Correlation between chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils from fifteen Eucalyptus species growing in the Korbous and Jbel Abderrahman arboreta (North East Tunisia)

The essential oils of fifteen Eucalyptus species harvested from the Jbel Abderrahman and Korbous arboreta (North East Tunisia) were screened for their antibacterial activities by the agar disc diffusion method. Eighteen major components as identified by GC/FID and GC/MS were selected for a study of the chemical and biological activity variability. The main one was 1,8-cineole, followed by spathulenol, trans-pinocarveol, α-pinene, p-cymene, globulol, cryptone, β-phellandrene, viridiflorol, borneol, limonene and isospathulenol. The chemical principal component analysis identified five species groups and subgroups, where each group constituted a chemotype, however that of the values of zone diameter of the inhibition (zdi) identified six groups of Eucalyptus oils, characterized by their antibacterial inhibition ability. The strongest activity was shown by E. platypus oil against Enterococcus faecalis and by E. lamannii oil against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. A correlation between the levels of some major components and the antibacterial activities was observed.     

Stereoselective functionalization of pyrrolidinone moiety towards the synthesis of salinosporamide A

An important feature of the synthesis of salinosporamide A, a potent proteasome inhibitor, is the establishment of the quaternary stereocenter at C3. A new route has been developed based on the methylation of a functionalized pyrrolidinone. Direct methylation reaction led to the unwanted diastereomer; however, by means of a Corey–Chaykovsky reaction followed by LiAlH₄ epoxide opening, the desired alcohol was obtained. The pyrrolidinone was elaborated through a key allylation reaction between a tertiary allyltitanium reagent and an aldehyde bearing a spiroketal moiety in α-position.     

Synthesis of novel dispiro-oxindoles via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of azomethine ylides

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of 1-allyl-5-haloisatin derivatives as dipolarophiles with the azomethine ylides generated in situ from N-allylisatin and l-proline to furnish novel dispiro-oxindoles has been investigated. The structures and relative stereochemistry of both types of cycloadducts were confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.     

Production, bleaching, and characterization of pulp from Stipa tenacissima

Alfa grass pulping was successfully performed in hydro-organic acid medium under mild conditions (107°C, atmospheric pressure, cooking time: 3 h). Use of an acetic acid/formic acid/water mixture as pulping liquor was perfectly suitable for selective isolation of pulp, lignin, and hemicelluloses. The unbleached pulp obtained in good yield was first delignified by peroxyacids in organic acid medium and then bleached with hydrogen peroxide in a basic medium to give pulp offering good physico-chemical and mechanical characteristics.     

Isolation and X-ray crystal structure of tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids from Calycotome villosa Subsp. intermedias

Two tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids were extracted from the alkaloid fraction of a methanol extract of the seeds of Calycotome Villosa Subsp. intermedia. Their structures were established as (R)-1-hydroxymethyl-7-8-dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro- isoquinoline (1) and (S)-7-hydroxymethyl-2-3-dimethoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydroisoquinoline chloride (2) by spectroscopic techniques and X-ray diffraction analysis.     

Two simple and different approaches to the synthesis of new 2,4-dialkylamino substituted 6,7-dihydro-5H-benzocyclohepta[1,2-d]pyrimidines

Benzocycloheptapyrimidines are an important class of compounds because of their pharmacological properties. We report here two new synthetic procedures for the preparation of 2,4-dialkylamino substituted benzocycloheptapyrimidines. One of these methods is based on the reaction of substituted cyanamides with the vinyl triflate of the 1-benzosuberone while the other preparation relies on the nucleophilic displacement of methylsulfonyl groups by secondary amines at the 2 and 4 positions of benzocycloheptapyrimidine intermediates.     

A linear theory for Ekman's boundary layer according to a triple deck

The problem of the interaction between Ekman's classical boundary layer and that induced by a thermally non-homogeneous site shows that the latter is strongly linked to the order of magnitude of the horizontal scale of the site. Our purpose is the analysis of the local interaction equations (Boussinesq equations) starting from a triple-deck model. This analysis yields a system of quasi-linear equations for the viscous lower deck. The linear theory of this system shows that the thermal non-homogeneity has a significant influence on the Ekman boundary layer flow owing to the interactive nature of the triple-deck structure. The numerical solution of the quasi-linear system confirms to a large extent this influence. The numerical results are given in graph form. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Topologically Algebraic Algebras

We show that a locally convex algebra is topologically algebraic if, and only if, it is algebraic.Thanks are offered to Professor M. Oudadess for many remarks which allowed an improvement of the first version of this paper. We are also indebted to Professor A. Mallios for valuable suggestions.