Spectrophotometric determination of copper(II) and its application to a plant sample containing zinc,iron, and manganese

Salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone instantaneously forms a green complex with copper(II) in the optimum pH range 5–7. A fivefold molar excess of the reagent is sufficient for the full development of the color. Beer's law is obeyed in the range 0.5–6.0 ppm of copper. The optimum concentration range as evaluated by Ringbom's method is 1.4–5.8 ppm. At 375 nm the sensitivity of the reaction and the molar absorptivity are 0.006 μg cm^?2 and 9.2 × 10³ liters mol^?1 cm^?1, respectively. The effects of pH, reagent concentration, time, order of addition of the solutions, and the interference of various ions were investigated. Copper in plant samples, containing zinc, iron, and manganese, was determined.     

Role of Intracellular Iron in Switching Apoptosis to Ferroptosis to Target Therapy-Resistant Cancer Stem Cells

Iron is a crucial element required for the proper functioning of the body. For instance, hemoglobin is the vital component in the blood that delivers oxygen to various parts of the body. The heme protein present in hemoglobin comprises iron in the form of a ferrous state which regulates oxygen delivery. Excess iron in the body is stored as ferritin and would be utilized under iron-deficient conditions. Surprisingly, cancer cells as well as cancer stem cells have elevated ferritin levels suggesting that iron plays a vital role in protecting these cells. However, apart from the cytoprotective role iron also has the potential to induce cell death via ferroptosis which is a non-apoptotic cell death dependent on iron reserves. Apoptosis a caspase-dependent cell death mechanism is effective on cancer cells however little is known about its impact on cancer stem cell death. This paper focuses on the molecular characteristics of apoptosis and ferroptosis and the importance of switching to ferroptosis to target cancer stem cells death thereby preventing cancer relapse. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review to demonstrate the importance of intracellular iron in regulating the switching of tumor cells and therapy resistant CSCs from apoptosis to ferroptosis.     

Influence of fluorine substituent on the mesomorphic properties of five-ring ester banana-shaped molecules

The synthesis and characterization of more than a hundred achiral compounds composed of banana-shaped molecules and belonging to eleven different homologous series are reported. All these symmetrical five-ring compounds are esters and are derived from resorcinol. The compounds have been systematically substituted by fluorine on the phenyl rings of the arms of these banana-shaped molecules. The mesophases exhibited by these compounds have been characterized using a combination of polarized light optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction studies. Electro-optical investigations have been carried out on several compounds and both ferroelectric and antiferroelectric properties are observed. The influence of the position of the fluorine substituent on the nature of the mesophase obtained has been examined.     

Synthesis and mesomorphic properties of banana-shaped compounds derived from 2,7-dihydroxynaphthalene

Thirty eight compounds composed of achiral banana-shaped molecules belonging to three new homologous series have been synthesized and their mesomorphic properties investigated. The mesophases have been characterized using a combination of polarized light microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, miscibility methods and X-ray diffraction measurements. All the compounds reported exhibit mesomorphic properties. Most of the homologues in the three series show B₁ and B₂ phases and the transition temperatures of these are lower in the fluoro substituted compounds. Some of the lower homologues of the fluoro substituted derivatives also show the nematic phase.     

Improved excitation uniformity in multiple‐quantum NMR experiments of mixtures

Multiple‐quantum ¹H NMR spectroscopy has been finding a renewed interest for its possible applications in the analysis of mixtures of small molecules, due to its simplification properties. A crucial aspect of this application of multiple‐quantum NMR is the sensitivity of the spectrum intensity to the molecular structure and to the parameterization of the experiment, which could result in the missing of some components. We demonstrate that a general scheme to overcome this drawback consists in varying the experiment parameterizations over a small number of values, selected according the values of the couplings and the relaxation rates. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A simple efficient sequential one-pot intermolecular aza-Michael addition and intramolecular Buchwald–Hartwig α-arylation of amines: synthesis of functionalized tetrahydroisoquinolines

An efficient one-pot sequential intermolecular aza-Michael addition and Pd-catalyzed intramolecular Buchwald–Hartwig α-arylation of secondary amines have been investigated, for the synthesis of tetrahydroisoquinolines. This method is simple and furnished products in very good yield and also successfully applied for the synthesis of novel aza-spirotricylcic ethers.     

Gallium(III)-catalyzed tandem cycloisomerization/Friedel–Crafts alkylation: a facile synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted furans

A tandem cycloisomerization/Friedel–Crafts alkylation of indoles has been achieved in a one-pot process to produce 2,5-disubstituted furans using gallium-catalyzed sequential nucleophilic addition onto metal-activated 1-alkynyl-2,3-epoxy acetates. The reaction proceeds efficiently under mild conditions with complete regioselectivity to afford the substituted furan derivatives in good yields with high diversity.     

Instabilities in free-surface electroosmotic flows

Instability of a thin electrolyte film undergoing a direct current electroosmotic flow has been investigated. The film with a compliant electrolyte–air interface is flowing over a rigid charged substrate. Unlike previous studies, inclusion of the Maxwell stresses in the formulation shows the presence of a new finite wavenumber shear-flow mode of instability, alongside the more frequently observed long-wave interfacial mode. The shear mode is found to be the dominant mode of instability when the electrolyte–solid and electrolyte–air interfaces are of opposite charge or of same charge but have very large zeta-potential at the electrolyte–air interface. The conditions for mode-switch (interfacial to shear) and the direction of the travelling waves are discussed through stability diagrams. Interestingly, the analysis shows that when the interfaces are of nearly same zeta potential, the ‘free’ electrolyte–air interface behaves more like a ‘stationary’ wall because of the ion transport in the reverse direction of the flow.