Ethylene glycol promoted catalyst-free pseudo three-component green synthesis of bis(coumarin)s and bis(3-methyl-1-phenyl-1<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis>-pyrazol-5-ol)s

An ethylene glycol promoted catalyst-free practically efficient and sustainable approach has been developed for the synthesis of several benzylidene-bis-(4-hydroxycoumarin)s and 4,\(4^{\prime }\)-(arylmethylene)-bis(3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-ol)s by the pseudo three-component reaction of an aldehyde with 4-hydroxycoumarin and 3-methyl-1-phenylpyrazol-5-one, respectively. Inexpensive, non-toxic, and easily available ethylene glycol used as the reaction solvent and promoter renders an efficient protocol in terms of catalyst-free reaction conditions, short reaction time, high yield, practical utility, and green approach.     

Structural and dynamical aspects of PEG/LiClO4 in solvent mixtures via NMR spectroscopy

Motivated by the potential usefulness of polyethylene glycol (PEG)/Li⁺ salt mixtures in several industrial applications, we investigated the structure and dynamics of PEG/LiClO₄ mixtures in D₂O and its mixtures with CD₃CN and DMSO-d₆, in a series of PEG-based polymers with a wide variation in their molecular weights. ¹H NMR chemical shifts, T₁/T₂ relaxation rates, pulsed-field gradient NMR diffusion experiments, and 2D HOESY NMR studies have been performed to understand the structural and dynamical aspects of these mixtures. Increasing the temperature of the medium results in a significant perturbation in the H-bonded structure of PEG in its PEG/LiClO₄/D₂O mixtures as observed from the increase in chemical shifts. On the other hand, the addition of molecular cosolvents has a negligible effect. The hydrodynamic structure of PEG shows a pronounced variation at low temperature with increasing molecular weight, which, however, disappears at higher temperatures. Increasing the temperature leads to a decrease in the hydrodynamic structure of PEG, which can be explained on the basis of solvation–desolvation phenomena. The 2D HOESY NMR spectra reveal a new finding of Li⁺-water binding in the PEG/LiClO₄/D₂O mixtures with the addition of molecular solvents, suggesting that the Li⁺ cation diffuses freely in the D₂O mixtures of polymers as compared with the polymer mixtures with DMSO or CD₃CN.     

Stability of gold cages (Au<Subscript>16</Subscript> and Au<Subscript>17</Subscript>) at finite temperature

We have employed ab initio molecular dynamics to investigate the stability of the smallest gold cages, namely Au₁₆ and Au₁₇, at finite temperatures. First, we obtain the ground state structure along with at least 50 distinct isomers for both the clusters. This is followed by the finite temperature simulations of these clusters. Each cluster is maintained at 12 different temperatures for a time period of at least 150 ps. Thus, the total simulation time is of the order of 2.4 ns for each cluster. We observe that the cages are stable at least up to 850 K. Although both clusters melt around the same temperature, i.e. around 900 K, Au₁₇ shows a peak in the heat capacity curve in contrast to the broad peak seen for Au₁₆.      

Immobilization of monomeric organometallic molybdenum oxo and carbonyl complexes and their application in epoxidation reactions

Various oxomolybdenum complexes are efficient and selective homogeneous catalysts in the presence of organic hydroperoxides. The increasing interest in the heterogenisation of such catalysts has led to an increased interest in finding suitable support materials for the complexes. These supports include ionic liquids, mesoporous materials and zeolites to name a few. Several methods are used to anchor the catalyst depending on the nature of the carrier material. The supported catalysts combine properties of homogeneous catalysts such as reactivity, control and selectivity with those of heterogeneous catalysts such as enhanced stability and recyclability.     

A convenient method for the synthesis of fluorinated α-cyanoacetates via phase-transfer catalysis

A simple and convenient method for the synthesis of fluorinated α-cyanoacetate derivatives has been developed by using electrophilic fluorination of allyl and benzyl substituted α-cyanoacetates with N-fluorobenzensulfonimide (NFSI) as electrophilic fluorinating agent via phase transfer catalysis. The reaction is transition metal free and carried out in aqueous and mild reaction conditions in the presence of readily available tetra-N-butylammonium iodide (TBAI) as phase-transfer catalyst.     

Adaptation dynamics of the quasispecies model

We study the adaptation dynamics of an initially maladapted population evolving via the elementary processes of mutation and selection. The evolution occurs on rugged fitness landscapes which are defined on the multi-dimensional genotypic space and have many local peaks separated by low fitness valleys. We mainly focus on the Eigen’s model that describes the deterministic dynamics of an infinite number of self-replicating molecules. In the stationary state, for small mutation rates such a population forms a quasispecies which consists of the fittest genotype and its closely related mutants. The quasispecies dynamics on rugged fitness landscape follow a punctuated (or steplike) pattern in which a population jumps from a low fitness peak to a higher one, stays there for a considerable time before shifting the peak again and eventually reaches the global maximum of the fitness landscape. We calculate exactly several properties of this dynamical process within a simplified version of the quasispecies model.      

Green fabrication of silver nanoparticles via Ipomea carnea latex extract: Antibacterial activity

A versatile green and nontoxic begin method for bio-reduction of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using latex extract of Ipomea carnea was reported. Different instrumental tools were applied to evaluate the formation of AgNPs, as an example UV–Visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The absorption peak of AgNPs obtained at around 413 nm. FTIR study confirmed that the bio-capping components present in latex extract served as reducing and stabilizing agent. The findings of XRD, SEM and HR-TEM images revealed that the formation of crystalline and spherical shape nanoparticles and showed well size distribution with mean size 9.8±0.27 nm. Additionally, the green fabricated AgNPs exhibited considerable zone of inhibition for both Gram-positive and Gram–negative bacteria. The outcome implies that the synthesized AgNPs also showed similar inhibition effect as streptomycin (a common reference antibiotic).     

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory related activities of selected synthetic chalcones: structure-activity relationship studies using computational tools

Synthetic derivatives of 1-(2-hydroxy-3-(2-hydroxy-cyclohexyl)-4,6-dimethoxy-phenyl)-methanone were evaluated in-vitro for their activities related to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. The antioxidant potential was determined by calculating reducing potential, OH and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazine) radical scavenging activities. The in-vitro anti-inflammatory related activities of synthetic chalcones (SCs) were demonstrated by performing inhibition assays of trypsin, beta-glucuronidase and diene conjugates. The results of the various parameters studied shows that the selected derivatives were found to be effective reducing agents and were reactive towards stabilizing the OH and DPPH radicals. The compounds have showed moderate to poor or no inhibition profile towards trypsin and beta-glucuronidase, but were found to be effective inhibitor of dien conjugates (hydroperoxides). An attempt has been made to define structure activity relationship using BioMed CAChe 6.1.10: a computer-aided molecular modeling tool which applies equations from classical and quantum mechanics. The experimental and in silico results of the present investigation shows that the basic nucleus 1-(2-hydroxy-3-(2-hydroxy-cyclohexyl)-4,6-dimethoxy-phenyl)-methanone can be considered as a potential candidate for the design and development of lead antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents.     

On the Influence of Oxygen on the Degradation of Fe-N-C Catalysts

Fe-N-C catalysts containing atomic FeN_x sites are promising candidates as precious-metal-free catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. The durability of Fe-N-C catalysts in fuel cells has been extensively studied using accelerated stress tests (AST). Herein we reveal stronger degradation of the Fe-N-C structure and four-times higher ORR activity loss when performing load cycling AST in O₂- vs. Ar-saturated pH 1 electrolyte. Raman spectroscopy results show carbon corrosion after AST in O₂, even when cycling at low potentials, while no corrosion occurred after any load cycling AST in Ar. The load-cycling AST in O₂ leads to loss of a significant fraction of FeN_x sites, as shown by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses, and to the formation of Fe oxides. The results support that the unexpected carbon corrosion occurring at such low potential in the presence of O₂ is due to reactive oxygen species produced between H₂O₂ and Fe sites via Fenton reactions.