Recent Advances in the Applications of Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials in the Petroleum Industry: A Descriptive Review

Nanotechnology applications are rapidly expanding in various fields because of its unique qualities, such as a large surface area. Also, the synthetic changes can be utilized to alter nanomaterial to fit into specialized necessities. From the last decade there is a tremendous increase in the utilization of nanotechnology and nanomaterials in the petroleum industry. The current review's main objective is to summarize numerous nanoparticle applications in the field of petroleum, bio-fuel formation, and clean-up treatments of oil spill-related issues with their existing challenges that may help improve further research.     

Facile synthesis of N‐α‐boc‐1,2‐dialkyl‐l‐histidines: Utility in the synthesis of thyrotropin‐releasing hormone (trh) analogs and evaluation of the cns activity

A facile synthesis of N‐α‐Boc‐1,2‐dialkyl‐L‐histidines starting from N‐α‐trifluoroacetyl‐L‐histidine methyl ester is reported. The key steps involve direct and regiospecific N‐1(τ) ring‐alkylation of the N‐α‐trifluoroacetyl‐L‐histidine‐methyl ester by suitable alkyl iodide in the presence of NaH in DMF at ?15 °C followed by homolytic free radical C‐2 alkylation via a silver catalyzed oxidative decarboxylation of alkylcarboxylic acid in the presence of ammonium persulfate under acidic conditions. The application of newly synthesized bioimidazoles was illustrated by their incorporation into thyrotropin‐releasing hormone (TRH). The synthesized TRH analogs were evaluated in vivo for analeptic activity. We report discovery of a TRH analog, which was found to potentiate the pentobarbital‐induced sleep in vivo.     

Influence of Proline Chirality on Neighbouring Azaproline Residue Stereodynamic Nitrogen Preorganization

We report herein the first systematic crystal structural investigation of azaproline incorporated in homo- and heterochiral diprolyl peptides. The X-ray crystallography data of peptides 1 – 5 illustrates that stereodynamic nitrogen in azaproline adopted the stereochemistry of neighbouring proline residue without depending on its position in the peptide sequence. Natural bond orbital analysis of crystal structures indicates O_azPro−C′_Pro of peptides 4 and 5 participating in n→π* interaction with stabilization energy about 1.21–1.33 kcal/mol. Density functional theory calculations suggested that the endo-proline ring puckering favoured over exo-conformation by 6.72–7.64 kcal/mol. NBO and DFT data reveals that the n→π* interactions and proline ring puckering stabilize azaproline chirality with the neighbouring proline stereochemistry. The CD, solvent titration, variable-temperature and 2D NMR experimental results further supported the crystal structures conformation.     

Fundamental studies on the feasibility of deep eutectic solvents for the selective partition of glaucarubinone present in the roots of Simarouba glauca

Several deep eutectic solvents prepared by the complexation of choline chloride as the hydrogen bond acceptor and hydrogen bond donors such as urea, thiourea, ethylene glycol, and glycerol were employed to partition glaucarubinone, an antimalarial compound present in roots of the plant, Simarouba glauca. Among all the solvents, the deep eutectic solvent consisting of the mixture of choline chloride and urea the most suitable to partition the antimalarial compound from the extract selectively. Analytical tools such as high‐performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry were used for characterizations, and glaucarubinone extracted from the roots of the plant by conventional solvent extraction method was used as a reference for comparison. The hydrogen and noncovalent bonds formed between glaucarubinone and the deep eutectic solvents could be responsible for the selective partition of the drug molecule.     

Heterogeneous reusable catalyst,ultrasound energy,and no solvent: a quick and green recipe for one-pot synthesis of β-phosphonomalononitriles at room temperature

Clay-supported heteropolyacid catalyst has been prepared and investigated as a novel heterogeneous, reusable and efficient catalyst for the one-pot synthesis of β-phosphonomalononitriles under ultrasound irradiation at room temperature. Compared with traditional methods, the present method is solvent-free, works under milder and cleaner conditions, furnishes products with higher purity and yields, needs shorter reaction time, easier work-up procedure, and generates less waste. No column purification is required and the products can be purified by simple crystallization. The catalyst can be easily recovered and reused several times without significant loss of its catalytic activity. The catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and thermal gravimetric, surface area, and elemental analyses.     

Synthesis and characterization of layered perovskite oxides La1 + x Sr2 − x MnCrO7 (x = 0.2, 0.5)

Intergrowth perovskite type complex oxides of composition La_1.2Sr_1.8MnCrO₇ and La_1.5Sr_1.5MnCrO₇ have been synthesized by ceramic method. Rietveld profile analysis shows that the phases crystallize with tetragonal unit cell in the space group I4/mmm. Both the phases behave as insulators in the high temperature region and the linearity of log ρ versus T ^?1/4 plot in the temperature range 150–300 K shows that the electronic conduction occurs by a 3D variable range hopping mechanism. The phases show insulator-metal transition at low temperature which could be due to the mixed valence state of Mn³⁺/Mn⁴⁺ by double exchange mechanism. The ferromagnetic interactions observed for the samples arises from double exchange interaction between Mn ³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ and Cr³⁺ and Mn³⁺ ions.     

Role of Macrophage (M1 and M2) in Titanium-Dioxide Nanoparticle-Induced Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Response in Rat

Titanium-dioxide nanoparticles (TNP) are used in various consumable goods. Evidence has demonstrated the cytotoxicity of TNPs, but exact mechanism is yet to be elucidated. The present study has been aimed at finding out the mechanism of TNP-induced toxicity in biological system. Different doses of anatase-TNPs administrated intravenously to Wistar rats for once a week for 1 month and properties of T_H cells, macrophages, cytokines secretion, oxidative damage, apoptotic pathway, and hematological and pathological changes were investigated as downstream events of TNP-mediated cytotoxicity. Result suggests that TNPs induce T_H1 and T_H2 response as measured by immunophenotyping (interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin (IL)-4) of T_H cells, causing induction of M1 (nitric oxide (NO), nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), NF-kappaB (NF-κB), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α) and M2 (Arg-1, Ym1) macrophages response. At lower dose, T_H1 or M1 response counteracted by T_H2 or M2 response, resulting in insignificant oxidative damage. However, with increasing dose of TNPs, the M1 response was increased over M2 response resulting in significant tissue damage. The M1-induced inflammatory response was found to cause DNA and chromosomal damage resulting apoptosis induction via upregulation of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and subsequent loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and cyto c release in splenocytes. The TNP-led inflammatory response also causes damage at different tissue levels.     

Mathematical modeling and analysis of the molar concentrations of ethanol,acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate inside the catalyst particle

Mathematical modeling of the molar concentrations profile of ethanol, acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate inside the catalyst particle is presented. This kinetic mechanism is based on the system of non-linear reaction diffusion equations. Modified Adomian decomposition method is employed to derive the general analytical expressions of molar concentrations of ethanol, acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate for all possible values of the parameters Φ_i, γ_i and α_i (i = 1, 2, 3). Analytical results are compared with the numerical results, a satisfactory agreement is noted. Valid and invalid region of the solution for all concentrations are provided. These analytical results are useful to understand the behavior of the system.