4‐[3‐(3,4‐Di­methoxy­phenyl)­prop‐2‐enoyl]­phenyl methacryl­ate and 4‐[3‐(2‐bromo­phenyl)­prop‐2‐enoyl]­phenyl methacryl­ate

Chalcones (α,β‐unsaturated ketones) are effective antitumour agents. It has been proved that having halogen or methoxy groups substituted in various positions of the phenyl ring enhances the activity of chalcones many times. The title compounds, C₂₁H₂₀O₅ and C₁₉H₁₅BrO₃, respectively, were chosen for crystallographic study in order to determine their structures and conformations. In both compounds, the keto group is in the s‐cis conformation and is almost planar. There are weak intramolecular interactions in both structures.     

Extraction and coordination studies of carbamoyl methyl sulfoxide (CMSO) with uranyl bis(β-diketonates). Synthesis and molecular structure of [{UO2(DBM)2}2C6H5CH2SOCH2CONHC6H5]

The carbamoyl methyl sulfoxide compounds of uranyl bis(β-diketonate) of the types [UO₂(DBM)₂CMSO] and [{UO₂(DBM)₂}₂CMSO] (where HDBM = C₆H₅COCH₂COC₆H₅; CMSO = C₆H₅CH₂SOCH₂CONHC₆H₅ or C₆H₅SOCH₂CONⁱPr₂) have been synthesized and characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopic techniques and elemental analysis. Spectral studies show that CMSO acts as a monodentate ligand in [UO₂(DBM)₂CMSO] compounds and bonds through the sulfoxo oxygen atom to the uranyl group. It acts as a bridging bidentate ligand in [{UO₂(DBM)₂}₂CMSO] compounds and bonds through both the sulfoxo and carbamoyl oxygen atoms to two different uranyl groups. The structure of the compound [{UO₂(DBM)₂}₂C₆H₅CH₂SOCH₂CONHC₆H₅] confirms the bridging bidentate mode of coordination for the CMSO ligand. Extraction studies show an enhancement in solvent extraction for the uranyl ion from nitric acid medium when a mixture of thenoyl trifluoroacetone (HTTA) and CMSO was employed.     

Through-Space Spin Coupling in a Silver(II) Porphyrin Dimer upon Stepwise Oxidations: AgII⋅⋅⋅AgII,AgII⋅⋅⋅AgIII,and AgIII⋅⋅⋅AgIII Metallophilic Interactions

Metallophilic interactions between closed-shell metal ions are becoming a popular tool for a variety of applications related to high-end materials. Heavier d⁸ transition-metal ions are also considered to have a closed shell and can be involved in such interactions. There is no systematic investigation so far to estimate the structure and energy characteristics of metallophilic interactions in Ag^II/Ag^II (d⁹/d⁹), Ag^III/Ag^III (d⁸/d⁸), and mixed-valent Ag^II/Ag^III (d⁹/d⁸) complexes, which have been demonstrated in the present study. Both interporphyrinic and intermetallic interactions were investigated on stepwise oxidation by using a rigid ethene-bridged cis silver(II) porphyrin dimer and the results compared with those for highly flexible ethane-bridged analogues. By controlling the nature of chemical oxidants and their stoichiometry, both 1e and 2e oxidations were done stepwise to generate Ag^II/Ag^III mixed-valent and Ag^III/Ag^III porphyrin dimers, respectively. Unlike all other ethene-bridged metalloporphyrin dimers reported earlier, in which 2e oxidation stabilizes only the trans form, such an oxidation of silver(II) porphyrin dimer stabilizes only the cis form because of the metallophilic interaction. Besides silver(II) ⋅⋅⋅ silver(II) interactions in cis silver(II) porphyrin dimer, stepwise oxidations also enabled us to achieve various hitherto-unknown silver(II) ⋅⋅⋅ silver(III) and silver(III) ⋅⋅⋅ silver(III) interactions, which thereby allow significant modulation of their structure and properties. The strength of Ag ⋅⋅⋅ Ag interaction follows the order Ag^II/Ag^II (d⁹/d⁹)<Ag^II/Ag^III (d⁹/d⁸)<Ag^III/Ag^III (d⁸/d⁸). Single-crystal XRD, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ¹H NMR and EPR spectroscopy, and variable-temperature magnetic investigations revealed various oxidation states of silver and metallophilic interactions, which are also well supported by computational analysis.     

Kinetic modeling of ZnO-rGO catalyzed degradation of methylene blue

Photodegradation of organic pollutants strongly depends on design of metal oxide semiconductor photocatalysts. Graphene, if composited with ZnO, can effectively enhance its photocatalytic performance for the eradication of pollutants from aqueous medium. Here in, ZnO-rGO is reported as highly active catalyst for degradation of methylene blue. A 200-mg/L solution of methylene blue dye was completely degraded within 1 h in comparison to 74% and 56% degradation over ZnO and rGO, respectively. The commonly used mechanisms of heterogeneous catalytic reactions, the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, and the Eley-Rideal mechanisms, were used to describe the reaction kinetics. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism was found as more favorable in this study. Apparent activation energy, E_ap, true activation energy, E_T, entropy, ΔS, and enthalpy, ΔH were calculated as 36.2 kJ/mol, 13.1 kJ/mol, 197.5 J/mol, and 23.1 kJ/mol, respectively.     

Effect of Ag doping concentration on the electronic and optical properties of anatase TiO2: a DFT-based theoretical study

The electronic and optical properties of pure and Ag-doped anatase TiO₂ have been calculated by spin-polarized density functional theory. Ag-doped TiO₂ with different Ag doping concentrations ranging from 2.08 to 8.33 % was investigated, and the electronic and optical properties evaluated. Substitutional Ag doped at Ti sites introduced Ag 4d states just above the valence-band maximum, which may help in shifting visible-light excited electrons to the conduction band. Our results show that increasing the doping concentration will enhance visible-light absorption up to Ag doping concentration of 6.25 %; however, further increase of the doping concentration leads to a decrease in visible-light absorption. These results indicate the possibility of tailoring the band gap and optical absorption of TiO₂ doped with Ag by varying the doping concentration. The enhanced visible-light absorption for Ag-doped TiO₂ with doping concentration of 6.25 % may be due to the existence of widely distributed Ag 4d states above the valence-band maximum and the optimal doping concentration. Ag doping shifted the absorption edge of TiO₂ towards visible light, consistent with recent experimental results. Our calculation results provide a reasonable explanation for the experimental findings.     

Efficient barrier properties of mechanically enhanced agro-extracted cellulosic biocomposites

The objective of this work was to prepare the mechanically stable hydrophobic biocomposites by incorporating the cellulose fibers into the polymer matrices for their applications in biomedical and food packaging. Herein, two different types of biocomposites were prepared by mixing polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) with the agro-extracted cellulose, separately at 170 °C. The influence of the cellulose fibers on the thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties of polymer matrices (PLA and PHB) was observed. With an increase in the cellulose content in PLA and PHB, the tensile strength of the biocomposite materials significantly improved with the enhancement of 24.45% and 32.08%, respectively, compared with the pure PLA and PHB. Furthermore, a decrease of 74.16% and 73.49% in the water vapor transmission rate and oxygen transmission rate, respectively, was observed for cellulose/PHB biocomposites. This study highlights that adding cellulose fibers significantly improves the mechanical and the barrier properties of PLA and PHB, suggesting their biocomposites for use in biodegradable polymer industries.     

Nephroprotective Effects of Alhagi camelorum against Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Albino Wistar Rats

Alhagi camelorum (AC) is an old plant with a significant therapeutic value throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The overuse of cisplatin (Cis > 50 mg/m²) is associated with observed nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity, gastrotoxicity, myelosuppression, and allergic reactions. Remedial measures are needed for the protection of nephrotoxicity against cisplatin. Thus, we investigated the nephroprotective effects of AC plant extract to prevent cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in albino Wistar rats. The presence of polyphenols, phenolic compounds, tannins, and saponins was revealed during phytochemical investigation, and a significantly intense antioxidant activity was recorded. There were no toxicological symptoms in the treated rats, and no anatomical, physiological, or histological abnormalities were found compared to the control rats. The results of correcting cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity revealed that the extract has a significant ability to treat kidney damage, with most parameters returning to normal after only three weeks of therapy. It is concluded that co-administration of cisplatin with AC extract showed exceptional nephroprotective effects at a dose of 600 mg/kg for Cis-induced nephrotoxicity.     

Brownian motion and thermophoresis effects on unsteady stagnation point flow of Eyring-Powell nanofluid: a Galerkin approach

This article concerns the analysis of an unsteady stagnation point flow of Eyring-Powell nanofluid over a stretching sheet. The influence of thermophoresis and Brownian motion is also considered in transport equations. The nonlinear ODE set is obtained from the governing nonlinear equations via suitable transformations. The numerical experiments are performed using the Galerkin scheme. A tabular form comparison analysis of outcomes attained via the Galerkin approach and numerical scheme (RK-4) is available to show the credibility of the Galerkin method. The numerical exploration is carried out for various governing parameters, namely, Brownian motion, steadiness, thermophoresis, stretching ratio, velocity slip, concentration slip, thermal slip, and fluid parameters, and Hartmann, Prandtl and Schmidt numbers. The velocity of fluid enhances with an increase in fluid and magnetic parameters for the case of opposing, but the behavior is reversed for assisting cases. The Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameters cause an increase in temperature for both cases (assisting and opposing). The Brownian motion parameter provides a drop-in concentration while an increase is noticed for the thermophoresis parameter. All the outcomes and the behavior of emerging parameters are illustrated graphically. The comparison analysis and graphical plots endorse the appropriateness of the Galerkin method. It is concluded that said method could be extended to other problems of a complex nature.     

Diethyl 1-(p-fluoro­phenyl)-5-oxo-3-(2-thienyl)­pyrrolidine-2,2-di­carboxyl­ate

In the title compound, C₂₀H₂₀FNO₅S, the pyrrolidine ring adopts an envelope conformation. The fluoro­phenyl and thio­phene rings are individually planar. The molecular and crystal structures are stabilized by intra- and intermolecular C—H⋯O interactions.