Lancifoliaine, a new bisbenzylisoquinoline from the bark of Litsea lancifolia

A new bisbenzylisoquinoline, lancifoliaine (1), together with seven known alkaloids--N-allyllaurolitsine (2), reticuline (3), actinodaphnine, norboldine, pallidine, cassythicine and boldine--were isolated from the stem bark of Litsea lancifolia (Lauraceae). In addition to that of lancifoliaine, complete 13C-NMR data of N-allyl-laurolitsine (2) was also reported. The alkaloidal structures were elucidated by means of high field 1D- and 2D-NMR IR, UV, and LCMS-IT-TOF spectral data. N-Allyllaurolitsine (2) showed a moderate vasorelaxant activity on isolated rat aorta.     

Synthesis of new substituted chromen[4,3-c]pyrazol-4-ones and their antioxidant activities

A series of new coumarin derivatives 4 containing a 4-arylbut-3-en-2-one moiety were synthesized by condensation of 3-acetylcoumarin 1 with aryl aldehydes 2 in chloroform in the presence of piperidine. The interactions of 3-formyl-4-chlorocoumarin (3) with nitrogen-containg nucleophiles leading to the corresponding substituted chromen-[4,3-c]pyrazol-4-ones 5 are described. The structures of the obtained compounds were established on the basis of 1D NMR, 2D NMR and IR and further the compounds were evaluated for possible antioxidant activities. The coumarinic chalcone 4a has been found to be the most active (IC?? = 2.07 μM) in this study.     

Adsorption of Copper (II) onto Different Adsorbents

Removal of copper (II) from aqueous solution of CuCl₂·2H₂O by different adsorbents, namely, sissoo sawdust, activated carbon, and fly ash were investigated. Adsorption of copper (II) on sissoo sawdust, activated carbon, and fly ash has been studied using batch techniques. Kinetic and isotherm studies were determined as a function of the solution pH, temperature, contact time, adsorbent dosage, and initial adsorbate concentration. Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich, and Temkin isotherms were used to analyze the equilibrium data at different temperatures. The maximum adsorption capacities for copper (II) on sissoo sawdust, activated carbon, and fly ash adsorbents at 30, 40, and 50°C temperatures were found to be 263.2, 166.6, and 142.8; 125.0, 88.49, and 72.46; 69.93, 181.8, and 111.1 mg/g, respectively. The thermodynamics of copper (II) adsorption on sissoo sawdust, activated carbon, and fly ash indicates its spontaneous and endothermic nature. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model.     

Gas-cell-based setup for the production and study of neutron rich heavy nuclei

The present limits of the upper part of the nuclear map are very close to stability while the unexplored area of heavy neutron-rich nuclides along the neutron closed shell N = 126 is extremely important for nuclear astrophysics investigations and, in particular, for the understanding of the r-process of astrophysical nucleosynthesis. This area of the nuclear map can be reached neither in fusion–fission reactions nor in fragmentation processes widely used nowadays for the production of exotic nuclei. A new way was recently proposed for the production of these nuclei via low-energy multi-nucleon transfer reactions. The estimated yields of neutron-rich nuclei are found to be significantly high in such reactions and several tens of new nuclides can be produced, for example, in the near-barrier collision of ¹³⁶Xe with ²⁰⁸Pb. A new setup is proposed to produce and study heavy neutron-rich nuclei located along the neutron closed shell N = 126.     

Dielectric study on Zn1−x Mg x O ceramic materials prepared by the solid-state route

The present work investigates the structural and dielectric properties of Zn_1?x Mg _x O composites prepared by the standard sintering method at 1200 °C during 24 h and doped with different weight percentages of MgO (x = 0–40 %). For this purpose, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the effect of the magnesium’s proportion on the morphology and crystallinity of the obtained samples. The SEM observations have shown rougher surfaces of the samples covered by grains having prismatic shapes and different sizes. The dielectric properties of the ceramics were investigated by spectroscopic impedance at different temperatures and frequencies, thus showing a frequency-dependent dispersion of the permittivity constants and dielectric losses. From these measurements, the relaxation processes were identified and their activation energies extracted. Dielectric responses were correlated with the microstructure and chemical composition of the ZnMgO composites. The mechanisms of ac conductivity are controlled by the polaron hopping and the electron tunneling models. Concerning the tunneling model, two types corresponding to the overlapping large polaron tunneling model for the composites Zn_0.9Mg_0.1O and Zn_0.8Mg_0.2O and the small polaron tunneling model for the composites Zn_0.64Mg_0.36O (in the frequency range 1.7 × 10⁴ Hz–1 MHz) and Zn_0.6Mg_0.4O were observed. Besides, one type of hopping model corresponding to the correlated barrier hopping for the composites ZnO and Zn_0.64Mg_0.36O (in the frequency range 6 × 10²–1.7 × 10⁴ Hz) was noted.     

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes modified with gold nanoparticles for simultaneous analysis of N-acetylcysteine and acetaminophen

A novel film consisting of nitrogen-doped multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified with gold nanoparticles (further denoted as N-MWCNTs/AuNPs) was fabricated and applied for the simultaneous electrochemical analysis of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and acetaminophen (AC) in phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 7.0). The fabricated film exhibits powerful response towards simultaneous analysis of NAC and AC followed by well-separated cyclic voltammetric waves (～440 mV). The oxidation peak currents of NAC and AC increase linearly with their concentrations in the ranges of 0.100–1.510 mM and 0.063–0.190 mM, respectively. The detection limits of N-MWCNTs/AuNPs towards NAC and AC were estimated to be 3.0 and 0.35 μM, respectively. The good catalytic activity, the high detection ability, and the great stability of N-MWCNTs/AuNPs verify that such composite materials are extremely promising for the construction of biosensors.     

Effect of roasting conditions on color development and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) analysis of Malaysian-grown tropical almond nuts (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Terminalia catappa</Emphasis> L.)

Background

Proper roasting is crucial to flavor, color, and texture development in the final product. In recent years, several research studies have been carried out to establish the best optimum roasting conditions for some common edible nuts such as; hazelnut, peanut, and pistachio nut. Although roasting is an important process for nuts and oilseeds, there is little or no information on the development of color, aroma, and textural changes in Terminalia catappa nuts during roasting.

Results

Results showed that color formation and browning index were significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by the roasting temperature and time of roasting. However, the fracturability of nuts was significantly (P < 0.05) affected by both temperature of roasting and time as well as pH. The optimized results showed that the best response was reached when the roasting time was 29.9 min, roasting temperature 174.5°C, and pH 6.08, respectively. Moreover, the 3400–15603400–1560°Cm^-1 carbonyl region for carboxylic acid, alkenes, esters, and amines was found to provide a flavor-print of the roasted tropical almond nut. While, increase in temperature did not produce new carbonyl compounds, it however led to higher concentration of compounds. Scanning electron microscopy of the almond nuts showed that the starch granules were embedded in tissues.

Conclusion

These results showed that roasting temperature and time of roasting were the main variables that significantly affected the physicochemical properties of roasted tropical almond nuts. Moreover the flavor-prints for the roasted nut were produced in the 3400–1560°Cm^-1 carbonyl region.

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Graphical Abstract Effect of roasting conditions on fracturability and structural morphology of tropical almond nuts (T. catappa).

     

Characterization of subdomain IIA binding site of human serum albumin in its native, unfolded, and refolded states using small molecular probes

Subdomain IIA binding site of human serum albumin (HSA) was characterized by examining the change in HSA fluorescence in the native, unfolded, and refolded states. The study was carried out in the absence and presence of small molecular probes using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence measurements. 2-Pyridone, 3-pyridone, and 4-pyridone bear similar molecular structures to those found in many drugs and are used here as probes. They are found to specifically bind in subdomain IIA and cause a reduction in the fluorescence intensity and lifetime of the Trp-214 residue in native HSA which is located in the same subdomain. The efficiency of energy transfer from Trp-214 fluorescence to the probes was found to depend on the degree of the spectral overlap between the donor's fluorescence and the acceptor's absorption. After probe binding in subdomain IIA, the distance between the donor and acceptor was calculated using Forster theory. The calculated quenching rate constants and binding constants were also shown to depend on the degree of spectral overlap. The results point to a static quenching mechanism operating in the complexes. Denaturation of HSA in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl) starts at [GdnHCl] > 1.0 M and is complete at [GdnHCl] > or = 6.0 M. Upon unfolding, two fluorescence peaks were observed. One peak was assigned to the fluorescence of Trp-214 in a polar environment, and the other peak was assigned to tyrosine fluorescence. A reduction of the fluorescence intensity of the two peaks upon binding of the probes to the denatured HSA indicates that Tyr-263 in subdomain IIA is one of the tyrosine residues responsible for the second fluorescence peak. The results were confirmed by measuring the fluorescence spectra and lifetimes of denatured HSA at different excitation wavelengths, and of L-tryptophan and L-tyrosine free in buffer. The measured lifetimes of denatured HSA are typical of tryptophan in a polar environment and are slightly reduced upon probe binding. Dilution of the denatured HSA by buffer results in a partial refolding of subdomain IIA. This partial refolding is attributed to some swelling of the binding site caused by water. The swelling prevents a full recovery from the denatured state.     

Silver-catalyzed spirolactonization: first synthesis of spiroisoindole-γ-methylene-γ-butyrolactones

γ-Acetylenic carboxylic acids are cyclized to spirolactones under mild conditions, in the presence of Ag₂CO₃ catalyst. The corresponding spiro-5-alkylidene-γ-butyrolactones were isolated in high yields, and this process constitutes an easy and efficient route to analogous structures of natural products of biological interest.     

Luminescence decay kinetics of Eu<Superscript>3+</Superscript> ions in phosphate glasses of different composition under photo- and electron excitations

The influence of matrix composition, coactivators, and excitation method on the luminescence kinetics of Eu³⁺ ions in lithium–phosphate and lithium–phosphate–borate glasses activated by Eu, Eu/Tb, and Eu/Dy is studied. Luminescence is excited by a high current electron beam and a xenon lamp. It is found that, under photoexcitation, the europium luminescence decays more slowly than under electronic excitation. Depending on the content of cation modifiers ZnO and Li₂O, the decay time decreases with increasing amount of ZnO. The decay time weakly depends on the europium concentration. The decay of the luminescence of europium ions is well described by the Inokuti–Hirayama model.