Novel Chemosensor for the Visual Detection of Copper(II) in Aqueous Solution at the ppm Level

A new water-soluble, multisite-coordinating ligand LH(7) was prepared by the condensation of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane with 2,6-diformyl-p-cresol. LH(7) is a selective chemosensor for Cu(2+), under physiological conditions, with visual detection limits of 20 ppm (ambient light conditions) and 4 ppm (UV light conditions). LH(7) can also be used in biological cell lines for the detection of Cu(2+).     

A multivariate quadrature based moment method for LES based modeling of supersonic combustion

The transported probability density function (PDF) approach is a powerful technique for large eddy simulation (LES) based modeling of scramjet combustors. In this approach, a high-dimensional transport equation for the joint composition-enthalpy PDF needs to be solved. Quadrature based approaches provide deterministic Eulerian methods for solving the joint-PDF transport equation. In this work, it is first demonstrated that the numerical errors associated with LES require special care in the development of PDF solution algorithms. The direct quadrature method of moments (DQMOM) is one quadrature-based approach developed for supersonic combustion modeling. This approach is shown to generate inconsistent evolution of the scalar moments. Further, gradient-based source terms that appear in the DQMOM transport equations are severely underpredicted in LES leading to artificial mixing of fuel and oxidizer. To overcome these numerical issues, a semi-discrete quadrature method of moments (SeQMOM) is formulated. The performance of the new technique is compared with the DQMOM approach in canonical flow configurations as well as a three-dimensional supersonic cavity stabilized flame configuration. The SeQMOM approach is shown to predict subfilter statistics accurately compared to the DQMOM approach.     

Model compounds of ruthenium-alkene intermediates in olefin metathesis reactions

The development of a model system to study ruthenium-olefin complexes relevant to the mechanism of olefin metathesis is reported. Upon addition of 1,2-divinylbenzene to (H2IMes)(py2)(Cl)2Ru=CHPh (H2IMes = 1,3-dimesityl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene), two ruthenium-olefin adducts are formed. On the basis of 1H NMR spectroscopy experiments and X-ray crystallographic analysis, these complexes are assigned as side-bound isomers in which the olefin and H2IMes ligands are coordinated cis to each other. The dynamic interconversion of these two ruthenium complexes was determined to have a barrier of 19.1 +/- 0.1 kcal/mol.     

A femtosecond study of excitation wavelength dependence of solvation dynamics in a PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer micelle

Excitation wavelength (lambdaex) dependence of solvation dynamics of coumarin 480 (C480) in the micellar core of a water soluble triblock copolymer, PEO20-PPO70-PEO20 (Pluronic P123), is studied by femtosecond and picosecond time resolved emission spectroscopies. In the P123 micelle, the width of the emission spectrum of C480 is found to be much larger than that in bulk water. This suggests that the P123 micelle is more heterogeneous than bulk water. The steady state emission maximum of C480 in P123 micelle shows a significant red edge excitation shift by 25 nm from 453 nm at lambdaex=345 nm to 478 nm at lambdaex=435 nm. The solvation dynamics in the interior of the triblock copolymer micelle is found to depend strongly on the excitation wavelength. The excitation wavelength dependence is ascribed to a wide distribution of locations of C480 molecules in the P123 micelle with two extreme environments-a bulklike peripheral region with very fast solvent response and a very slow core region. With increase in lambdaex, contribution of the bulklike region having an ultrafast component (< or =2 ps) increases from 7% at lambdaex=375 nm to 78% at lambda(ex)=425 nm while the contribution of the ultraslow component (4500 ps) decreases from 79% to 17%.     

Efficient synthesis of diversely substituted pyrimidines by palladium catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura coupling

An efficient synthesis of 2-aryl/heteroaryl substituted pyrimidinyl ethanones 4(a–t) was developed using a palladium-catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction strategy. Use of Pd(OAc)₂ in the presence of PPh₃ and Na₂CO₃ in 1,4-dioxane solvent was found to be the most effective reaction condition.     

Reductivity of methanol and ethanol towards permanganate in absence and presence of Tween-20 in perchloric acid medium. Mechanism of the oxidation processes

The reducing behaviour of methanol and ethanol towards permanganate in perchloric acid medium have been investigated in the absence and presence of the surfactant Tween-20. In the absence of surfactant the reaction is of first order with respect to both oxidant and H⁺ but of complex order in substrate. The alcohol molecule reacts with HMnO4 to form an intermediate complex which decomposes in the rate-determining step to give the product and Mn^v. Effects of urea and acetonitrile on the reaction rate have also been studied. In the presence of Tween-20, the reaction appears to follow Berezin’s model where both the oxidant and the substrate are partitioned between the aqueous and the micellar phase and then react. Different thermodynamic and kinetic parameters have been evaluated. The reaction in the presence of the surfactant is entropy-controlled rather than enthalpy-controlled.     

Liquid crystalline behaviour of mixtures of structurally dissimilar mesogens in binary systems

We have studied four binary systems comprising four ester components, viz. 4-nitrophenyl-4′-n-alkoxybenzoates (wheren-alkoxy isn-butoxy, C₄,n-hexyloxy, C₆,n-octyloxy, C₈ andn-decyloxy, C₁₀) and one azo component, 4-n-decyloxy phenylazo-4′-isoamyloxy benzene. A variety of mesomorphic properties are observed in these mixtures. The properties of these systems are discussed on the basis of phase diagrams.     

Excited state relaxation dynamics of model green fluorescent protein chromophore analogs: evidence for cis-trans isomerism

Two green fluorescent protein (GFP) chromophore analogs (4Z)-4-(N,N-dimethylaminobenzylidene)-1-methyl-2-phenyl-1,4-dihydro-5H-imidazolin-5-one (DMPI) and (4Z)-4-(N,N-diphenylaminobenzylidene)-1-methyl-2-phenyl-1,4-dihydro-5H-imidazolin-5-one (DPMPI) were investigated using femtosecond fluorescence up-conversion spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations with the results being substantiated by HPLC and NMR measurements. The femtosecond fluorescence transients are found to be biexponential in nature and the time constants exhibit a significant dependence on solvent viscosity and polarity. A multicoordinate relaxation mechanism is proposed for the excited state relaxation behavior of the model GFP analogs. The first time component (τ(1)) was assigned to the formation of twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) state along the rotational coordinate of N-substituted amine group. Time resolved intensity normalized and area normalized emission spectra (TRES and TRANES) were constructed to authenticate the occurrence of TICT state in subpicosecond time scale. Another picosecond time component (τ(2)) was attributed to internal conversion via large amplitude motion along the exomethylenic double bond which has been enunciated by quantum chemical calculations. Quantum chemical calculation also forbids the involvement of hula-twist because of high activation barrier of twisting. HPLC profiles and proton-NMR measurements of the irradiated analogs confirm the presence of Z and E isomers, whose possibility of formation can be accomplished only by the rotation along the exomethylenic double bond. The present observations can be extended to p-HBDI in order to understand the role of protein scaffold in reducing the nonradiative pathways, leading to highly luminescent nature of GFP.     

Synthesis and Characterisation of Macrocyclic Liquid Crystalline Ligands and their Metal Complexes

Abstract

Four macrocyclic liquid crystalline ligands derived from 1,8 dihydroxy ethyl 1,3,6,8,10,13 hexa aza cyclotetradecane(DHAT) and trans-4-n-alkoxy cinnamoyl chloride have been synthesised and their metal complexes using Cu(II),Ni(II),Pb(II), V(V) and U(VI) metal ions have been isolated. The ligands and their metal complexes were characterised by elemental analysis, FTIR,NMR,X-Ray and DSC studies. Polarising microscope was used to identify mesomorphic textures of the ligands and the complexes.

The transition temperature and mesophase textures of the ligands and complexes have been compared. The effect of presence of different metal ions on mesomorphic properties has been discussed.     

Synthesis and characterization of Mannich bases of lawsone and their anticancer activity

Abstract

Natural and synthetic naphthoquinones are known for a large number of biological activities. Lawsone (2-hydroxy-1, 4-naphthoquinone) is a simplest naturally occurring compound obtained from dried henna (Lawsonia inermis) leaves. In literature, some lawsone derivatives have been reported to exhibit anticancer activity. Hence, a clean and facile one-pot protocol was developed for the synthesis of new aminonaphthoquinones derived from lawsone by three-component Mannich reaction, at room temperature for potential anti-cancer application. Herein we present a small library of Mannich bases with different amines and aromatic aldehydes with moderate to high yield. Synthesized compounds were characterized using various spectroscopic techniques. The anticancer activity (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay) along with nuclear morphology assessment (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole or DAPI staining), apoptosis assessment (acridine orange/ ethidium bromide staining), hemolysis and DNA ladder assay evaluated on human liver carcinoma cell line HepG2 are presented.