Physical corrosion of semi‐crystalline polymers

Polymer‐solvent compounds can be formed from homogeneous solutions obtained at high temperature but also by solvent diffusion at the solid interface of a bulk polymer at room temperature. This phenomenon we call “physical” corrosion as it modifies the surface structure without chemical change. Here we report preliminary experiments indicating that the thermodynamics seems to be little dependent upon the path used while the morphology is.     

Validation of the Antioxidant and Enzyme Inhibitory Potential of Selected Triterpenes Using In Vitro and In Silico Studies,and the Evaluation of Their ADMET Properties

The antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory potential of fifteen cycloartane-type triterpenes’ potentials were investigated using different assays. In the phosphomolybdenum method, cycloalpioside D (6) (4.05 mmol TEs/g) showed the highest activity. In 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH*) radical and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) cation radical scavenging assays, cycloorbicoside A-7-monoacetate (2) (5.03 mg TE/g) and cycloorbicoside B (10) (10.60 mg TE/g) displayed the highest activities, respectively. Oleanolic acid (14) (51.45 mg TE/g) and 3-O-β-d-xylopyranoside-(23R,24S)-16β,23;16α,24-diepoxycycloart-25(26)-en-3β,7β-diol 7-monoacetate (4) (13.25 mg TE/g) revealed the highest reducing power in cupric ion-reducing activity (CUPRAC) and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, respectively. In metal-chelating activity on ferrous ions, compound 2 displayed the highest activity estimated by 41.00 mg EDTAE/g (EDTA equivalents/g). The tested triterpenes showed promising AChE and BChE inhibitory potential with 3-O-β-d-xylopyranoside-(23R,24S)-16β,23;16α,24-diepoxycycloart-25(26)-en-3β,7β-diol 2′,3′,4′,7-tetraacetate (3), exhibiting the highest inhibitory activity as estimated from 5.64 and 5.19 mg GALAE/g (galantamine equivalent/g), respectively. Compound 2 displayed the most potent tyrosinase inhibitory activity (113.24 mg KAE/g (mg kojic acid equivalent/g)). Regarding α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition, 3-O-β-d-xylopyranoside-(23R,24S)-16β,23;16α,24-diepoxycycloart-25(26)-en-3β,7β-diol (5) (0.55 mmol ACAE/g) and compound 3 (25.18 mmol ACAE/g) exerted the highest activities, respectively. In silico studies focused on compounds 2, 6, and 7 as inhibitors of tyrosinase revealed that compound 2 displayed a good ranking score (−7.069 kcal/mole) and also that the ΔG free-binding energy was the highest among the three selected compounds. From the ADMET/TOPKAT prediction, it can be concluded that compounds 4 and 5 displayed the best pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic behavior, with considerable activity in most of the examined assays.     

The reaction of 2‐amino‐3‐cyano‐4,5,6,7‐tetrahydrobenzo[b]‐thiophene with diethyl malonate: synthesis of coumarin,pyridine, and thiazole derivatives

The reaction of 2‐amino‐3‐cyano‐4,5,6,7‐tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene ( 1 ) with diethyl malonate ( 2 ) gave two products: 3 and 4 . The reactivity of 3 toward a variety of chemical reagents was studied to give azoles, azines, and their fused derivatives. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 12:168–175, 2001     

Synthesis of bislactones catalysed by a Pd–dppb system

Palladium acetate [Pd(OAc)₂] and 1,4‐bis(diphenylphosphino)butane (dppb) catalyse regioselective cyclocarbonylation of bisallyl derivatives of bisphenols affording seven‐membered ring bislactones in good yields. Double cyclocarbonylation reactions carried out using different conditions afforded bislactones with two different ring sizes (7–6 and 7–5‐­membered). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An approach to solutions of coupled semilinear partial differential equations with applications

In this work, an approach for finding the solution of coupled semi‐linear diffusion equations for initial value problems is presented. The formal exact solution is found and the Picard iteration is constructed. It is shown that the constructed sequence of solutions converges uniformly for some classes of initial value problems. The problem of dispersion of an oxygen demanding pollutant released into a uniform flow is studied. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Factorizations of complete multipartite graphs into generalized cubes

For a positive integer d, the usual d‐dimensional cube Q_d is defined to be the graph (K₂)^d, the Cartesian product of d copies of K₂. We define the generalized cube Q(K_k, d) to be the graph (K_k)^d for positive integers d and k. We investigate the decomposition of the complete multipartite graph K into factors that are vertex‐disjoint unions of generalized cubes Q(K_k, d_i), where k is a power of a prime, n and j are positive integers with j ≤ n, and the d_i may be different in different factors. We also use these results to partially settle a problem of Kotzig on Q_d‐factorizations of K_n. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 33: 144–150, 2000     

Synthesis of substituted norbornenes and their polymerization to polynorbornenes with flexible aliphatic side‐chains

Synthesis and characterization of new thermally stable polynorbornenes functionalized with pendent flexible side‐chains are reported. The flexible side‐chains with terminal hydroxy groups were synthesized via S_NAr reactions of cyclopentadienyliron‐complexed chlorobenzenes with aliphatic diols. Condensation of these side‐chains with exo,endo‐5‐norbornene‐2‐carboxylic acid led to the formation of substituted monomers which were characterized using one‐ and two‐dimensional NMR techniques. Ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of these monomers yielded polynorbornenes with pendent side‐chains.     

A Novel Alternative Methods for Decalcification of Water Resources Using Green Agro-Ashes

The strategic idea in this work was to increase pH values by employing natural alkali sources (i.e., HCO₃⁻ and CO₃²⁻) from four tested agro-ashes as an alternative to chemicals (i.e., lime or soda ash). The considerable proportion of carbonates and bicarbonates in the investigated ash products had remarkable features, making them viable resources. All ash materials showed a significant ability for Ca ion elimination at high initial Ca ion concentrations. A slight quantity of ash (10 g/L) was sufficient for usage on very hard water contents up to 3000 ppm. Finally, the tested agro-ash was free of cost. Furthermore, unlike other conventional precipitants, such as NaOH, Ca(OH)₂, NaHCO₃, Na₂CO₃, and CaO, they are cost effective and ecologically sustainable. There is no need to employ any additional chemicals or modify the agro-ash materials throughout the treatment process. The benefits of the manufactured ash were assessed using a SWOT analysis.