Urban air pollutants and their micro effects on medieval stained glass windows

Levels of urban gaseous and particulate pollutants were investigated in the Cathedral of Cologne, Germany in the framework of the EU-project “VIDRIO”. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of a protective double glazing system on the preservation of ancient stained glass windows by sampling at protected and unprotected windows (indoors, in the interspace and outdoor of the Cathedral). The interspace between the ancient stained glass window and the protective glazing is flushed in the Cathedral by indoor air, hence isolating the historic glass from the outdoor air and exposing it to indoor air on both sides of the glass panels. Concentrations of aggressive gaseous pollutants such as NO₂, SO₂, O₃ and CO₂ as well as elemental concentrations of bulk particles and relative abundances of single particles were surveyed at all sampling locations. Elemental concentrations in bulk particulate matter were found to be significantly lower inside the Cathedral in comparison to the outdoor air. This result is advantageous for the stained glass windows. Single particle analysis of the samples from Cologne showed also soil dust and organic particles as well as sulphates and nitrates, from which the latter two compounds are dangerous for the stained glass windows. On the base of the obtained results, it can be concluded that the protective glazing system in the Cathedral of Cologne can be considered as predominantly advantageous from both the gases' point of view (except for NO₂-candles burning) and from the particles' point of view.     

Building layer-by-layer 3D supramolecular nanostructures at the terephthalic acid/stearic acid interface

By using the layer-by-layer deposition method, we build three dimensional (3D) supramolecular nanostructures by stacking small molecular species on top of the first buffer layer, which can be utilized to fabricate novel 3D supramolecular functional nanostructures.     

Design,synthesis and molecular docking of new [1,2,4] triazolo[4,3-a]quinoxaline derivatives as anticancer agents targeting VEGFR-2 kinase

Molecular Diversity - Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) is critically involved in cancer angiogenesis. Blocking of VEGFR-2 signaling pathway proved effective suppression of...     

Synthesis and antiviral activity of new substituted pyrimidine glycosides

A number of N‐substituted pyrimidine glycosides were synthesized by coupling reaction of the pyrimidine base with acetobromosugars followed by deprotection. The synthesized compounds were tested for their antiviral activity against Hepatitis B Virus (HBV). Plaque reduction infectivity assay was used to determine virus count reduction as a result of treatment with tested compounds which showed moderate to high anti viral activities. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).     

Convenient One Pot Synthesis and Antibacterial Evaluation of Some New Mannich Bases Carrying 1,2,4‐Triazolyl Moiety

A series of Mannich bases were synthesized by a three‐component Mannich reaction. The newly synthesized compounds were well characterized by elemental analyses, IR, NMR and mass spectroscopic studies. The potential antibacterial effects of the synthesized compounds were investigated using standard bacterial strains: Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria. Interestingly, all the synthesized compounds were observed to be promising leads, possessing moderate to significant inhibitory activity as compared to standard.     

Shape-persistent macrocycles with intraannular polar groups: synthesis, liquid crystallinity, and 2D organization

The synthesis of macrocycles with intraannular polar ester groups and extraannular oligo-alkyl groups is described. The compounds exhibit stable liquid crystalline phases showing fan-shaped textures under the polarizing microscope, typical for a columnar order of the molecules. X-ray powder diffraction data of the LC phase indicate that the unit cell contains two symmetry-related units, a feature pointing most probably to a restricted rotation of the macrocycles within a stack. The X-ray data were further supported by solid-state NMR experiments, showing that the rigid core of the compounds does not rotate with kHz or higher frequencies within the column in the LC phase. Apart from the organization of the molecules in the LC phase, the 2D organization of the macrocycles at the solvent-highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) interface was investigated and showed that these compounds are capable of nanofunctionalizing the HOPG surface in the multinanometer regime.     

Comparison between the electrocatalytic properties of different metal ion phthalocyanines and porphyrins towards the oxidation of hydroxide

This work reports on the electrocatalytic oxidation of hydroxide using different central metal ion phthalocyanines and porphyrins immobilized on gold electrodes. The apparent electrocatalytic activity of cobalt phthalocyanine or porphyrin modified electrodes was found to be the greatest among the present series of metal ion macrocycles investigated. Copper and unmetallated phthalocyanine or porphyrin modified electrodes show no electrocatalytic behaviour towards hydroxide, such as bare gold. A possible mechanism for the enhanced reactivity of cobalt ion macrocycles towards the oxygen evolution is given. It is also stated that the electrocatalytic activity towards an adsorbate involves several aspects, such as the coordination state of the central metal ion, the nature of the ligand, the stability of the complexes, the number of d electrons, the energy of orbitals and the strength of the bonding between the central metal ion and the axial ligand.     

Synthesis of Some Novel Furan‐tagged Thienopyrimidine Derivatives as Antibacterial Agents

Cyclization of 2‐furan‐2‐yl‐4‐mercapto‐6‐methylpyrimidine‐5‐carbonitrile 1 with ethyl chloroacetate gave o‐aminoester thienopyrimidine derivative 3 , which was reacted with a variety of reagents to give a series of novel thienopyrimidines including tetrazolyl thienopyrimidine, pyrrolylthienopyrimidine, pyrimidothienotriazine, and thienodipyrimidines. Some of the synthesized compounds were tested for their antibacterial activities against Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria.     

Flow characteristics in a model of a left ventricle in the presence of a dysfunctional mitral mechanical heart valve

Journal of Visualization -