Phytochemical profiles and antioxidant capacity of the crude extracts,aqueous- and saponin-enriched butanol fractions of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Helicteres hirsuta</Emphasis> Lour. leaves and stems

This study aimed to compare phytochemical profiles and antioxidant capacity of various extracts including crude extracts, aqueous- and saponin-enriched butanol fractions prepared from the stems and leaves of Helicteres hirsuta Lour. The results revealed that all the three powdered extracts from the leaves and the stems possessed high levels of phenolics (177.07–241.03 mg GAE g^?1), flavonoids (158.03–280.06 mg CE g^?1) and saponins (165.77–1035.33 mg ESE g^?1) and exhibited strong antioxidant capacity. HPLC analysis identified nine major compounds in the leaf powder crude extract; however, the leaf aqueous fraction had three extra compounds; whereas, the saponin-enriched butanol leaf fraction had seven extra compounds. For the stems, twelve main compounds were evident in either the powdered crude extract or the aqueous fraction, and five new compounds were revealed in the saponin-enriched butanol fraction. The findings revealed that the powdered aqueous fractions and saponin-enriched butanol fractions are potential sources of biologically active compounds for further investigation and industrial utilisation.     

Copper-catalyzed chemoselective cross-coupling reaction of thioamides and α-diazocarbonyl compounds: Synthesis of enaminones

The development of operationally simple and cost-effective methods for CC bond formation reactions are highly important in pharmaceutical, agrochemical and material research. In this article we describe the first copper-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of thioamides with acceptor/acceptor-substituted and acceptor-only substituted α-diazocarbonyl compounds to yield enaminones. The reaction shows broad substrate scope in terms of thioamides and diazocarbonyl compounds. Primary, secondary and tertiary thioamides all give enanminones when reacted with α-diazodiesters, α-diazoketoesters, α-diazodiketones, α-diazoketoamides, α-diazoesteramides, α-diazoketosulfones and α-diazomonoketones.     

Photochemistry and photophysics of a Pd(II) metalloporphyrin: Re(I) tricarbonyl bipyridine molecular dyad and its activity toward the photoreduction of CO2 to CO

The photochemistry and photophysics of the cationic molecular dyad, 5-{4-[rhenium(I)tricarbonylpicoline-4-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine-4'-carboxyamidyl]phenyl}-10,15,20-triphenylporphyrinatopalladium(II) ([Re(CO)(3)(Pic)Bpy-PdTPP][PF(6)]) have been investigated. The single crystal X-ray structure for the thiocyanate analogue, [Re(CO)(3)(NCS)Bpy-PdTPP], exhibits torsion angles of 69.1(9)°, 178.1(7)°, and 156.8(9)° between porphyrin plane, porphyrin-linked C(6)H(4) group, amide moiety, and Bpy, respectively. Steady-state photoexcitation (λ(ex) = 520 nm) of [Re(CO)(3)(Pic)Bpy-PdTPP][PF(6)] in dimethylformamide (DMF) results in substitution of Pic by bromide at the Re(I)Bpy core. When [Re(CO)(3)(Pic)Bpy-PdTPP][PF(6)] is employed as a photocatalyst for the reduction of CO(2) to CO in DMF/NEt(3) solution with λ(ex) > 420 nm, 2 turnovers (TNs) CO are formed after 4 h. If instead, a two-component mixture of PdTPP sensitizer and mononuclear [Re(CO)(3)(Pic)Bpy][PF(6)] catalyst is used, 3 TNs CO are formed. In each experiment however, CO only forms after a slight induction period and during the concurrent photoreduction of the sensitizer to a Pd(II) chlorin species. Palladium(II) meso-tetraphenylchlorin, the hydrogenated porphyrin analogue of PdTPP, has been synthesized independently and can be substituted for PdTPP in the two-component system with [Re(CO)(3)(Pic)Bpy][PF(6)], forming 9 TNs CO. An intramolecular electron transfer process for the dyad is supported by cyclic voltammetry and steady-state emission studies, from which the free energy change was calculated to be ΔG(ox)* = -0.08 eV. Electron transfer from Pd(II) porphyrin to Re(I) tricarbonyl bipyridine in [Re(CO)(3)(Pic)Bpy-PdTPP][PF(6)] was monitored using time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy in the ν(CO) region on several time scales with excitation at 532 nm. Spectra were recorded in CH(2)Cl(2) with and without NEt(3). Picosecond TRIR spectroscopy shows rapid growth of bands assigned to the π-π* excited state (2029 cm(-1)) and to the charge-separated state (2008, 1908 cm(-1)); these bands decay and the parent recovers with lifetimes of 20-50 ps. Spectra recorded on longer time scales (ns, μs, and seconds) show the growth and decay of further species with ν(CO) bands indicative of electron transfer to Re(Bpy).     

Optimizing conditions for the extraction of catechins from green tea using hot water

Six different factors involved in the extraction of catechins from green tea using water were examined for their impact on the yield of catechins and on the efficiency of water use. The best temperature and time combination for catechin extraction was at 80°C for 30 min. The yield of catechins was also optimal with a tea particle size of 1 mm, a brewing solution pH <6 and a tea‐to‐water ratio at 50:1 (mL/g). In terms of efficient use of water in a single extraction, a water‐to‐tea ratio of 20:1 (mL/g) gave the best results; 2.5 times less water was used per gram of green tea. At the water‐to‐tea ratio of 20:1 mL/g, the highest yield of catechins per gram of green tea was achieved by extracting the same sample of green tea twice. However, for the most efficient use of water, the best extraction was found to be once at a water‐to‐tea ratio of 12:1 (mL/g) and once at a water‐to‐tea ratio of 8:1 (mL/g). Therefore, all six of the factors investigated had an impact on the yield of catechins extracted from green tea using water and two had an impact on the efficiency of water use.     

Recent trends in ultra‐fast HPLC: New generation superficially porous silica columns

New generation columns, i.e. packed with superficially porous silica particles are available as trade names with following manufacturers: Halo, Ascentis Express, Proshell 120, Kinetex, Accucore, Sunshell, and Nucleoshell. These provide ultra‐fast HPLC separations for a variety of compounds with moderate sample loading capacity and low back pressure. Chemistries of these columns are C₈, C₁₈, RP‐Amide, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography, penta fluorophenyl (PFP), F5, and RP‐aqua. Normally, the silica gel particles are of 2.7 and 1.7 μm as total and inner solid core diameters, respectively, with 0.5‐μm‐thick of outer porous layer having 90 Å pore sizes and 150 m²/g surface area. This article describes these new generation columns with special emphasis on their textures and chemistries, separations, optimization, and comparison (inter and intra stationary phases). Besides, future perspectives have also been discussed.     

Porphyrin-templated synthetic G-quartet (PorphySQ): a second prototype of G-quartet-based G-quadruplex ligand

Template-assembled synthetic G-quartet (TASQ) has been reported recently as a G-quadruplex ligand interacting with DNA according to an unprecedented, nature-inspired 'like likes like' approach, based on the association between two G-quartets, one being native (quadruplex) and the other one artificial (ligand). Herein, a novel TASQ-based ligand is designed, synthesized and its quadruplex-recognition properties are evaluated in vitro: PorphySQ (for porphyrin-templated synthetic G-quartet) displays enhanced quadruplex recognition properties as compared to the very first reported prototype (DOTASQ, for DOTA-templated synthetic G-quartet), since the porphyrin template insures a more stable intramolecular G-quartet fold due to self-stabilizing interactions that may take place intramolecularly between the porphyrin ring and the formed G-quartet.     

A Regularization Technique for a Class of Singular Integral Problems

We discuss here a method for the extraction of the singularparts of a variety of problems involving singular integrands.The method is based on the systematic use of a partial fractionidentity; we give here applications to numerical quadratureand to the solution of singular integral equations of variouskinds.     

Some natural aqueous extracts of plants as green inhibitor for carbon steel corrosion in 0.5 M sulfuric acid

The inhibiting impact of natural aqueous extracts of some plants such as curcumin, parsley and cassia bark extracts for the corrosion of carbon steel (C-steel) in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution was inspected utilizing some techniques such as galvanostatic and potentiodynamic anodic polarization and weight loss measurements. Outcomes indicated that the percentage inhibition efficiency increases with increasing the concentration of the extract due to its horizontal adsorption on the C-steel surface. The process of adsorption is followed by the Temkin isotherm. These natural extracts acted as pitting corrosion inhibitors by shifting the pitting potential to more noble values. The sequence of inhibition efficiency of the natural extracts decreases in the following order: cassia bark extract > parsley extract > curcumin extract. This arrangement is related to the molecular size of the major components of the three natural extracts used.     

A second-order dynamical system for equilibrium problems

Numerical Algorithms - We consider a second-order dynamical system for solving equilibrium problems in Hilbert spaces. Under mild conditions, we prove existence and uniqueness of strong global...