Preventing the formation of the long-lived colored transoid-trans photoisomer in photochromic benzopyrans

A new photochromic fused benzopyran presenting a bridge between the pyran double bond and the benzenic ring was prepared. While the UV irradiation of usual benzopyrans leads to the formation of two colored photoisomers with very different thermal stabilities, studies by laser flash photolysis showed that the presence of this particular bridge prevents the formation of the undesirable long-lived colored TT isomer and therefore after laser irradiation the colored solution fades following a fast monoexponential decay.     

Development and validation of two methods based on high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for determining 1,2-benzopyrone, dihydrocoumarin, o-coumaric acid, syringaldehyde and kaurenoic acid in guaco extracts and pharmaceutical preparations

In this study, two HPLC-ESI-MS/MS methods were developed and validated for the determination of 1,2-benzopyrone (COU), o-coumaric acid (OCA), kaurenoic acid (KAU), syringaldehyde (SYR), and dihydrocoumarin (DIH) in guaco extracts and pharmaceutical preparations (syrup and oral solution). The chromatographic separation was achieved using a C18 XBridge 150×2.1-mm (5-μm particle size) column maintained at 25°C. The mobile phases consisted of a gradient of water and acetonitrile containing 0.05% formic acid or 5 mM ammonium formate for the positive and negative ion modes, respectively. All of the calibration curves showed excellent coefficients of correlation (r≥0.9970) over the ranges of 1.25-400 ng/mL for coumarin, 10-600 ng/mL for dihydrocoumarin, 5-250 ng/mL for KAU, and 25-500 ng/mL for o-coumaric acid and syringaldehyde. The range of recovery was 96.3-103% with an RSD% of <4.85% for intraday and interday precision. The results indicate that the developed methods are fast, efficient, and sensitive for the quantification of the guaco metabolites in extracts and pharmaceutical forms while avoiding purification and derivatization steps.     

Identification by LC-ESI-MS of flavonoids responsible for the antioxidant properties of Mallotus species from Vietnam

Several Mallotus species (Euphorbiaceae) are used in Vietnam as edible plants or as traditional medicines for different indications, some related to the treatment of inflammatory diseases. This study investigated the antioxidant activities of 33 samples from 17 Vietnamese Mallotus species. We also evaluated potential cytotoxic activity against human cervix carcinoma HeLa and human lung fibroblast WI-38 cells. Our aim is to develop safe dietary supplements with a protective effect against various diseases caused by tissue damage and the acceleration of the aging process linked to reactive oxygen species. These tests allowed the identification of non-cytotoxic plant species exhibiting significant antiradical properties. These antioxidant properties may be explained by their polyphenol composition. The antioxidant activity of the most active Mallotus species was further analyzed with and without tannins removal. We also identified by LC-ESI-MS some flavonoids responsible for a part of this activity.     

Isolation of friedelin from black condensate of cork

Black condensates (BC) are wastes of the insulation corkboard industry that contain several valuable chemicals, including friedelin, a terpene exhibiting biological activity. Herein, we report a straightforward procedure to extract friedelin from BC. Using this procedure, we were able to extract friedelin with yields between 0.4% and 2.9% and to further purify it obtaining purities from 77.0% to 99.3% (HPLC). The initial BC (2 batches), extracted raw product and purified friedelin were analyzed using FTIR. The extraction yields and purities were found to be directly related to the intensity of the carbonyl vibration at 1713 cm(-1) in the FTIR spectrum of the used BC batch. Therefore, these spectra can be used to screen and select BC batches suitable for friedelin extraction.     

Intersection Local Times of Independent Fractional Brownian Motions as Generalized White Noise Functionals

In this work we present expansions of intersection local times of fractional Brownian motions in ? ^d , for any dimension d??1, with arbitrary Hurst coefficients in (0,1) ^d . The expansions are in terms of Wick powers of white noises (corresponding to multiple Wiener integrals), being well-defined in the sense of generalized white noise functionals. As an application of our approach, a sufficient condition on d for the existence of intersection local times in L ² is derived, extending the results in Nualart and Ortiz-Latorre (J. Theoret. Probab. 20(4):759?C767, 2007) to different and more general Hurst coefficients.     

Control of plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles via excimer laser irradiation

A significant shift of the surface plasmon resonance absorption spectrum of gold nanoparticles was obtained by the oxidation of the nanoparticle surface via pulsed excimer laser irradiation. The high UV-light absorption of gold nanoparticles chemically produced by citrate reduction led to the important surface oxidation up to 26%. As a result of laser irradiation, the gold/gold oxide core-shell nanoparticles with little variation of the nanoparticle size were produced. After only 5 min of laser irradiation, a 12-nm blue shift in surface plasmon resonance was obtained. The possible mechanisms governing the modification in surface plasmon resonance by laser irradiation of gold nanoparticles were discussed.     

Synaptic behaviors and modeling of a metal oxide memristive device

Nanoscale memristive devices using tungsten oxide as the switching layer have been fabricated and characterized. The devices show the characteristics of a flux-controlled memristor such that the conductance change is governed by the history of the applied voltage signals, leading to synaptic behaviors including long-term potentiation and depression. The memristive behavior is attributed to the migration of oxygen vacancies upon bias which modulates the interplay between Schottky barrier emission and tunneling at the WO _X /electrode interface. A physical model incorporating ion drift and diffusion effects using an internal state variable representing the area of the conductive region has been proposed to explain the observed memristive behaviors. A SPICE model has been further developed that can be directly incorporated into existing circuit simulators. This type of device can be fabricated with low-temperature processes and has potential applications in synaptic computations and as analog circuit components.     

Oxidovanadium(IV) Schiff base complex derived from vitamin B6: synthesis, characterization, and insulin enhancing properties

A new Schiff base, [H(4)pydmedpt](2+)·2Cl(-), derived from one of the forms of vitamin B(6) has been synthesized by condensation of pyridoxal hydrochloride with N,N-bis[3-aminopropyl]-methylamine (medpt) and characterized by analytical and spectroscopic methods. The molecular structure is calculated by density functional theory (DFT) procedures, and the donor properties of each individual donor atom are evaluated by calculation of the Fukui function. One pot reaction of pyridoxal and medpt with vanadyl acetylacetonate yields the brown complex [V(IV)O(H(2)pydmedpt)](2+)·2Cl(-)1, which upon recrystallization from water crystallizes as [V(IV)O(pydmedpt)]·5H(2)O 2. The compounds are characterized by analytical and spectroscopic methods, 2 being also characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. It displays a slightly distorted octahedral geometry around the vanadium atom involving the coordination of N(amine), two N(imine), and O(phenolato) donors of the ligand. One of the phenolato oxygen donors is positioned trans to the terminal O-oxido atom with relatively short V-O(phenolate) {2.041(3) ?} and long V-O(oxido) {1.625(4) ?} bond distances when compared to other known compounds. The two different pK(a) values (6.0 and 7.9) obtained for 1 are due to protonation of the pyridine ring nitrogen atoms having different basic characters, this being also substantiated by theoretical calculation of the proton affinity of the O- and N- atoms of the molecule. The spin Hamiltonian parameters are obtained from the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra, but the A(z) value (ca. 155 × 10(-4) cm(-1)) is lower than expected by applying the additivity rule for the present set of equatorial donor atoms (ca. 162-163 × 10(-4) cm(-1)), this being attributed to the strong trans V-O(phenolate) bond. The UV-vis transitions and EPR spectral parameters are calculated by DFT procedures, and both the calculated electronic transitions and the hyperfine coupling constants agree well with those experimentally observed. The inhibitory effect of 1 on FFA release and % glucose uptake determined with isolated rat adipocyte cells gave IC(50) and EC(50) values lower than for V(IV)OSO(4) and of the same order of magnitude of other reported insulin enhancing vanadium compounds.     

Multifunctional magnetic materials obtained by insertion of spin-crossover Fe(III) complexes into chiral 3D bimetallic oxalate-based ferromagnets

The syntheses, structures, and magnetic properties of compounds of formula [Fe(III)(5-Clsal(2)-trien)][Mn(II)Cr(III)(ox)(3)]·0.5(CH(3)NO(2)) (1), [Fe(III)(5-Brsal(2)-trien)][Mn(II)Cr(III)(ox)(3)] (2), and [In(III)(5-Clsal(2)-trien)][Mn(II)Cr(III)(ox)(3)] (3) are reported. The structure of the three compounds, which crystallize in the orthorhombic P2(1)2(1)2(1) chiral space group, presents a 3D chiral anionic network formed by Mn(II) and Cr(III) ions linked through oxalate ligands with inserted [Fe(III)(5-Clsal(2)-trien)](+), [Fe(III)(5-Brsal(2)-trien)](+), and [In(III)(5-Clsal(2)-trien)](+) cations. The magnetic properties indicate that the three compounds undergo long-range ferromagnetic ordering at ca. 5 K. On the other hand, the inserted Fe(III) cations undergo a partial spin crossover in the case of 1 and 2.