Mixed‐Metal MIL‐100(Sc,M) (M=Al,Cr, Fe) for Lewis Acid Catalysis and Tandem CC Bond Formation and Alcohol Oxidation

The trivalent metal cations Al³⁺, Cr³⁺, and Fe³⁺ were each introduced, together with Sc³⁺, into MIL‐100(Sc,M) solid solutions (M=Al, Cr, Fe) by direct synthesis. The substitution has been confirmed by powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD) and solid‐state NMR, UV/Vis, and X‐ray absorption (XAS) spectroscopy. Mixed Sc/Fe MIL‐100 samples were prepared in which part of the Fe is present as α‐Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles within the mesoporous cages of the MOF, as shown by XAS, TGA, and PXRD. The catalytic activity of the mixed‐metal catalysts in Lewis acid catalysed Friedel–Crafts additions increases with the amount of Sc present, with the attenuating effect of the second metal decreasing in the order Al>Fe>Cr. Mixed‐metal Sc,Fe materials give acceptable activity: 40 % Fe incorporation only results in a 20 % decrease in activity over the same reaction time and pure product can still be obtained and filtered off after extended reaction times. Supported α‐Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were also active Lewis acid species, although less active than Sc³⁺ in trimer sites. The incorporation of Fe³⁺ into MIL‐100(Sc) imparts activity for oxidation catalysis and tandem catalytic processes (Lewis acid+oxidation) that make use of both catalytically active framework Sc³⁺ and Fe³⁺. A procedure for using these mixed‐metal heterogeneous catalysts has been developed for making ketones from (hetero)aromatics and a hemiacetal.     

Magnetic Coupling Constants of Self‐Assembled CuII [3×3] Grids: Alternative Spin Model from Theoretical Calculations

This paper reports a theoretical analysis of the electronic structure and magnetic properties of a ferromagnetic Cu^II [3×3] grid. A two‐step strategy, combining calculations on the whole grid and on binuclear fragments, has been employed to evaluate all the magnetic interactions in the grid. The calculations confirm an S=7/2 ground state, which is in accordance with the magnetisation versus field curve and the thermal dependence of the magnetic moment data. Only the first‐neighbour coupling terms present non‐negligible amplitudes, all of them in agreement with the structure and arrangement of the Cu 3d magnetic orbitals. The results indicate that the dominant interaction in the system is the antiferromagnetic coupling between the ring and the central Cu sites (J₃=J₄≈?31 cm^?1). In the ring two different interactions can be distinguished, J₁=4.6 cm^?1 and J₂=?0.1 cm^?1, in contrast to the single J model employed in the magnetic data fit. The calculated J values have been used to determine the energy level distribution of the Heisenberg magnetic states. The effective magnetic moment versus temperature plot resulting from this ab initio energy profile is in good agreement with the experimental curve and the fitting obtained with the simplified spin model, despite the differences between these two spin models. This study underlines the role that the theoretical evaluations of the coupling constants can play on the rationalisation of the magnetic properties of these complex polynuclear systems.     

Ab-initio molecular dynamics and hybrid explicit-implicit solvation model for aqueous and nonaqueous solvents: GFP chromophore in water and methanol solution as case study

Solute–solvent interactions are proxies for understanding how the electronic density of a chromophore interacts with the environment in a more exhaustive way. The subtle balance between polarization, electrostatic, and non-bonded interactions need to be accurately described to obtain good agreement between simulations and experiments. First principles approaches providing accurate configurational sampling through molecular dynamics may be a suitable choice to describe solvent effects on solute chemical–physical properties and spectroscopic features, such as optical absorption of dyes. In this context, accurate energy potentials, obtained by hybrid implicit/explicit solvation methods along with employing nonperiodic boundary conditions, are required to represent bulk solvent around a large solute–solvent cluster. In this work, a novel strategy to simulate methanol solutions is proposed combining ab initio molecular dynamics, a hybrid implicit/explicit flexible solvent model, nonperiodic boundary conditions, and time dependent density functional theory. As case study, the robustness of the proposed protocol has been gauged by investigating the microsolvation and electronic absorption of the anionic green fluorescent protein chromophore in methanol and aqueous solution. Satisfactory results are obtained, reproducing the microsolvation layout of the chromophore and, as a consequence, the experimental trends shown by the optical absorption in different solvents.     

Selective cytotoxicity of organotin(IV) compounds with 2,3-dihydroxybenzyldithiocarbazate Schiff bases

Research on Chemical Intermediates - A series of tridentate ONS Schiff bases were synthesised via condensation by reacting 2,3-dihydroxybenzaldehyde with S-2-methylbenzyldithiocarbazate (S2MBDTC)...     

Intelligence Way from Eco-friendly Synthesis Strategy of New Heterocyclic Pyrazolic Carboxylic α-Amino Esters

The α-amino acid derivatives constitute a class of compounds of particular medicinal and synthetic attention and considerable interest has been devoted to their synthesis in recent years. In the present work, we develop the computational study of the synthesis reaction of new pyrazolyl α-amino esters derivatives using the Gaussian 09 based on the DFT/B3LYP density functional theory method, with the base 6-31G(d, p) to ensure the possibility of carrying out these reactions within the laboratory of synthesis. Indeed, this research has encouraged us to establish an economical synthesis strategy of these products in overall yields of 73.5% to 87% to have access to new active biomolecule through the O-alkylation reaction between methyl α-azidoglycinate N-benzoylated and primary pyrazole alcohols[(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methanol, (1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methanol and (3-ethoxy-5-methyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methanol] under different operating conditions. The structure of the prepared heterocyclic systems was characterized by conventional spectroscopic techniques, like ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and MS. The results revealed that the experimental study is in good correlation with the computational one.     

Mathematical Modelling of Glyphosate Molecularly Imprinted Polymer-Based Microsensor with Multiple Phenomena

The massive and careless use of glyphosate (GLY) in agricultural production raises many questions regarding environmental pollution and health risks, it is then important to develop simple methods to detect it. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is an effective analytical tool for characterizing properties at the electrode/electrolyte interface. It is useful as an analytical procedure, but it can also help in the interpretation of the involved fundamental electrochemical and electronic processes. In this study, the impedance data obtained experimentally for a microsensor based on molecularly imprinted chitosan graft on 4-aminophenylacetic acid for the detection of glyphosate was analyzed using an exact mathematical model based on physical theories. The procedure for modeling experimental responses is well explained. The analysis of the observed impedance response leads to estimations of the microscopic parameters linked to the faradic and capacitive current. The interaction of glyphosate molecules with the imprinted sites of the CS-MIPs film is observed in the high frequency range. The relative variation of the charge transfer resistance is proportional to the log of the concentration of glyphosate. The capacitance decreases as the concentration of glyphosate increases, which is explained by the discharging of the charged imprinted sites when the glyphosate molecule interacts with the imprinted sites through electrostatic interactions. The phenomenon of adsorption of the ions in the CMA film is observed in the low frequency range, this phenomenon being balanced by the electrostatic interaction of glyphosate with the imprinted sites in the CS-MIPs film.     

Permutation Entropy-Based Interpretability of Convolutional Neural Network Models for Interictal EEG Discrimination of Subjects with Epileptic Seizures vs. Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures

The differential diagnosis of epileptic seizures (ES) and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) may be difficult, due to the lack of distinctive clinical features. The interictal electroencephalographic (EEG) signal may also be normal in patients with ES. Innovative diagnostic tools that exploit non-linear EEG analysis and deep learning (DL) could provide important support to physicians for clinical diagnosis. In this work, 18 patients with new-onset ES (12 males, 6 females) and 18 patients with video-recorded PNES (2 males, 16 females) with normal interictal EEG at visual inspection were enrolled. None of them was taking psychotropic drugs. A convolutional neural network (CNN) scheme using DL classification was designed to classify the two categories of subjects (ES vs. PNES). The proposed architecture performs an EEG time-frequency transformation and a classification step with a CNN. The CNN was able to classify the EEG recordings of subjects with ES vs. subjects with PNES with 94.4% accuracy. CNN provided high performance in the assigned binary classification when compared to standard learning algorithms (multi-layer perceptron, support vector machine, linear discriminant analysis and quadratic discriminant analysis). In order to interpret how the CNN achieved this performance, information theoretical analysis was carried out. Specifically, the permutation entropy (PE) of the feature maps was evaluated and compared in the two classes. The achieved results, although preliminary, encourage the use of these innovative techniques to support neurologists in early diagnoses.     

Polarity and steric effect of the lateral substituent on the mesophase behaviour of some newly prepared liquid crystals

Eight homologous series of 2- (or 3-) substituted phenyl 4?-(4?-alkoxy phenylazo) benzoates (In_a–h) were prepared in which, within each homologous series, the length of the terminal alkoxy group varies between 6, 8, 10 and 12 carbons, while the other substituent, X, is a laterally attached polar group that alternatively changed from CH₃, H, F, Br and CN. Compounds prepared were characterised by infrared and ¹H-NMR spectroscopy, and their mesophase behaviour investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and identified by polarised light microscopy. The results were discussed in terms of polarity and steric effects. The stability of the mesophase was correlated once with the dipolar anisotropy of the whole molecule and another with the dipolar anisotropy of the substituent, X. A comparative study was made between the investigated compounds and their previously prepared linear 4-substituted isomers, namely 4-substituted phenyl 4?-(4?-alkoxy phenylazo) benzoates (In_i–k).     

The Cradle-to-Cradle Life Cycle Assessment of Polyethylene terephthalate: Environmental Perspective

Over the last several years, the number of concepts and technologies enabling the production of environmentally friendly products (including materials, consumables, and services) has expanded. One of these ways is cradle-to-cradle (C2C) certified^TM. Life cycle assessment (LCA) technique is used to highlight the advantages of C2C and recycling as a method for reducing plastic pollution and fossil depletion by indicating the research limitations and gaps from an environmental perspective. Also, it estimates the resources requirements and focuses on sound products and processes. The C2C life cycle measurements for petroleum-based poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottles, with an emphasis on different end-of-life options for recycling, were taken for mainland China, in brief. It is considered that the product is manufactured through the extraction of crude oil into ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. The CML analysis method was used in the LCIA for the selected midpoint impact categories. LCA of the product has shown a drastic aftermath in terms of environmental impacts and energy use. But the estimation of these consequences is always dependent on the system and boundary conditions that were evaluated throughout the study. The impacts that burden the environment are with the extraction of raw material, resin, and final product production. Minor influences occurred due to the waste recycling process. This suggests that waste degradation is the key process to reduce the environmental impacts of the production systems. Lowering a product’s environmental impact can be accomplished in a number of ways, including reducing the amount of materials used or choosing materials with a minimal environmental impact during manufacture processes.