Electrochemical Monitoring of Methotrexate Anticancer Drug in Human Blood Serum by Using in situ Solvothermal Synthesized Fe3O4/ITO Electrode

Here, we reported on a one‐step fabrication of magnetite Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles/indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode based on the direct growing of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles on the ITO surface by using a solvothermal process. The modified electrode was used as electrochemical methotrexate (MTX) biosensor with high sensitivity based on cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry techniques. The results demonstrated a linear relationship between the MTX concentration and its oxidation current peak over a wide range from 10^?5 to 10^?14 mole/L with a limit of detection of 0.4×10^?15 M based on the square wave voltammetry (SWV) technique. In addition, Fe₃O₄/ITO electrode showed a good capability for measuring very low concentrations of MTX drug dissolved in human serum solution. Also, Fe₃O₄/ITO electrode was used for detecting MTX in blood serum samples collected from patients after their treatment with MTX. The prepared electrode showed the higher sensitivity that higher than the Viva‐E instrument, which opens the door for developing a cheap, simple and higher sensitive MTX sensor.     

Quenching effect of l-tyrosine on peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence of berberine as the fluorophore

The present work deals with the first attempt to study the effect of l-tyrosine on the characteristics of the peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence. Berberine was applied as an efficient fluorophore. The investigated parameters include rise and fall rate constant for the chemiluminescence burst, theoretical and experimental maximum intensity, the time needed to reach maximum intensity and the total light yield emission, which is theoretically evaluated using the pooled intermediate model by a computerized non-linear least-squares curve fitting program (KINFIT). Furthermore, based on the observed quenching effect of tyrosine, the Stern–Volmer plot with K _Q value of 7.7 × 10⁴ M^?1 in the quencher concentration range 4 × 10^?6–5 × 10^?5 M. Moreover, this method is applied to determinate tyrosine in biological samples successfully.     

Speciation Analysis of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) after Solid Phase Extraction Using Modified Magnetite Nanoparticles

A new solid phase extraction (SPE) method has been developed for the speciation of Cr(III) and Cr(VI). This method is based on the adsorption of Cr(VI) on modified alumina‐coated magnetite nanoparticles (ACMNPs). Total chromium in different samples was determined as Cr(VI) after oxidation of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) using H₂O₂. The chromium concentration has been determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometric (FAAS) technique and amount of Cr(III) was calculated by substracting the concentration of Cr(VI) from total chromium concentration. The effect of parameters such as pH, amount of adsorbent, contact time, sample volume, eluent type, H₂O₂ concentration and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) concentration as modifier on the quantitative recovery of Cr(VI) were investigated. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the preconcentration factor, detection limit, linear range and relative standard deviation (RSD) of Cr(VI) were 140 (for 350 mL of sample solution), 0.083 ng mL^?1, 0.1‐10.0 ng mL^?1 and 4.6% (for 5.0 ng mL^?1, n = 7), respectively. This method avoided the time‐consuming column‐passing process of loading large volume samples in traditional SPE through the rapid isolation of CTAB@ACMNPs with an adscititious magnet. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination and speciation of chromium in different water and wastewater samples and suitable recoveries were obtained.     

Synthesis of 1,4‐Diaryl‐piperazine‐2,5‐diones: New Behavior of N,N‐Dimethylformamide Dimethyl Acetal (DMFDMA)

Reactions of chloroacetamides (5) with N,N‐dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal gave 1,4‐diaryl‐piperazine‐2,5‐diones 11a–e in good yield, rather than 1,5‐diaryl‐3,7‐dimethoxy‐1H,5H‐[1,5]diazocine‐2,6‐diones (9a–e).     

Synthesis of New 1,3,4‐Oxadiazol,Thiadiazole, 1,2,4‐Triazole,and Arylidene Hydrazide Derivatives of 4‐Oxo‐1,4‐dihydroquinoline with Antimicrobial Evaluation

A series of substituted 1,3,4‐oxadiazole, 1,2,4‐triazole, and 1,3,4‐thiadiazole derivatives of the substituted 3‐carboethoxy‐1,4‐dihydro‐4‐oxoquinoline have been synthesized through the reaction of the key intermediate thiosemicarbazide derivatives with different reagents. N′‐Arylidene‐4‐oxo‐1,4‐dihydroquinoline‐3‐carbohydrazides were also synthesized through the condensation reaction of the corresponding hydrazides with the appropriate aldehydes. Antimicrobial activity of some of the synthesized compounds was evaluated.     

Synthesis and Reactions of Some Novel Nicotinonitrile,Thiazolotriazole, and Imidazolotriazole Derivatives for Antioxidant Evaluation

The novel 2-(1H)-pyridone, the lead compound of the pyridone derivative 1, reacted with an electrophilic reagent (ethyl chloroacetate) to give the corresponding ester 2. Condensation of compound 2 with thiosemicarbazide and/or hydrazine hydrate afforded the mercaptotriazole and the corresponding acetic acid hydrazide derivatives 3 and 4, respectively. The latter compound reacted with ethyl acetoacetate, ethyl cyanoacetate, and maleic anhydride to give compounds 5, 6, and 7, respectively. Alkylation of compound 3 with methyl iodide or chloroacetic acid afforded methylsulfanyltriazole and thiazolotriazole derivatives 8 and 9, respectively. Compound 8 reacted with glycine to afford the imidazotriazole derivative 10. Both compounds 9 and 10 reacted with glucose and benzaldehyde to give compounds 11, 12, 13, and 14, respectively. Some of the prepared products were selected and subjected to screening for their antioxidant activity.     

Validation of scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and gamma spectrometry to verify source nuclear material for safeguards purposes

Ten ore samples, two unpurified yellow cake samples and natural uranyl nitrate hexahydrate sample were analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) method to verify source nuclear material. Samples represent source nuclear material as possible. All samples were scanned at ideal conditions; working distance = 10 mm, voltage = 30 kV, magnification value = × 100, spot size = 50 to screen samples for the presence of uranium and thorium, Also Hyper pure germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometers were applied to estimate the uranium and thorium contents in Bq/kg (ppm). For the ore samples uranium-238 ranges from 1,049.23 Bq/kg (85.30 ppm) to 2,096.06 Bq/kg (170.41 ppm), uranium-235 ranges from 47.51 to 105.61 Bq/kg and thorium-232 ranges from 22.84 Bq/kg (5.65 ppm) to 41.78 Bq/kg (10.34 ppm). For the yellow cake samples and uranyl nitrate hexahydrate uranium-238 ranges from 42.99 Bq/kg (3.50 ppm) to 71,887.2 Bq/kg (5,844.49 ppm) and thorium-232 is 4.78 Bq/kg (1.83 ppm) and the other two samples are lower than the detection limit.     

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%.     

Synthesis of Interglycosidically S‐Linked 1‐Thio‐Oligosaccharides Under Microwave Irradiation*

Microwave irradiation (MWI) has accelerated the synthesis of S‐(2,3,4,6‐tetra‐O‐acetyl‐β‐D‐glucopyranosyl)thiouronium bromide (2a), whose reaction with 2,3,4,6‐tetra‐O‐acetyl‐α‐D‐glucopyranosyl bromide (1a) in the presence of Et₃N afforded stereoselectively the acetylated β,β‐1‐thiotrehalose 4a. Similarly, the respective D‐galactopyranosyl 4b and 2‐acetylamino‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucopyranosyl 4c analog as well as 4,4′‐di‐O‐(2,3,4,6‐tetra‐O‐acetyl‐β‐D‐galactopyranosyl) 4d and 4,4′‐di‐O‐(2,3,4,6‐tetra‐O‐acetyl‐α‐D‐glucopyranosyl) 4e derivatives of 2,2′,3,3′,6,6′‐hexa‐O‐acetyl β,β‐1‐thiotrehalose were prepared.     

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.