Kinetic and isotherm studies of Cu(II) adsorption onto H3PO4-activated rubber wood sawdust

Adsorption of Cu(II) from aqueous solution onto H(3)PO(4)-activated carbon using rubber wood sawdust (RSAC) was investigated in a batch system. Kinetic and isotherm studies were carried out by considering the effects of various parameters, such as initial concentration, contact time, pH, and temperature. The optimal pH value for Cu(II) adsorption onto RSAC was found to be 6.0. Thermodynamic parameters such as standard Gibbs free energy (DeltaG(0)), standard enthalpy (DeltaH(0)), and standard entropy (DeltaS(0)) were evaluated by applying the Van't Hoff equation. The thermodynamics of Cu(II) adsorption onto RSAC indicates its spontaneous and exothermic nature. Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherms were used to analyze the equilibrium data at different temperatures. The Langmuir isotherm fits the experimental data significantly better than the other isotherms. Adsorption kinetics data were tested using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion models. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order reaction. The initial sorption rate, pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion rate constants for different initial concentrations were evaluated and discussed. Adsorption mechanism studies revealed that the process was complex and followed both surface adsorption and particle diffusion. The rate-controlling parameter and effective diffusion coefficient were determined using the Reichenberg plot. It was found that the adsorption occurs through film diffusion at low concentrations and at higher concentration the particle diffusion becomes the rate-determining step.     

Diastereoselective syntheses of pyrazolyl isoxazolidines via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition

Synthesis of novel 2,3,4,5-tetrasubstituted isoxazolidine and 2,3,5-trisubstituted isoxazolidine by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrones with electron-deficient and electron-rich olefins is described. 1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition of nitrones with β-nitrostyrene, gives exclusively endo-diastereoisomer of isoxazolidine and with ethyl vinyl ether, gives exo-diastereoisomer of isoxazolidine with de >95%. The stereochemistry of the products were assigned using extensive NMR studies.     

Quantitative complexometric determination of mercury(II) in synthetic alloys and complexes using 2-thiazolinethiol as a masking agent

A simple, rapid and selective complexometric method is proposed for the determination of mercury(II). Mercury(II) and other related metal ions are first complexed with an excess of EDTA and the surplus EDTA is back-titrated with a standard lead nitrate solution at pH 5.0–6.0 (hexamine buffer) using xylenol orange as an indicator. A 0.2% solution of 2-thiazolinethiol in acetone is then added to displace EDTA from the Hg(II)-EDTA complex. The released EDTA is titrated with a standard lead nitrate solution as before. Reproducible and accurate results are obtained in the range of 0.8 g l^?1?15.8 g l^?1 of mercury with a relative error less than ±0.25% and a coefficient of variation (n = 6) not higher than 0.28%. The interference of various ions was studied and the method was employed for the analysis of mercury in its synthetic alloy mixtures and in complexes.     

Polymorphism of Amyloid Fibrils In Vivo

Polymorphism is a wide‐spread feature of amyloid‐like fibrils formed in vitro, but it has so far remained unclear whether the fibrils formed within a patient are also affected by this phenomenon. In this study we show that the amyloid fibrils within a diseased individual can vary considerably in their three‐dimensional architecture. We demonstrate this heterogeneity with amyloid fibrils deposited within different organs, formed from sequentially non‐homologous polypeptide chains and affecting human or animals. Irrespective of amyloid type or source, we found in vivo fibrils to be polymorphic. These data imply that the chemical principles of fibril assembly that lead to such polymorphism are fundamentally conserved in vivo and in vitro.     

Low‐Temperature Cationic Rearrangement in a Bulk Metal Oxide

Cationic rearrangement is a compelling strategy for producing desirable physical properties by atomic‐scale manipulation. However, activating ionic diffusion typically requires high temperature, and in some cases also high pressure in bulk oxide materials. Herein, we present the cationic rearrangement in bulk Mn₂FeMoO₆ at unparalleled low temperatures of 150–300 ^oC. The irreversible ionic motion at ambient pressure, as evidenced by real‐time powder synchrotron X‐ray and neutron diffraction, and second harmonic generation, leads to a transition from a Ni₃TeO₆–type to an ordered‐ilmenite structure, and dramatic changes of the electrical and magnetic properties. This work demonstrates a remarkable cationic rearrangement, with corresponding large changes in the physical properties in a bulk oxide at unprecedented low temperatures.     

Distributed chemical computing using ChemStar: an open source java remote method invocation architecture applied to large scale molecular data from PubChem

We present the application of a Java remote method invocation (RMI) based open source architecture to distributed chemical computing. This architecture was previously employed for distributed data harvesting of chemical information from the Internet via the Google application programming interface (API; ChemXtreme). Due to its open source character and its flexibility, the underlying server/client framework can be quickly adopted to virtually every computational task that can be parallelized. Here, we present the server/client communication framework as well as an application to distributed computing of chemical properties on a large scale (currently the size of PubChem; about 18 million compounds), using both the Marvin toolkit as well as the open source JOELib package. As an application, for this set of compounds, the agreement of log P and TPSA between the packages was compared. Outliers were found to be mostly non-druglike compounds and differences could usually be explained by differences in the underlying algorithms. ChemStar is the first open source distributed chemical computing environment built on Java RMI, which is also easily adaptable to user demands due to its "plug-in architecture". The complete source codes as well as calculated properties along with links to PubChem resources are available on the Internet via a graphical user interface at http://moltable.ncl.res.in/chemstar/.     

Studies on rhizosphere microbial diversity of some commercially important medicinal plants

A preliminary study was made on four medicinal plants viz., Ocimum sanctum L., Coleus forskholii Briq, Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don. and Aloe vera in order to identify and enumerate the rhizosphere, non-rhizosphere and diazotrophic microorganisms in soil. The diazotrophic bacterial population studied includes Azospirillum, Azotobacter and Pseudomonas. The rhizosphere bacterial populations were 23.33 x 10(6)g(-1) in O. sanctum followed by C. roseus (20.46 x 10(6)g(-1)), A. vera (18.44 x 10(6)g(-1)) and C. forskholii (16.64 x 10(6)g(-1)). The fungi populations were 19.44 x 10(4)g(-1) in C. roseus, 18.66 x 10(4)g(-1) in O. sanctum, 16.44 x 10(4)g(-1) in A. vera and 14.22 x 10(4)g(-1) in C. forskholii. The actinomycetes population was 12.22 x 10(5)g(-1) in O. sanctum, 10.44 x 10(5)g(-1) in C. roseus, 8.44 x 10(5)g(-1) in A. vera and 6.22 x 10(5)g(-1) in C. forskholii. The diazotrophic bacterial population of Azospirillum, Azotobacter and Pseudomonas is 8.2 x 10(4)g(-1), 12 x 10(4)g(-1), 6 x 10(4)g(-1) in the rhizosphere soil. In all the four medicinal plants the microbial population is more in the rhizosphere soil, when compared to non-rhizosphere soil. These results are helpful in developing a biofertilizer consortium for these commercially grown medicinal plants.     

Synthesis, antiinflammatory and antimicrobial activities of some 2,4-dichloro-5-fluorophenyl substituted arylidenetriazolothiazolidinones

A series of 2,4-dichloro-5-fluorophenyl substituted arylidenetriazolothiazolidinones were obtained by one-pot reaction of 3-(2,4-dichloro-5-fluorophenyl)-4H-1,2,4-triazole-5-thiol with substituted benzaldehydes and monochloroacetic acid in the presence of acetic anhydride, acetic acid, and sodium acetate. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were characterized and confirmed by IR, ¹H NMR, mass spectra, and elemental analysis. Compounds bearing the 4-methylthiophenyl, 3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl, and 2,3,5-trichlorophenyl moiety showed excellent antiinflammatory activity. The antimicrobial screening studies revealed that compounds with 4-anisyl, 4-methylthiophenyl, 3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl, and 2,3,5-trichlorophenyl at position 5 of the arylidenetriazolothiazolidinone moiety showed excellent activity against all tested strains at 6.25 μg cm⁻³ concentrations.     

Synthesis,antiinflammatory and antimicrobial activities of some 2,4-dichloro-5-fluorophenyl substituted arylidenetriazolothiazolidinones

A series of 2,4-dichloro-5-fluorophenyl substituted arylidenetriazolothiazolidinones were obtained by one-pot reaction of 3-(2,4-dichloro-5-fluorophenyl)-4H-1,2,4-triazole-5-thiol with substituted benzaldehydes and monochloroacetic acid in the presence of acetic anhydride, acetic acid, and sodium acetate. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were characterized and confirmed by IR, ¹H NMR, mass spectra, and elemental analysis. Compounds bearing the 4-methylthiophenyl, 3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl, and 2,3,5-trichlorophenyl moiety showed excellent antiinflammatory activity. The antimicrobial screening studies revealed that compounds with 4-anisyl, 4-methylthiophenyl, 3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl, and 2,3,5-trichlorophenyl at position 5 of the arylidenetriazolothiazolidinone moiety showed excellent activity against all tested strains at 6.25 μg cm⁻³ concentrations. Correspondence: Mari Sithambaram Karthikeyan, Department of Chemistry, Mangalore University, Mangalagangothri 574199, Karnataka, India.     

Undissociated versus dissociated structures for water clusters and ammonia-water clusters: (H2O)n and NH3(H2O)n-1 (n = 5, 8, 9, 21). Theoretical study

To understand the autoionization of pure water and the solvation of ammonia in water, we investigated the undissociated and dissociated (ion-pair) structures of (H2O) n and NH3(H2O)n-1 (n = 5, 8, 9, 21) using density functional theory (DFT) and second order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2). The stability, thermodynamic properties, and infrared spectra were also studied. The dissociated (ion-pair) form of the clusters tends to favor the solvent-separated ion-pair of H3O+/NH4+ and OH-. As for the NH3(H2O)20 cluster, the undissociated structure has the internal conformation, in contrast to the surface conformation for the (H2O)21 cluster, whereas the dissociated structure of NH3(H2O)20 has the surface conformation. As the cluster size of (H2O)n/NH3(H2O)n-1 increases, the difference in standard free energy between undissociated and dissociated (ion-pair) clusters is asymptotically well corroborated with the experimental free energy change at infinite dilution of H3O+/NH4+ and OH-. The predicted NH and OH stretching frequencies of the undissociated and dissociated (ion-pair) clusters are discussed.