Ethylene Glycol as New Mobile Phase for Resolution of Two-Component Mixture of Cationic Surfactants on Alumina Surface

Aqueous ethylene glycol (ethane 1,2 diol) as a green mobile phase has been used for thin layer chromatographic (TLC) studies of cationic surfactants on alumina layers. Nineteen solvent systems were used to examine the mobility of the surfactants and to discover the best TLC system for the selective separation of dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) from multi-component mixture of other surfactants. Among the TLC systems studied, M₃ (ethylene glycol: water, 8:2) was best for achieving the selective separation of DTAB from multi-component mixture of other surfactants because in this mobile phase mobility of all surfactants except DTAB were insignificant. Effect of organic additives in aqueous ethylene glycol mobile phase on the mobility of surfactants was examined. The results obtained on laboratory made alumina TLC plates and commercially available precoated alumina HPTLC plates were compared. The lower limits of detection of DTAB, CPC, CTAB, HDTAC, and TTAB were 0.02, 0.05, 0.04, 0.06, or 0.08 µg per zone respectively. The resolution of mixture of cationic surfactants was also examined in the presence metal cations as an impurity in the analyzed sample.     

Retention profile of Fe,Mn and Cu onto chemically treated polyurethane with carbon disulfide

Dithiocarbamate modified polyurethane foam (DTC-PUF) was synthesized as a new solid-phase extraction sorbent for the preconcentration and determination of Fe(II), Mn(II) and Cu(II) in environmental samples using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Maximum extraction of the elements was achieved at pH 5–7 and flow rate 3 mL min^?1. Quantitative desorption was achieved by 10 mL from 1.0 mol L^?1 HCl solution. The capacity of the sorbent was 149.2 ± 0.5, 237.5 ± 0.2, 200.2 ± 0.1 μg g^?1 and the limit of detection was of 0.015, 0.015 and 0.012 μg mL^?1for Fe(II), Mn(II) and Cu(II), respectively. A preconcentration factor of 100 was obtained for all elements. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of the tested elements in water (tap and lake) and plant (spinach and parsley leaves) samples and showed good recovery values from 98 to 111% with corresponding RSD values ranged from 0.6 to 8.6%.     

Oxazoline‐Based Organocatalyst for Enantioselective Strecker Reactions: A Protocol for the Synthesis of Levamisole

A chiral oxazoline‐based organocatalyst has been found to efficiently catalyze asymmetric Strecker reactions of various aromatic and aliphatic N‐benzhydrylimines with trimethylsilyl cyanide (TMSCN) as a cyanide source at ?20 °C to give α‐aminonitriles in high yield (96 %) with excellent chiral induction (up to 98 % ee). DFT calculations have been performed to rationalize the enantioselective formation of the product with the organocatalyst in these reactions. The organocatalyst has been characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis, as well as by other analytical methods. This protocol has been extended to the synthesis of the pharmaceutically important drug molecule levamisole in high yield and with high enantioselectivity.     

Penultimate Approximations in Statistics of Extremes and Reliability of Large Coherent Systems

In reliability theory any coherent system can be represented as either a series-parallel or a parallel-series system. Its lifetime can thus be written as the minimum of maxima or the maximum of minima. For large-scale coherent systems it is sensible to assume that the number of system components goes to infinity. Then, the possible non-degenerate extreme value laws either for maxima or for minima are eligible candidates for the system reliability or at least for the finding of adequate lower and upper bounds for the reliability. The identification of the possible limit laws for the system reliability of homogeneous series-parallel (or parallel-series) systems has already been done under different frameworks. However, it is well-known that in most situations such non-degenerate limit laws are better approximated by an adequate penultimate distribution. Dealing with regular and homogeneous parallel-series systems, we assess both theoretically and through Monte-Carlo simulations the gain in accuracy when a penultimate approximation is used instead of the ultimate one.     

Experimental comparison of performance and emission characteristics of 4-stroke CI engine operated with Roselle and Jatropha biodiesel blends

The environmental degradation, combined with the continuous depletion of the world's fossil fuel reserves, has forced the search for alternative fuels. This study was performed to investigate the performance of novel biodiesels in the CI engine. The experiments were performed at three different compressions ratios (16:1, 17:1, 18:1) and four loading conditions (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%). Different types of fuels such as jatropha biodiesel (JB), roselle biodiesel (RB), and ternary biodiesel (TB) were prepared and analyzed. The thermal performance of different fuels was analyzed in terms of brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), and exhaust gas temperature (EGT). The emission characteristics such as CO₂ emission, NO_x emission, and smoke emission were analyzed for all types of fuels. The results of these fuels in the engine were compared with mineral diesel (MD). The BTE was increased with increasing compression ratios and loads for all types of fuels. The BSFC was increased with increasing compression ratios but decreased with increasing loads. The increase in emission of NO_x was observed at higher compression ratios and loads. However, the CO₂ emission was decreased at higher loads and lower compression ratio. The performance curves achieved with a 20% jatropha biodiesel blend showed results that were approximate to those obtained with pure MD. The comparative analysis between different fuels showed that JB exhibit higher thermal performance as compared to other biodiesels. Therefore, JB can be a better alternative to conventional fuel.     

Production of Terretonin N and Butyrolactone I by Thermophilic Aspergillus terreus TM8 Promoted Apoptosis and Cell Death in Human Prostate and Ovarian Cancer Cells

The anticancer activity of terretonin N (1) and butyrolactone I (2), obtained from the thermophilic fungus Aspergillus terreus TM8, was intensively studied against prostate adenocarcinoma (PC-3) and ovary adenocarcinoma (SKOV3) human cell lines. According to this study, both compounds showed potent cytotoxicity towards ovarian adenocarcinoma cells (SKOV3) with IC₅₀ 1.2 and 0.6 μg/mL, respectively. With respect to metastatic prostate cells (PC-3), the two compounds 1 and 2 showed a significantly promising cytotoxicity effect with IC₅₀ of 7.4 and 4.5 μg/mL, respectively. The tested fungal metabolites showed higher rates of early and late apoptosis with little or no necrotic apoptotic pathway in all treated prostate adenocarcinoma (PC-3) and ovary adenocarcinoma (SKOV3) human cell lines, respectively. The results reported in this study confirmed the promising biological properties of terretonin N (1) and butyrolactone I (2) as anticancer agents via the induction of cellular apoptosis. However, further studies are needed to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which cellular apoptosis is induced in cancer cells.     

Keggin-type heteropoly-11-molybdo-1-vanadophosphoric acid supported montmorillonite K-10 clay-catalysed one-pot multi-component synthesis of chromeno[2,3-b]indoles

One-pot three-component synthesis of twelve different chromeno[2,3-b]indole derivatives were achieved by the condensation of β-naphthol, oxindole and various substituted aldehydes. Two more chromeno[2,3-b]indole derivatives were also synthesized through one-pot two-component condensation of salicylaldehyde with oxindole/chlorooxindole. Both the condensations were achieved by using Keggin-type heteropoly-11-molybdo-1-vanadophosphoric acid, H₄[PVMo₁₁O₄₀] supported on montmorillonite K-10 clay for about 10% as catalyst under environmentally benign solvent-free reaction condition. Shorter reaction time, excellent yield of product, sustainability of catalytic material and simple workup procedure under green experimental conditions are the advantages of this protocol.

     

Structural,Magnetic and Catalytic Properties of a New Vacancy Ordered Perovskite Type Barium Cobaltate BaCoO2.67

A new vacancy ordered, anion deficient perovskite modification with composition of BaCoO_2.67 (Ba₃Co₃O₈□₁) has been prepared via a two-step heating process. Combined Rietveld analysis of neutron and X-ray powder diffraction data shows a novel ordering of oxygen vacancies not known before for barium cobaltates. A combination of neutron powder diffraction, magnetic measurements, and density functional theory (DFT) studies confirms G-type antiferromagnetic ordering. From impedance measurements, the electronic conductivity of the order of 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ is determined. Remarkably, the bifunctional catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is found to be comparable to that of Ba_0.5Sr_0.5Co_0.8Fe_0.2O_3–y, confirming that charge-ordered anion deficient non-cubic perovskites can be highly efficient catalysts.     

Fabrication of Sensitive Potentiometric Cholesterol Biosensor Based on Co3O4 Interconnected Nanowires

Highly sensitive, selective, reliable and inexpensive cholesterol biosensors are highly demanded for the routine monitoring of cholesterol molecules in order to prevent heart failure incidents. In this study, Co₃O₄ nanostructures are synthesized using polyvinyl pyrrolidone surfactant as growth template by a low temperature aqueous chemical growth method. The morphology of nanostructures was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and X‐ray diffraction techniques. The nanostructures exhibit interconnected nanowires like morphology with interconnected network of nanowires. The nanostructures of Co₃O₄ are polycrystalline. The cholesterol oxidase was physically adsorbed on the interconnected nanowires of Co₃O₄ for the chemical sensing of cholesterol molecules. The sensor device detected a wide range of cholesterol from 1×10^?7 M to 1×10^?3 M concentrations with sensitivity of ?94.031 mV/decade. A detection limit of 0.035×10^?7 M cholesterol concentration was observed and a fast response time of 10 s was also noticed. The fabricated device is highly stable, selective, sensitive, reproducible and repeatable. All the collected information about presented cholesterol biosensor indicates its potential application for the monitoring of cholesterol concentrations from human blood serum and real‐life samples.     

Mixed solvents for cellulose derivatization under homogeneous conditions: kinetic,spectroscopic, and theoretical studies on the acetylation of the biopolymer in binary mixtures of an ionic liquid and molecular solvents

Rate constants for the acetylation of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), by ethanoic anhydride in the presence of increasing concentrations of the ionic liquid (IL), 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride in dipolar aprotic solvents (DAS), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAC), and acetonitrile (MeCN), have been calculated from conductivity data. The third order rate constants showed a linear dependence on [IL]. We explain this result by assuming that the reacting cellulose is hydrogen-bonded to the IL. This is corroborated by kinetic data of the acetylation of cyclohexylmethanol, FTIR of the latter compound and of cellobiose in mixtures of IL/DAS, and conductivity of the binary solvent mixtures in absence, and presence of MCC. Cellulose acetylation is faster in IL/DMAC than in IL/MeCN; this difference is explained based on solvatochromic data (empirical polarity and basicity) and molecular dynamics simulations. Results of the latter indicate hydrogen-bond formation between the hydroxyl groups of the anhydroglucose unit of MCC, (Cl^?) of the IL, and the dipole of the DMAC. Under identical experimental conditions, acetylation in IL/DMAC is faster than that in LiCl/DMAC (2.7–8 times), due to differences in the enthalpies and entropies of activation.