Cyclopentyl: A Novel Protective Group for Phenols

We have discovered cyclopentyl as a novel group for the protection of hydroxyl functionality of phenols. The key steps involved are cyclopentylation and decyclopentylation.     

Glycerol Mediated Synthesis,Biological Evaluation,and Molecular Docking Study of 4‐(1H‐pyrazol‐4‐yl)‐polyhydroquinolines as Potent Antitubercular Agents

A series of 4‐(1H‐pyrazol‐4‐yl)‐polyhydroquinolines were synthesized through one‐pot four‐component Hantzsch condensation of 1,3‐diphenyl‐1H‐pyrazole‐4‐carbaldehydes, ammonium acetate, dimedone, and alkyl acetoacetate in glycerol as a green reaction medium. The structures of the compounds are verified by spectroscopic methods and screened for their antimicrobial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37RV strain. Almost all the synthesized derivatives reveal excellent antitubercular activity based on minimum inhibitory concentration. Especially the compounds 5h and 5k exhibit outstanding antitubercular activity with minimum inhibitory concentration 1.6 μg/mL. In addition, molecular docking study of synthesized scaffolds against enoyl‐acyl carrier protein reductase from M. tuberculosis was performed to propose the binding modes.     

Nanobelt self-assembly from an organic n-type semiconductor: propoxyethyl-PTCDI

Nanobelt structures have been fabricated for an n-type semiconductor molecule, N,N'-di(propoxyethyl)perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide (PTCDI). The short alkyloxy side chain not only affords effective pi-pi stacking in polar solvents for self-assembling but also provides sufficient solubility in nonpolar solvents for solution processing. As revealed by both AFM and electron microscopies, the nanobelts have an approximately rectangular cross section, with a typical thickness of about 100 nm and a width in the range of 300-500 nm. The length of the nanobelts ranges from 10 to a few tens of micrometers. The highly organized molecular packing (uniaxial crystalline phase) has been deduced from the measurement of electron diffraction and polarized microscopy imaging. The detected optical axis is consistent with the one-dimensional stacking of the molecules.     

A Facile Synthesis of Substituted 2‐(5‐(Benzylthio)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazol‐2‐yl)pyrazine Using Microwave Irradiation and Conventional Method with Antioxidant and Anticancer Activities

A series of novel substituted 2‐(5‐(benzylthio)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazol‐2‐yl)pyrazine derivatives ( 6a – n ) were synthesized under microwave irradiation and conventional conditions with less reaction time with good to excellent yields. All the synthesized compounds were screened for antioxidant and anticancer activities. Out of the 14 prepared derivatives, compounds 6f and 6m were most potent and active with antioxidant and anticancer activities, respectively. Also, the developed technique was simple, easy, and less time consuming.     

Cytotoxic evaluation of N-isopropylacrylamide monomers and temperature-sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanoparticles

The objective of this research project is to investigate the biocompatibility of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) monomers and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) nanoparticles in vitro. PNIPAAm nanoparticles of different sizes were synthesized and characterized by transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. Cytotoxicity studies using MTS assays were conducted on fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells. In addition, the concentration of NIPAAm monomers remaining on PNIPAAm nanoparticles was determined using bromination and spectrophotometry. The cytotoxicity results did not show a significant difference in cell survival when cells were exposed to different particle sizes (100, 300, and 500 nm). Dose studies showed that all three cell types exposed to 100 nm PNIPAAm nanoparticles at concentrations less than or equal to 5 mg/mL were compatible, while cells exposed to NIPAAm monomers exhibited toxicity even at very low concentrations. We also found that 1 mg/mL concentration of 100 nm PNIPAAm nanoparticles was cytocompatible for 4 days, whereas NIPAAm monomers were cytotoxic after 24 h of exposure. Photomicrographs showed altered morphology in cells exposed to NIPAAm monomers, while cells exposed to PNIPAAm nanoparticles maintained their normal morphology. Finally, a very low concentration of NIPAAm monomers remained on the PNIPAAm nanoparticles after synthesis and dialysis. Our results demonstrate that NIPAAm monomers are cytotoxic, whereas PNIPAAm nanoparticles are compatible at 5 mg/mL concentration or below for fibrobasts, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells.     

Relationship between perception of spectral ripple and speech recognition in cochlear implant and vocoder listeners

Spectral resolution has been reported to be closely related to vowel and consonant recognition in cochlear implant (CI) listeners. One measure of spectral resolution is spectral modulation threshold (SMT), which is defined as the smallest detectable spectral contrast in the spectral ripple stimulus. SMT may be determined by the activation pattern associated with electrical stimulation. In the present study, broad activation patterns were simulated using a multi-band vocoder to determine if similar impairments in speech understanding scores could be produced in normal-hearing listeners. Tokens were first decomposed into 15 logarithmically spaced bands and then re-synthesized by multiplying the envelope of each band by matched filtered noise. Various amounts of current spread were simulated by adjusting the drop-off of the noise spectrum away from the peak (40-5 dBoctave). The average SMT (0.25 and 0.5 cyclesoctave) increased from 6.3 to 22.5 dB, while average vowel identification scores dropped from 86% to 19% and consonant identification scores dropped from 93% to 59%. In each condition, the impairments in speech understanding were generally similar to those found in CI listeners with similar SMTs, suggesting that variability in spread of neural activation largely accounts for the variability in speech perception of CI listeners.     

Ultrafine nanofibers fabricated from an arylene-ethynylene macrocyclic molecule using surface assisted self-assembly

Large area uniform nanofibers have been fabricated from a hexameric arylene-ethynylene macrocycle (1) through in situ self-assembly on a glass substrate during solvent evaporation. The fibril morphology is controlled by the solvophilic core of 1, in conjunction with the interfacial interactions between the side chains of 1 and the substrate.     

Tandem synthesis of aromatic amides from styrenes in water

An expedient one-pot synthesis of aromatic amides has been reported from styrenes in the presence of N-bromosuccinimide and iodine by using aqueous ammonia in water. The reaction proceeds through the formation of α-bromoketone as an intermediate in the presence of NBS and water. α-Bromoketone on reaction with iodine forms bromodiiodoketone which on nucleophilic substitution with aqueous ammonia gives aromatic amide. Substituted aromatic amides were obtained in good yields with wide functional group compatibility.     

Rapid and efficient one-pot microwave-assisted synthesis of 2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines and 2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]quinoline in water–PEG-400

An effective, expeditious, environmentally benign one-pot synthesis of 2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines and 2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]quinoline from easily available starting materials as aromatic carbonyl compound, 2-amino pyridine, succinamide, and in situ generated α-iodo acetophenone in combination with green solvent PEG-400 and water (2:1) under microwave irradiation. The newly developed protocol with excellent yield of product in very short time of reaction by avoiding the use of lachrymatric α-chloro and α-bromocarbonyl compounds, volatile, toxic organic and hazardous solvents, reagents is the advantage of this research work. The final products were confirmed by their characterization data such as ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and were compared with its reported method.