BREX and SERT simultaneously in bulk and synthetic mixture both qualitatively and quantitatively.

     

Fabrication and characterization of amidoxime-functionalized silica decorated with copper: a catalytic assembly for rapid reduction of dyes

In this study, amidoxime-functionalized silica decorated with copper (AFS-Cu) was fabricated and tested for its catalytic application. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction were employed to characterize its structure and morphology. The application of AFS-Cu as a catalyst for the catalytic reduction of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous media using NaBH₄ as reductant was evaluated. The ability to reuse as well as the effect of catalyst dose and pH of solution on the catalytic activity was investigated. The reduction of MB followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the rate constant (k) was 0.6224 min^-1. AFS-Cu was found to be a highly effective catalyst for MB reduction reaction and can be easily recovered and reused several times with no appreciable loss of catalytic activity.     

Smooth transition from metastability to instability in phase separating protein solutions

For insight into the structure and dynamics of phases emerging upon crossing the metastability/instability boundary we monitor with optical microscopy, in real time and in real space, the generation of a dense liquid phase in high-concentration solutions of the protein lysozyme after temperature quenches into thermodynamically defined metastable and unstable regions. We show with this system, which is a poor fit to mean-field assumptions, that the evolution of the structure factor during nucleation is similar to that during spinodal decomposition and reveals no singularity predicted upon crossing the metastability boundary. We introduce two kinetic definitions of the metastability/instability boundary that yield values within approximately 1.5 K, i.e., the boundary appears as an area rather than a line, which is near and above the thermodynamic prediction. Delay times for the appearance of the new phase in the unstable regime are significant, i.e., new-phase growth is hindered by kinetic barriers. While our results agree with predictions of the non-mean-field theories of phase transformations, the experimentally observed behavior is richer than the one envisioned by theory.     

Efficient Catalytic Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol Using Copper(II) Complexes with N,O-Chelating Schiff Base Ligands

The reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol by sodium borohydride was used as a model to test the catalytic activity of copper(II) complexes containing N,O-chelating Schiff base ligands. In this study, a series of copper(II) complexes containing respective Schiff base ligands, N′-salicylidene-2-aminophenol (1), N′-salicylidene-2-aminothiazole (2), and N,N′-bis(salicylidene)-o-phenylenediamine (3), were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), UV-Visible (UV-Vis) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies. The results from the 4-nitrophenol reduction showed that 3 has the highest catalytic activities with 97.5% conversion, followed by 2 and 1 with 95.2% and 90.8% conversions, respectively. The optimization of the catalyst amount revealed that 1.0 mol% of the catalyst was the most optimized amount with the highest conversion compared to the other doses, 0.5 mol% and 1.5 mol%. Recyclability and reproducibility tests confirmed that all three complexes were active, efficient, and possess excellent reproducibility with consistent catalytic performances and could be used again without a major decrease in the catalytic activity.     

Synthesis of Hydantoins,Thiohydantoins, and Glycocyamidines Under Solvent-Free Conditions

Hydantoins, thiohydantoins, and glycocyamidines have been prepared in moderate to excellent yields at room temperature under solvent-free conditions. 3N-amino and carboamide derivatives of hydantoin (7–8) were prepared in single step by condensing benzil with semicarbazide and biuret respectively.     

Removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions using EDCC-MCM-41: Isotherm,kinetics and thermodynamic evaluation

Abstract

EDCC-MCM-41, a novel ethylenediamine derivative of MCM-41 was synthesized from a sugar industry waste, bagasse fly ash. Studies were carried out on its ability to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. Its performance was also compared with that of unmodified MCM-41 and an already known derivative NH₂-MCM-41 (both also synthesized from bagasse fly ash) at the same experimental conditions. Results show that the novel adsorbent produced a better sorption performance (adsorption capacity of 49.04?mg g^?1) than MCM-41 and NH₂-MCM-41 which produced adsorption capacities of 13.78?mg g^?1 and 25.29?mg g^?1 respectively. Thermodynamics, kinetics and isotherm studies confirm that the sorption process involving the novel adsorbent is favorable for Cr(VI) and can best be represented by pseudo-second-order kinetics model. The sorption process was also found to be multistep, involving both film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion into the pores on the adsorbent’s surface.

Abbreviations: BFA: Bagasse Fly Ash; MCM-41: Mobil Composition of matter no. 41; NH2-MCM-41: mine functionalized MCM-41; EDCC-MCM-41: Ethylenediamine grafted MCM-41; qe: Mass of material adsorbed at equilibrium per mass of adsorbent; qt: Mass of material adsorbed at any time t per mass of adsorbent; C0: The initial concentration; Ce: The residual concentration at equilibrium; Ct: Residual concentration at any time t; W: The weight of adsorbents; rRMSD: Root mean square deviation; R: Gas constant