Correlation between chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils from fifteen Eucalyptus species growing in the Korbous and Jbel Abderrahman arboreta (North East Tunisia)

The essential oils of fifteen Eucalyptus species harvested from the Jbel Abderrahman and Korbous arboreta (North East Tunisia) were screened for their antibacterial activities by the agar disc diffusion method. Eighteen major components as identified by GC/FID and GC/MS were selected for a study of the chemical and biological activity variability. The main one was 1,8-cineole, followed by spathulenol, trans-pinocarveol, α-pinene, p-cymene, globulol, cryptone, β-phellandrene, viridiflorol, borneol, limonene and isospathulenol. The chemical principal component analysis identified five species groups and subgroups, where each group constituted a chemotype, however that of the values of zone diameter of the inhibition (zdi) identified six groups of Eucalyptus oils, characterized by their antibacterial inhibition ability. The strongest activity was shown by E. platypus oil against Enterococcus faecalis and by E. lamannii oil against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. A correlation between the levels of some major components and the antibacterial activities was observed.     

Two-Dimensional NMR Studies of Triterpenoid Glycosides. II)- 1 H NMR Assignment of Arvensoside A and B,Calenduloside C and D

During the investigation of the glycosidic constitutents of Calendula arvensis L. we isolated the previously reported Arvensoside A, Arvensoside B, Calenduloside C and Calenduloside D. The complete assignment ¹H NMR spectra of these compounds was achieved through the concerted application of 2D-homonuclear chemical shift correlations. Calenduloside C and Calenduloside D were isolated for the first time from the fresh aerial parts of Calendula arvensis L.     

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of Juniperus phoenicea L. berries

This study is designed to examine the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of Juniperus phoenicea L. ripe and unripe berries. GC and GC/MS analyses resulted in the detection of 42 components representing approximately 96.50-99.57% of the oils. Major components of the oils were α-pinene (58.61-77.39%), camphene (0.67-9.31%), δ-3-carene (0-10.01%) and trans-verbenol (0-5.24%). Antioxidant activities were determined by two different test systems, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities. In both systems ripe berries exhibited better activity potential than the unripe ones.     

New Semiconducting Poly(arylene sulfide)s: Synthesis,Characterization, and Optical Properties

New semiconducting soluble poly(arylene sulfide)s were synthesized by Wittig polycondensation. The arylene moieties consist of distyrylbiphenyl (P1) and distyrylbithiophene (P2) π-conjugated systems. The polymers are fully amorphous and show good thermal stability. The absorption and photoluminescence properties of the polymers were investigated. P1 film has an optical gap of 2.95 eV and exhibits green-blue fluorescence. P2 shows a longer effective conjugation length with a gap of 2.42 eV and emits in the orange region. The HOMO/LUMO energy levels were estimated by cyclic voltammetry measurements. Single-layer diodes were fabricated and show relatively low turn-on voltages.     

Chemical composition of the essential oils of the berries of Juniperus oxycedrus L. ssp. rufescens (L. K.) and Juniperus oxycedrus L. ssp. macrocarpa (S. & m.) Ball. and their antioxidant activities

This study is outlined to probe the chemical composition of essential oil and in vitro antioxidant activity of Juniperus oxycedrus ssp. macrocarpa (S. & m.) Ball. and Juniperus oxycedrus L. ssp. rufescens (L. K.) berries, collected from four sites, according to their maturity phase. The chemical composition of the hydrodistilled essential oil was analysed by GC-MS. Forty-eight compounds were identified, accounting for approximately 79.8-98.9% of the oil. The main constituents were α-pinene, germacrene D, myrcene, abietadiene and cis-calamenene, their mean percentage vary according to their phenological stage. The antioxidant activity of the samples was determined by the ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities. Hawaria essential oil extracted from mature berries showed the highest antioxidant capacity.     

Blue-luminescent poly(p-phenylenevinylene) derivatives: Synthesis and effect of side-group size on the optical properties

New conjugated polymers based on separated PPV-type chromophores and incorporating different types of solubilizing side-groups (ethoxy: P1, hexyloxy: P2, dodecyloxy: P3 and benzyloxy: P4) were synthesized via Wittig polycondensation, using a series of bisphenol A-derived di(triphenylphosphonium) salts as starting monomers. The polymers are soluble in common organic solvents and their structures were confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and FTIR spectroscopies. The optical properties of these materials were investigated by UV–vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies. In dilute solution, quasi-identical fluorescence spectra were obtained and all the polymers showed a blue emission (420, 445 nm) and a narrow spectrum. In thin solid films, the polymers show side-group-dependent optical behavior and, whereas the emission remains blue in the case of P2, P3 and P4, a green fluorescence was observed for the ethoxylated polymer P1. From cyclic voltammetry analysis, the electrochemical band gaps were estimated to be 2.99, 3.07, 3.15 and 3.06 eV for P1, P2, P3 and P4, respectively. Single-layer diode devices of the [indium tin oxide/polymer/aluminum] configuration have been fabricated and show relatively low turn-on voltages between 2.6 and 4.9 V.