The safety assessment of herbals with a new and ethical approach

The increasing use of plant medicines (herbals) in Europe needs a shared methodology to determine the toxicity and the daily exposure level to these drugs. For this reason, the European regulatory agencies have undertaken a study that could meet popular uses and toxicological research in different countries of the Union. Here we list some examples of the most used herbal drug classes and we propose a decision-making process based on their characteristics, their content in active principles and on the basis of the present scientific pharmacological and toxicological literature. The proposed decision tree actually makes easier for the assessor to quickly and accurately evaluate the accredited indexes for risk and toxicity assessment based on the preclinical literature data and using the correct classification that some of them may have because they are already present in medicinal products or used as food.     

Electron delocalization in mixed-valence Keggin polyoxometalates. Ab initio calculation of the local effective transfer integrals and its consequences on the spin coupling

We present a quantitative evaluation of the influence of the electron transfer on the magnetic properties of mixed-valence polyoxometalates reduced by two electrons. For that purpose, we extract from valence-spectroscopy ab initio calculations on embedded fragments the value of the transfer integrals between W nearest-neighbor atoms in a mixed-valence alphaPW(12)O(40) polyoxowolframate Keggin anion. In contradiction with what is usually assumed, we show that the electron transfer between edge-sharing and corner-sharing WO(6) octahedra have very close values. Considering fragments of various ranges, we analyze the accuracy of calculations on fragments based on only two WO(5) pyramids which should allow a low cost general study of transfer parameters in polyoxometalates. Finally, these parameters are introduced in an extended Hubbard Hamiltonian that models the whole anion. It permits to prove that electron transfers induce a large energy gap between the singlet ground state and the lowest triplet states providing a clear explanation of the diamagnetic properties of the mixed-valence Keggin ions reduced by two electrons.     

Hybrid materials containing organometallic cations and 3-D anionic metal dicyanamide networks of type [Cp*2M][M'(dca)3

A new series of hybrid materials of type [Cp*2M][M'(dca)3] has been prepared by cation templation and structurally characterised (M = Fe(III), Co(III); M'= Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cd(II); dca-= N(CN)2-). The crystallographic analysis of [Cp*2Fe][Cd(dca)(3)] showed that the [Cd(dca)3]- anionic framework is of a symmetrical 3-D alpha-polonium type, containing octahedral Cd nodes and micro (1,5)-dca bridging ligands. The [Cp*2Fe]+ cations occupy the cube-like cavities within the framework. The cationic and anionic-framework sublattices remain magnetically independent and display susceptibilities, over the range 300 to 2 K, of a Curie-Weiss nature obtained by adding a S= 1/2 (Cp*2Fe+) or a S= 0 (Cp*2Co+) contribution to those of the weakly antiferromagnetically coupled frameworks of M'. These hybrid species do not show any intrinsic long-range magnetic order. The present [Cp*2Fe]M'(dca)3] series display the characteristic, unusually shaped [Cp*2Fe]+ Mossbauer line, in the range 295-5 K, assigned (below 101 K) as the sum of a narrow and a broad line. Relaxation effects were evident. The [Fe(dca)3]- compound showed superimposed low-spin Fe(III) and high-spin Fe(II) lines, the latter giving relaxation broadening effects.     

On the phase equilibrium Stockmayer fluids

The fluid phase equilibrium of the Stockmayer fluid is investigated using a thermodynamic perturbation theory approach. The reference and the perturbation potential are the Lennard–Jones potential and the dipolar–dipolar interactions, respectively. They are assumed to be represented by the modified Benedict–Webb–Rubin equation of state [J.K. Johnson, J.A. Zollweg, K.E. Gubbins, Mol. Phys. 78 (1993) 591–618] and the Padé approximant [G. Stell, J.C. Rasaiah, H. Narang, Mol. Phys. 27 (1974) 1393–1414], respectively. The asymmetry found in an analogous study [M.E. van Leeuwen, B. Smit, E.M. Hendriks, Mol. Phys. 78 (1993) 271–283] based on the BWR equation of state [J.J. Nicolas, K.E. Gubbins, W.B. Streett, D.J. Tildesley, Mol. Phys. 37 (1979) 1429–1454] is now not observed on the vapour–liquid equilibrium coexistence curves of Stockmayer fluids with dipolar strength of μ^*2 = 1, 2, 3, and 4. Results agree with computer simulations for dipolar strength of μ^*2 = 1; however as strength dipole increases, liquid densities are over-estimated.     

Polyoxometalate monolayers in Langmuir-Blodgett films

Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of a variety of polyoxometalates of different shapes, sizes, and charges were prepared by taking advantage of the adsorption properties of these polyanions on a positively charged monolayer of an organic surfactant spread on water. Three different aspects were investigated. 1) The electrochemical and electrochromic properties of LB films containing the easily reducible polyoxoanion [P2Mo18O62]6-. Absorbance changes of these LB films deposited onto an ITO substrate have been induced by repeated switching of the applied potential. These changes are due to the formation of the colored reduced forms of the polyanion. Coloration and bleaching of the LB film occur very quickly and are reversible. 2) The preparation of LB films based on magnetic polyoxometalates, such as the Keggin anions, [CoW12O40]6- and [SiMn(OH2)W11O39]6-, or containing magnetic clusters of increasing nuclearities such as [Co4(H2O)2(PW9O34)2]10- and [Co4(H2O)2(P2W15O62)2]16- based on a Co4O16 ferromagnetic cluster, and the polyoxometalates [Co9(OH)3(H2O)6(HPO4)2(PW9O34)3]16- and [Ni9(OH)3-(H2O)6(HPO4)2(PW9O34)3]16- based on a nonanuclear M9O36 cluster. 3) The preparation of LB films of the giant heteropolyoxomolybdate, [Na3(NH4)12][Mo57Fe6(NO)6O174(OH)3-(H2O)24]76 H2O.     

5 Alpha-reductase inhibitory and antiandrogenic activities of novel steroids in hamster seminal vesicles

The pharmacological activity of several 16-bromosubstituted trienediones 4 and 5, 16-methyl substituted dienediones 6 and 7 and the 16-methyl substituted trienedione 8 was determined on gonadectomized hamster seminal vesicles by measuring the in vitro conversion of testosterone (T) to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) as 5alpha-reductase inhibitors and also the ability of these steroids to bind to the androgen receptor. Steroids 6 and 7 when injected together with T decreased the weight of the seminal vesicles thus showing an antiandrogenic effect. Compounds 5 and 6 reduced substantially the conversion of T to DHT and therefore can be considered good inhibitors for the enzyme 5alpha-reductase; however both steroids failed to form a complex with the androgen receptor. On the other hand compound 7 which showed a very small inhibitory activity for the enzyme 5alpha-reductase, exhibited a very high affinity for the androgen receptor and thus can be considered an effective antiandrogen. This compound also reduced substantially the weight of the seminal vesicles. Steroids 4 and 8 did not reduce the weight of the seminal vesicles and exhibited a low affinity for the androgen receptor; 8 showed a weak 5alpha-reductase inhibitory activity, whereas 4 exhibited a weak androgenic effect.     

Stepwise Oxidations in a Cofacial Copper(II) Porphyrin Dimer: Through-Space Spin-Coupling and Interplay between Metal and Radical Spins

cis and trans-copper(II) porphyrin dimers have been synthesized, in which two Cu^II porphyrin macrocycles are bridged through a rigid ethene linker for possible through-space and through-bond spin-couplings between the paramagnetic Cu^II centers. It has been found that the two macrocycles come closer after 1 e⁻ oxidation, however, they move far apart upon further 1 e⁻ oxidation leading to transformation of the cis to the trans isomer. Detailed investigations are performed here on the interactions between the two porphyrin macrocycles, between two unpaired spins of closely spaced Cu^II centers, and also between the unpaired spins of metal and porphyrin π–cation radicals. Spectroscopic investigations along with the X-ray structure of the 2 e⁻-oxidized complex displayed strong electronic communications through the bridge between two porphyrin π–cation radicals. The counterion I₉⁻ is stabilized in an unusual trigonal-pyramidal structure in the 2 e⁻-oxidized complex in which the central iodide ion is bound with four iodine (I₂) molecules. Variable-temperature magnetic study revealed strong antiferromagnetic coupling between the two porphyrin π–cation radical spins (J_r–r) in the 2 e⁻-oxidized complex. DFT calculations suggest stabilization of the triplet state, which is also in good agreement with the experiment. Ab initio molecular dynamics allowed the variation of the structural details to be followed upon stepwise oxidations and also the final isomerization process including its associated energy barrier.