Copper(II) tetrafluoroborate as a novel and highly efficient catalyst for Michael addition of mercaptans to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds

Copper(II) tetrafluoroborate has been found to be a new and highly efficient catalyst for Michael addition of thiols to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds under solvent-free conditions and in H₂O at room temperature. The reactions are very fast and are completed in 2 min to 1 h affording high yields. The rate of thiol addition was dependent on the steric hindrance at the β-carbon of the α,β-unsaturated carbonyl substrate. In the case of chalcones, the reactions are best carried out in MeOH as solvent.     

Bounds for the generalized Marcum function of the second kind

The Ramanujan Journal - This paper provides elementary proofs for several types of congruences involving multipartitions and self-convolutions of the divisor function. Our computations use...     

ZnO-TiO2 hybrid nanocrystal-loaded,wash durable,multifunction cotton textiles

Life-threatening diseases, especially those caused by pathogens and harmful ultraviolet radiation (UV-R), have triggered increasing demands for comfortable, antimicrobial, and UV-R protective clothing with a long service life. However, developing such textiles with exceptional wash durability is still challenging. Herein, we demonstrate how to fabricate wash durable multifunctional cotton textiles by growing in situ ZnO-TiO₂ hybrid nanocrystals (NCs) on the surface of cellulosic fabrics. The ZnO-TiO₂ hybrid NCs presented high functional efficiency, owing to their high charge transfer/separation. Ultrafine fiber surface pores, utilized as nucleating sites, endowed the uniform growth of NCs and their physical locking. The resulting fabrics presented excellent UV protection factors up to 54, displayed bactericidal efficiency of 100% against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and optimum self-cleaning efficacy. Moreover, the functionalized textiles exhibited robust washing durability, maintaining antibacterial and anti-UV-R efficiency even after 30 extensive washing cycles.

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Zirconium(IV) Thorium(IV) and Dioxouranium(VI) Complexes of Salicylidene o-Aminobenzothiol

Salicylidene-o-aminobenzothiol and its 5-chloro and 5-bromo derivatives, dibasic tridentate Schiff bases, dervied from the condensation of o-aminothiol and Salicylaldehyde, 5-chloro salicylaldehyde and 5-bromo salicylaldehyde, were used for coordination with Zr(IV), Th(IV) and UO₂(VI) metal inos. The I:I (metal-ligand) stoichiometry of these complexes is shown by elemental analysis and conductometric titrations. Molecular structure of these complexes are proved by Infra-red spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Magnetic susceptibility measurements of Zr(IV), Th(IV) and UO₂(VI) complexes show their diamagnetic and octahedral geometry. Results show that all the complexes have solvent molecules in coordination with metal ion.     

Miscibility and Thermal Behavior of Pullulan/Polyacrylamide Blends

Blends of Pullulan (PU) and Polyacrylamide (PAM) having biomedical applications were prepared and characterized in order to evaluate the miscibility of natural component with the synthetic one. Blends with different composition ratios were prepared using water as common solvent. Viscosity, ultrasonic velocity and density were measured at 30 and 40°C. Furthermore, the blend films were prepared by a solution casting method and analyzed by DSC, FTIR and TGA methods. Results of ultrasonic and density methods revealed the semi-miscibility of the blend. Using viscosity data, interaction parameters (Chee's ‘μ’ and Sun's ‘α’) were computed. The values confirmed that the blend is miscible when the Pullulan content is less than 20% in the blend. Change in temperature had no effect on the miscibility nature of the blends. Intermolecular interactions of hydrogen bonding type were confirmed by DSC and FTIR methods. Thermal behavior of blends was investigated using TGA method.     

Nano‐emulsion use for the synthesis of polyaniline nano‐grains or nano‐fibers

We report that nano‐emulsions can be creatively used as a morphology selective synthesis method to prepare not only nano‐grains but also nano‐fibers with high selectivity. Synthesis of the two different morphological materials was demonstrated using polyaniline synthesis as a model case. Polyaniline nano‐grains were synthesized from aniline molecules in nano‐size aqueous droplets as polymerization sites whose droplets were generated by inverse water‐in‐oil nano‐emulsion use, and polyaniline nano‐fibers were synthesized from aniline in aqueous nano‐dimensional channels as polymerization sites whose channels were generated by direct oil‐in‐water nano‐emulsion use containing high population of oil droplets. Using the approaches, we successfully synthesized nano‐fibers of 60 nm diameter with 0.5 µm length and also nano‐grains having diameter of 60–80 nm. The two different polymerization sites of nano‐scale dimension were made by changing the ratio among surfactant, aqueous aniline/HCl solution, and oil, i.e. organic solvent. We found the nano‐fibers synthesized from the channels formed by the direct oil‐in‐water nano‐emulsion have higher bulk electrical conductivity than the nano‐grains which were synthesized from the droplets formed by the inverse water‐in‐oil emulsion. We also found that the emulsion use allows us to use a room temperature synthesis unlike conventional synthesis methods which require to use ice bath temperature. Physical properties of both nano‐fibers and nano‐grains synthesized were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), UV–Vis spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and four probes conductivity measurement. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS-ESI method for the determination of lorglumide, a CCK-1 antagonist in mouse plasma: application to a pharmacokinetic study

A highly sensitive, rapid assay method was developed and validated for the estimation of lorglumide in mouse plasma using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization in positive‐ion mode. The assay procedure involves extraction of lorglumide and phenacetin (internal standard, IS) from mouse plasma with simple protein precipitation. Chromatographic separation was achieved using an isocratic mobile (0.2% formic acid solution–acetonitrile, 20:80, v/v) at a flow‐rate of 0.5 mL/min on an Atlantis dC₁₈ column maintained at 40 °C with a total run time of 4.0 min. The MS/MS ion transitions monitored were 459.2 → 158.4 for lorglumide and 180.1 → 110.1 for IS. Method validation was performed as per FDA guidelines and the results met the acceptance criteria. The lower limit of quantitation achieved was 0.42 ng/mL and the linearity range extended from 0.42 to 500 ng/mL. The intra‐ and inter‐day precisions were in the ranges of 1.47–10.9 and 3.56–7.53, respectively. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Water-soluble xanthobilirubinic acids?

Abstract  Xanthobilirubinic acid, a model dipyrrinone for one-half of the bilirubin molecule in photochemical and metabolism studies, is more polar than bilirubin and insoluble in water and in chloroform. Replacing the β-alkyl substituents on the lactam ring of xanthobilirubinic acid with methyl-capped ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and triethylene glycol (PEG) groups steadily increased the water solubility of the pigment so that the last is completely soluble in both water and chloroform. Synthesized by base-catalyzed condensation of the corresponding methyl-capped 3,4-diPEG-pyrrolin-2-one with 3,5-dimethyl-4(2-ethoxycarbonylethyl)-2-formyl-1H-pyrrole, these new PEGylated analogs of xanthobilirubinic acid are yellow-colored dipyrrinones that form intermolecular hydrogen-bonded dimers in chloroform solution but are monomeric in methanol and water, as revealed by ¹H NMR spectroscopy and vapor pressure osmometry. Methyl xanthobilirubinate has served as a synthetic precursor to bilirubinoids; its amphiphilic PEGylated analogs suggest a route to water-soluble bilirubinoids and biliverdinoids. Graphical abstract        

Addressing the metabolic activation potential of new leads in drug discovery: a case study using ion trap mass spectrometry and tritium labeling techniques

Metabolic activation of drug candidates to electrophilic reactive metabolites that can covalently modify cellular macromolecules may result in acute and/or idiosyncratic immune system-mediated toxicities in humans. This presents a significant potential liability for the future development of these compounds as safe therapeutic agents. We present here an example of an approach where sites of metabolic activation within a new drug candidate series were rapidly identified using online liquid chromatography/multi-stage mass spectrometry on an ion trap mass spectrometer. This was accomplished by trapping the reactive intermediates formed upon incubation of compounds with rat and human liver microsomes as their corresponding glutathione conjugates and mass spectral characterization of these thiol adducts. Based on the structures of the GSH adducts identified, potential sites and mechanisms of bioactivation within the chemical structure were proposed. These metabolism studies were interfaced with iterative structural modifications of the chemical series in order to block these bioactivation sites within the molecule. This strategy led to a significant reduction in the propensity of the compounds to undergo metabolic activation as evidenced by reductions in the irreversible binding of radioactivity to liver microsomal material upon incubation of tritium-labeled compounds with this in vitro system. With the efficiency and throughput achievable with such an approach, it appears feasible to identify and address the metabolic activation potential of new drug leads during routine metabolite identification studies in an early drug discovery setting.