Dual Fluorometric Detection of Fe3+ and Hg2+ Ions in an Aqueous Medium Using Carbon Quantum Dots as a “Turn-off” Fluorescence Sensor

The present study aimed to develop a carbon dots-based fluorescence (FL) sensor that can detect more than one pollutant simultaneously in the same aqueous solution. The carbon dots-based FL sensor has been prepared by employing a facile hydrothermal method using citric acid and ethylenediamine as precursors. The as-synthesized CDs displayed excellent hydrophilicity, good photostability and blue fluorescence under UV light. They have been used as an efficient “turn-off” FL sensor for dual sensing of Fe³⁺ and Hg²⁺ ions in an aqueous medium with high sensitivity and selectivity through a static quenching mechanism. The lowest limit of detection (LOD) for Fe³⁺ and Hg²⁺ ions was found to be 0.406 µM and 0.934 µM, respectively over the concentration range of 0-50 µM. Therefore, the present work provides an effective strategy to monitor the concentration of Fe³⁺ and Hg²⁺ ions simultaneously in an aqueous medium using environment-friendly CDs.

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Red-emitting β-diketonate Eu(III) Complexes With Substituted 1,10-phenanthroline Derivatives: Optoelectronic and Spectroscopic Analysis

Journal of Fluorescence - A series of europium diketonate complexes with 1-phenyl-1,3-butanedione (PBD) and 1,10-phenanthroline derivatives were synthesized and explored spectroscopically....     

New Insights on Modern Age Coins by Calibration-Free Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Method and Chemometric Approaches

Journal of Applied Spectroscopy - The elemental composition of one- and two-rupee coins issued in different years by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was investigated using laser-induced breakdown...     

Identification of phytocompounds from Houttuynia cordata Thunb. as potential inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 replication proteins through GC–MS/LC–MS characterization,molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a massive viral disease outbreak of international concerns. The present study is mainly intended to identify the bioactive phytocompounds from traditional antiviral herb Houttuynia cordata Thunb. as potential inhibitors for three main replication proteins of SARS-CoV-2, namely Main protease (Mpro), Papain-Like protease (PLpro) and ADP ribose phosphatase (ADRP) which control the replication process. A total of 177 phytocompounds were characterized from H. cordata using GC–MS/LC–MS and they were docked against three SARS-CoV-2 proteins (receptors), namely Mpro, PLpro and ADRP using Epic, LigPrep and Glide module of Schrödinger suite 2020-3. During docking studies, phytocompounds (ligand) 6-Hydroxyondansetron (A104) have demonstrated strong binding affinity toward receptors Mpro (PDB ID 6LU7) and PLpro (PDB ID 7JRN) with G-score of???7.274 and???5.672, respectively, while Quercitrin (A166) also showed strong binding affinity toward ADRP (PDB ID 6W02) with G-score -6.788. Molecular Dynamics Simulation (MDS) performed using Desmond module of Schrödinger suite 2020–3 has demonstrated better stability in the ligand–receptor complexes A104-6LU7 and A166-6W02 within 100 ns than the A104-7JRN complex. The ADME-Tox study performed using SwissADMEserver for pharmacokinetics of the selected phytocompounds 6-Hydroxyondansetron (A104) and Quercitrin (A166) demonstrated that 6-Hydroxyondansetron passes all the required drug discovery rules which can potentially inhibit Mpro and PLpro of SARS-CoV-2 without causing toxicity while Quercitrin demonstrated less drug-like properties but also demonstrated as potential inhibitor for ADRP. Present findings confer opportunities for 6-Hydroxyondansetron and Quercitrin to be developed as new therapeutic drug against COVID-19.

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Discovery of ( ±)-3-(1 H -pyrazol-1-yl)-6,7-dihydro-5 H -[1,2,4]triazolo[3,4- b ][1,3,4] thiadiazine derivatives with promising in vitro anticoronavirus and antitumoral activity

A new series of (?±)-(3-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-6-phenyl-6,7-dihydro-5H-[1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazin-7-yl)(phenyl)methanones were efficiently synthesized starting from 4-amino-5-hydrazinyl-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol 1, acetyl acetone 2, various aromatic and heterocyclic aldehydes 3 and phenacyl bromides 4. All the newly synthesized compounds were tested for their antiviral and antitumoral activity. It was shown that subtle structural variations on the phenyl moiety allowed to tune biological properties toward antiviral or antitumoral activity. Mode-of-action studies revealed that the antitumoral activity was due to inhibition of tubulin polymerization.

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Targeting the cytochrome bc1 complex for drug development in M. tuberculosis: review

Molecular Diversity - The terminal oxidases of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway play a significant role in the survival and growth of M. tuberculosis, targeting these components lead to...     

Study of DNA Light Switch Ru(II) Complexes : Synthesis,Characterization, Photocleavage and Antimicrobial Activity

The three Ru(II) complexes of [Ru(phen)₂dppca]²⁺ (1) [Ru(bpy)₂dppca]²⁺ (2) and [Ru(dmb)₂dppca]²⁺ (3) (where phen = 1,10 phenanthroline, bpy = 2,2-bipyridine, dmb = 2 ,2-dimethyl 2′,2′-bipyridine and polypyridyl ligand containing a single carboxylate functionality dppca ligand (dipyridophenazine-11-carboxylic acid) have been synthesized and characterized. These complexes have been shown to act as promising calf thymus DNA intercalators and a new class of DNA light switches, as evidenced by UV-visible and luminescence titrations with Co²⁺ and EDTA, steady-state emission quenching by [Fe(CN)₆]⁴⁻ and KI, DNA competitive binding with ethidium bromide, viscosity measurements, and DNA melting experiments. The results suggest that 1, 2, and 3 complexes bind to CT-DNA through intercalation and follows the order 1 > 2 > 3. Under irradiation at 365 nm, the three complexes have also been found to promote the photocleavage of plasmid pBR322 DNA.     

Viscosity and Diffusion Effects at the Boundary Surface of Viscous Fluid and Thermoelastic Diffusive Solid Medium

This paper concentrates on the wave motion at the interface of viscous compressible fluid half-space and homogeneous isotropic, generalized thermoelastic diffusive half-space. The wave solutions in both the fluid and thermoelastic diffusive half-spaces have been investigated; and the complex dispersion equation of leaky Rayleigh wave motion have been derived. The phase velocity and attenuation coefficient of leaky Rayleigh waves have been computed from the complex dispersion equation by using the Muller's method. The amplitudes of displacements, temperature change and concentration have been obtained. The effects of viscosity and diffusion on phase velocity and attenuation coefficient of leaky Rayleigh waves motion for different theories of thermoelastic diffusion have been depicted graphically. The magnitude of heat and mass diffusion flux vectors for different theories of thermoelastic diffusion have also been computed and represented graphically.     

Synthesis,structural, electrochemical,and photophysical properties of 4,2′‐thiopyrylogens – a novel class of sensitizers for photoinduced electron transfer reactions

The first three examples of the thioanalog of the 4,2′‐pyrylogen ring system are reported. The influence of the sulfur atom on the structural, electrochemical, and photophysical behavior of this ring system is discussed. In addition, these 4,2′‐thiopyrylogens are compared to their previously reported 4,4′‐isomers and their 4,4′‐ and 4,2′‐oxygen analogs. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of band offsets in InN/Ge heterojunctions

InN layers were directly grown on Ge substrate by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). The valence band offset (VBO) of wurtzite InN/Ge heterojunction is determined by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The valence band of Ge is found to be 0.18 ± 0.04 eV above that of InN and a type-II heterojunction with a conduction band offset (CBO) of ~ 0.16 eV is found. The accurate determination of the VBO and CBO is important for the design of InN/Ge based electronic devices.