Antioxidant activity of two wild edible mushrooms (Morchella vulgaris and Morchella esculanta) from North Turkey

The ethanol extracts of Morchella vulgaris (EEMV) and Morchella esculanta (EEME) were analysed for their antioxidant activities in different systems including reducing power, free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, total antioxidant activity, and metal chelating activity. EEMV and EEME had similar reducing power, free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, and metal chelating activity at concentrations of 50, 100, and 150 microg/mL. These various antioxidant activities were compared to standard antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and alpha-tocopherol. The percent inhibition of different concentrations of EEMV on peroxidation in the linoleic acid system was 85 and 87 % respectively, which was greater than that of 100 and 250 microg/mL of alpha-tocopherol (50 and 77%, respectively) and similar to 250 microg/mL of BHA (85, 87%, respectively). The percent inhibition of different concentrations of EEME on peroxidation in the linoleic acid system was 80 and 87 % respectively, which was greater than that of 100 and 250 microg/mL of alpha-tocopherol (50, 77%) and similar to 250 microg/mL BHA (87%). On the other hand, the percent inhibition of 100 and 250 microg/mL of BHT was 97 and 99%, respectively. In addition, the total phenolic compounds in EEMV and EEME were determined as gallic acid equivalents.     

Nanocatalysis on tailored shape supports: Au and Pd nanoparticles supported on MgO nanocubes and ZnO nanobelts

Active gold and palladium nanoparticles supported on MgO nanocubes and ZnO nanobelts and transition-metal-containing MgO nanobelts were synthesized by combining evaporation and deposition-precipitation techniques. The high activity and stability of the Au/CeO2 and Pd/CeO2 nanoparticle catalysts deposited on the MgO cubes are remarkable and imply that a variety of efficient catalysts can be designed and tested using this approach. The significant increase in the concentration of corner and edge sites in MgO nanocubes make them well-defined supports to study the detailed mechanism of the catalytic activity enhancement.     

Influence of urea additives on micellar morphology/protein conformation

The present study highlights the fact that the effect of additives (urea, monomethylurea, thiourea) on the supramolecular assemblies and proteins is strikingly similar. To investigate the effect, a viscometeric study on sphere-to-rod transition (s-->r) was undertaken in a system (3.5% tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide+0.05 M NaBr + 1-pentanol [P.M. Lindemuth, G.L. Bertand, J. Phys. Chem. 97 (1993) 7769]) in the presence and absence of the said additives. [1-pentanol] needed for s-->r (i.e. [1-pentanol]s-->r) was determined from the relative viscosity versus [1-pentanol] profiles. It was observed that the additives preponed as well as postponed s-->r depending upon their nature and concentrations. These effects are explained in terms of increased polarity of the medium and the adsorption ability of urea/monomethylurea on the charged surfactant monomers of the micelle. In case of thiourea, postponement of s-->r was observed throughout which is attributed to its structure. To derive an analogy between micelles and proteins the additive-induced conformational changes of the protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was taken to monitor secondary structural changes and tryptophanyl fluorescence. A marked increase in secondary structure (far-UVCD) and increased tryptophanyl fluorescence with a marked blue shift in lambdamax was observed in presence of low concentrations of urea or alkylurea. This indicates that a more compact environment is created in presence of these additives, if added judiciously. Addition of thiourea to BSA caused a marked quenching without any significant change in lambdamax. The large decrease in tryptophanyl emission in presence of low thiourea concentrations seems to be specific and related to thiourea structure as no corresponding changes were observed in urea/alkylurea. All these effects pertaining to protein behavior fall in line with that of morphological observations on the present as well as surfactant systems studied earlier [S. Kumar, N. Parveen, Kabir-ud-Din, J. Phys. Chem. B 108 (2004) 9588].     

H2O2 Screening from Saliva of Gum Diseased‐patient through CN‐dot Wrapped Cu2O Nano‐frogspawns Ionic Liquid Nanocomposite

Herein, we report the development of a robust, sensitive, and selective non‐enzymatic electrochemical sensor for the detection of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The novel BA modified CN‐dot wrapped Cu₂O‐nano‐frogspawn (FS@CN‐dot) sensor probe demonstrated a catalytic property towards H₂O₂ that allowed the highly sensitive electrochemical detection at a low reduction potential. The as prepared CN‐dot wrapped Cu₂O hetero‐structured nanocomposite was analyzed using surface analysis methods to confirm the morphology, crystallinity, and oxidation states of various constituents and dopant elements. Further, the morphological analysis of the Cu₂O nanoparticles revealed that the Cu₂O retains frogspawns‐liked structure. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the sensor showed a wide dynamic range of H₂O₂ from 0.5 μM to 9 mM with a detection limit (LD) of 1.2±0.1 nM. The designed sensing probe showed good stability, high sensitivity, and selectivity even in the presence of potential interfering molecules. To check the reliability of the fabricated sensor in biomedical applications, the proposed sensing probe was successfully applied to monitor H₂O₂ in saliva of a gum‐diseased patient. To the best of our knowledge, this report is the first of its kind not only because of its novel construction style in terms of CN source, but also in terms of real sample applicability as well.     

Switchable‐hydrophilicity solvent liquid‐liquid microextraction versus dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction prior to HPLC‐UV for the determination and isolation of piperine from Piper nigrum L

Switchable‐hydrophilicity solvent liquid‐liquid microextraction and dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction were compared for the extraction of piperine from Piper nigrum L. prior to its analysis by using high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. Under optimum conditions, limits of detection and quantitation were found as 0.2–0.6 and 0.7–2.0 μg/mg with the two methods, respectively. Calibration graphs showed good linearity with coefficients of determination (R²) higher than 0.9962 and percentage relative standard deviations lower than 6.8%. Both methods were efficiently used for the extraction of piperine from black and white pepper samples from different origins and percentage relative recoveries ranged between 90.0 and 106.0%. The results showed that switchable‐hydrophilicity solvent liquid‐liquid microextraction is a better alternative to dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction for the routine analysis of piperine in food samples. A novel scaled‐up dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction method was also proposed for the isolation of piperine providing a yield of 102.9 ± 4.9% and purity higher than 98.0% as revealed by NMR spectroscopy.     

Supported Palladium Oxide Nanoparticles in SBA‐15 as a Heterogeneous Catalyst for the Aerobic Oxidation of Alcohols

Palladium nanoparticles were first synthesized through the thermal decomposition method and subsequently immobilized on ordered mesoporous silica material, SBA‐15, to afford PdO/SBA‐15 catalyst. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by X‐ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption‐desorption measurement, transmission electron microscopy, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. The catalytic activity was tested for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols. Easy recovery, high yeilds and relatively short reaction times were observed for the mentioned catalyst.     

Use of short chain alkyl imidazolium ionic liquids for on‐line stacking and sweeping of methotrexate,flinic acid and folic acid: Their application to biological fluids

Methotrexate (MTX) is widely used for the treatment of many types of cancer. Folinic acid (FNA) and folic acid (FA) were usually simultaneously supplemented with MTX to reduce the side effects of a folate deficiency. This study, for the first time, included on‐line sample preconcentration by stacking and sweeping techniques under reduced or enhanced electric conductivity in the sample region using short chain alkyl imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) as micelle forming agents for analyte focusing. Both analyte focusing by micelle collapse (AFMC) and sweeping‐MEKC had been investigated for the comparison of their effectiveness to examine simultaneously MTX, FNA and FA in plasma and urine under physiological conditions. In sweeping‐MEKC, the sample solution without micelles was hydrodynamically injected as a long plug into a fused‐silica capillary pre‐filled with phosphate buffer containing 3.0 mol/L of 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium bromide (BMIMBr). Using AFMC, the analytes were prepared in BMIMBr micellar matrix and hydrodynamically injected into the phosphate buffer without IL micelles. The conductivity ratio between BGE and sample (γ, BGE/sample) was optimized to be 3.0 in sweeping‐MEKC and 0.33 in AFMC resulting the adequate separation of analytes within 4.0 min. To reduce the possibility of BMIMBr adsorption, an appropriate rinsing protocol was used. The limits of detection were calculated as 0.1 ng/mL MTX, 0.05 ng/mL FNA and 0.05 ng/mL FA by sweeping‐MEKC and 0.5 ng/mL MTX, 0.3 ng/mL FNA and 0.3 ng/mL FA by AFMC. The accuracy was tested by recovery in plasma and urine matrices giving values ranging between 90 and 110%. Both stacking and sweeping by BMIMBr could be successfully used for the rapid, selective and sensitive determination of pharmaceuticals in complex matrices due to its fascinating properties, including high conductivity, good thermal stability and ability to form different types of interactions by electrostatic, hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding and π–π interactions. In sweeping‐MEKC, the using of BMIMBr enhanced the γ factor, k retention factor and the injected amount of sample. Consequently, this technique offers particular potential for higher sensitivity by giving 22‐ and 5‐fold sensitivity enhancement factors (SEFs) of MTX compared to CZE and AFMC, respectively.     

Impact of immobilized polysaccharide chiral stationary phases on enantiomeric separations

Immobilized polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs) are gaining importance in the resolution of racemic compounds due to their stable nature on working with normal solvents and those prohibited for use with coated phases (tetrahydrofuran, chloroform, dichloromethane, acetone, 1,4-dioxane, ethyl acetate, and certain other ethers). This review discusses the use of immobilized polysaccharide CSPs in the chiral resolution of various racemates by liquid chromatography. The discussion includes immobilization methodologies, enantioselectivities, efficiencies, and a comparison of chiral recognition capabilities of coated vs. immobilized CSPs. Some applications of immobilized CSPs to the chiral resolution of racemic compounds are also presented.     

1,3,4‐Thiadiazole, 1,3,4‐thiadiazine, 1,3,6‐thiadiazepane and quinoxaline derivatives from symmetrical hydrazine‐1,2‐dicarbothioamide as well as N,N″‐ethane‐1,2‐diylbis(thiourea) derivatives

Reactions of N,N′‐disubstituted hydrazine‐1,2‐carbothioamides 8a‐c and substituted N,N″‐ethane‐1,2‐diylbis(thioureas) 9a‐c with 2,3,5,6‐tetrachloro‐1,4‐benzoquinone (chloranil, 10a ) and 2,3,5,6‐tetrabromo‐1,4‐benzoquinone (bromanil, 10b ) to form N,N′‐disubstituted 1,3,4‐thiadiazole‐2,5‐diamines 11a‐c , substituted 3‐amino‐6,7‐dichloro‐2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐4,2,1‐benzothiadiazine‐5,8‐diones 12a‐c , 2,3,7,8‐tetrahalothianthrene‐1,4,6,9‐tetrones 13a,b , substituted 5,6,8‐trihalo‐7‐oxo‐3,7‐dihydroquinoxaline‐2H‐carbothioamides 14a‐c, 15a‐c and 7‐substituted imino‐1,3,6‐thiadiazepane‐2‐thiones 16a‐c are reported.     

Unusual behaviour of pyridinylboronic acids in the Petasis boronic Mannich reaction

The implementation of the Petasis boronic Mannich reaction in pyridine series allowed us to obtain original compounds whose structure was investigated and determined a stable complex (1:1) of dioxaborolanone and amine.