Chemical sensing of Benzo[a]pyrene using Corchorus depressus fluorescent flavonoids

Plant phytochemicals, such as flavonoids are in use for the development of optical biosensor. Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), is a pervasive environmental and dietary carcinogen. A fluorescent assay is developed using plant isolated flavonoid for the detection of B[a]P. High content saponins are excluded from the flavonoid-containing methanolic extract of Corchorus depressus by implying reduction of silver ions by saponins resulting in formation of silver nanoparticles. Isolated plant flavonoids are used to develop a spectrofluorometric assay for the detection of B[a]P. Decrease in the flavonoid fluorescence intensity by B[a]P is found to be based on both static and dynamic quenching. Specificity of the assay for B[a]P was tested for other carcinogens belonging to different classes of compounds. Flavonoids-mediated sensing can be implied for the development of new generation of nanoparticle-based biosensors that can be more sensitive and less susceptible to external factors, such as temperature and humidity.     

Effective Assignment of α2,3/α2,6‐Sialic Acid Isomers by LC‐MS/MS‐Based Glycoproteomics

Distinct structural changes of the α2,3/α2,6‐sialic acid glycosidic linkages on glycoproteins are of importance in cancer biology, inflammatory diseases, and virus tropism. Current glycoproteomic methodologies are, however, not amenable toward high‐throughput characterization of sialic acid isomers. To enable such assignments, a mass spectrometry method utilizing synthetic model glycopeptides for the analysis of oxonium ion intensity ratios was developed. This method was successfully applied in large‐scale glycoproteomics, thus allowing the site‐specific structural characterization of sialic acid isomers.     

Regioselective synthesis of ω-bromo-3-ketosulfones, ω-bromo-3-ketonitriles and 2-(ω-bromoalkyl)benzofurans based on a ‘ring-closing/ring-opening’ strategy

ω-Bromo-3-ketosulfones, ω-bromo-3-ketonitriles and various functionalized 2-(ω-bromoalkyl)benzofurans were chemo- and regioselectively prepared by application of a ‘ring-closing/ring-opening’ strategy. The cyclization of 3-ketosulfone and 3-ketonitrile dianions with 1-bromo-2-chloroethane or 1,4-dibromobut-2-ene afforded functionalized 2-alkylidenetetrahydrofurans which were subsequently cleaved by reaction with boron tribromide or boron trichloride to give the final products.     

Spectrophotometric estimation of cobalt(II) with nitrilotriacetic acid

A convenient and efficient method for the estimation of cobalt(II) ions in the presence of other metal ions is described. Interference of metal ions such as iron(II), iron(III), nickel(II), manganese(II), and copper(II) have been investigated. Only iron(III) ions seriously affect this determination. Copper(II) and nickel(II) ions do not interfere if present in a molar-ratio less than 1:2 in the cobalt(II) ion solution. Cobalt(II)-nickel(II) and cobalt(II)-copper(II) binary mixtures can be efficiently analyzed at selective wavelengths.     

Effect of acids on the determination of lead and cadmium by atomic absorption spectrometry

The effect of different mineral acids on the absorption signals of lead and cadmium in atomic absorption spectrometry is reported. The behaviour of the signals was studied with respect to variations in metal concentration, acid concentration, flame stoichiometry and burner height. For the determination of lead and cadmium the most suitable concentrations of hydrochloric, nitric, sulphuric and perchloric acids were 5, 5, 2.5 and 5%, respectively. Similar absorption behaviour was observed in oxidizing and reducing flames for lead and cadmium in all the acids studied.     

Layered Crystalline and Amorphous Platinum Disulfide (PtS2): Contrasting Electrochemistry

Group 6 transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), such as MoS₂ and WS₂ have been extensively studied for various applications while few studies have delved into other TMDs such as platinum dichalcogenides. In this work, layered crystalline and amorphous platinum disulfide (PtS₂) were synthesized, characterised and their fundamental electrochemical properties were investigated. Both materials exhibited inherent oxidation and reduction reactions which would limit their operating potential window for sensing applications. Amorphous phase materials are considered to be promising electrocatalysts due to the porous, and nanostructured morphology with high concentration of unsaturated active sites. The electrocatalytic performances towards oxygen reduction (ORR) and hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) of crystalline and amorphous PtS₂ were analysed. Amorphous PtS₂ was found to exhibit superior electrocatalytic performances towards ORR and HER as compared to crystalline PtS₂. For HER, amorphous and crystalline PtS₂ have overpotential values of 0.30 V and 0.70 V (vs. RHE) at current density of 10 mA cm⁻², respectively. The influence of electrochemical reduction pre-treatment on their catalytic behaviours was also investigated. Electrochemical reduction pre-treatment on both crystalline and amorphous PtS₂ removed the oxidized sulfate groups and increased the proportion of Pt⁰ oxidation state which exposed more catalytic sites. As such, these materials were activated and displayed improved ORR and HER performances. Electrochemically reduced amorphous PtS₂ outperformed the untreated counterparts and exhibited the best HER performance with overpotential of 0.17 V (vs. RHE) at current density of −10 mA cm⁻². These findings provide insights into the electrochemical properties of noble metal PtS₂ in both crystalline and amorphous states which can be activated by electrochemical reduction pre-treatment.     

Metal contamination in Sunairi Point sediment core along Karachi coast,Pakistan

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - This paper describes the pollution level in sediment core collected from Sunairi Point of Karachi coastal area Pakistan. The sediment was...     

Recent trends in the chemistry of Sandmeyer reaction: a review

Metal-catalyzed reactions play a vital part to construct a variety of pharmaceutically important scaffolds from past few decades. To carry out these reactions under mild conditions with low-cost easily available precursors, various new methodologies have been reported day by day. Sandmeyer reaction is one of these, first discovered by Sandmeyer in 1884. It is a well-known reaction mainly used for the conversion of an aryl amine to an aryl halide in the presence of Cu(I) halide via formation of diazonium salt intermediate. This reaction can be processed with or without copper catalysts for the formation of C–X (X?=?Cl, Br, I, etc.), C-CF₃/CF₂, C–CN, C–S, etc., linkages. As a result, corresponding aryl halides, trifluoromethylated compounds, aryl nitriles and aryl thioethers can be obtained which are effectively used for the construction of biologically active compounds. This review article discloses various literature reports about Sandmeyer-related transformations developed during 2000–2021 which give different ideas to synthetic chemists about further development of new and efficient protocols for Sandmeyer reaction.

Graphical abstract

An updated compilation of new approaches for Sandmeyer reaction is described in this review to construct a variety of carbon-halogen, carbon-phosphorous, carbon-sulfur, carbon-boron etc. linkages.