Montmorillonite incorporated with magnesium oxide

MgO was incorporated into montmorillonite (MMT) though the controlled formation of Mg(OH)₂ followed by calcination. The evidence for Mg²⁺ in MMT before calcination was concluded from TG curves where two different temperature ranges for Mg(OH)2 dehydroxylation suggested that the location of Mg²⁺ at its internal and external surfaces. FTIR by diffuse reflectance technique of calcined sample showed a typical MgO band. XRD indicated a decrease in structural order and no collapse of clay structure. The organic compounds adsorption to MMT modified with MgO as suggested by increased degradation temperatures occurred at internal and external clay surfaces besides in an area formed probably by MgO and MMT layers.     

Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of sulfonic resins as catalysts

Ion-exchange resins have been often used as catalysts especially those based on styrene-divinylbenzene copolymers with sulfonic acid groups in the aromatic rings of polymer chains. That is due to the advantages of heterogenous catalysis over the homogeneous acid catalysis. Moreover, resin catalysts can often lead to high selectivity in organic reactions due to the matrix effects. Therefore, the study of copolymers synthesis conditions to determine the type of polymer structure produced as well as the characterization of sulfonic resins obtained thereof are of great interest. The current paper describes the synthesis, characterization and evaluation as catalysts of sulfonic resins derived from polymer supports synthesized by aqueous suspension polymerization of styrene and divinylbenzene. The reaction conditions were varied and polymer supports with different physical properties and morphological characteristics were obtained. The polymer supports were chemically modified by sulfonation. The resultant sulfonic resins had their catalyst activity evaluated in the esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol.     

Universal inequalities for eigenvalues of a system of elliptic equations of the drifting Laplacian

Let \(\Omega \) be a bounded domain in a n-dimensional Euclidean space \(\mathbb {R}^{n}\). We study eigenvalues of an eigenvalue problem of a system of elliptic equations of the drifting Laplacian

$$\begin{aligned} \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} \mathbb {L_{\phi }}\mathbf{{u}} + \alpha (\nabla (\mathrm {div}{} \mathbf{{u}}) - \nabla \phi \mathrm {div}{} \mathbf{{u}})= -\bar{\sigma }\mathbf{{u}}, &{} \hbox {in} \,\Omega ; \\ \mathbf{{u}}|_{\,\partial \Omega }=0. \end{array} \right. \end{aligned}$$

Estimates for eigenvalues of the above eigenvalue problem are obtained. Furthermore, a universal inequality for lower order eigenvalues of the problem is also derived. Finally, we prove an universal inequality type Ashbaugh and Benguria for the drifting Laplacian on Riemannian manifold immersed in an unit sphere or a projective space.

     

Optical inclinometer based on a single long-period fiber grating combined with a fused taper

A new concept to measure rotation angles based on a fiber-optic modal Mach-Zehnder interferometer is demonstrated by using a nonadiabatic taper cascaded with a long-period fiber grating. Information about the magnitude of the rotation angle can be obtained from the measurement of the interference pattern visibility, and under certain conditions it is also possible to obtain the sign of the rotation angle from the induced phase variation in the fiber interferometer.     

Separation and determination of molybdenum by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry using quercetin immobilization on silica gel

A new method is described for the separation of molybdenum based on its chelation in a column packed with quercetin, immobilized on silica gel in a slightly acidic medium (pH 5.0). Recovery ranged from 95% (NIST 1515 apple leaves) to 99% (deionized, distilled water; DDW) with an absolute blank of 27.5±1.6 pg obtained for the analysis of DDW. Detection limits, absolute and relative, based on a 5.0-ml sample volume were 4.8 pg and 1 ng l⁻¹, respectively. Results are presented for molybdenum determination in two standard reference materials, NIST 1515 and NIST 1547 peach leaves, using simple calibration curves for quantification. α-Benzoinoxime was used as the eluent.     

Solid-state C NMR and molecular modeling studies of acetyl aleuritolic acid obtained from Croton cajucara Benth

Solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C NMR) with magic-angle spinning (MAS) and with cross-polarization and magic-angle spinning (CP/MAS) spectra, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques were used to obtain structural data from a sample of acetyl aleuritolic acid (AAA) extracted from the stem bark of Croton cajucara Benth. (Euphorbiaceae) and recrystallized from acetone. Since solid-state ¹³C NMR results suggested the presence of more than one molecule in the unitary cell for the AAA, DSC analysis and molecular modeling calculations were used to access this possibility. The absence of phase transition peaks in the DSC spectra and the dimeric models of AAA simulated using the semi-empirical PM3 method are in agreement with that proposal.     

Flavonoids and other compounds from Ouratea ferruginea (Ochnaceae) as anticancer and chemopreventive agents

The chemical study of the extracts from leaves and stems of Ouratea ferruginea allowed the identification of a new isoflavone, 5-hydroxy-7,3'4'5'-tetramethoxyisoflavone, and twenty two known compounds, including friedelin, 3β-friedelinol, lupeone, a mixture of sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol, sitosteryl- and stigmasteryl-3-O-b-D-glucopyranosides, 5,4'-dihydroxy-7,5',3'-trimethoxyisoflavone, 5,4'-dihydroxy-7,3'-di-methoxyisoflavone (7,3'-di-O-methylorobol), 5,7,4'-trihydroxy-3',5'-dimethoxyisoflavone (piscigenin), 2R,3R-epicatechin, syringic acid, 2,6-dimethoxybenzoquinone, 2,6-dimethoxyhydroquinone, syringic and ferulic aldehyde, a mixture of vanillic acid, 1-hydroxy-2-methoxy-4-(1E-3-hydroxy-1-propenyl)-benzene and 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxy-dihydrocinamaldehyde, besides amenthoflavone and 7-O-methylamenthoflavone (sequoiaflavone) which are considered as chemotaxonomic markers of Ouratea. The structures were identified by IR, (1)H- and (13)C-NMR and GC-MS, HPLC-MS, besides comparison with literature data. The inhibitory effects of 5,4'-dihydroxy-7,5',3'-trimethoxyisoflavone, 7,3'-di-O-methylorobol, piscigenin and 7-O-methylamenthoflavone on cytochrome P450-dependent 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase (ECOD) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) were evaluated in vitro. The 5,4'-dihydroxy-7,5',3'-trimethoxy-isoflavone was the best inhibitor, inhibiting almost 75% of GST activity. Sequoiaflavone was the most potent inhibitor, inhibiting ECOD assay in 75%. These activities allow us to consider both these flavonoids as potential anticancer and chemopreventive agents.     

Vanillin (1) As Starting Material for the Synthesis of Isomeric Phthalides

Phthalides have bcen employed as useful intcriucdiates in tic sqrnthcsis of my condcnscld aromatic carbocyclic and heterocyclic compounds, including several natural products In this paper we report two alternative synthetic pathways for the preparation of phthalides as shown for the synthesis of the isomeric pairs of compounds 5a-d and 7a-d.     

Synthesis and photophysical properties of novel succinimidyl benzazole derivatives, evaluated by Candida albicans ATCC 10231 fluorescent staining

New fluorescent succinimidyl benzazole derivatives were synthesised and successfully used to stain Candida albicans ATCC 10231 cells. The dyes were characterised by means of infrared, ¹³C and ¹H NMR spectroscopies and elemental analysis. UV-Vis and steady-state fluorescence in solution were also applied to characterise their photophysical behaviour. The novel dyes were fluorescent in the yellow-green region by a phototautomerism in the excited state (ESIPT) with a large Stokes shift (9065-10962 cm⁻¹). Dual fluorescence could also be observed depending on the solvent polarity. The present dyes were used as new probes by means of culture methodology or direct staining to study the micromorphology of Candida albicans.