Shape-controlled metal oxides for selective catalytic oxidation - Burange, Anand S.; Gopinath, Chinnakonda (Advanced Heterogeneous Catalysts Volume 1: Applications at the Nano-Scale, 2020)
Some of industrial processes involve selective oxidation reactions that include the use of corrosive and nonbenign oxidants and solvents. Many metal oxide-based catalysts have been reported for selective oxidation processes, and they exhibit a range of activities compared to homogeneous protocols and current practices. To bridge the gap between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis in terms of activity and selectivity and move toward green oxidation processes, this chapter discusses the shape-controlled synthesis of a selected range of metal oxides and their applications in selective catalytic oxidation reactions. This chapter also discusses some of the interesting micro- and nanostructured materials used in these reactions, as well as the roles of exposed predominant facets, defects, and other features and their effects on catalysis. Oxides of Mn, Co, Ce, Cu, Fe, La, and some combinations thereof are presented. Chemical reactions such as the selective oxidations of alcohol, ethyl benzene, styrene, xylene, and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and the preferential oxidation of CO are also discussed.

Short review of synthetic routes for the antiepileptic drug (R)-lacosamide - Aratikatla, Eswar K.; Bhattacharya, Asish K. (Organic Process Research & Development, 2020)
The disease epilepsy affects people of all ages and is due to a chronic neurological disorder in the brain. According to a report by the World Health Organization, epilepsy is one of the most common global neurological diseases. (R)-Lacosamide (Vimpat) was introduced by UCB Pharma in 2008 for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in patients suffering from epilepsy. This review summarizes all of the available synthetic strategies reported for (R)-lacosamide, which will help medicinal chemists in the further development of its synthesis.
Keywords: antiepileptic drug; epilepsy; lacosamide; serine derivative; synthesis

Shotgun metagenome guided exploration of anthropogenically driven resistomic hotspots within Lonar soda lake of India - Chakraborty, Jaya; Sapkale, Vibhavari; Rajput, Vinay; Shah, Manan; Kamble, Sanjay; Dharne, Mahesh (Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 2020)
Anthropogenic activities mediated antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the pristine aquatic bodies (lakes) is raising concern worldwide. Long read shotgun sequencing was used to assess taxonomic diversity, distribution of ARGs and metal resistance genes (MRGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in six sites within hypersaline Lonar soda lake (India) prone to various anthropogenic activities. Proteobacteria and Euryarchaeota were dominant phyla under domain Bacteria and Archaea respectively. Higher abundance of Bacteroidetes was pragmatic at sites 18LN5 and 18LN6. Functional analysis indicated 26 broad-spectrum ARGs types, not reported earlier in this ecosystem. Abundant ARG types identified were multidrug efflux, glycopepetide, bacitracin, tetracycline and aminogylcoside resistance. Sites 18LN1 and 18LN5 depicted 167 and 160 different ARGs subtypes respectively and rpoB2, bcrA, tetA(48), mupA, ompR, patA, vanR and multidrug ABC transporter genes were present in all samples. The rpoB2 gene was dominant in 18LN1, whereas bcrA gene in 18LN2-18LN6 sites. Around 24 MRGs types were detected with higher abundance of arsenic in 18LN1 and copper in 18LN2-18LN6, signifying metal contamination linked to MRGs. The bacterial taxa Pseudomonas, Thioalkalivibrio, Burkholderia, Clostridium, Paenibacillus, Bacillus and Streptomyces were significantly associated with ARGs. This study highlights the resistomic hotspots in the lake for deploying policies for conservation efforts.
Keywords: ARGs; diversity; Lonar lake; MGEs; MRGs; Nanopore sequencing

Silk fibroin 3D microparticle scaffolds with bioactive ceramics: chemical, mechanical, and osteoregenerative characteristics - Parekh, Nimisha A.; Deshpande, V. Rucha; Shukla, Swati G.; Nisal, Anuya A. (Advanced Engineering Materials, 2020)
Preparation of 3D scaffolds for bone tissue engineering (BTE) is a challenging task as it requires appropriate pore size and porosities, mechanical properties, and controlled bioerosion rate. The focus of this work is the fabrication of silk fibroin (SF) 3D microparticle scaffolds with the incorporation of hydroxyapatite (HA) and calcium sulfate (CaS) as bioceramics. Physicochemical characterization shows approximate to 30% filler loading and approximate to 40% optimum porosity with >100 mu m pore size for these filled/unfilled scaffolds. Nanoindentation studies show improved Young's modulus at microparticle level with the incorporation of bioceramics. SF-HA scaffolds showed three fold increase in Young's modulus, whereas SF-CaS showed two fold increase. In vitro bioerosion study results in early bioerosion with SF-CaS scaffold, whereas prolonged bioerosion with SF-HA scaffold. In vitro osteoregenerative potential is analyzed by estimating alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), and osteocalcin (OCN). SF CaS supports early stage differentiation while SF 50% HA predominantly supports late stage. The expression of TNF-alpha suggests a reduced risk of immune rejection. This work, therefore, concludes that although SF supports bone tissue regeneration, the choice of bioceramic enhances the applicability in various clinical scenarios by providing a controlled bioerosion rate, tunable speed of osteoregeneration, and improved load bearing capacities.
Keywords: bioceramics; bioerosion; osteogenic differentiation; Silk fibroin; stem cells

Silver-catalyzed cascade cyclization/1,6-conjugate addition of homopropargyl sulfonamides to p-quinone methides: an approach to diverse 3-diarylmethine substituted dihydropyrroles - Shirsath, Sachin R.; Ghotekar, Ganesh S.; Bahadur, Vir; Gonnade, Rajesh G.; Muthukrishnan, M. (Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2020)
A silver-catalyzed cycloisomerization/1,6-conjugate addition of homopropargyl sulfonamides to p-quinone methides to access diverse diarylmethine substituted dihydropyrroles has been disclosed. The reaction pathway involves an intramolecular cascade cyclization of homopropargyl sulfonamides to generate a highly reactive dihydropyrrole intermediate in situ followed by conjugate addition with p-quinone methides. This method provides an efficient and scalable route for the synthesis of 3-diarylmethine substituted dihydropyrroles, in one pot.

Simultaneous determination of anthraquinone, flavonoids, and phenolic antidiabetic compounds from cassia auriculata seeds by validated UHPLC based MS/MS method - Girme, Aboli; Saste, Ganesh; Chinchansure, Ashish; Joshi, Swati; Kunkulol, Rahul; Hingorani, Lal; Patwardhan, Bhushan (Mass Spectrometry Letters, 2020)
A systematic isolation and characterization study for Cassia auriculata (CA) seeds resulted in identifying antidiabetic compounds 1,3,8-trihydroxyanthraquinone and quercetin, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, gallic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and ellagic acid. The ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography based triple quadrupole mass spectrometry methodology was developed and validated for simultaneous identification and confirmation of these compounds from CA seeds. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) based quantification method was developed with MRM optimizer software for MS1 and MS2 mass analysis. The method was optimized on precursor ions and product ions with the ion ratio of each compound. The calibration curves of seven bioactive analytes showed excellent linearity (r2 ≥ 0.99). The quantitation results found precise (RSD, < 10 %) with good recoveries (84.58 to 101.42%). The matrix effect and extraction recoveries were found within the range (91.66 to 102.11%) for the CA seeds. This is the first MS/MS-based methodology applied to quantifying seven antidiabetic compounds in CA seeds and its extract for quality control purposes.

Simultaneous identification and estimation of glycyrrhizin, glabridin, and 18β‐glycyrrhetinic acid in de‐glycyrrhized Ayurvedic lipid‐based formulation of Glycyrrhiza glabra using dual wavelength reverse phase‐high‐performance liquid chromatography - Kumbhalkar, Bhagyashri; Walunj, Tanhaji; Chavan, Sandeep; Gupta, Vidya; Deshmukh, Vineeta; Sardeshmukh, Sadanand (Separation Science Plus, 2020)
Plant‐based Ayurvedic formulations such as medicated oils, confectioneries, etc. are developed with a rationale of selecting specific compounds for targeted action and minimal side effects. It is imperative to develop an analytical method to simultaneously identify and quantify the targeted compounds for good resolution with low retention time. The present assay using reverse phase‐high‐performance liquid chromatography is optimized to resolve glycyrrhizin, glabridin, and 18β‐glycyrrhetinic acid simultaneously at retention times of 6.6, 8.1, and 10.2 min, respectively, using acidified mobile phase from Glycyrrhiza glabra utilized in Ayurvedic lipid (cow's ghee and sesame oil) based formulations. Raw material, its decoction, and residues formed during preparation steps were extracted in methanol while lipid formulations were extracted using a binary solvent system of methanol and n‐hexane. The separation was performed on Hypersil gold column maintained at 40°C using 0.2% ortho‐phosphoric acid with pH 3.5 in water and acetonitrile as binary gradient mobile phase. The compounds were detected at wavelengths 230 (glabridin) and 254 (glycyrrhizin and 18β‐glycyrrhetinic acid) nm. The method revealed de‐glycyrrhized finished products containing glabridin and 18β‐glycyrrhetinic acid having medicinal value.

Site speci fic nitrogen incorporation in reduced graphene oxide using imidazole as a novel reducing agent for ef ficient oxygen reduction reaction and improved supercapacitive performance - Roy, Dipayan; Sarkar, Saikat; Bhattacharjee, Kaustav; Panigrahi, Karamjyoti; Das, Bikram Kumar; Sardar, Kausik; Sarkar, Sourav; Chattopadhyay, Kalyan Kumar (Carbon, 2020)

Solid catalysts for conversion of furfural and its derivatives to alkanediols - Enjamuri, Nagasuresh; Darbha, Srinivas (Catalysis Reviews-Science and Engineering, 2020)
Alkanediols with five and six carbon atoms (1,2- & 1,5-pentanediols and 1,2- & 1,6-hexanediols, respectively) are an important class of industrial chemicals having wide application. Their production from lignocellulosic biomass-derived furfural and its derivatives using solid catalysts is a sustainable and attractive approach. Several bifunctional catalysts with metal (for hydrogenation/hydrogenolysis) and acid/base (for ring opening) functionalities have been reported. Effective and selective conversion of furfurals to a desired diol is still a challenge. This review discusses the recent advances in catalyst development for pentane- and hexanediols. The reaction pathways, active sites, and possible reaction mechanisms over the solid catalysts are discussed. A comparative catalytic activity data of the known catalysts are reported.
Keywords: 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF); Alkanediol; furfural (FAL); hexanediol; pentanediol; solid catalyst

Solution-phase hybrid passivation for efficient infrared-band gap quantum dot solar cells - Mahajan, Chandan; Sharma, Ashish; Rath, Arup K. (ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2020)
The broad tunability of the energy band gap through size control makes colloidal quantum dots (QDs) promising for the development of photovoltaic devices. Large-size lead sulfide (PbS) QDs, exhibiting a narrow energy band gap, are particularly interesting as they can be used to augment perovskite and c-Si solar cells due to their complementary NIR absorption. However, their complex surface chemistry makes them difficult to process for the development of solar cells. The shape of the QDs transformed from octahedron to cuboctahedron as their size increases, a phenomenon guided by surface energy minimization. As a result, the surface properties change drastically for large-size QDs, which exhibit nonpolar (200) facets and polar (111) facets, as opposed to only (111) facets in small-size QDs. Recent advancements in solution-phase surface passivation strategies, used for the development of high-performance solar cells using the small size and wide band gap QDs, failed to translate a similar enhancement in the case of large-size and narrow band gap QDs. Here, we report a hybrid passivation strategy for large-size and narrow band gap QDs to passivate both (111) and (200) facets, respectively, using inorganic lead triiodide (PbI3-) and organic 3-chloro-1-propanethiol (CPT). By employing charge balance calculation, we identified the desired narrow band gap for QDs to complement the perovskite and c-Si absorption. The distinct choice of the organic ligand CPT enhances the colloidal stability of QDs in the solution phase and improves surface passivation to stop QD fusion in solid films. Photophysical properties show narrower excitonic and emission peaks and a reduction in the Stokes shift. Hybrid passivation leads to a 94% increase in the power conversion efficiency of solar cells and a 74% increase in the external quantum efficiency at the excitonic peak.
Keywords: infrared band gap; polydispersity; quantum dot; solar cells; surface passivation; trap states

Solvent extraction of butanol from synthetic solution and fermentation broth: batch and continuous studies - Khedkar, Manisha A.; Nimbalkar, Pranhita R.; Gaikwad, Shashank G.; Chavan, V, Prakash; Bankar, Sandip B. (Separation and Purification Technology, 2020)
Product recovery is one of the essential finishing steps to any commercial fermentation process. In acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation, butanol recovery is quite tedious mainly due to dilute product and multiple byproduct formation in complex media. Among different recovery methods, extraction has attracted considerable attention in biofuel recovery owing to its high selectivity, low energy consumption, and ease of operation. In present work, the butanol extraction performance from synthetic solvent mixture containing ABE was tested in batch and continuous operations using 20% (v/v) decanol in oleyl alcohol. The optimized extraction conditions were then validated using actual fermentation broth to confirm effectiveness of the extraction operation. The distribution coefficient (K-d) and batch extraction efficiency (E) were in the range of 5.60-9.80 and 87.70-86.90% for fermentation broth and synthetic solution, respectively for a given initial concentration of butanol in the aqueous phase. Further, E was relatively improved by supplementing different inorganic salts. Sodium hydroxide (5%, w/v) was highly effective to recover butanol from fermentation broth (E similar to 97.70%) with K-d of 33.10. Besides, the continuous counter current extraction of butanol in a packed column was performed. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa) was estimated to be 0.025 1/min at an optimized superficial velocity of the aqueous phase (0.28 cm/min) and sodium hydroxide concentration (5%, w/v). Height of the extraction column was estimated to be 28.32 cm using height of transfer unit (HTU) and number of transfer unit (NTU) concept for extraction efficiency of 97.20%. Overall, the present study has demonstrated an enhanced extraction efficiency of butanol from fermentation broth.
Keywords: Biobutanol; Equilibrium stages; Height of transfer unit; liquid-liquid extraction; mass transfer coefficient; Number of transfer unit

Solvent-less solid state synthesis of dispersible metal and semiconducting metal sulfide nanocrystals (vol 6, pg 12006, 2018) - Bera, Abhijit; Busupalli, Balanagulu; Prasad, Bhagavatula L. V. (ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2020)

Spectroscopic evidences for the size dependent generation of pd species responsible for the low temperature CO oxidation activity on Pd-SBA-15 nanocatalyst - Soni, Yogita; Pradhan, Sumanta; Bamnia, Mahesh K.; Yadav, A. K.; Jha, S. N.; Bhattacharyya, D.; Khan, Tuhin Suvra; Haider, M. A.; Vinod, C. P. (Applied Catalysis B-Environmental, 2020)
A comprehensive size dependent CO oxidation activity has been demonstrated for Pd-SBA-15 catalysts with Pd NPs of varying sizes such as 1-2, 4-6 and 7-10 nm. Pd-SBA-15 catalyst with smallest sized NPs (Pd-S-N) has been synthesized by modified deposition precipitation method recently developed in our lab. Pd-S-N catalyst (reduced at 400 degrees C) demonstrated CO oxidation activity with lower light off temperature (50 degrees C), clearly one of the best reported for a Pd-silica system. A detailed XPS and in-situ DRIFTS analyses further supported by XAS and DFT calculations reveal the presence of easily decomposable highvalent Pd-oxide on co-ordinatively unsaturated Pd sites (Pdcus). Weak binding of CO on Pdcus sites in small Pd NPs leaving sites for oxygen activation is attributed to the low temperature activity of Pd-S-N for CO oxidation.
Keywords: CO oxidation; high-valent Pd species; Pd nanoparticles; SBA-15; under coordinated Pd atoms

Spectroscopic probe of atomically thin domains of CVD-grown MoSe2 - Singh, Vineeta; Late, Dattatray J.; Rath, Shyama (AIP Conference Proceedings, 2020)
Since the discovery of graphene, two-dimensional Layered Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDCs) such as MoS2, MoSe2, and WS2 having a tunable bandgap, have emerged as one of the most stable classes of materials making them attractive for various applications. We have investigated the growth mechanism and shape evolution of various domains of CVD-grown MoSe2 on insulating substrates by spectroscopic techniques. The different morphologies were analyzed using Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopies. The transformation from the precursor MoO3 to MoSe2 is found to depend on a number of growth parameters and experimental conditions.

Sphingomyelin effects in caveolin-1 mediated membrane curvature published as part of the journal of physical chemistry virtual special issue ``computational and experimental advances in biomembranes'' - Krishna, Anjali; Prakash, Shikha; Sengupta, Durba (Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2020)
The caveolin-1 (cav-1) protein is an integral component of caveolae and has been reported to colocalize with cholesterol and sphingomyelin-rich curved membrane domains. Here, we analyze the molecular interactions between cav-1 and sphingomyelin containing bilayers using a series of coarse-grain simulations, focusing on lipid clustering and membrane curvature. We considered a palmitoylated-cav-1 construct interacting with phospholipid/cholesterol membranes with asymmetrically distributed sphingomyelin, varying between 5 and 15% in total. We observe that cav-1 binds to the intracellular leaflet and induces a small positive curvature in the leaflet to which it is bound and an opposing negative curvature in the extracellular leaflet. Both cholesterol and sphingomyelin are observed to cluster in cav-1 bound membranes, mainly in the extracellular leaflet. Due to their negative spontaneous curvature, clustering of cholesterol and sphingomyelin facilitates membrane curvature such that the extent of either cholesterol or sphingomyelin clustering is dependent on the curvature induced. Our results suggest that cav-1 binding induces concentration-dependent curvature effects in sphingomyelin-rich membranes. Overall, our work is an important step in understanding the molecular basis of curvature and lipid clustering in cav1 bound cellular membranes.

Stepwise nucleophilic substitution to access saturated N-heterocyclic carbene haloboranes with boron-methyl bonds - Kundu, Gargi; Pahar, Sanjukta; Tothadi, Srinu; Sen, Sakya S. (Organometallics, 2020)
Compounds of boranes with N-heterocyclic carbenes are known, yet little attention has been paid to NHC compounds of boron bearing methyl and halogen moieties together. The reason can be attributed to the hazardous methyldichloroborane (MeBCl2), which ignites in air. We describe here convenient solution-phase access to SIDipp.MeBCl2 (SIDipp = 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazolin-2-ylidene) (3) by a salt metathesis reaction of SIDipp.BCl3 (2) with MeLi. Replacement of the chlorine atoms of 3 with stepwise addition of AgOTf led to the formation of SIDipp.MeBCl(OTf) (4) and SIDipp.MeB(OTf)2 (5). In the case of 4, all of the substituents on the boron atom are different. Subsequently, we extended our synthetic approach to the amidinate system and prepared PhC(NtBu)2B(Me)Cl (7) from the reaction of PhC(NtBu)2BCl2 (6) with MeLi.

Stimuli-responsive biodegradable polyurethane nano-constructs as a potential triggered drug delivery vehicle for cancer therapy - Gajbhiye, Kavita R.; Chaudhari, Bhushan P.; Pokharkar, Varsha B.; Pawar, Atmaram; Gajbhiye, Virendra (International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2020)
Polyurethanes (PUs) constitute an essential class of stimuli-responsive and biodegradable material, which has significantly contributed to the advancement of polymers utilization in the biomedical field. The bio-erodible PUs construct an active corridor for facilitating drug into tumor cells, which has significantly impacted the progression of nano-micellar delivery systems. The self-assembled colloidal PUs pose distinctive features such as enhancing the solubility of hydrophobic chemotherapeutics, rapid cellular uptake, triggered erosion and drug release, bio-stimulus sensitivity, improvement in the targeting and proficiency of bioactive. Cationic PUs can easily be condensed with genetic material to form polyplexes and have shown excellent transfection efficiency for potential gene therapy against various cancers. Their modifiable chemistry offers a tool to impart the desired multifunctionality such as biocompatibility, sensitivity to pH, redox, temperature, enzyme, etc. and ligand conjugation for active targeting. These diverse exceptional properties make them excellent nano-carrier for a variety of bioactive, including chemotherapeutic drugs, DNA, RNA, and diagnostic moieties to the target tissue or cells. The PUs based nano-devices have certainly uncovered the path to achieve ideal systems for controlled personalized therapy. The literature discussed in this review shed light on the research innovations carried out in the last ten years for the development of multifunctional PUs for triggered delivery of bioactive to treat various cancers.
Keywords: Cancer nanomedicine; GSH; micelles; Polyurathanes; redox; Stimuli-responsive

Stress-induced electronic structure modulation of manganese-incorporated Ni2P leading to enhanced activity for water splitting - Sarkar, Shreya; Dheer, Lakshay; Vinod, C. P.; Thapa, Ranjit; Waghmare, V. Umesh; Peter, Sebastian C. (ACS Applied Energy Materials, 2020)
The cornerstone of the emerging hydrogen economy is hydrogen production by water electrolysis with concomitant oxygen generation. Incorporating a third element in metal phosphides can tune the crystalline and electronic structure, hence improving the electrocatalytic properties. In this work, Mn-doped Ni2P with varying ratios of Mn and Ni has been explored as excellent catalysts for water splitting. A complete cell made of the best catalyst Ni1.5Mn0.5P electrodes showed low voltage of 1.75 V at a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) due to enhanced electrical conductivity, induction of tensile stress, enhanced electrochemical surface area, and increased electric dipole upon Mn incorporation.
Keywords: Electronic Structure; hydrogen evolution reaction; Oxygen Evolution Reaction; phosphides; water splitting

Stronger transcription regulatory circuit of HIV-1C drives the rapid establishment of latency with implications for the direct involvement of tat - Chakraborty, Sutanuka; Kabi, Manisha; Ranga, Udaykumar (Journal of Virology, 2020)
The magnitude of transcription factor binding site variation emerging in HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1C), especially the addition of NF-kappa B motifs by sequence duplication, makes the examination of transcriptional silence challenging. How can HIV-1 establish and maintain latency despite having a strong long terminal repeat (LTR)? We constructed panels of subgenomic reporter viral vectors with varying copy numbers of NF-kappa B motifs (0 to 4 copies) and examined the profile of latency establishment in Jurkat cells. Surprisingly, we found that the stronger the viral promoter, the faster the latency establishment. Importantly, at the time of commitment to latency and subsequent points, Tat levels in the cell were not limiting. Using highly sensitive strategies, we demonstrate the presence of Tat in the latent cell, recruited to the latent LTR. Our data allude, for the first time, to Tat establishing a negative feedback loop during the late phases of viral infection, leading to the rapid silencing of the viral promoter. IMPORTANCE Over the past 10 to 15 years, HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1C) has been evolving rapidly toward gaining stronger transcriptional activity by sequence duplication of major transcription factor binding sites. The duplication of NF-kappa B motifs is unique and exclusive to HIV-1C, a property not shared with any of the other eight HIV-1 genetic families. What mechanism(s) does HIV-1C employ to establish and maintain transcriptional silence despite the presence of a strong promoter and concomitant strong, positive transcriptional feedback is the primary question that we attempted to address in the present manuscript. The role that Tat plays in latency reversal is well established. Our work with the most common HIV-1 subtype, HIV-1C, offers crucial leads toward Tat possessing a dual role in serving as both a transcriptional activator and repressor at different phases of viral infection of the cell. The leads that we offer through the present work have significant implications for HIV-1 cure research.
Keywords: HIV-1C; latency; LTR; NF-kappa B; positive feedback; Tat

Structural and electrical characterization studies for ternary composite of polypyrrole - Megha, R.; Ravikiran, Y. T.; Kumari, S. C. Vijaya; Prakash, H. G. Raj; Revanasiddappa, M.; Manjunatha, S.; Dastager, Syed G.; Thomas, S. (Journal of Materials Science-Materials in Electronics, 2020)
In this work, temperature dependence of alternate current (AC) and direct current (DC) conductivities of optimized polypyrrole/silver-tantalum oxide (PPy/Ag-Ta2O5), a ternary conducting polymer composite is comparatively studied with those of PPy and PPy/Ag. For the purpose, silver (Ag) nanoparticles were encapsulated with polypyrrole (PPy) by in situ oxidative polymerization to form core-shell structured PPy/Ag composite for which Ag nanoparticles were extracted from green tea. The PPy/Ag composite was then mechanically mixed with tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) to form PPy/Ag-Ta(2)O(5)ternary composite. Increase in depth of delocalization band of PPy in ternary composite as compared to those of PPy/Ag composite and PPy, indicating its increased AC conductivity confirmed from the comparative FTIR analyses. Interaction between PPy/Ag composite and Ta(2)O(5)in the ternary composite was confirmed from XRD studies. The formation of core-shell structured PPy/Ag composite and Ta(2)O(5)particles embedded in such PPy/Ag composite to form PPy/Ag-Ta(2)O(5)ternary composite confirmed from TEM and Raman studies. The frequency- and temperature-dependent electrical conductivity studies revealed increase in AC conductivity of the ternary composite as compared to those of PPy/Ag composite and pure PPy attributed mainly to interfacial effects. The charge transport in these samples predicted to be due to correlated barrier hopping of charges was confirmed by calculating their respective AC and DC activation energies.

Structural and enzymatic analysis of a dimeric cholylglycine hydrolase like acylase active on N-acyl homoserine lactones - Philem, Pushparani D.; Yadav, Yashpal; Sunder, Avinash Vellore; Ghosh, Deepanjan; Prabhune, Asmita; Ramasamy, Sureshkumar (Biochimie, 2020)
The prevalence of substrate cross-reactivity between AHL acylases and beta-lactam acylases provides a glimpse of probable links between quorum sensing and antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Both these enzyme classes belong to the N-terminal nucleophile (Ntn)-hydrolase superfamily. Penicillin V acylases alongside bile salt hydrolases constitute the cholylglycine hydrolase (CGH) group of the Ntn-hydrolase superfamily. Here we report the ability of two acylases, Slac1 and Slac2, from the marine bacterium Shewanella loihica PV4 to hydrolyze AHLs. Three-dimensional structure of Slac1 reveals the conservation of the Ntn hydrolase fold and CGH active site, making it a unique CGH exclusively active on AHLs. Slac1homologs phylogenetically cluster separate from reported CGHs and AHL acylases, thereby representing a functionally distinct sub-class of CGH that might have evolved as an adaptation to the marine environment. We hypothesize that Slac1 could provide the structural framework for understanding this subclass, and further our understanding of the evolutionary link between AHL acylases and beta-lactam acylases. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. and Societe Francaise de Biochimie et Biologie Moleculaire (SFBBM). All rights reserved.
Keywords: AHL acylase; Cholyolglycine hydrolase; Homodimer; Ntn-fold; Shewanella loihica-PV4

Structural and physical analysis of underwater silk from housing nest composites of a tropical chironomid midge - Thorat, Leena; Joseph, Emmanuel; Nisal, Anuya; Shukla, Ekta; RaviKumar, Ameeta; Nath, Bimalendu B. (International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2020)
Chironomids are an abundant group of aquatic silk spinning insects. They offer a unique opportunity of silk harvestation without killing them; however, they remained underappreciated models in silk research. Here, we investigate the structural and biomechanical characteristics of silk from the midge, Chironomus ramosus. A combination of microscopic (SEM), spectroscopic (CD and IR), structural (XRD), thermal (DSC and TGA) and mechanical measurement tools and techniques were employed to gain critical insights on midge silk. Maximum yield of silk was obtained from Chironomus in similar to 2.5 h, the shortest time reported among insects. The network of water-insoluble silk fibres possessed the smallest diameter of 110 +/- 35 nm, known for any insect silk, qualifying its superiority in fibre fineness. We demonstrate a cruelty-free silk extraction method in contrast to the conventional violent techniques. Structural characterization indicated coexistence of various secondary conformations, beta sheets being predominant. We compare and contrast these features to well-characterized caddisfly and silk-worm silks and highlight the uniqueness in midge silk that render mechanical stability and potentially contribute to its multi-functionalization. We thus propose Chironomus as an emerging candidate of water-borne silk, especially in the context of the `Peace silk' industry, aiming to develop non-violent methods for silk harvestation from animals. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: biopolymer; Chironomus; Commercial applications; Housing nest composite; Peace silk; Underwater silk

Structural, electrochemical and catalytic activity of Prussian blue analogues embedded with functionalized carbon for solid state battery applications - Shaikh, Shabana P. S.; Bhatt, Pramod; Yusuf, S. M.; Bhange, S. N.; Bansod, Sudhakar; Abdalla, Abdalla M. (International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2020)
The nanoparticles of Mn-1.5[Cr(CN)(6)]center dot mH(2)O@Ni-1.5[Cr(CN)(6)]center dot nH(2)O core-shell prussian blue analogues (PBA) embedded with carbon additives (PBA-C) were synthesized and characterized as electrode material for solid state battery application. The impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltametry were used to study the electrochemical properties by adding functionalized carbon in 1:1 proportion to improve the electrical performance. The value of room temperature electrical conductivity of core-shell PBA and core-shell nanoparticles mixed with vulcan carbon (PBA-C) are found to be 1.574 x 10(-3) and 1.92 x 10(-3) Scm(-1), respectively. Using Li2La3Zr2O12 (LZZO) electrolyte, single cell was fabricated with PBA-C material, and studied its charging-discharging cycles, which exhibits higher current density with stable performance for 400 cycles for time slots of 400 min. The study reveals that the PBA core-shell nanoparticles mixed with carbon (PBA-C) may be a potential candidate as an electrode material in the form of a single cell using LZZO electrolyte. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: cyclic voltametry; Electrolyte; Prussian blue analogues (PBA); Solid state battery; XPS

Structural, Hirshfeld surface and in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation of five new N-aryl-N'-alkoxycarbonyl thiocarbamide derivatives - Pandey, Sunil K.; Pratap, Seema; Rai, Sunil K.; Marverti, Gaetano (Phosphorus Sulfur and Silicon and the Related Elements, 2020)
Five new compounds, N-(2, 4-dichlorophenyl)-N'-(methoxycarbonyl) thiocarbamide (1), N-(2, 4-dichlorophenyl)-N'-(ethoxycarbonyl) thiocarbamide (2), N-(2, 4-dichlorophenyl)-N'-(2, 2, 2-trichloroethoxycarbonyl) thiocarbamide (3), N-(2,4-dichlrophenyl)-N'-(pentoxycarbonyl) thiocarbamide (4) and N-(4-nitrophenyl)-N'-(pentoxycarbonyl) thiocarbamide (5), have been synthesized by the reaction of various alkoxy chloroformates with 2, 4-dichloroaniline/4-nitroaniline.The molecular structures of the compounds were elucidated by using spectroscopic methods (FT-IR, H-1 and C-13 NMR) and single-crystal X-ray structure analysis of compounds 2 and 5. Antiperiplanar orientation of C = O and C = S group across C-N bonds of thiocarbamide core may be due to the presence of intramolecular (N-H center dot center dot center dot O-C) hydrogen bond in the crystal structure of both the compounds. The presence of intermolecular interactions (C-H center dot center dot center dot S, C-H center dot center dot center dot O and N-H center dot center dot center dot S) in the molecular structure of the compounds has been studied in detail using Hirshfeld surfaces and their associated twodimensional fingerprint plots. In vitro cytotoxicity screening of the synthesized compounds evaluated on a panel of seven human cancer cell lines (cervical carcinoma (2008, C13*), colorectal (HT29 and HCT116) and ovarian carcinoma (A2780, A2780/CP and IGROV-1)) demonstrated significant inhibitory properties.
Keywords: Hirshfeld surface analysis; In vitro cytotoxicity; Thiocarbamide; X-ray crystal structure determination

Structural, molecular, functional and immunological characterization of Wuchereria bancrofti-galectin - Yasin, Nazeer; Laxmanappa, Hoti Sugerappa; Muddapur, Uday M.; Cheruvathur, Jennifer; Prakash, S. M. Udaya; Thulasiram, Hirekodathakallu Venkataramaiah (International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2020)
Galectins regulate growth and differentiation of immune cells and inflammation through their carbohydrate-binding function in humans, while also play a role in parasite survival. This study focused on the galectin of lymphatic filarial parasite Wuchereria bancrofti (Wb-Gal). The multiple sequence alignment with other galectins showed that the Wb-Gal belonged to galactoside binding lectin family, particularly tandem repeat type galectin-9. A homology model of Wb-Gal was developed in the I-TASser server using high similarity 3D structures with a quality score of 89.5. Molecular docking and dynamics studies revealed that the CCRD and NCRD of Wb-Gal bind with galactose and lactose. Further, Wb-Gal was cloned into the pET28 vector, expressed in E. coli Rosetta strain and purified by affinity chromatography. In the hemagglutination assays, the rWb-Gal bound to lactose, galactose, and glucose. Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) using different clinical filarial sera showed that the IgG and IgM response was against Wb-Gal x very high in all filarial clinical groups, whereas the IgA and IgG2 response was minimum to negligible. There was an enhanced response of IgG1 and IgG4 antibodies in Microfilaremics (MF) cases compared to Chronic Pathology (CP) and Endemic Normal (EN) individuals. Interestingly, the IgE response was comparatively higher in EN than MF and CP. These studies show that Wb-Gal is a member of the lectin family of proteins binding to different carbohydrates and may have an important role in the pathophysiology of filarial infection which needs to be investigated in greater detail. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Filariasis; Hemagglutination assay; Immunomodulation; Wuchereria bancrofti galectin

Structural studies on 10-hydroxygeraniol dehydrogenase: a novel linear substrate-specific dehydrogenase from Catharanthus roseus - Sandholu, Anand S.; Mujawar, Sharmila P.; Ramakrishnan, Krithika; Thulasiram, Hirekodathakallu V.; Kulkarni, Kiran (Proteins-Structure Function and Bioinformatics, 2020)
Conversion of 10-hydroxygeraniol to 10-oxogeranial is a crucial step in iridoid biosynthesis. This reaction is catalyzed by a zinc-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase, 10-hydroxygeraniol dehydrogenase, belonging to the family of medium-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (MDR). Here, we report the crystal structures of a novel 10-hydroxygeraniol dehydrogenase from Catharanthus roseus in its apo and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP(+)) bound forms. Structural analysis and docking studies reveal how subtle conformational differences of loops L1, L2, L3, and helix alpha 9' at the orifice of the catalytic site confer differential activity of the enzyme toward various substrates, by modulating the binding pocket shape and volume. The present study, first of its kind, provides insights into the structural basis of substrate specificity of MDRs specific to linear substrates. Furthermore, comparison of apo and NADP(+) bound structures suggests that the enzyme adopts open and closed states to facilitate cofactor binding.
Keywords: 10-hydroxygeraniol dehydrogenase; iridoid biosynthesis; medium-chain dehydrogenase; monoterpene indole alkaloids; reductase; X-ray crystallography

Structure and regulation of SWEET transporters in plants: an update - Anjali, Anjali; Fatima, Urooj; Manu, M. S.; Ramasamy, Sureshkumar; Senthil-Kumar, Muthappa (Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 2020)
Sugar will eventually be exported transporters (SWEETs), a novel family of sugar transporters found in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes, facilitate sugar flux across the cell membrane. Although these transporters were first discovered in plants, their homologs have been reported in different organisms. SWEETs have critical roles in various developmental processes, including phloem loading, nectar secretion, and pathogen nutrition. The structure of bacterial homologs, called SemiSWEETs, has been well studied thus far. Here, we provide an overview of SWEET protein structure and dynamic function by analyzing the solved crystal structures and predicted models that are available for a few SWEETs in a monocot plant (rice) and dicot plant (Arabidopsis thaliana). Despite the advancement in structure-related studies, the regulation of SWEETs remains unknown. In light of reported regulatory mechanisms of a few other sugar transporters, we propose the regulation of SWEETs at the post-translational level. We then enumerate the potential post-translational modification sites in SWEETs using computational tools. Overall, in this review, we critically analyze SWEET protein structure in plants to predict the post-translational regulation of SWEETs. Such findings have a direct bearing on plant nutrition and defense and targeting the regulation at these levels will be important in crop improvement.
Keywords: oligomerization; Phosphorylation; Post-translational modification; Sugar transporters; Sugar will eventually be exported transporters

Study of interfacial adhesion between nickel-titanium shape memory alloy and a polymer matrix by laser surface pattern - Samal, Sneha; Tyc, Ondrej; Heller, Ludek; Sittner, Petr; Malik, Monika; Poddar, Pankaj; Catauro, Michelina; Blanco, Ignazio (Applied Sciences-Basel, 2020)
The aim of this article is to investigate the interfacial adhesion of Ni-Ti shape memory alloy with a polymer matrix of Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The surface pattern on Ni-Ti plates was channeled by a solid state laser machine. The laser machine allows for creating channels on the Ni-Ti surface for infiltration of the PMMA matrix, which could be attached as an intra-surface locking pattern to the Ni-Ti surface. The influence of the PMMA matrix on the surface of the NiTi plate was evaluated by thermomechanical analysis (TMA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The surface characterization was carried out by an optical microscope on the PMMA/NiTi composite after mechanical testing. During mechanical testing, the polymer displays the multiple cracks in the longitudinal direction that result in slipping and fracture. TMA and DMA analyses were performed on the Ni-Ti- and PMMA-coated Ni-Ti ribbon to observe elasticity and the storage modulus for both samples. Better adhesion than 80 % was observed in the Ni-Ti surface, in the laser surface pattern, in comparison to the free plain surface. However, the polymer acts as mechanical backing that caused a reduction in the shape-memory properties of the composite material.
Keywords: adhesion; mechanical properties; NiTi composites; NiTi plate; PMMA; Polymer; surface features

Study of the phase-evolution mechanism of an Fe-Se system at the nanoscale: optimization of synthesis conditions for the isolation of pure phases and their controlled growth - Ghalawat, Monika; Poddar, Pankaj (Langmuir, 2020)
The iron selenide (Fe-Se) family of nanoparticles (FexSey-where x/y ranges from 1:2 to 1:1) has been fabricated by a thermal decomposition method. The control over solution chemistry has been developed by intensively investigating the effect of reaction parameters by means of wide-angle X-ray scattering, leading to the rich insights into the phase-evolution mechanism of the Fe-Se system. The phase transformation followed the FeSe2 -> Fe3Se4 -> Fe7Se8 -> FeSe sequence in the temperature range of 110-300 degrees C. The deep mechanistic insight helped in the identification of optimized conditions needed to crystallize the individual phase of the Fe-Se system as well as control of the morphology, crystalline phase purity, and thermal stability of the obtained Fe-Se nanoparticles.

Sunlight assisted improved photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B using Pd-loaded g-C3N4/WO(3)nanocomposite - Alman, Vidya; Singh, Kirti; Bhat, Tejasvinee; Sheikh, Arif; Gokhale, Suresh (Applied Physics A-Materials Science & Processing, 2020)
Effective photocatalytic degradation of organic toxic dyes from industrial effluents using low-cost nanomaterials as a photocatalyst under sunlight promises for water purification and environmental recovery. The present work is focused on the synthesis of Palladium (Pd) loaded g-C3N4/WO(3)nanocomposite using a facile method and its photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) using under sunlight. The results of the photocatalytic dye degradation experiment show that Pd loaded g-C3N4/WO(3)nanocomposite photocatalyst degrades 98% of RhB in 40 min of sunlight illumination. This remarkable photocatalytic degradation performance of Pd loaded g-C3N4/WO(3)nanocomposite mainly attributed due to their intrinsic photocatalytic activity and co-existence of enhanced light absorbance and efficient charge transfer process in between the g-C3N4/WO(3)heterojunction. The durability testing experiments indicate that Pd loaded g-C3N4/WO(3)nanocomposite photocatalyst could be effectively reused and possesses high photochemical structural stability even after several recycle process. Present experimental results demonstrated highly encouraging photo-degradation response of Pd loaded g-C3N4/WO(3)nanocomposite photocatalyst at outdoor conditions paves the way for the development of energy conversion and environmental remediation process.
Keywords: Nanocomposite; Palladium loading; Photocatalysis; Photodegradation; Rhodamine B; Sunlight

Surface functionalization: an efficient alternative for promoting the catalytic activity of closed shell gold clusters - Joshi, Krati; Krishnamurty, Sailaja; Dar, Manzoor Ahmad (Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2020)
{Surface functionalization through adsorption of ligands or non-metal atoms is considered to be an interesting and viable approach for tuning the physicochemical properties of gold clusters. Highly stable and magic numbered electronic configurations of thiolate protected gold clusters such as Au-25(SR)(18), Au-38(SR)(24)etc. with intriguing properties are the direct manifestation of the rich chemistry of the Au-S interface. The present investigation discerns the CO oxidation activity of structurally well characterized sulphur functionalized gold cluster anions AumS4-

SWATH-MS based quantitative proteomics analysis to evaluate the antileishmanial effect of Commiphora wightii- Guggul and Amphotericin B on a clinical isolate of Leishmania donovani - Bar Routaray, Chinmayee; Bhor, Renuka; Bai, Shakuntala; Kadam, Nitin Suryakant; Jagtap, Surabhi; Doshi, Pooja Jignesh; Sundar, Shyam; Sawant, Sangeeta; Kulkarni, Mahesh J.; Pai, Kalpana (Journal of Proteomics, 2020)
The present study provides comprehensive proteomics analyses of the response of L. donovani parasite to pharamacological stress in vitro. Identification of differentially expressed proteins with associated molecular functions and metabolic pathways, clearly provides an insight into the potential mechanism of the antileishmanial effects as well as a comparative response of the parasite to Guggul and AmB. Treatment of parasite with AmB results in an enhanced modulatory mechanism to counteract the drug induced stress which may have contributed to relapse. In the case of Guggul treatment, an effective antipromastigote activity was observed, which is being reported for the first time. Thus, a deeper understanding of the molecular pathways in the Leishmania parasite in response to pharmacological stress would help in designing novel and effective strategies in targeting the key molecules essential for parasite survival. It will also help in screening of new lead molecules targeting these vital pathways which could be used as an adjunct therapy along with the limited repertoire of antileishmanial drugs.

Synthesis and antimycobacterial screening of new 4-(4-(1-benzyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)quinoline derivatives - Thakare, Prashant P.; Walunj, Yogesh; Chavan, Abhijit; Bobade, Vivek D.; Sarkar, Dhiman; Mhaske, Pravin C. (Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry, 2020)
A new series of 4-(4-(1-benzyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)quinoline (6a-t) have been synthesized by a click reaction of 4-(4-ethynyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)quinoline (4a-d) with a substituted benzyl azide (5a-e). The starting alkyne derivatives4a-dare obtained from Bestmann-Ohira reaction of 1-phenyl-3-(quinolin-4-yl)-1H-pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde and dimethyl(1-diazo-2-oxopropyl)phosphonate. The newly synthesized compounds are screened againstM. tuberculosisH37Ra dormant and active,Escherichia coli,Pseudomonas fluorescence,Staphylococcus aureusandBacillus subtilisstrains at 30 mu g/mL concentration. Most of the screened compounds showed good to moderate antibacterial activity againstS. aureus,B. subtilis, andMycobacterium tuberculosisH37Ra strains. The synthesized derivatives of quinolinyl-pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde and quinolinyl-pyrazole-4-ethyne reportd good to moderate activity against both strains ofM. tuberculosisH37Ra. Ten derivatives of quinolinyl-pyrazole presented good activity againstB. subtilis. These results suggested that further optimization and development of quinolinyl-pyrazolyl-1,2,3-triazole moeity could serve as lead compounds for antimycobacterial activity.

Synthesis and biological activity of imidazole based 1,4-naphthoquinones - Choudhari, Dinkar; Salunke-Gawali, Sunita; Chakravarty, Debamitra; Shaikh, Samir R.; Lande, Dipali N.; Gejji, Shridhar P.; Rao, Pradeep Kumar; Satpute, Surekha; Puranik, Vedavati G.; Gonnade, Rajesh (New Journal of Chemistry, 2020)
Design and development of drugs in multi-drug resistant (MDR) infections have been of growing interest. We report the syntheses, and antibacterial and antifungal activities of imidazole-based 1,4-naphthoquinones (I-1 to I-4; 1-alkyl-2-methyl-1H-naphtho[2,3-d]imidazole-4,9-dione (alkyl = methyl to butyl)) and their precursors (B-3; N-(3-chloro-1,-dioxo-1,4-dihydronaphthalen-2-yl)acetamide) and A-1 to A-4; N-(3-(alkylamino)-1,4-dioxo-1,4-dihydronaphthalen-2-yl)acetamide (alkyl = methyl to butyl). Crystal structures of B-3, A-1 to A-3 and I-2 to I-4 were obtained through single crystal X-ray diffraction experiments. Electronic structure and charge distribution have further been characterized with the use of Density Functional Theory. Seven of these derivatives display a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity against few selected bacterial strains (Gram-positive and Gram-negative). As demonstrated MIC values with B-2 and B-3 against bacterial isolates were 8-64 mu g ml(-1) and those against pathogenic yeast, C. albicans, were observed in the range of 128-256 mu g ml(-1). MIC data of these derivatives suggest them to be promising against pathogens.

Synthesis and characterization of biocompatible poly (L-lactide) using zinc (II) salen complex - Rade, Priyanka P.; Garnaik, Baijayantimala (International Journal of Polymer Analysis and Characterization, 2020)
A biocompatible zinc (II) complex based on a tetradentate N,N,O,O-type salen ligand was synthesized, characterized and used for the solvent-free ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of L-lactide in bulk at 180 degrees C to prepare high molecular weight poly(L-lactide) (M-n: 82,600 Da;M-w: 140,000 Da; PDI: 1.70). Poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) was characterized using FTIR,H-1 NMR,C-13 NMR, GPC, TGA, DSC, WAXD, and MALDI-ToF. Kinetic measurement was carried out and first-order behavior to monomer was observed. Thek(app)was found as 6 +/- 0.001 x 10(-4 )s(-1). The biocompatibility of the PLLA was confirmed byin vitrocytotoxicity against NIH/3T3 fibroblast cell line and can be used in biomedical applications.
Keywords: Biocompatible; Biomedical Applications; in vitro; PLLA; zinc (II) salen complex

Synthesis and characterization of nylon 6 polymer nanocomposite using organically modified Indian bentonite - Kumaresan, S.; Rokade, Dhammaraj S.; Marathe, Yogesh N.; Ingole, Pravin G.; Pawar, Radheshyam R.; Pol, Harshawardhan V.; Bajaj, Hari C. (SN Applied Sciences, 2020)
In this present research work two different organic compounds are applied for the modification of Indian origin bentonite. One is with n-hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), intercalated with an interlayer of bentonite via cation exchange mechanism. Whereas, another with 3-Aminopropyl trimethoxysilane (APTES) interlayer functionalization with bentonite –OH group. APTES and CTAB–intercalated bentonites samples were further cross modified with CTAB and APTES to obtain novel co-surfactant locked organo bentonite modeling (CLOM) like matrices. Original and modified bentonite samples were comparatively evaluated by advanced characterization techniques such as, powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Moreover, the applicability of the developed CLOM like materials were investigated in nylon 6 nanocomposite preparation by melt compounding method using a micro twin co-rotated extruder. Additionally, CLOM-nylon-6 polymer nanocomposites were characterized by wide angle X-ray diffraction, TGA, differential scanning calorimetry, atomic force microscopy and tensile strength measurement. The observed thermograph results confirmed no significant difference in the thermal properties of the developed composites. Whereas, the significant variation observed in the tensile strength results particularly for developed composite 5% of N6-OAMSB and N6 AMOSB 5 showed 111.5 and 76.6% respective enhancement in tensile strength results when compared with a bare nylon-6 polymer.

Synthesis and characterization of supported heteropoly acid: efficient solid acid catalyst for glycerol esterification to produce biofuel additives - Magar, Subhash; Mohanraj, Govindraj T.; Jana, Sumit Kumar; Rode, V, Chandrashekhar (Inorganic and Nano-Metal Chemistry, 2020)
Esterification of glycerol with acetic acid has been studied with different solid acid catalysts, prepared by impregnating phospotungustic, silicotungstic, and phosphomolybdic acids on polymeric material polyvinylpyrrolidone. These results were compared with commercially available montmorillonite KSFO catalyst showed that PVP-DTP gave higher selectivity to di- and triacetins. This study was mainly focused on increasing the selectivity toward triacetin which is an excellent alternative to fossil fuel based fuel additives. The detail characterization was done for the PVP-DTP catalyst which gave complete conversion of glycerol and maximum selectivity of 34% toward triacetin. Complete conversion of glycerol was achieved at 110 degrees C within 6 h of reaction time. The characterization of the catalyst was performed by SEM/EDX, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetic techniques, and FT-IR analysis.TPD-NH3 characterization showed that DTP supported on PVP increases the catalyst acidity of PVP. The highest acidity of PVP-DTP is also confirmed using NH3-TPD analysis.
Keywords: Glycerol; phospostugustic acid; povidone; solid acid catalyst; triacetin

Synthesis, characterisation, Hirshfeld surface and in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation of new N-aryl-N `-Alkoxycarbonyl thiocarbamide derivatives - Pandey, Sunil K.; Pratap, Seema; Rai, Sunil K.; Marverti, Gaetano; Kaur, Manpreet; Jasinski, Jerry P. (Journal of Molecular Structure, 2020)
Four new compounds N-(4-nitrophenyl)-N'-(isobutoxycarbonyl) thiocarbamide (1), N-(2, 4-nitrophenyl)-N'-(isobutoxycarbonyl) thiocarbamide (2), N-(4-nitrophenyl)-N'-(ethoxycarbonyl) thiocarbamide (3) and N-(2-Chloro- 4-nitrophenyl)-N'-(ethoxycarbonyl) thiocarbamide (4) were prepared and their structures confirmed by using various spectroscopic (FT-IR, UV-Visible, H-1 and C-13 NMR) and single crystal X-ray studies of 1 and 3. The presence of intramolecular (N-H center dot center dot center dot O=C) hydrogen bond in the crystal structure of both the compounds causes planarity of carbonyl thiocarbamide unit and trans orientation of C=O and C=S group. The intermolecular contacts (C-H center dot center dot center dot S, C-H center dot center dot center dot O and N-H center dot center dot center dot S) present in crystal structures have been examined by Hirshfeld surface analysis and their associated 2D fingerprint plots. All the compounds were assessed for their in vitro cytotoxic properties against a panel of seven human cancer cells such as cervical carcinoma (2008, C13*), colorectal (HT29 and HCT116) and ovarian carcinoma (A2780, A2780/CP and IGROV-1). Among them, compounds 2 and 4 exhibited better activity than 1 and 3 against all the cell lines tested. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hirshfeld surface analysis; In vitro cytotoxicity; Thiocarbamide; X-ray crystal structure

Synthesis, characterization and catalytic study of mesoporous carbon materials prepared via mesoporous silica using non-surfactant templating agents - Pagar, Nitin S.; Karandikar, Prashant R.; Chandwadkar, Asha J.; Deshpande, Raj M. (Journal of Porous Materials, 2020)
Mesostructured silica materials with surface area in the range of similar to 700-900 m(2)/g have been prepared using hydroxy-carboxylic acid compounds such as tartaric acid, malic acid and citric acid (low cost non-surfactant template/pore forming agents) and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as silica source by sol-gel reaction. The templates were removed by either soxhlet extraction or calcination method. Mesoporous carbon molecular sieves were then prepared by carbonizing sucrose inside the pores of the above prepared mesoporous silica using sulfuric acid as a catalyst. The materials were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), N-2-sorption studies, microanalysis, thermal analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The resulting carbon material shows relatively higher surface area (similar to 1100 m(2)/g), narrow pore size distribution and pore diameter of 4-5 nm. The mesoporosity of carbon material arises from interconnecting channels arrangements of mesoporous silica template. The mesoporous carbon material was used as a support for the immobilization of rhodium complex [HRhCO(TPPTS)(3)] by ossification method. The prepared catalyst has been tested for the hydroformylation of higher olefins. The activity of the catalyst was improved by 20-30% as compared to the catalyst prepared from a conventional activated carbon support.
Keywords: Carbonization; Hydroformylation; Immobilization; Low cost templates; mesoporous carbon; Mesoporous silica

Synthesis, crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of the hydrated form of N’, N-(1,4-phenylenebis(methanylylidene) di(iso-nicotinic hydrazide) - Ingle, Kapil S.; Mohurle, Smital A.; Bairagi, Keshab M.; Shaikh, Tabrez R.; Venugopala, Katharigatta N.; Chandrashekharappa, Sandeep; Gonnade, Rajesh G.; Nayak, Susanta K. (Chemical Data Collections, 2020)
<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">The title compound, C<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">20<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">H<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">16<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">N<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">6<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> was synthesized by reflux with isonicotinic hydrazide and terephthaldehyde in ethanol solvent with the acidic condition. The single-crystal X-ray structure determination of the title compound, <em style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">N, N<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">-(1,4-phenylene bis (methanylylidene) di(iso-nicotinic hydrazide), reveals that the molecule crystallizes in center of symmetry with water molecules (Dihydrated form, C<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">20<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">H<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">16<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">N<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">6<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">.2H<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O) through N-H∙∙∙O and C-H∙∙∙O hydrogen bondings. Further, the crystal structure is stabilized by O-H∙∙∙O and weak C-H∙∙∙N hydrogen bondings with the formation of infinite chain and dimer. Further, surface analysis and fingerprint plot reveal that the significant hydrogen bonding such as H•••O (15.9%) and N•••H (11.4%) interactions play the most crucial role for its molecular packing.

Synthesis of 2-azabicyclo[m.n.0]-alkanes and their application towards the synthesis of strychnos and stemona classes of alkaloids - Majumder, Binoy; Pandey, Ganesh (European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2020)
2-Azabicyclo[m.n.0]alkane ring systems, the conceptual precursors towards the synthesis of Strychnos and Stemona classes of alkaloids, were synthesized from tert-butyl 2-(phenylsulfonyl)-7-aza-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene-7-carboxylate by alkyl Grignard reaction and intramolecular cyclisation of the in situ generated ring opening product 2. The synthesized cis-hexahydroindole 3 and cis-octahydro-benzo[b]azepine 5 scaffolds were utilized to construct the advanced intermediates 25 and 35, respectively, towards the synthesis of the corresponding Strychnos and Stemona classes of alkaloids.
Keywords: alkaloids; amines; Grignard reaction; Michael addition; Natural products

Synthesis of alpha-ketoamides using potassium superoxide (KO2) as an oxidizing agent - Vasudevan, N.; Routholla, Ganesh; Illa, Giri Teja; Reddy, D. Srinivasa (Tetrahedron, 2020)
A simple and convenient method for the synthesis of alpha-ketoamides by the oxidation of aryl acetamides using potassium superoxide (KO2) as an oxidizing agent is disclosed here. The scope of the developed method is successfully tested with fifteen substrates. In addition, the utility of method has been demonstrated by synthesizing an orexin receptor antagonist, a medicinally interesting compound. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: alpha-Ketoamide; Orexin receptor; Oxidation; Potassium superoxide (KO2)

Synthesis of artemisinic acid derived glycoconjugates and their anticancer studies - Kotammagari, Tharun K.; Paul, Sayantan; Barik, Ganesh K.; Santra, Manas K.; Bhattacharya, Asish K. (Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 2020)
Glycoconjugates, due to their diverse functions, are widely regarded as biologically important molecules. Artemisinic acid 1 occurs naturally in the plant Artemisia annua and is considered to be the biogenetic precursor of the antimalarial drug, artemisinin 2. We report herein the design and synthesis of diverse artemisinic acid derived glycoconjugates. We have synthesized 12-O-artemisinic acid-glycoconjugates (7a-k) and 12-N-artemisinic acid-glycoconjugates (8a-k) by utilizing Cu(i)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reactions (Click chemistry) with various synthesized sugar azides (6a-k) in good to excellent yields along with two fluorescently labeled compounds, 12-O-artemisinic acid-glycoconjugate 11 and 12-N-artemisinic acid-glycoconjugate 12, to investigate the mode of action of these compounds in biological systems. All the synthesized artemisinic acid glycoconjugates were assayed for their efficacy against the MCF7 cell line. Our anticancer studies indicated that all the synthesized compounds inhibited the growth of MCF7 cells in a dose dependent manner, barring compounds 4 and 7d. However, these compounds exhibit moderate cytotoxicity, as is evident from their IC50 values.

Synthesis of deuterated isopentyl pyrophosphates for chemo-enzymatic labelling methods: GC-EI-MS based 1,2-hydride shift in epicedrol biosynthesis (Retraction of Vol 9, Pg 28258, 2019) - Said, Madhukar S.; Navale, Govinda R.; Gajbhiye, Jayant M.; Shinde, Sandip S. (RSC Advances, 2020)
Retraction of `Synthesis of deuterated isopentyl pyrophosphates for chemo-enzymatic labelling methods: GC-EI-MS based 1,2-hydride shift in epicedrol biosynthesis' by Madhukar S. Said et al., RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 28258-28261.

Synthesis of diverse nitrogen fused polycyclic dihydroisoquinoline (DHIQ) derivatives via GBB-based cyclic iminium induced double-annulation cascade - Balwe, Sandip Gangadhar; Vagh, Sandip S.; Jeong, Yeon Tae (Tetrahedron Letters, 2020)
A highly efficient and distinct Bronsted acid-mediated unprecedented cyclic iminium induced double annulation cascade (DAC) protocol for the synthesis of novel dihydroindazolo[30,20:2,3]imidazo[5,1-a]isoquinolinamines has been achieved through the three-component Groebke-Blackburn-Bienayme reaction. The transformation is based on sequential cascade processes involving imine formation followed by an intramolecular nucleophilic substitution to generate a highly reactive cyclic iminium species, which would undergo a rapid [4 + 1] formal cycloaddition steps in one-pot fashion. This strategy provides novel skeletally diverse complex nitrogen fused polycyclic DHIQ derivatives by employing readily available substrates and a simple procedure, which would render this method potentially useful in organic synthesis. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: diversity-oriented synthesis; Excellent yields; GBB-based approach; Novel polycyclic N-fused architecture; Scalable

Synthesis of ethyl furfuryl ether (potential biofuel) by etherification of furfuryl alcohol with ethanol over heterogenized reusable H1Cs2PW12O40 catalyst - Mulik, Nagesh L.; Niphadkar, Prashant S.; Bokade, Vijay V. (Research on Chemical Intermediates, 2020)
{Ethyl furfuryl ether (EFE) considered as potential biofuel can replace petroleum diesel up to 100%. EFE also has efficient blending properties with biodiesel to improve its cold flow properties. Herein we demonstrate efficient synthesis of EFE by etherification of renewable furfuryl alcohol (FAlc) with ethanol over heterogenized heteropoly acids. Cs-exchanged heterogenized heteropoly acid (H3-xCsxPW12O40
Keywords: B; etherification; Ethyl furfuryl ether; Furfuryl alcohol; H3-xCsxPW12O40; Heterogenized heteropoly acid; L ration

Synthesis of high surface area porous carbon from anaerobic digestate and it's electrochemical study as an electrode material for ultracapacitors (vol 9, pg 36343, 2019) - Chaturvedi, Vikash; Usgaonkar, Saurabh; Shelke, Manjusha V. (RSC Advances, 2020)
Correction for `Synthesis of high surface area porous carbon from anaerobic digestate and it's electrochemical study as an electrode material for ultracapacitors' by Vikash Chaturvedi et al., RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 36343-36350.

Synthesis of novel of 2, 5-disubstituted 1, 3, 4-oxadiazole derivatives and their in vitro anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant evaluation, and molecular docking study - Kashid, Bharat B.; Salunkhe, Pravin H.; Dongare, Balasaheb B.; More, Kishor R.; Khedkar, Vijay M.; Ghanwat, Anil A. (Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 2020)
A series of novel 2, 5-disubstituted 1, 3, 4-Oxadiazole derivatives as a potential anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant agent were synthesized via cyclisation. Hydrazide molecule treated with substituted acids in the presence of phosphorus oxychloride (POCl3) as an efficient reagent as well as solvent by conventional method with shorter reaction time and excellent yield. The newly synthesized 1, 3, 4-oxadiazole derivatives exhibited excellent to good anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities compaired to the standard drugs. Molecular docking study on the crucial anti-inflammatory target-cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) revealed the ability of the scaffold to correctly recognize the active site and achieve significant bonded and non-bonded interactions with key residues therein. This study could identify potential compounds which can be pertinent starting points for structure-based drug design to obtain newer anti-inflammatory agents.
Keywords: 1; 3; 4-Oxadiazole; Anti-inflammatory; Anti-Oxidant; Biological activity; computational chemistry

Synthesis of phospho-polypeptides via phosphate-containing N-carboxyanhydride: application in enzyme-induced self-assembly, and calcium carbonate mineralization - Mondal, Basudeb; Das, Soumen; Panda, Sidharth; Dutta, Tahiti; Sen Gupta, Sayam (ChemPlusChem, 2020)
An easy synthetic strategy was developed to synthesize the phosphate-functionalized amino acid N-carboxyanhydride (NCA), using simple primary amine initiators to obtain homo and block phospho-polypeptides with controlled molecular weight and molecular weight distribution. The methodology was extended to the synthesis of the end-functionalized homo polypeptides (15 to 50 repeat unit) and block co-polypeptides with PEG (0.7 K, 2 K, and 5 K) and glycopolypeptide (15-unit mannose glycopolypeptide) as one of the blocks. The deprotected fully water-soluble anionic phosphate-based polypeptides showed pH-dependent helical conformation with a helical content of 20 %, which further changed to beta-sheets upon addition of the enzyme alkaline phosphatase (ALP) due to dephosphorylation. The block co-polypeptide containing PEG as one of the blocks led to its self-assembly into colloidal structures, such as vesicles with a hydrodynamic diameter of similar to 250 nm, due to the formation of amphiphilic block co-polymer upon dephosphorylation. The nature of the colloidal structures formed can be temporally controlled by the extent of dephosphorylation. Finally, the phospho-polypeptides serve as a template for the mineralization of calcium carbonate with varying polymorphs and morphologies.
Keywords: Biomineralization; enzymes; phosphopolypeptides; Proteins; Self-assembly

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles colloids in imidazolium halide ionic liquids and their antibacterial activities for gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria - Patil, Virendra; Mahajan, Swapnil; Kulkarni, Mohan; Patil, Kashinath; Rode, Chandrashekhar; Coronas, Alberto; Yi, Gi-Ra (Chemosphere, 2020)
Four 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium halide ionic liquids were synthesized via metathesis and anion exchange reactions. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) colloids were synthesized in four ionic liquids in the pressurized reactor by reduction of silver nitrate with hydrogen gas, without adding solvents or stabilizing agents. Antibacterial activities of base ionic liquids and AgNPs colloids in ionic liquids were reviewed by well-diffusion method for gram-positive Bacillus cereus (NCIM-2155) and gram-negative Escherichia coli (NCIM-2931) bacteria. Antibacterial activities of ionic liquids and AgNPs colloids in ionic liquids were observed to be controlled by ionic liquids anions and AgNPs particle size. The 1 -butyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide ionic liquid exhibited higher antibacterial activities among the studied ionic liquids. Further, the presence of AgNPs in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide, ionic liquid enhanced its antibacterial activity for Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli bacteria. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Anion effect; antibacterial activity; Imidazolium halides; ionic liquids; silver nanoparticles

Safe water and technology initiative for water disinfection: application of natural plant derived materials - Mane, Maya B.; Bhandari, Vinay M.; Ranade, Vivek V. (Journal of Water Process Engineering, 2021)
Safe drinking water is the necessity of life. The present study reveals use of natural resources such as plant extracts and natural oils for water disinfection. Differences between oil and water soluble additives were highlighted for plant extracts and insoluble natural oils. A hybrid hydrodynamic cavitation process was quite effective in both the cases and high rates of disinfection were achieved. Studies were reported using oils (ginger, turmeric, lavender, tulsi) and rhizome derived plant extracts such as ginger, turmeric and mango ginger, as additives in process intensification (0.1% v/V). A vortex based cavitation device (vortex diode, nominal capacity 1 m3/h) was used with pressure drop of 1 bar. A high disinfection of 96% and 88% was obtained in 15 min for ginger oil and mango ginger extract respectively as compared to 44% using cavitation alone. Acoustic cavitation gave 94% and 30% disinfection with and without additive-mango ginger extract. The FTIR analyses before and after cavitation, with ginger additive, showed no by-products formation and indicated gingerol as active component in disinfection. The per-pass disinfection values were also higher, up to 5 times than cavitation alone. Hybrid hydrodynamic cavitation using natural plant derived materials can offer a promising technology alternative in water disinfection.
Keywords: Cavitation; Disinfection; Natural oil; Plant extract; Water treatment

Salts, solvates and hydrates of the multi-kinase inhibitor drug pazopanib with hydroxybenzoic acids - Rai, Sunil K.; Baidya, Debjani; Nangia, Ashwini K. (Crystengcomm, 2021)
The marketed formulation of pazopanib (PAZ) suffers from low and variable bioavailability because of its poor dissolution rate and photostability issues. The drug falls under Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) class II of low solubility and good permeability. The hydrogen bonds and supramolecular interactions in crystalline forms of PAZ with hydroxybenzoic acids (HBAs) and dihydroxybenzoic acids (DHBAs), as well as its salts are analyzed. Ten X-ray crystal structures of PAZ which include the reference drug, a tetrahydrofuran solvate (PAZ center dot THF) and eight salts with HBAs/DHBAs are reported. There is proton transfer from the carboxylic group of the coformer acid to the most basic nitrogen atom of the 2-aminopyrimidine ring of PAZ in all cases. Two salts were crystallized in neat form, while the remaining six are solvates and hydrates. The crystal structure of PAZ is stabilized by sulfonamide and 2-aminopyrimidine homosynthons of N-HMIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSISO and N-HMIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSISN hydrogen bonds in an R2(2)(8) ring motif. PAZ center dot HBA/DHBA salts consistently contain the aminopyridiniumMIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIScarboxylate N+-HMIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSISO- synthon of the R2(2)(8) ring. The sulfonamide homosynthon of PAZ is disrupted in preference to the formation of N-HMIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSISO and N-HMIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSISN hydrogen bonds in salt structures. The presence of an additional basic nitrogen atom in the indazole ring of PAZ promotes hydration and solvation through the O-HMIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSISN hydrogen bond. Whereas the formation of salts is desirable for pharmaceutical formulation, the inclusion of adventitious solvent and/or water molecules with hydroxybenzoic acid coformers in the cocrystal-salt products is a limitation for this class of coformers. The stability problem faced with hydrates and solvates of PAZ center dot HBA/DHBA salts means that their formation must be carried out by strictly anhydrous procedures. The consistent occurrence of the aminopyridiniumMIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIScarboxylate N+-HMIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSISO- ring synthon is discussed in relation to the previous results of Aakeroy, Nangia and Zaworotko groups on similar acid-base multi-component systems.

Scalable and thin film approach for solar hydrogen generation: a review on enhanced photocatalytic water splitting - Gopinath, Chinnakonda S.; Nalajala, Naresh (Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2021)
Although nearly five decades of efforts have gone into solar water splitting (SWS), still success eludes and there is no big breakthrough till date. While huge importance is given either individually or concurrently to the three fundamental steps, namely, light absorption, charge carrier separation and diffusion and charge utilization at redox sites, many aspects that are practically helpful to improve the efficiency are not widely discussed and practised. Nonetheless, by adopting a number of small, but significant changes, solar hydrogen production can be enhanced. The present review discusses such different approaches employed for photocatalytic water splitting reported in the literature. For example, an increase of up to two orders of magnitude in solar hydrogen generation was observed with a film form compared to the particulate form of the same catalyst. Discussion on various approaches of enhanced hydrogen production under sunlight and one sun conditions is the main focus of this review, in particular with thin-film forms. The merits and demerits of thin film and particulate methods, respectively, are addressed in detail. Potential methods and successful stories on scalability are also discussed in the present review. In contrast to charge collection over a long distance in solar cell-based methods, a film-based method discussed shows that the local charge utilisation at a zero applied potential is an attractive feature for SWS. A comparison is provided between the PEC-WS and SWS for solar hydrogen generation, and how far we are from the reality to produce solar hydrogen on an industrial scale. We believe the presently practised diverse evaluation efforts may be truncated to fewer methods such as film-based evaluation and in a focussed manner to tackle the SWS issue towards sustainable production of solar hydrogen.

Scalable, sustainable and catalyst-free continuous flow ozonolysis of fatty acids - Atapalkar, Ranjit S.; Athawale, Paresh R.; Reddy, D. Srinivasa; Kulkarni, Amol A. (Green Chemistry, 2021)
A simple and efficient catalyst-free protocol for continuous flow synthesis of azelaic acid is developed from the renewable feedstock oleic acid. An ozone and oxygen mixture was used as the reagent for oxidative cleavage of double bond without using any metal catalyst or terminal oxidant. The target product was scaled up to more than 100 g with 86% yield in a white powder form. Complete recycling and reuse of the solvent were established making it a green method. The approach is significantly energy efficient and also has a very small chemical footprint. The methodology has been successfully tested with four fatty acids making it a versatile platform that gives value addition from renewable resources.

Seed-mediated growth of Pt on high-index faceted Au nanocrystals: the ag lining and implications for electrocatalysis - Roy, Debashree; Rajendra, Ranguwar; Gangadharan, Pranav K.; Pandikassala, Ajmal; Kurungot, Sreekumar; Ballav, Nirmalya (ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2021)
Bimetallic Au@Pt nanocrystals (NCs) offer a unique combination of plasmonic and catalytic properties and are a growing field of research. Herein, we report an unusual observation in the behavior of silver ions (Ag+) which was found to play a dominant role in dictating the Pt deposition in a seed-mediated growth method. `While the literature is replete with various instances of Ag-assisted Pt deposition whereby higher concentration of Ag+ translates into a thicker Pt shell, in the present study, contradictory observations were made. In the presence of lower amounts of Ag+, thick Pt shells were visualized, while at higher concentrations of Ag+, the extent of Pt deposition via the galvanic replacement reaction was reduced. Additionally, the presence of Ag was deemed necessary for the Pt deposition to take place, either in the form of an underpotential deposition layer on the Au NCs or by introducing Ag+ in the growth solution. We have demonstrated our findings on two different Au NCs enclosed with high-index facets, concave cuboid, and elongated tetrahexahedra, which mirror similar observations and provide generality to our claim. To the best of our knowledge, the time required for Pt deposition on the Au core in the present work is the least among the reported seed-mediated routes. Furthermore, this work, besides presenting a facile and general route for the amalgamation of catalytic and plasmonic properties in hybrid Pt-Au NCs, sheds light on the mechanistic aspects of Ag-assisted wet-chemical generation of bimetallic Au@Pt NCs. The overall electrocatalytic performance of our Au@Pt NCs toward the oxygen reduction reaction was realized to be impressive.
Keywords: bimetallic nanostructure; galvanic replacement reaction; high-index facet; oxygen reduction reaction; seed-mediated growth; underpotential deposition

Selective deoxygenation of fatty acids to fuel-range hydrocarbons over Pt-MOx/ZrO2 (M = Mo and W) catalysts - Janampelli, Sagar; Darbha, Srinivas (Catalysis Today, 2021)
<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">A comparative catalytic activity study of Pt-MoO<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">x<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">/ZrO<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> and Pt-WO<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">x<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">/ZrO<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> for deoxygenation of oleic acid (OA) forming fuel-range, linear hydrocarbons is reported. These catalysts (with 4 wt% Pt and 8 wt% Mo or W) were prepared by a sequential wet-impregnation method and characterized for the structural and electronic properties. Pt-MoO<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">x<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">/ZrO<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> showed higher catalytic activity than Pt-WO<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">x<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">/ZrO<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">. Hydrodeoxygenation was the selective pathway over these bifunctional catalysts yielding n-octadecane. High conversion of OA was achieved at 200 °C itself. On the contrary, monometallic Pt/ZrO<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> was weakly active. It was selective mainly toward decarboxylation/decarbonylation producing n-heptadecane. Higher amounts of Pt and metal oxide in reduced forms are responsible for the high hydrodeoxygenation activity and selectivity of these reusable, bimetallic catalysts.

Separation of a diastereomeric diol pair using the mechanical properties of crystals - Gamidi, Rama Krishna; Dandawate, Monica; Choudhury, Rahul; Tothadi, Srinu; Nangia, Ashwini; Reddy, D. Srinivasa (Crystengcomm, 2021)
We report the separation of a (2S,3R/S)-3-ethyl-1-phenylhex-5-ene-2,3-diol (ephd) diastereomeric pair with visually indistinguishable acicular morphologies based on their mechanical responses, which is found to be more efficient than conventional separation methods. Furthermore, the molecular crystals of (2S,3R)-ephd show elastic deformation, while (2S,3S)-ephd fractures in a brittle manner under similar conditions.

Short enantioselective total synthesis of (+)-tofacitinib - Mane, Kishor D.; Kamble, Rohit B.; Suryavanshi, Gurunath (Tetrahedron Letters, 2021)
An enantioselective total synthesis of Tofacitinib (CP-690,550), a Janus tyrosine kinase (JAK3) specific inhibitor has been achieved from the readily available 4-piperidone. Proline catalysed hydroxylation is the key step for the synthesis of enantiopure 1-benzyl-4-methylpiperidin-3-ol. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: aminohydroxylation; Hydrogenation; L-proline; piperidone

Significance of secondary forces toward improving the charge carrier mobility of Isoindigo based conjugated small molecules - Dharmapurikar, Satej S.; Kashmir, Arulraj Arul; Kumari, Tanya; Kalalawe, Virbhadra; Kanetkar, Maruti; Chini, Mrinmoy Kumar (Chemical Physics Letters, 2021)
The charge carrier mobility of conjugated small molecules (CSMs) depends on the intermolecular interactions and morphology. Herein, we report the synthesis of CSMs having different side chains. Hydrogen bonding, lipophilic imbalance and van der Waals interactions are imparted through the asymmetric substitution of Isoindigo. The secondary forces impact thin film morphology, and charge carrier mobility. The CSMs having van der Waals interaction further shows higher charge carrier mobility as a function of improved morphology, and increased temperature. The highest mobility of 0.15 cm2/Vs has been achieved for CSMs with van der Waals interaction.
Keywords: Conjugated small molecules; Isoindigo; mobility; OFET; Secondary force

Silk fibroin and ceramic scaffolds: comparative in vitro studies for bone regeneration - Deshpande, Rucha; Shukla, Swati; Sayyad, Raeesa; Salunke, Shalmali; Nisal, Anuya; Venugopalan, Premnath (Bioengineering & Translational Medicine, 2021)
Synthetic bone void fillers based on calcium ceramics are used to fill cavities in the bone and promote bone regeneration. More recently, silk fibroin (SF), a protein polymer obtained from Bombyx mori silkworm, has emerged as a promising material in bone void filling. In this work, we have compared the safety and efficacy of two types of silk fibroin-based bone void fillers with currently used and commercially available ceramic bone void fillers (based on calcium sulphate, beta tricalcium phosphate, and beta tricalcium phosphate with hydroxyapatite). Further, we have also evaluated these two types of SF scaffolds, which have strikingly different structural attributes. The biocompatibility of these scaffolds was comparable as assessed by cytotoxicity assay, cellular adhesion assay, and immunogenic assay. Ability of the scaffolds to support differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) into an osteoblastic lineage was also evaluated in an in vitro differentiation experiment using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis. These results revealed that cells cultured on SF scaffolds exhibit higher expression of early to late markers such as Runx2, BMPs, collagen, osterix, osteopontin, and osteocalcin as compared with ceramic-based scaffolds. This observation was further validated by studying the expression of alkaline phosphatase and calcium deposition. We also show that scaffolds made from same material of SF, but characterized by very different pore architectures, have diverse outcome in stem cell differentiation.
Keywords: beta tricalcium phosphate; bone regeneration; bone void filler; calcium sulphate; hMSCs; hydroxyapatite; osteoblasts; scaffold; Silk fibroin

Single-pot alcoholysis of furfuryl alcohol to alkyl levulinates using heterogenized p-TSA catalyst** - Patil, Chetana R.; Kamble, Sanjay P.; Rode, Chandrashekhar V. (ChemistrySelect, 2021)
Synthesis of levulinate esters which are known to be excellent sustainable fuel additives, was achieved by alcoholysis of furfuryl alcohol over strong solid acid catalyst, prepared by copolymerization of p-toluenesulfonic acid with paraformaldehyde. Our catalyst possessed Bronsted acidity (3 mmol/g) with an excellent stability up to 220 degrees C. XPS, FT-IR and Pyridine-IR along with microanalysis studies confirmed the presence of terminal -SO3H functional groups responsible for Bronsted acidity in the catalyst. The catalyst was found to efficiently catalyze the alcoholysis of furfuryl alcohol to give alkyl levulinates under mild reaction conditions. The complete conversion of furfuryl alcohol with 96 % and 97 % selectivities to ethyl and butyl levulinates could be achieved using ethanol and butanol, respectively. Detailed study on effect of various reaction parameters like catalyst loading, reaction time and reaction temperature on conversion and product distribution was also carried out for the ethanolysis of furfuryl alcohol to ethyl levulinate. The catalyst could be easily recovered and recycled for five times successfully, with no loss in its original activity.
Keywords: Biomass; ethyl levulinate; Fuel additive; Furfuryl alcohol; heterogeneous catalysis

Slip behavior during pressure driven flow of Laponite suspension - Kamdi, Prophesar M.; Orpe, Ashish V.; Kumaraswamy, Guruswamy (Physics of Fluids, 2021)
We investigate pressure driven pipe flow of Laponite suspension, as a model thixotropic fluid. The tendency of the suspension to age is controlled by addition of sodium chloride salt to vary the ionic strength. We use a syringe pump to prescribe the flow and observe that a steady state flow is obtained. Unusually, the steady state pressure drop required to maintain a constant flow rate decreases with an increase in the flow rate, in qualitative contrast to the expectation for Poiseuille flow. We demonstrate that experimental results obtained by varying the flow rate, salt concentration, and flow geometry (pipe diameter and length) can be collapsed onto a single universal curve that can be rationalized by invoking slip of the suspension at the tube walls. The Laponite suspension exhibits plug-like flow, yielding at the tube walls. Our results suggest that the slip length varies linearly with the flow rate and inversely with the tube diameter.

Solvent extraction of copper enhanced by mixing cavities in micromixer - Sheik, Abdul Rauf; Kulkarni, Amol A.; Sanjay, Kali (Solvent Extraction Research and Development-Japan, 2021)
A Y micromixer with a macroscopic mixing cavity at the inlet junction was developed. The effects of the mixing cavity on the improvement of extraction of copper by LIX 841 were investigated. The investigated parameters and their ranges were: overall flow rate: 10 - 200 mL/min; microchannel size: 0.5 - 1 mm and mixing cavity diameter: 5 - 20 mm. Extraction efficiency, volumetric mass transfer coefficient, kinetics and pressure drop were investigated. The extraction efficiency and the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in the cavity micromixer were significantly higher than the Y micromixer. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient ranged between 1 - 93 s(-1), and the pressure drop between 50 - 500 kPa. The residence time required in the micromixers was two orders of magnitude lesser than that of an agitated batch reactor.

Solvent free, environment benign synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyridines and polyhydroquinolines by using heterogeneous Zn/MCM-41 catalyst - Dhengale, Shankar D.; Naik, Vaibhav M.; Kolekar, Govind B.; Rode, Chandrashekhar V.; Anbhule, Prashant V. (Research on Chemical Intermediates, 2021)
Heterogeneous catalysis has been utilized in number of efficient reactions with higher selectivity of the product, more stable, reusable and easy for separation as compared to homogeneous catalysts. Generally, heterogeneous catalysts are prepared by using mesoporous materials, microporous materials, metal oxides and metal organic framework. The mesoporous materials have small particle size and high surface area as compared to the microporous materials. The adsorbent mesoporous materials have highly efficient for the therapeutic applications in chemistry hence it has best as compared to other heterogeneous materials. Herein, we have reported synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyridines and polyhydroquinolines at solvent free and environmental benign condition in the presence of Zn/MCM-41 catalyst. The present protocol gives excellent yield (89-96%) of the product within short reaction time by easy work up procedure and no need of further purification of product. The catalyst was characterized by XRD diffractometer, SEM, EDAX, TGA-DTA, BET surface area analysis and FT-IR Spectroscopy. The synthesized organic compounds were characterized by FT-IR, H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, LC-MS spectrometry.
Keywords: High activity; High selectivity; mesoporous materials; microporous materials; Reusability of catalyst

Spatio-temporal resolution of taxonomic and functional microbiome of Lonar soda lake of India reveals metabolic potential for bioremediation - Chakraborty, Jaya; Rajput, Vinay; Sapkale, Vibhavari; Kamble, Sanjay; Dharne, Mahesh (Chemosphere, 2021)
<span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: BlinkMacSystemFont, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">Lonar Lake, India; a hypersaline and hyperalkaline extremophilic ecosystem having a unique microbial population has been rarely explored for bioremediation aspects. MinION-based shotgun sequencing was used to comprehensively compare the microbial diversity and functional potential of xenobiotic degradation pathways with seasonal changes. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were prevalent bacterial phyla in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon samples. Functional analysis from SEED-subsystem and KEGG database revealed 28 subsystems and 18 metabolic pathways for the metabolism of aromatic compounds and xenobiotic biodegradation respectively. Occurrence of N-phenyl alkanoic, benzoate, biphenyl, chloroaromatic, naphthalene, and phenol degradation genes depicted varied abundance in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon samples. Further, KEGG analysis indicated nitrotoluene degradation pathway (ko00633) abundant in post-monsoon samples, and the benzoate degradation pathway (ko00362) predominant in 19LN4S (pre-monsoon) than 18LN7S (post-monsoon) samples. The abundant genes for benzoate degradation were pcaI: 3-oxoadipate CoA-transferase, alpha subunit, pcaH: protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase, beta subunit, and pcaB: 3-carboxy-cis, cis-muconate cycloisomerase, and 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase. This metagenomic study provides a unique blueprint of hitherto unexplored xenobiotic biodegradation genes/pathways in terms of seasonal variations in the Lonar Lake, and warrants active exploitation of microbes for bioremediation purposes.

Stabilization of Azapeptides by N-amide center dot center dot center dot H-N-amide Hydrogen Bonds - Baruah, Kalpita; Sahariah, Biswajit; Sakpal, Sushil S.; Deka, Jugal Kishore Rai; Bar, Arun Kumar; Bagchi, Sayan; Sarma, Bani Kanta (Organic Letters, 2021)
An unusual N-amide center dot center dot center dot H-Namide hydrogen bond (HB) was previously proposed to stabilize the azapeptide beta-turns. Herein we provide experimental evidence for the N-amide center dot center dot center dot H-Namide HB and show that this HB endows a stabilization of 1-3 kcal.mol(-1) and enforces the trans-cis-trans (t-c-t) and cis-cis-trans (c-c-t) amide bond conformations in azapeptides and N-methyl-azapeptides, respectively. Our results indicate that these N-amide center dot center dot center dot H-Namide HBs can have stabilizing contributions even in short azapeptides that cannot fold to form beta-turns.

Stabilization of the elusive antimony(I) cation and its coordination complexes with transition metals - Kumar, Vikas; Gonnade, Rajesh G.; Yildiz, Cem B.; Majumdar, Moumita (Angewandte Chemie-International Edition, 2021)
Upon stabilization by 5,6-bis(diisopropylphosphino)acenaphthene to form compound 1, the fugitive antimony (I) cation exhibited nucleophilic behavior towards coinage metals. Compound 1 was strategically synthesized at room temperature from SbCl3, the bis(phosphine), and trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate taken in a 1:2:3 ratio, whereby the bis(phosphine) plays the dual role of a reductant and a supporting ligand. The generation of 1 involves two-electron oxidation of the ligand to form a P-P bonded diphosphonium dication. Compound 1 was separated from this dication to give both products in pure form in moderate yields. Despite the overall positive charge, the Sb-I site in 1 was found to bind to metal centers, forming complexes with Au-I, Ag-I and Cu-I. Compound 1 reduced Cu-II to Cu-I and formed a coordination complex with the resulting Cu-I species. The effects of the electron-rich bis(phosphine) and the constrained peri geometry in stabilizing and enhancing the nucleophilicity of 1 have been rationalized through computational studies.
Keywords: antimony(I) cation; coordination modes; nucleophilicity; phosphine ligands; reduction

Stereoselective total synthesis of (+/-)-pleurospiroketals A and B - Thorat, Sagar S.; Krishna, Gamidi Rama; Kontham, Ravindar (Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2021)
A full account of our efforts toward the stereoselective total synthesis of sesquiterpenoid-derived natural products (+/-)-pleurospiroketals A and B is described. Commercially available 3-methyl-2-cyclohexenone and 2,2-dimethyloxirane were used as key building blocks, and the substrate-controlled stereoselection was exploited to access the entire stereochemistry of these natural products. Initially, a planned synthetic route involving a [6,5]-bicyclic lactone intermediate was found to be insurmountable, and the later strategy comprising OsO4-NMO-mediated dihydroxylation of 3-methyl-2-cyclohexenone, followed by Luche reduction, Eschenmoser methylenation, and Bronsted acid-induced spiroketalization steps, was ultimately identified as the reliable strategy.

Strategies for the synthesis of furo-pyranones and their application in the total synthesis of related natural products - Thorat, Sagar S.; Kontham, Ravindar (Organic Chemistry Frontiers, 2021)
The furo-pyranone framework is widely present in the molecular structure of various biologically potent natural products and un-natural small molecules, and it represents a valuable target in synthetic organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry. In the last five decades, numerous innovative synthetic methodologies have been disclosed for these bis-oxacyclic fused heterocycles, expanding the scope of accessible building blocks, efficient and affordable catalysis, facile reaction conditions, and overall practicality of the process. In this comprehensive review article, we focus on showcasing the complete spectrum (from the first report in the 1970s to the latest disclosure in 2020) of efforts devoted towards the synthesis of diverse classes of furo-pyranones through systematization and critical analysis of the accumulated experimental knowledge and their elegant applications in total syntheses of biologically interesting related natural products.

Structural and computational investigation of an imine-based propeller-shaped macrocyclic cage - Madhu, Suresh; Raghavan, Sriram (SN Applied Sciences, 2021)
In this study, we present the synthesis, spectroscopic and structural characterization of self-assembling gem-dimethyl imine based molecular cage (IMC). Self-assembling macrocycles and cages have well-defined cavities and have extensive functionalities ranging from energy storage, liquid crystals, and catalysts to water splitting photo absorber. IMC has large voids i.e., 25% of the total crystal volume thus could accommodate wide substrates. The synthesized imine-based molecular cages are stabilized by coaxial π bonded networks and long-range periodic van der Waal and non-bonded contacts as observed from the crystal structure. IMC also has typical properties of soft condensed matter materials, hence theoretical prediction of stress and strain tensor along with thermophysical properties were computed on crystal system and were found to be stable. Molecular dynamics revealed IMC is stabilized by, strong interactions between the interstitial phenyl rings. Density functional theory (DFT) based physicochemical properties were evaluated and has band gap of around 2.38ev (520 nm) similar to various photocatalytic band gap materials.

Structure-property correlation of halogen substituted benzothiazole crystals - Thekkeppat, Nipun P.; Singla, Labhini; Tothadi, Srinu; Das, Priyadip; Choudhury, Angshuman Roy; Ghosh, Soumyajit (Journal of Molecular Structure, 2021)
We have synthesized 3 benzothiazole crystals (1-3) based on existing knowledge of combining flexibility and optical properties towards achieving applications for flexible optoelectronics. However, one crystal was found to be elastically bendable and was found to comply necessary packing features for elasticity. Other two crystals do not obey packing features for elasticity hence they are brittle in nature. Further, Hirshfeld analysis illustrates that elastic crystal 1 possess more number of weak and dispersive interactions compared to other crystals. These interactions were instrumental in invoking elasticity. Moreover, crystals 1-3 were found to be fluorescent as well at specific excitation wavelengths. Therefore, among these crystals, particularly crystal 1 is considered as more promising candidate for flexible optoelectronics. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Benzothiazole crystals; Elasticity; Halogen bond; mechanical properties

Structure-tailored non-noble metal-based ternary chalcogenide nanocrystals for pt-like electrocatalytic hydrogen production - Sarkar, Shreya; Rawat, Abhishek; Das, Tisita; Gaboardi, Mattia; Chakraborty, Sudip; Vinod, C. P.; Peter, Sebastian C. (ChemSusChem, 2021)
A facile microwave-assisted strategy was employed to synthesize Ni3Bi2S2 nanocrystals. Variation in the synthesis conditions tuned the composition of monoclinic and orthorhombic phases of Ni3Bi2S2. The electrochemical hydrogen evolution activity of the catalyst with highest percentage of monoclinic phase demonstrated a negligible onset potential of only 24 mV close to that of state-of-the-art Pt/C with an overpotential as low as 88 mV. Density functional theory calculations predicted the monoclinic phase exhibit the lowest adsorption free energy corresponding to hydrogen adsorption (Delta GadsH*) and, therefore, the highest hydrogen evolution activity amongst the considered phases. The quasi-2D structure of monoclinic phase facilitated an increased charge-transfer between Ni and Bi, favoring the downward shift of the d-band center to enhance the catalytic activity.
Keywords: charge transfer; electrocatalysis; hydrogen evolution reaction; Nanomaterials; ternary chalcogenides

Study of combinatorial drug synergy of novel acridone derivatives with temozolomide using in-silico and in-vitro methods in the treatment of drug-resistant glioma - Chakravarty, Malobika; Ganguli, Piyali; Murahari, Manikanta; Sarkar, Ram Rup; Peters, Godefridus Johannes; Mayur, Y. C. (Frontiers in Oncology, 2021)
Drug resistance is one of the critical challenges faced in the treatment of Glioma. There are only limited drugs available in the treatment of Glioma and among them Temozolomide (TMZ) has shown some effectiveness in treating Glioma patients, however, the rate of recovery remains poor due to the inability of this drug to act on the drug resistant tumor sub-populations. Hence, in this study three novel Acridone derivative drugs AC2, AC7, and AC26 have been proposed. These molecules when combined with TMZ show major tumor cytotoxicity that is effective in suppressing growth of cancer cells in both drug sensitive and resistant sub-populations of a tumor. In this study a novel mathematical model has been developed to explore the various drug combinations that may be useful for the treatment of resistant Glioma and show that the combinations of TMZ and Acridone derivatives have a synergistic effect. Also, acute toxicity studies of all three acridone derivatives were carried out for 14 days and were found safe for oral administration of 400 mg/kg body weight on albino Wistar rats. Molecular Docking studies of acridone derivatives with P-glycoprotein (P-gp), multiple resistant protein (MRP), and O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) revealed different binding affinities to the transporters contributing to drug resistance. It is observed that while the Acridone derivatives bind with these drug resistance causing proteins, the TMZ can produce its cytotoxicity at a much lower concentration leading to the synergistic effect. The in silico analysis corroborate well with our experimental findings using TMZ resistant (T-98) and drug sensitive (U-87) Glioma cell lines and we propose three novel drug combinations (TMZ with AC2, AC7, and AC26) and dosages that show high synergy, high selectivity and low collateral toxicity for the use in the treatment of drug resistant Glioma, which could be future drugs in the treatment of Glioblastoma.
Keywords: acridone derivatives; drug combinations; drug resistance; Glioma; mathematical model; synergy index

Study of growth kinetics of Fe3Se4 nanocrystallites and the influence of size and shape tunability on their magnetic properties - Ghalawat, Monika; Poddar, Pankaj (Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2021)
Crystalline iron selenide (Fe3Se4) nanoparticles (NPs) present a useful model system for a fundamental understanding of magnetism apart from having potential applications in permanent-magnet-related technologies. Despite significant advancements in understanding of the nucleation and growth processes, control over size and shape tunability is nontrivial, especially for the transition metal chalcogenides (TMC). The Wulff theorem states that if a crystal can grow purely under thermodynamic control of parameters then it will adopt the shape determined by the surface-energy minimization, i.e., the surface energy minimization will drive the growth of each crystalline facet. However, the known or unknown, controllable or uncontrollable parameters of a typical reaction which makes kinetic growth more art than science, depending upon whether we understand them or not. There is hardly any study based on existing models and theories to explain the TMC morphology evolution. In this work, there is a conscious effort to know, understand, and control the individual role of various reaction pathways on the shape and size of the Fe3Se4 nanocrystals. A qualitative growth mechanism is proposed based on the diffusion and reaction processes. Furthermore, the influence of shape/size on the magnetic parameters such as coercivity (H-C), magnetization (M-60kOe), effective magnetic anisotropy constant (K-eff), energy product (BHmax), and average blocking temperature (T-B) is investigated for Fe3Se4 NPs. After diving deeper into the science of crystal growth, our insight provides valuable guidance on experimental conditions for the synthesis of Fe3Se4 NPs with tunable sizes/shapes which for the first time can be extended to most TMCs.

Study on the failure of guide ropes used in mines - Singh, M. K.; Mallick, M.; Verma, M. K. (Insight, 2021)
The skips/cages in mine hoisting have to be guided to achieve high hoisting rates. Steel guide ropes are used in hoisting because they can safely guide the skips/cages and have been observed to be economical. Guide ropes are static in nature and are thus more prone to corrosion. An investigation into the causes of failure of a guide rope is discussed in this paper. The study consists of physical examination, examination of wear and corrosion, macro- and micro- examination, examination of the breaking load and individual tensile strength measurement of the rod. The main cause of failure is found to be corrosion. Heavy abrasion and corrosion together causes a substantial reduction in diameter of more than 60%. Corrosion raises the stress level and thereby weakens the grains, which is indicated by the cracks that have developed all along the grains as revealed through micro-examination. This affects the breaking strength and reveals a 37% loss of strength, as a result of which failure occurs.
Keywords: corrosion on steel guide rope; guide rope failure; steel guide rope; wear

Substrate augmented catalytic activity towards NRR: a case study of Li doped Al clusters on defective graphene - Samal, Pragnya Paramita; Poonam; Krishnamurty, Sailaja (2021)
Density Functional Theory (DFT) based methods are applied to examine the potential of lithium doped aluminium clusters consisting of 3-13 atoms for dinitmgen molecule activation in terms of N N bond length, redshift in N N bond stretching frequency, nitrogen interaction energy and frontier molecular orbitals analysis. The present work highlights the role of monovacant C-3 defective graphene as a support in fine tuning the catalytic activity of Li doped Al clusters for reduction of N-2. Fundamental insights to synergic binding of clusters with defective graphene is brought out and its role in enhancing activation of dinitmgen molecule is explained. Supported Aln-1Li clusters with six or more atoms are noted to be more active towards N-2 molecule activation as compared to the clusters without support. Dinitrogen molecule undergoes a maximum bond elongation of 1.56 angstrom corresponding to redshift of 1690 cm(-1) on Al7Li@graphene and Al12Li@graphene. This is maximum value reported in context of activation for N-2 molecule till date.
Keywords: Al clusters; Al12Li; C-3 defective graphene; DFT; Li Doping; N-2 activation; Red-shift

Substrate, catalyst, and solvent: the triune nature of multitasking reagents in hydroboration and cyanosilylation - Dixit, Ruchi; Bisai, Milan Kumar; Yadav, Sandeep; Yadav, Vinita; Sen, Sakya S.; Vanka, Kumar (Organometallics, 2021)
A truly green chemical process would avoid the use of an external catalyst, while still achieving high efficiency. This has been realized in the very recent past for hydroboration, cyanosilylation, acetalization, and the aza-Michael addition, among other reactions. The current combined computational and experimental study unlocks the secret to how this highly desirable outcome is accomplished: one of the reactants in the process also acts as the catalyst. Specifically, this is shown (i) for the important hydroboration reaction, with pinacolborane (HBpin) as the hydroborating reagent and benzaldehyde, acetophenone, benzoic acid and p-methoxyphenylacetylene as the hydroborated substrates, and (ii) for cyanosilylation, with trimethylcyanosilane (TMSCN) as the cyanosilylating agent and benzaldehyde as the substrate. The mechanistic understanding thus gained has then been further exploited experimentally to bring hydroboration and cyanosilylation closer to experimental conditions in catalysis. These insights can potentially be expanded to the rapidly growing area of solvent-free and internal catalyst chemistry.

Sulfonated polyvinyl alcohol ionomer membrane favoring smooth electrodeposition of zinc for aqueous rechargeable zinc metal batteries - Vijayakumar, Vidyanand; Torris, Arun; Kurian, Maria; Mathew, Megha Mary; Ghosh, Meena; Khairnar, Ajay B.; Badiger, Manohar V.; Kurungot, Sreekumar (Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 2021)
One of the failure mechanisms of aqueous rechargeable zinc metal batteries (AZMBs) involves high surface area zinc (HSAZ)/dendrite-like deposits over the Zn-metal anode during long-term cycling. Negatively charged (anionic) polymeric ionomer electrolyte membranes and separators are known for suppressing the dendrite-/HSAZ-induced failure of AZMBs. However, the preparation of cost-effective and non-fluorinated ionomers from cheap and environmentally friendly polymers is essential to leverage the feasibility of AZMBs. The current work demonstrates the potential of an ionomer electrolyte membrane (P-AS-C-Zn) made by the crystallization-induced physical cross-linking of sulfonated poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVS) and poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a dendrite-/HSAZ-inhibiting separator for AZMBs. The P-AS-C-Zn membranes exhibited excellent Zn plating/stripping behavior with a stable voltage vs. time profile beyond 1100 h, compared to their neutral PVA-C-Zn counterpart without any ionomer character (cell failure at close to 280 h). Applying the optimized P-AS-C-Zn membrane in a MnO2||Zn full cell helps retain about 50% of the initial capacity close to 600 cycles in the absence of extra manganese salt in the electrolyte, which is indeed promising.

Sulfonic acid-functionalized heterogeneous catalytic materials for efficient biodiesel production: a review - Tan, Xiang; Sudarsanam, Putla; Tan, Jinyu; Wang, Anping; Zhang, Heng; Li, Hu; Yang, Song (Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 2021)
The development of social productive forces leads to the increasing consumption of fossil fuels. However, the burning of traditional fossil fuels releases huge amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, resulting in drastically increased global surface temperatures, and hence, global warming and abnormal climate change. Biodiesel, which can be produced by (trans)esterification of bio-oils using solid acid catalysts, is recognized as renewable and clean energy, alternative to fossil-derived diesel, and it can meet society's requirements. This review describes the catalytic conversion of bio-derived oils into biodiesel using various sulfonic acid-functionalized heterogeneous catalytic materials that show higher catalytic efficiency and superior recyclability. Besides, various methods of biodiesel preparation and the appropriate design and preparation of robust and efficient catalytic materials for biodiesel production were provided. Finally, the mechanisms of different catalytic esterification and transesterification reactions for biodiesel synthesis, the relevant reaction kinetic models, and techno-economic analysis of biodiesel production were critically discussed in this review.
Keywords: (Trans)esterification; Biodiesel; heterogeneous catalysis; kinetic study; solid acid

Supercapacitive performance of SILAR grown Mn3O4 nanoclusters: effect of cationic precursor concentration - Beknalkar, S. A.; Teli, A. M.; Harale, N. S.; Patil, D. S.; Sutar, J. R.; Shin, J. C.; Patil, P. S. (Chinese Journal of Physics, 2021)
<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">Herein, we have investigated the effect of cationic precursor (manganese chloride tetrahydrate) concentration on the electrochemical performance of successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR)-deposited Mn<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">3<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">4<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> thin films. The concentration of the cationic precursor was varied from 0.05 to 0.15 M, and its effect on physicochemical and electrochemical properties was studied. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses confirmed that Mn<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">3<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">4<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> has a tetragonal structure with Mn<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2+<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> and Mn<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">3+<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> oxidation states. SEM micrographs revealed that nanoclusters of Mn<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">3<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">4<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> with an average size of ~200 nm were formed. Moreover, transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed that these nanoclusters were formed from tiny square nanoplates with a size of ~40 nm. Electrochemical studies of the synthesized Mn<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">3<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">4<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> thin films were recorded in a three-electrode system, which suggests that 0.1 M cationic precursor concentration has a good electrochemical signature with a specific capacitance of 470 F/g at 1 mA/cm<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> current density in 1 M Na<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">SO<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">4<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> aqueous electrolyte. The cyclic stability offered was appreciable, with capacitive retention of 75% up to 10,000 CV cycles scanned at 100 mV/s. The charge storage kinetics of the SILAR-grown Mn<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">3<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">4<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> thin film were investigated. With systematic study we concluded that, the molarity of the cationic precursor plays a vital role in the porosity and microstructure which drastically affects the electrochemical performance.

Supported MoOx and WOx solid acids for biomass valorization: interplay of coordination chemistry, acidity, and catalysis - Sudarsanam, Putla; Gupta, Navneet Kumar; Mallesham, Baithy; Singh, Nittan; Kalbande, Pavan Narayan; Reddy, Benjaram M.; Sels, Bert F. (ACS Catalysis, 2021)
Supported molybdenum oxide (MoOx) and tungsten oxide (WOx) materials are a vital class of solid acid catalysts for the chemical industry because of their nontoxic nature, strong acidity, remarkable stability in water, hydrogen, and oxygen atmospheres, and excellent reusability performance. These fascinating solid acids play a pivotal role in developing sustainable catalytic routes for renewable biomass processing to produce value-added fuels, chemicals, and platform molecules. The coordination chemistry of MoOx and WOx on the support materials (oxides, carbons, or zeolites) controls their acidic strength, active site accessibility, and catalytic activity. Hence, significant efforts have been made toward optimizing the conditions used for catalyst synthesis and biomass processing to tune the coordination chemistry of MoOx and WOx with the substrate molecules and, thus, their acid-activity/selectivity performance. This Review provides a comprehensive overview of supported MoOx and WOx solid acids for biomass valorization. The importance of the biomass and the role of solid acids for biomass valorization were emphasized, followed by a brief discussion of supported MoOx and WO(x )solid acids. Afterward, the interplay of coordination chemistry, acidic strength, and catalytic activity of supported MoOx and WOx solid acids was discussed. Finally, their catalytic applications for the valorization of several biomass substrates and their derivatives were summarized. This Review will provide valuable insights for developing advanced supported WOx and MoOx solid acids for catalytic biomass valorization and other challenging acid-catalyzed processes.
Keywords: Acidity; biomass valorization; catalysis; Coordination chemistry; molybdenum oxide; tungsten oxide

SWATH-MS based quantitative proteomics analysis to evaluate the antileishmanial effect of Commiphora wightii- Guggul and amphotericin B on a clinical isolate of Leishmania donovani (vol 223, 103800, 2020) - Routaray, Chinmayee Bar; Bhor, Renuka; Bai, Shakuntala; Kadam, Nitin Suryakant; Jagtap, Surabhi; Doshi, Pooja Jignesh; Sundar, Shyam; Sawant, Sangeeta; Kulkarni, Mahesh J.; Pai, Kalpana (Journal of Proteomics, 2021)
Drug resistance and relapse after treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) with the chemotherapeutic drugs has impeded the VL elimination programme especially, in the endemic region of Bihar, India. Currently, Antimonials (Sbv) have been rendered obsolete (Bihar) as frequent treatment failure and relapse in Sbv treated patient's warrants greater vigilance and attention to the limited drugs. A clinical isolate of L.donovani obtained from an Amphotericin B (AmB) relapse patient was evaluated for its susceptibility to AmB and a hyperlipidemic drug Guggul. The evaluation of susceptibility or resistance to any drug still relies on in vitro assay on promastigote and amastigote stages of Leishmania spp. as there are no validated markers which can ascertain drug resistance in Leishmania. The anti-promastigote effect of AmB and Guggul were demonstrated by significant cellular and morphological changes exhibiting apoptosis-mediated cell death. To further illustrate the molecular mechanism of the parasite's response upon exposure to either AmB and Guggul, sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion spectra mass spectrometry (SWATH-MS) for quantitative proteomics analysis was performed along with computational data analysis; revealing considerable differences in the proteome profiles which could be regarded as putative markers for resistance or drug targets for development of therapeutic antileishmanials.

Synergistic effect of B site co-doping with Co and Ce in bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis by oxygen deficient brownmillerite Ba2In2O5 - Thundiyil, Shibin; Kurungot, Sreekumar; Devi, R. Nandini (Catalysis Today, 2021)
<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">Specificity in oxygen reduction and evolution reactions is pivotal in bifunctional catalysts in advanced energy devices which are expected to be active in a wide potential window and stable in both electrochemically reducing and oxidising atmospheres. State of the art noble metal catalysts for these reactions are fraught with issues whereas, metal oxides are expected to be stable in large potential window and can be tuned to have better bifunctional activity. Catalytically active metals, redox centres, oxygen vacancies etc. are some of the features of structured oxides which can be exploited in oxygen electrocatalysis. Brownmillerite family of compounds with general formula, A<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">B<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">5<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> has high concentrations of ordered oxygen vacancy in a layer and can be promising bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts, by appropriate B site doping. Ba<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">In<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">5<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;"> is a well-studied system for its oxide ion conductivity and proximity of active B sites to O vacancies provide good O adsorption sites which are catalytically active. Here, cobalt and cerium are co-doped in Ba<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">In<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">2<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">O<span style="font-size: 13.5px; line-height: 0; position: relative; bottom: -0.25em; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">5<span style="color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSerif, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400;">, anticipating a synergistic effect of Ce(III)/Ce(IV) redox centre in ORR and Co activity in OER along with O vacancies providing adsorption sites. We have studied the structural changes associated with the doping by Rietveld refinement of the XRD patterns and correlated the structure to bifunctional oxygen electrocatalytic activity which is found to enhance on increasing the Co and Ce content.

Synergistic electronic coupling/cross-talk between the isolated metal halide units of zero dimensional heterometallic (Sb, Mn) halide hybrid with enhanced emission - Biswas, Anupam; Bakthavatsalam, Rangarajan; Das, Deep K.; Sam, Jisvin; Mali, Bhupendra P.; Biswas, Chinmoy; Maana, Narugopal; Thomson, Stuart; Raavi, Sai Santosh Kumar; Kurungot, Sreekumar; Gonnade, Rajesh G.; Dutta, Sudipta; et al. (Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2021)
Heterometallic 0D metal halide hybrids, consisting of more than one kind of metal halide units, are anticipated to manifest synergistic effects on the photo-physical properties of the constituent metal halide units. Such architectures hold great promise for design and development of function-targeted materials. However, heterometallic 0D hybrids, featuring isolated metal halide units, typically do not show any synergistic effects due to large inter-unit spatial separations that inhibit interactions/coupling between the constituent metal halide units. It remains challenging to design synthetic strategies that would support structural modifications to allow synergistic electronic coupling between the metal halide units in heterometallic 0D hybrids. Here, we report synthesis and characterization of heterometallic (Sb, Mn) 0D hybrid, namely Tris SbMnCl, with isolated MnCl5 units, (Sb/Mn)Cl-6 units, dispersed in the organic ligand matrix and layer of dynamic and networked water molecules. Steady state and time resolved emission spectra (TRES) analysis suggests strong synergistic interaction between the isolated metal halide units. Efficient energy transfer from the strongly absorbing Sb centres to emissive Mn centres results in the observed enhanced emission. Proton conductivity measurements together with first-principles calculations suggest the unique role of the networked water molecules in mediating the electronic coupling/energy transfer between the separated metal halide units in Tris SbMnCl hybrid. This report highlights the role of structure/composition of the synthesized heterometallic 0D hybrid in attaining electronic dimensionality higher than 0D through synergistic electronic interaction between the isolated metal halide units.

Synergistic nanostructured MnOx/TiO2 catalyst for highly selective synthesis of aromatic imines - Sudarsanam, Putla; Kockritz, Angela; Atia, Hanan; Amin, Mohamad Hassan; Bruckner, Angelika (ChemCatChem, 2021)
This work reports the development of a synergistic nanostructured MnOx/TiO2 catalyst, with highly dispersed MnOx nanoparticles (4.5 +/- 1 nm) on shape-controlled TiO2 nanotubes (8-11 nm width and 120-280 nm length), for selective synthesis of valuable aromatic imines at industrially important conditions. Pristine TiO2 nanotubes exhibited 97 % imine selectivity at a 38.3 % benzylamine conversion, whereas very low imine selectivity was obtained over commercial TiO2 materials, indicating the catalytic significance of shape-controlled TiO2 nanotubes. The MnOx nanoparticle/TiO2 nanotube (10 wt% Mn) catalyst calcined at 400 degrees C showed the best activity with 95.6 % benzylamine conversion and 99.9 % imine selectivity. This catalyst exhibited good recyclability for four times and is effective for converting numerous benzylamines into higher yields of imines. The high catalytic performance of MnOx/TiO2 nanotubes was attributed to higher number of redox sites (Mn3+), high dispersion of Mn species, and shape-controlled structure of TiO2, indicating that this catalyst could be a promising candidate for selective oxidation reactions.
Keywords: Acid-redox properties; aerobic oxidation; Nanostructured catalyst; Selective catalysis; Synergistic metal-oxide interaction

Synthesis and application of silylene-stabilized low-coordinate Ag(I)-arene cationic complexes - Parvin, Nasrina; Sen, Nilanjana; Tothadi, Srinu; Muhammed, Shahila; Parameswaran, Pattiyil; Khan, Shabana (Organometallics, 2021)
We report the first examples of N-heterocyclic silylene-stabilized monocoordinate Ag(I) cationic complexes weakly bound to the free arene rings (C6H6, C6Me6, and C7H8). Further, the application of these electrophilic Ag(I) complexes as catalysts has been investigated toward A(3)-coupling reactions, which afforded a series of propargylamines in good to excellent yields with low catalyst loading under a solvent-free condition (19 examples).

Synthesis and biological evaluation of hoshionolactam-based compounds - Jachak, Gorakhnath R.; Elizebath, Drishya; Shukla, Anurag; Shanmugam, Dhanasekaran; Reddy, D. Srinivasa (European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2021)
In search of novel antitrypanosomal agents based on hoshinolactam (IC50=3.9 nM), we disclose the synthesis and biological evaluations of 14 different analogues of the natural product using combinations of different acids and lactams. Antitrypanosomal activity assays revealed that the synthesized analogues were less potent than the parent natural product.
Keywords: Hoshinolactam; Ozonolysis; Parasitic diseases; Trypanosoma

Synthesis and cell imaging applications of fluorescent mono/di/tri-heterocyclyl-2,6-dicyanoanilines (vol 27, pg 979, 2017) - Pisal, Mahesh M.; Annadate, Ritesh A.; Athalye, Meghana C.; Kumar, Deepak; Chavan, Subhash P.; Sarkar, Dhiman; Borate, Hanumant B. (Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 2021)

Synthesis and characterization of LAGP-glass-ceramics-based composite solid polymer electrolyte for solid-state Li-ion battery application - Das, Anurup; Goswami, Madhumita; Illath, Kavya; Ajithkumar, T. G.; Arya, A.; Krishnan, M. (Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 2021)
Solid State Electrolytes (SSEs) are the future alternatives of the present conventional liquid electrolytes in terms of safety, high temperature stability and also good electrochemical performance. Glass (G), based on Lithium Aluminium Germanium Phosphate (LAGP) was prepared and converted into glass-ceramics (GC) by optimized heating schedule. The crystalline LAGP has Na Super Ionic CONductor (NASICON) type unit cell where the lithium ions hop between two different positions providing long range ionic motion. To improve the inter electrode surface resistance and cell performance, Composite Solid Electrolyte (CSE) was prepared with poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexaflurophoaphate) (P(VDF-HFP)), 20wt% LAGP, Lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) and 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)-imide (EMITFSI). X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the formation of the NASICON phase in LAGP GC and the amorphous nature of the CSE. NMR studies confirm formation of the Ge/AlO6 octahedra and PO4 tetrahedra inside the crystal. 7Li NMR also confirmed two different Lithium sites in LAGP crystal. The ionic conductivity values of CSE and LAGP GC are (4.49 +/- 0.31) x 10(-3)Scm(-1) and (2.70 +/- 0.04) x 10(-4)Scm(-1), respectively. The thermal stability of the prepared CSE is tested upto 315 degrees C without any degradation. Two cells (Cell-I & Cell-II) were fabricated using the LAGP GC and CSE respectively. Cell-II shows the specific discharge capacity of 151mAhg1 at 50th cycle which is higher as compared to Cell-I (129mAhg(-1)) when tested at the C-rate of 0.05 degrees C.
Keywords: Lithium germanium phosphate; NASICON; Solid state electrolyte; Solid state NMR

Synthesis, crystal structures, dielectric and magnetic properties of manganese sulfonyldibenzoates - Balendra; Singh, Bharti; Banday, Azeem; Tewari, Shailabh; Kumar, Vineet; Murugavel, Sevi; Joy, P. A.; Ramanan, Arunachalam (Crystengcomm, 2021)
{A systematic investigation of the system manganese(II) salt-H(2)SBA-auxiliary ligand-solvent successfully led to the isolation of six new multidimensional coordination polymers: [Mn-5(2-pic)(2)(DMA)(4)(SBA)(4)]center dot 4DMA (1), [Mn-3(pyzc)(2)(DMF)(H2O)(SBA)(2)]center dot DMF center dot H2O (2), [Mn-5(pyzc)(2)(DMA)(4)(SBA)(4)]center dot 4DMA (3), [Mn-5(mpyzc)(2)(DMA)(4)(SBA)(4)]center dot 4DMA (4), [Mn-2(phen)(2)(H2O)(SBA)(2)]center dot 2DMA (5) and [Mn-3(phen)(2)(SBA)(3)]center dot 5DMF (6), where SBA = 4,4'-sulfonyldibenzoate 2-pic = 2-picolinate

Synthesis of anisotropic rod-like gold nanostructures in organic media (vol 133, 106, 2021) - Prasad, V. Bhagavatula L.; Sivasankaran, Prathap Chandran; Patel, Pitambar; Malekar, V. Pushpa; Maya, V. K.; Ramana, V. Chepuri (Journal of Chemical Sciences, 2021)

Synthesis of anisotropic rod-like gold nanostructures in organic media - Prasad, V, Bhagavatula L.; Sivasankaran, Prathap Chandran; Patel, Pitambar; Malekar, V, Pushpa; Maya, V, K.; Ramana, V, Chepuri (Journal of Chemical Sciences, 2021)
Synthesis of anisotropic rod-like gold nanostructures was carried out in chloroform employing a modified ascorbic acid derivative as a reducing agent in the presence and absence of seed particles. The seed particles and/or the chloroaurate ions were phase transferred to the organic media using n-octadecyl amine. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis clearly revealed that the anisotropic structures are single crystalline in nature. The stabilization of certain crystallographic faces of anisotropic gold nanostructures by amines is invoked to explain the formation of these structures.

Synthesis of four diastereomers of notoryne and their C-13 NMR chemical shifts analysis - Senapati, Sibadatta; Das, Shyamsundar; Dixit, Ruchi; Vanka, Kumar; Ramana, V, Chepuri (Journal of Chemical Sciences, 2021)
In this manuscript we document the details of the synthesis of four diastereomers of notoryne. The synthesis of one of the diastereomer having a similar relative stereochemistry of substituents on the both THF rings like notoryne, however, being the relative stereochemistry between the bridging carbon of these two THF units is changed from anti to syn has been executed mainly to learn how the ring carbon chemical shifts vary with this change. Interestingly, the deviations are found mainly for the carbons of THF ring that bears the Br-group. In addition to this isomer, three more diastereomers having the relative stereochemistry of substituents on either of the THF rings varied have been also synthesized. All four diastereomers have been subjected for extensive NMR studies and their C-13 NMR chemical shifts have been compared with notoryne and laurendecumenyne B. In addition, chemical shifts for the four diastereomers along with these natural products were calculated with the help of DFT calculations and compared to the experimentally obtained chemical shift values.

Synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles using Phlogacanthus Thyrsiformis extracts-its phytochemical screening and anti-oxidant studies - Singh, Avinash Thounaojam; Shaikh, Iqbal N.; Rale, Madhura Vijay (Materials Today-Proceedings, 2021)
Phlogacanthus Thyrsiformis is a shrub belonging to the Acanthaceae family, normally found in the northeastern parts of India, Nepal, Burma, Indo-Chinese region and Indonesia. It is used as a cure for diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, burns, boils, high blood pressure, sprains and body pains. Silver and gold nanoparticles were synthesized from the extracts of the leaves of this plant as the some biomolecules, known as secondary metabolites, present in plant extracts can be used to reduce metal ions to nanoparticles. The contents of the leaves were extracted in various solvents and the tests for the presence of secondary metabolites were carried out. The gold and silver nanoparticles synthesized using the plant extracts and characterized using TEM, SEM techniques and the phytochemical screening tests were done for different extracts. The anti-oxidant studies of the several extracts were carried out. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Anti-oxidant studies; Nanoparticles; Phligacanthus thyrsiformis; Phytochemical Studies; Secondary metabolites

Synthesis of graphene from activated carbon at liquid nitrogen temperature and its detailed structural analysis - Sharma, Preeti; Sharma, Geeta; Punia, Rajesh (Applied Physics A-Materials Science & Processing, 2021)
The present study deals with the synthesis of graphene using thermal quenching of pre-heated activated carbon (a-C) (1370 K for 3 h) at liquid nitrogen temperature and its detailed structural analysis using XRD, TEM, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The analysis of lattice parameters (L-a, L-c,L- and d) of constituent nanographitic domains using XRD shows restoration of graphene-like structure in the resultant product (a-CL). TEM image reveals porosity and partially crystallinity (from SAED) in a-C. While thin layers of graphene are observed in the TEM images of a-CL Deconvoluted Raman spectra have been used to investigate the evolution of crystalline behaviour of a-C with temperature in view of Ferrari and Robertson's three-stage model. The evolution of G peak and increase in I-D/I-G reveals restoration of crystallinity in a-CL. The development of the D peak indicates disordering of graphite but ordering of amorphous carbon. The reported method is technologically beneficial for graphene synthesis for large number of applications such as supercapacitors, H-2 storage, gas separation and purification.
Keywords: activated carbon; Amorphous carbon; graphene; H-2 storage applications; Raman spectroscopy; Supercapacitors

Synthesis of new 2-(thiazol-4-yl)thiazolidin-4-one derivatives as potential anti-mycobacterial agents - Abhale, Yogita K.; Shinde, Abhijit; Shelke, Monika; Nawale, Laxman; Sarkar, Dhiman; Mhaske, Pravin C. (Bioorganic Chemistry, 2021)
To search for potent antimycobacterial lead compounds, a new series of 3-substituted phenyl-2-(2-(substituted phenyl)thiazol-4-yl) thiazolidin-4-one (5a-t) derivatives have been synthesized by the condensation of 2 substituted phenyl thiazole-4-carbaldehyde with aromatic amine followed by cyclocondensation with thioglycolic acid. The structure of the newly synthesized 2-(thiazol-4-yl)thiazolidin-4-one derivatives were characterized by the spectroscopic analysis. The synthesized compounds were screened for antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra (MTB) (ATCC 25177) and Mycobacterium bovis BCG (BCG, ATCC 35743). Most of the 2-(thiazol-4-yl)thiazolidin-4-one derivatives showed good to excellent antimycobacterial activity against both the Mtb strains. Nine derivatives 5c, 5g, 5j, 5m, 5n, 5o, 5p, 5s, and 5t showed excellent activity against M. bovis BCG with MIC 4.43 to 24.04 mu M were further evaluated for the cytotoxicity activity against HeLa A549, and HCT-116 cell lines and showed no significant cytotoxic activity at the maximum concentration evaluated. The potential antimycobacterial activities enforced that the thiazolyl-thiazolidin-4-one derivatives could lead to compounds that could treat tuberculosis.
Keywords: Cytotoxicity; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Thiazole; Thiazolidin-4-one

Synthetic heparan sulfate ligands for vascular endothelial growth factor to modulate angiogenesis - Jain, Prashant; Shanthamurthy, Chethan D.; Leviatan Ben-Arye, Shani; Yehuda, Sharon; Nandikol, Sharvani S.; Thulasiram, V, Hirekodathakallu; Padler-Karavani, Vered; Kikkeri, Raghavendra (Chemical Communications, 2021)
We report the discovery of a potential heparan sulfate (HS) ligand to target several growth factors using 13 unique HS tetrasaccharide ligands. By employing an HS microarray and SPR, we deciphered the crucial structure-binding relationship of these glycans with the growth factors BMP2, VEGF(165), HB-EGF, and FGF2. Notably, GlcNHAc(6-O-SO3-)-IdoA(2-O-SO3-) (HT-2,6S-NAc) tetrasaccharide showed strong binding with the VEGF(165) growth factor. In vitro vascular endothelial cell proliferation, migration and angiogenesis was inhibited in the presence of VEGF(165) and HT-2,6S-NAc or HT-6S-NAc, revealing the potential therapeutic role of these synthetic HS ligands.

Systematic search for a predictor for the clinical observables of alzheimer's disease - Das, Atanu (Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2021)
One of the prevailing life-threatening incurable neurodegenerative diseases that are presently endangering human society as a whole, and hence, baffling the entire spectrum of the scientific and pharmaceutical world, is Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is a manifestation of self-assembly of both wild-type (sporadic) and mutated (familial) forms of the amyloid-beta peptide, a proteolytic product of the amyloid precursor protein, where the self-assembly results in the genesis of pathogenic fibrillar aggregates. Currently prevailing diagnostic and hence therapeutic challenges originate from the unavailability of a specific predictor for clinical observables. The continuous emergence of novel pathogenic mutants with unpredictable phenotypes adds immensely to the nonspecific nature of the problem. The current research reports a simple physical parameter, the binding affinity of a protofilament to its protofibril, which predicts the clinical observables of familial AD with astounding accuracy and more importantly, without any adjustable parameters.

Scalable mechanochemical synthesis of beta-ketoenamine-linked covalent organic frameworks for methane storage - Asokan, Kiran; Patil, Manoj Krishnat; Mukherjee, Shatabdi Porel; Sukumaran, Santhosh Babu; Nandakumar, T. (Chemistry-An Asian Journal, 2022)
In the current scenario of increased pollution and releasing toxic gases by burning petroleum products, switching to natural gas is more promising for reducing CO2 emissions and air pollutants. Hence, research on Liquefied Natural Gas and Compressed Natural Gas is gaining more value. However, natural gas primarily consists of CH4, which has less energy density than conventional fuels. Interestingly, since the C-H ratio of CH4 gas is 1 : 4, it is easily combustible, gives less carbon footprint, and reduces unburnt hydrocarbon pollution. Hence, research on storing and transporting CH4 has utmost importance, and porous materials are one of the suitable candidates for storing CH4. Herein we report the scalable synthesis of highly porous and crystalline covalent organic frameworks for storing CH4 at room temperature and pressure. Two COFs, namely, Tp-Azo and Tp-Azo-BD(Me)(2), synthesized in 1 kg at similar to 45 g batch scale using a Planetary mixer, displayed a maximum BET surface area of around 3345 m(2)/g, and 2342 m(2)/g and CH4 storage of 174.10 cc/cc and 151 cc/cc, respectively. A comparison of the CH4 sorption of Tp-Azo and Tp-Azo-BD(Me)(2) COFs synthesized in different batches has a variation of only +/- 5 cc/cc and shows the consistency in bulk scale synthesis of COFs. The cyclic equilibrium CH4 adsorption studies showed the COFs are stable with consistent CH4 adsorption and desorption cycles. The present study is a step towards the scalable mechanochemical synthesis of COFs for gas storage applications.
Keywords: CH4 storage; COF; porous material; scalable synthesis

Scan-find-scan-model: discrete site-targeted suppressor design strategy for amyloid-beta - Bhagavatula, Hasathi; Sarkar, Archishman; Santra, Binit; Das, Atanu (ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2022)
Alzheimer's disease is undoubtedly the most well-studied ranks at the top in terms of getting attention from the scientific community for structural property-based characterization. Even after decades of extensive research, there is existing volatility in terms of understanding and hence the effective tackling procedures against the disease that arises due to the lack of knowledge of both specific targetand site-specific drugs. Here, we develop a multidimensional approach based on the characterization of the common static-dynamic-thermodynamic trait of the monomeric protein, which efficiently identifies a small target sequence that contains an inherent tendency to misfold and consequently aggregate. The robustness of the identification of the target sequence comes with an abundance of a priori knowledge about the length and sequence of the target and hence guides toward effective designing of the target-specific drug with a very low probability of bottleneck and failure. Based on the target sequence information, we further identified a specific mutant that showed the maximum potential to act as a destabilizer of the monomeric protein as well as enormous success as an aggregation suppressor. We eventually tested the drug efficacy by estimating the extent of modulation of binding affinity existing within the fibrillar form of the A beta protein due to a single-point mutation and hence provided a proof of concept of the entire protocol.
Keywords: configurational misfoldability; drug developability; inherent frustration; potential aggregability; sequence-based mutability; target specificity

Screening of osmotic stress-tolerant bacteria for plant growth promotion in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) under drought conditions - Patel, P.; Patil, T.; Maiti, S.; Paul, D.; Amaresan, N. (Letters in Applied Microbiology, 2022)
Drought stress adversely affects plant growth and productivity. Therefore, the application of plant growth-promoting bacteria is a viable option for combating drought resistance in crops. In this study, 144 bacteria were isolated from the Kutch desert soil in Gujarat. Based on osmotic stress tolerance and PGP properties, two strains, Bacillus tequilensis (KS5B) and Pseudomonas stutzeri (KS5C) were tested for their effect on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) under drought stress conditions. Inoculation with osmotic stress-tolerant bacteria showed 15 center dot 15-29 center dot 27% enhancement in root length of wheat and 15 center dot 27-32 center dot 59% in brinjal plants. Similarly, the enhancement of shoot length ranged from 14 center dot 72 to 37 center dot 70% for wheat and 59 center dot 39-95 center dot 94% for brinjal plants. Furthermore, the inoculated plants showed significant improvement in chlorophyll content and antioxidant properties such as proline, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase activity compared to the control. Therefore, the bacterial strains identified in this study can be used to mitigate drought stress and enhance plant biomass.
Keywords: Antioxidant; brinjal; drought; plant growth; Wheat

Selective electro-oxidation of phenol to 1,4-hydroquinone employing carbonaceous electrodes: surface modification is the key - Baravkar, Mayur D.; Prasad, Bhagavatula L. V. (New Journal of Chemistry, 2022)
The oxidation of phenol leading to 1,4-hydroquinone with high conversion, remarkable selectivity and an excellent yield (87% isolated) has been accomplished under electrolytic conditions in an aqueous medium employing carbon-based electrodes. To achieve this, various factors such as electrode stability, repeatability, and the type of product formed by the electrochemical oxidation of phenol have been investigated using cyclic voltammetry first and then organic transformations under optimized conditions were accomplished by constant current electrolysis. The voltammetric data clearly show that electrochemically generated intermediates passivate the surface of the typically used electrodes, leading to a decrease in their activity, which is a major problem concerning the transformation of phenol electro-oxidation to an industrially adaptable process. In this work, it is established that such difficulties could be circumvented using surface modified carbonaceous electrodes having disordered graphene-like structures and oxygen functional groups. It is also demonstrated that surface modified reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) based electrodes could be used for electro-oxidation of phenol at a reasonably large scale. The electrolysis conditions have been optimized based on the mechanistic understanding leading to remarkable conversion of phenol with 87% selectivity to 1,4-hydroquinone.

Selective production of C9 monomeric phenols via hydrogenolysis of lignin using Pd-(W/Zr/Mo oxides)-supported on biochar catalyst - Gurrala, Lakshmiprasad; Kumar, M. Midhun; Sharma, Shweta; Paek, Changyub; Vinu, R. (Fuel, 2022)
Valorizing lignin to phenolic monomers and fine chemicals is an essential component of a sustainable biorefinery that uses lignocellulosic feedstocks. In this study, Pd-metal oxides (ZrO2, WOx, MoO3) supported on activated biochar (ABC) catalysts were developed for hydrogenolysis of lignin. The metals (2% Pd, 5% Zr, 5% W, 5% Mo) were supported on activated biochar using the wetness impregnation method, and the catalysts were extensively characterized. The effect of addition of secondary metals on active surface properties such as acidity, Pd metal particle size and dispersion were also evaluated. The selectivity to C9 monomeric phenols followed the trend: 2Pd-5Mo/ABC (57.3%) > 2Pd-5Zr/ABC (49.2%) > 2Pd-5W/ABC (45%) > 2Pd/ABC (42.9%). The maximum C9 phenolic monomer yield achieved in this study was similar to 22 wt%. The fractional conversion of lignin was 67-69% with Pd-metal oxide catalysts. The presence of Mo in the catalyst inhibited the hydrogenation of aliphatic C-alpha = C-beta in lignin and led to the formation of t-isoeugenol, while the presence of W and Zr resulted in selective formation of the hydrogenated product, propyl guaiacol. Using model compounds, it is proved that the formation of propyl guaiacol is via hydrogenation of t-isoeugenol, and not through dehydroxylation of propanol guaiacol. The dehydroxylation activity of the catalysts is attributed to the higher Lewis acidity and electropositive nature of the metals. A notable carbon atom economy of 47-50% towards total phenolic monomers was achieved with 2Pd/ABC, 2Pd-5Mo/ABC and 2Pd-5Zr/ABC catalysts.
Keywords: Activated biochar; Guaiacol; Hydrogenolysis; lignin; Metal oxides; Palladium

`Self-activating' Bi3TaO7-Bi4TaO8Br photocatalyst and its use in the sustainable production of pro-fluorophoric rhodamine-110 - Banoo, Maqsuma; Chatterjee, Kaustav; Mondal, Sanjit; Vinod, C. P.; Gautam, Ujjal K. (Green Chemistry, 2022)
We counter two common notions that (i) photocatalysts are likely to degrade during use with barely any strategy to counter it and (ii) rhodamine-B (RhB) photo-degradation lacks any useful or commercial prospects even after 53 years of its discovery by developing a photocatalyst that continues to improve its activity for similar to 300 h due to a leaching induced `self-activation' process. Rhodamine-110 (Rh110) is a widely used pro-fluorophore in biological studies. However, its commercial production is highly challenging due to the formation of various side-products originating from the presence of the two labile amino side-groups that induce the pro-fluorophore activity, leading to purification difficulties, low yield, and unusually high costs. Herein, we demonstrate a facile strategy to produce pure Rh110 using extremely inexpensive RhB and Bi3TaO7-Bi4TaO8Br heterostructures as a catalyst in sunlight. The catalyst is not just stable over 30 catalytic cycles but also gets activated continuously in successive cycles to produce a reaction yield as high as 88%. The role of the heterostructure, the origin of surface activation, and the RhB -> Rh110 transformation mechanism have been established. Based on 150 days of sunlight experiments, large-scale production prospects (similar to 4000 times scale-up) and isolation of Rh110 have also been realized, paving a novel way for its production by anyone, inexpensive biological essaying, and device fabrication. Continuously improving catalysts are unknown and compensatory leaching of metal atoms from the catalyst surface may pave the way to realize them.

Shape-controlled nanostructured MoO3/CeO2 catalysts for selective cyclohexene epoxidation - Sudarsanam, Putla; Singh, Nittan; Kalbande, Pavan Narayan (Catalysis Communications, 2022)
This study reported a vital role of CeO2 shape on the structure-activity properties of MoOx/CeO2 catalysts for cyclohexene epoxidation. Uniform dispersion of MoOx on the surface of shape-controlled CeO2 nanocubes (average particle size: 23.5 nm) and nanorods (average width: 6.3 nm and length: 15-95 nm) was found in MoOx/CeO2 nanomaterials. The MoOx/CeO2 nanocubes showed higher epoxide selectivity (97.3%) with 98.9% cyclohexene conversion, although it has lower BET surface area (30.2 m(2)/g) compared with MoOx/CeO2 nanorods (72.8 m(2)/g). The presence of more electropositive Mo6+ species and the strong Mo-Ce interaction led to improved catalytic efficacy of MoOx/CeO2 nanocubes in cyclohexene epoxidation.
Keywords: CeO2 nanocubes; CeO2 shapes; Nanosized MoOx/CeO2 catalyst; Selective epoxidation; Structure-activity properties

Silk fibroin and recombinant elastin blend nano-coatings for implantable medical devices - Joseph, Emmanuel; Kane, Kartiki; Parekh, Nimisha; Nisal, Anuya; Janorkar, V. Amol (Materials Today Communications, 2022)
Silicone breast implants are conventionally used to reconstruct the shape and size of the breast in breast cancer patients. However, rate of failure of implants due to formation of capsular contracture is significantly high. Recent studies have shown that coating the surface of the implant with a biocompatible polymer can mitigate this risk. Here, we have modified the surface of implant using a biocompatible natural biopolymer silk fibroin (SF). Further, we have developed formulations of SF with a recombinantly produced elastin-like-peptide (ELP) and compared their performance with a known anti-fouling hydrophilic polymer - polyethylene oxide (PEO). Microscopic and spectroscopic characterization confirm the formation of uniform coatings. These coatings have been also characterized for their ability to resists crack formation. Further, the coatings have been evaluated for their biological performance. Our studies show that addition of 25 wt% of ELP to SF significantly enhances the crack resistance for the coatings. In addition, SF/ELP coatings reduce the adsorption of blood plasma proteins by more than 80 %. Preliminary analysis shows that the SF/ELP blend coatings are non-cytotoxic and support adhesion, growth and proliferation of fibroblast cells. The study therefore demonstrates that SF/ELP coatings have the potential to mitigate the risk of breast implant failure.
Keywords: Blood plasma; Crack resistance; Protein adsorption; Recombinant elastin; Silk fibroin

Silk fibroin microparticle scaffold for use in bone void filling: safety and efficacy studies - Deshpande, Rucha; Shukla, Swati; Kale, Amod; Deshmukh, Narendra; Nisal, Anuya; Venugopalan, Premnath (ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 2022)
Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural biocompatible protein polymer extracted from cocoons of silkworm Bombyx mori. SF can be processed into a variety of different forms and shapes that can be used as scaffolds to support bone regeneration. Threedimensional (3D) SF scaffolds have shown promise in bone-void -filling applications. In in vitro studies, it has been demonstrated that a microparticle-based SF (M-RSF) scaffold promotes the differentiation of stem cells into an osteoblastic lineage. The expression of differentiation markers was also significantly higher for M-RSF scaffolds as compared to other SF scaffolds and commercial ceramic scaffolds. In this work, we have evaluated the in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility of M-RSF scaffolds as per the ISO 10993 guidelines in a Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)-certified facility. The cytotoxicity, immunogenicity, genotoxicity, systemic toxicity, and implantation studies confirmed that the M-RSF scaffold is biocompatible. Further, the performance of the MRSF scaffold to support bone formation was evaluated in in vivo bone implantation studies in a rabbit model. Calcium sulfate (CaSO4) scaffolds were chosen as reference material for this study as they are one of the preferred materials for bone-void -filling applications. M-RSF scaffold implantation sites showed a higher number of osteoblast and osteoclast cells as compared to CaSO4 implantation sites indicating active bone remodeling. The number density of osteocytes was double for M-RSF scaffold implantation sites, and these M-RSF scaffold implantation sites were characterized by enhanced collagen deposition, pointing toward a finer quality of the new bone formed. Moreover, the M-RSF scaffold implantation sites had a negligible incidence of secondary fractures as compared to the CaSO4 implantation sites (similar to 50% sites with secondary fracture), implying a reduction in postsurgical complications. Thus, the study demonstrates that the M-RSF scaffold is nontoxic for bone-void -filling applications and facilitates superior healing of fracture defects as compared to commercial calcium-based bone void fillers.
Keywords: Biocompatibility; biological safety; bone void filler; ISO 10993; M-RSF; Serioss; Silk fibroin

Silver dependent enantiodivergent gold(i) catalysed asymmetric intramolecular hydroamination of alkenes: a theoretical study - Dixit, Ruchi; Sharma, Himanshu; Agbossou-Niedercorn, Francine; Vanka, Kumar; Michon, Christophe (Catalysts, 2022)
We report a theoretical study of the first silver-dependent enantiodivergent gold-catalysed reaction. The combination of a single chiral binuclear gold(I) chloride complex and silver perchlorate catalyses the asymmetric intramolecular hydroamination of alkenes and affords both enantiomers of the products by applying a simple solvent change from toluene to methanol. A gold-silver chloride adduct that occurs only in methanol appears to control the enantioinversion. If one gold atom coordinates and activates the alkene moiety, the other gold is included in an adduct with silver chloride, which coordinates a methanol solvent molecule and further interacts with the amine function. If the use of toluene implies free anions and affords (S)-enantiomer, methanol allows a proximal interaction with the amine, leads to an opposite stereodifferentiation of the two diastereomeric intermediates during the final protodeauration step and results in the (R)-enantiomer.
Keywords: alkene; enantiodivergent catalysis; Gold; hydroamination; Silver

Silver-catalyzed [3 + 3]-annulation cascade of alkynyl alcohols and α,β-unsaturated ketones for the regioselective assembly of chromanes - Nakate, Ashwini K.; Thorat, Sagar S.; Jain, Shailja; Rama Krishna, Gamidi; Vanka, Kumar; Kontham, Ravindar (Organic Chemistry Frontiers, 2022)
An unprecedented Ag(i)-catalyzed [3 + 3]-annulation of alkynyl alcohols (5-hexyn-1-ols) and α,β-unsaturated ketones is reported to construct simple to complex chromanes. This transformation begins with hydroalkoxylation of alkynol through C–C triple bond activation to give cyclic-enol ether, followed by intermolecular 1,4-addition and intramolecular 1,2-addition of enol ethers onto the enone and oxidative aromatization or Grob-type elimination steps. Facile reaction conditions, broad substrate scope, good to excellent yields, and atom economy are the salient features of this protocol. Isolation of the active pyran-tethered cyclohexadiene reaction intermediate, additional supporting experiments, and DFT calculations strongly support the experimental findings and corroborate our proposed mechanism.

Single-step insertion of M-Nx moieties in commercial carbon for sustainable bifunctional electrocatalysis: mapping insertion capacity, mass loss, and carbon reconstruction - Garg, Reeya; Sahoo, Lipipuspa; Kaur, Komalpreet; Vinod, C. P.; Gautam, Ujjal K. (Carbon, 2022)
Atomically dispersed earth-abundant metals in N-doped carbon (M-N-Cs) have emerged as a new class of electroactive materials that can match not only the performance of the precious metals but can catalyze both the cathodic and the anodic reactions due to their bifunctional behaviour. This inspires the development of simpler strategies for scale-up production since the existing ones rely on precursors whose commercial viability is not yet ascertained. Herein, we demonstrate the insertion prospects of M-Nx (M = Fe, Co, Ni) moieties, the electrocatalytic centers in the M-N-Cs, into commercial carbon to establish that a single-step heating of the inexpensive precursors is sufficient to generate bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with efficiencies that bypass the majority of the known catalysts. Further importantly, we quantify both the ORR and OER trends and the metal insertion limits for each metal while maintaining an atomic dispersion, without the formation of surface migration-induced clustering, because such clustering is inevitable in the existing processes to necessitate an extra acid-leaching step to remove them. We further quantify and explain for each metal a negative mass balance originating from anomalous mass loss of both metal and carbon content, and a massive reconstruction of the carbon backbone catalyzed by the very metal, an event documented for the first time though it ought to be associated with other M-N-C syntheses too. The study establishes an incredibly simple and inexpensive strategy for the realization of M-N-Cs and outlines the parameters to be considered during mass-production.
Keywords: Bifunctional catalysis; Carbon reconstruction; Commercial carbon; Metal insertion; Oxygen electrocatalysis

Single-step synthesis of exfoliated Ti3C2Tx MXene through NaBF4/HCl etching as electrode material for asymmetric supercapacitor - Ghosh, Meena; Szunerits, Sabine; Cao, Ning; Kurungot, Sreekumar; Boukherroub, Rabah (ChemistrySelect, 2022)
Two-dimensional Ti3C2Tx MXene, derived from the parent Ti3AlC2 phase, is considered a promising electrode material for electrochemical energy storage applications. Ti3C2Tx MXene synthesis methods often employ concentrated hydrofluoric acid (HF), which is harsh, corrosive, and hazardous to the environment. Herein, we report the preparation of Ti3C2Tx MXene following a new synthetic route under a mild reaction condition comprising an aqueous solution of NaBF4 and HCl. This etching environment at a moderate temperature of 130 degrees C effectively removes the Al layer of the Ti3AlC2 precursor, assisted by the in situ formed HF in the reaction medium. Electron microscopy images of the as-prepared Ti3C2Tx (MX-130) reveal a partially exfoliated nanosheet-like morphology. The material displays a specific capacitance of 262 F g(-1) (three-electrode assembly, 1 A g(-1), -0.85 to -0.25 V vs. Hg/Hg2SO4) in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte. The achieved specific capacitance is superior to that of Ti3C2Tx prepared via the common HF-treatment (25 F g(-1)). Additionally, the potential application of the optimized MXene as a negative electrode material is demonstrated in a quasi-solid-state RuO2|MX-130 asymmetric supercapacitor device.
Keywords: asymmetric supercapacitor; Electrochemistry; Fluoride salt etchant; Layered electrode materials; Transition metal carbides

Six-membered saturated NHC-stabilized borenium cations: isolation of a cationic analogue of borinic acid - Kundu, Gargi; Balayan, Kajal; Tothadi, Srinu; Sen, Sakya S. (Inorganic Chemistry, 2022)
The reaction of six-membered saturated NHC [1,3-di(2,6-diisopropylphenyl) tetrahydropyrimidine-2-ylidene; henceforth abbreviated as 6-SIDipp] with PhBCl2 yields a Lewis base adduct, 6-SIDipp.PhBCl2 (1), which readily undergoes nucleophilic substitution reaction with AgNO3, leading to the single (2) and double (3) substitution of both chlorides with ONO2 moieties at the boron atom. The reaction of 1 with 1 equiv of AlCl3 resulted in a borenium cation of composition [6-SIDipp.B(Ph)Cl]+ (4) with AlCl4- as the counteranion. Although borenium cations with different substituents on boron have been reported, a structurally characterized phenylchloroborenium cation remains unknown. Similarly, the reaction of 1 with triflic acid provides the first representative of a new class of borenium cations bearing one hydroxyl and one phenyl group on boron (5), a cationic analogue of borinic acid. Ph-BN H Diphenylborinic acid

Size-dependent order-disorder crossover in hydrophobic hydration: comparison between spherical solutes and linear alcohols - Hande, Vrushali; Chakrabarty, Suman (ACS Omega, 2022)
Theory and computer simulation studies have predicted that water molecules around hydrophobic molecules should undergo an order-disorder transition with increasing solute size around a 1 nm length scale. Some theories predict the formation of a clathrate-like ordered structure around smaller hydrophobic solutes (<1 nm) and the formation of disordered vapor-liquid interfaces around larger solutes (>1 nm) and surfaces. Experimental validation of these predictions has often been elusive and contradictory. High-resolution Raman spectroscopy has detected that water around small hydrophobic solutes shows a signature similar to that of bulk water at lower temperature (increased ordering and a stronger hydrogen-bonded network). Similarly, water around larger solutes shows an increasing population of dangling OH bonds very similar to higher temperature bulk water. Thus, the solute size dependence of the structure and dynamics of water around hydrophobic molecules seems to have an analogy with the temperature dependence in bulk water. In this work, using atomistic classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we have systematically investigated this aspect and characterized this interesting analogy. Structural order parameters including the tetrahedral order parameter (Q), hydrogen bond distribution, and vibrational power spectrum highlight this similarity. However, in contrast to the experimental observations, we do not observe any length-dependent crossover for linear hydrophobic alcohols (n-alkanols) using classical MD simulations. This is in agreement with earlier findings that linear alkane chains do not demonstrate the length-dependent order-disorder transition due to the presence of a sub-nanometer length scale along the cross section of the chain. Moreover, the collapsed state of linear hydrocarbon chains is not significantly populated for smaller chains (number of carbons below 20). In the context of our computational results, we raise several pertinent questions related to the sensitivity of various structural and dynamical parameters toward capturing these complex phenomena of hydrophobic hydration.

Skin mimicking solid optical tissue phantom fulfillment and its characterization - Kumar, Ajay; Hinge, Sarika; Dixit, Hemant; Kanawade, Rajesh; Kulkarni, Gauri (Photonics in Dermatology and Plastic Surgery 2022, 2022)
Skin mimicking optical tissue phantoms are widely used in diagnostics systems for characterization, optimization, routine calibration and validation. In general, solid phantoms are more preferred in comparison to liquid phantoms. Therefore, our aim is to prepare and characterize the solid tissue phantoms having skin equivalent optical properties. In this work, we have used epoxy resin and hardener as a base material and titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles and ink as a scatterer and absorber media, respectively. The total transmission (Tt), collimated transmission (Tc), and diffuse reflectance (Rd) spectra of the developed phantoms were measured with an integrating sphere installed in UV-VIS spectrometer within the wavelength range 400-700 nm. To characterize the optical properties such as absorption (mu(a)), reduced scattering (mu(s)'), and anisotropy factor (g) of the developed tissue phantoms, the numerical model based on Inverse Adding Doubling (IAD) has been used. With various concentrations of absorber and scatterer, a calibration curve was prepared. The calculated experimental optical properties from IAD matched with the predicted intrinsic optical properties of the skin. Thus, the preliminary results suggest that the recipe used in this study may be used as an alternative approach to developing skin mimicking solid optical phantom for diagnostics system applications.
Keywords: Absorption; anisotropy factor; scattering; skin mimicking; solid tissue phantom

Small molecule quercetin binds MALAT1 triplex and modulates its cellular function - Rakheja, Isha; Ansari, Asgar Hussain; Ray, Arjun; Joshi, Dheeraj Chandra; Maiti, Souvi (Molecular Therapy-Nucleic Acids, 2022)
The triple-helix structure at the 30 end of metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1), a long non -cod-ing RNA, has been considered to be a target for modulating the oncogenic functions of MALAT1. This study examines the binding of quercetin-a known triplex binding molecule-to the MALAT1 triplex. By employing UV-visible spectroscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and isothermal titration calo-rimetry, we observed that quercetin binds to the MALAT1 triplex with a stoichiometry of 1:1 and Kd of 495 +/- 61 nM, along with a negative change in free energy, indicating a spontaneous interaction. Employing real-time PCR measurements, we observed around 50% downregulation of MALAT1 transcript levels in MCF7 cells, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) experiments showed concomitantly reduced levels of MALAT1 in nuclear speckles. This interaction is likely a result of a direct interaction between the molecule and the RNA, as indicated by a transcription-stop experiment. Further, tran-scriptome-wide analysis of alternative splicing changes induced by quercetin revealed modulation of MALAT1 downstream genes. Collectively, our study shows that quercetin strongly binds to the MALAT1 triplex and modulates its functions. It can thus be used as a scaffold for further development of ther-apeutics or as a chemical tool to understand MALAT1 func-tions.

SNP discovery and structural insights into OeFAD2 unravelling high oleic/linoleic ratio in olive oil - Ben Ayed, Rayda; Moreau, Fabienne; Ben Hlima, Hajer; Rebai, Ahmed; Ercisli, Sezai; Kadoo, Narendra; Hanana, Mohsen; Assouguem, Amine; Ullah, Riaz; Ali, Essam A. (Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 2022)
Fatty Acid Desaturase 2 (FAD2), a key enzyme in the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway, is involved in the desaturation and conversion of oleic acid to linoleic acid. Therefore, it plays a crucial role in oleic/linoleic acid ratio and the quality of olive oil. DNA sequencing of 19 FAD2 genes from a set of olive oil varieties revealed several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and highlighted associations between some of the SNPs and saturated fatty acids contents. This was further confirmed by SNP-interaction and machine learning approach. Haplotype diversity analysis led to the discovery of three highly polymorphic SNPs and four haplotypes harboring differential oleic/linoleic acid ratios. Moreover, a combination of molecular modeling and docking experiments allowed a deeper and better understanding of the structure-function relationship of the FAD2 enzyme. Sequence patterns and variations involved in the regulation of the FAD2 activity were also identified. Furthermore, S82C and H213N substitutions in OeFAD2 make the Oueslati variety more interesting in terms of fatty acid profile and oleic acid level. (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology.
Keywords: docking; Fatty acid desaturase; Haplotype; machine learning; Oleic/linoleic acid ratio; Protein structure

Solvent-assisted cavitation for enhanced removal of organic pollutants - degradation of 4-aminophenol - Patil, Pravin B.; Bhandari, Vinay M. (Journal of Environmental Management, 2022)
A new approach of solvent-assisted cavitation process was proposed for degradation of organic pollutants. The process envisages the use of suitable solvent as an additive, (1-5% v/V), in the conventional cavitation process to enhance the pollutant removal efficiency. A proof of concept was provided for the removal of ammoniacal nitrogen with significantly improved efficiency using solvent-assisted hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) compared to conventional HC. The efficacy of the process was studied on a pilot plant scale (1 m(3)/h) and using vortex flow based vortex diode as a cavitating device. Degradation studies were carried out using a model pollutant, 4-amino phenol and four different solvents as additives, 1-octanol, cyclohexanol, 1-octane and toluene. Relatively polar solvents were found to increase the efficiency of the pollutant removal (> 65%) and also increase the rates to an extent of more than 200%, compared to only HC. A very high removal of ammoniacal nitrogen, more than 90%, was obtained for solvents 1-octanol and cyclohexanol, indicating the importance of the selection of solvent. Per pass degradation model showed 3 to 4 times increase in the per pass degradation for polar solvents compared to cavitation alone. The results confirm no role of conventional solvent extraction and no specific contamination of wastewater due to the use of solvent as an additive in the process. Further, the cost was 2-3 times lower as compared to the conventional HC. The interesting observations in the proposed process can fuel further research to provide possible improvements in existing methodologies of wastewater treatment, in general, and for removal of ammoniacal nitrogen, in particular.
Keywords: Ammoniacal nitrogen; Hydrodynamic cavitation; Oxidation; Pollution Control; Wastewater treatment

Solvent-driven mono- and bis-sulfenylation of (E)-beta-iodovinyl sulfones with thiols for flexible synthesis of 1,2-thiosulfonylalkenes and 1,2-dithioalkenes - Reddy, Raju Jannapu; Kumari, Arram Haritha; Sharadha, Nunavath; Krishna, Gamidi Rama (Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2022)
The nature of solvent is a key factor for stereoselective mono-and bis-thiolation of (E)-beta-iodovinyl sulfones with thiols under basic conditions. A novel and unprecedented vicinal bisthiolation of (E)-beta-iodovinyl sulfones with thiols under the influence of K2CO3/DMSO at room temperature for quick assembly of (E)-1,2-dithio-1-alkenes is presented. Solvent-induced stereoselective monosulfenylation of (E)-beta-iodovinyl sulfones with thiols has also been established for the synthesis of both (E)- and (Z)-1,2-thiosulfonylethenes in MeCN and MeOH, respectively. Moreover, K2CO3-mediated desulfonylative-sulfenylation of (Z)-1,2-thiosulfonylethenes with thiols in DMSO furnished unsymmetrical (Z)-1,2-dithio-1-alkenes for the first time. The solvent-dependent versatile reactivity of (E)-beta-iodovinyl sulfones has been successfully explored to provide a set of (E)-/(Z)-1,2-dithio-1-alkenes and (E)-/(Z)-1,2-thiosulfonyl-1-alkenes in good to high yields with excellent stereoselectivities. Notably, this operationally simple process utilizes a broad substrate scope with good functional group tolerance and compatibility. The efficacy of the process has been proven for gram-scale reactions, and plausible mechanistic models are outlined on the basis of experimental results and control experiments.

Spinel magnesium ferrite (MgFe2O4): a glycine-assisted colloidal combustion and its potentiality in gas-sensing application - Nadargi, Digambar; Umar, Ahmad; Nadargi, Jyoti; Patil, Jayvant; Mulla, Imtiaz; Akbar, Sheikh; Suryavanshi, Sharad (Chemosensors, 2022)
Herein, we describe the facile synthesis of spinel MgFe2O4 ferrite and its potential use as a gas sensor using a straightforward and reliable sol-gel approach, i.e., the glycine-assisted auto-combustion route. The novelty in obtaining the sensing material via the auto-combustion route is its inherent simplicity and capability to produce the material at an industry scale. The said cost-effective process makes use of simple metal salts (Mg and Fe-nitrates) and glycine in an aqueous solution, which leads to the formation of spinel MgFe2O4 ferrite. A single-phase crystallinity with crystallite sizes ranging between 36 and 41 nm was observed for the synthesized materials using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The porous morphologies of the synthesized materials caused by auto-ignition during the combustion process were validated by the microscopic investigations. The EDS analysis confirmed the constituted elements such as Mg, Fe, and O, without any impurity peaks. The gas-sensing ability of the synthesized ferrites was examined to detect various reducing gases such as LPG, ethanol, acetone, and ammonia. The ferrite showed the highest response (>80%) toward LPG with the response and recovery times of 15 s and 23 s, respectively. Though the sensor responded low toward ammonia (similar to 30%), its response and recovery times were very quick, i.e., 7 s and 9 s, respectively. The present investigation revealed that the synthesized ferrite materials are good candidates for fabricating high-performance sensors for reducing gases in real-world applications.
Keywords: Gas sensors; glycine combustion; MgFe2O4; reducing gases

Sponge microflowers of NiCo2O4: a versatile material for high performance supercapacitor - Ghadage, Ambar; Kodam, Pavan; Nadargi, Digambar; Shinde, K. P.; Mulla, Imtiaz; Park, J. S.; Suryavanshi, Sharad (Journal of Porous Materials, 2022)
We report the development of well optimised NiCo2O4 microflowers for high performance supercapacitor application. The efforts were made to optimise the electrode material by tuning the synthetic as well as electrolyte concentration parameters such as (i) hydrothermal reaction temperature, (ii) hydrothermal reaction time, (iii) sintering temperature, and (iv) electrolyte concentration. The physico-chemical and supercapacitive properties were analysed using TGA, XRD, SEM/TEM/HRTEM, XPS, BET, and electrochemical measurements. The well optimised electrode material was obtained at 150 degrees C hydrothermal reaction temperature, 12 h of hydrothermal reaction time, 300 degrees C sintering temperature, and 3 M KOH electrolyte concentration. The optimised sample displayed high specific -capacitance (1478 F/g), -energy density (16.5 Wh/kg), and -power density (248 W/kg). The specific capacitance can be retained to 97.61% after 1000 cycles. The developed NiCo2O4 microflower structures are well optimised and offer great promise for future industrial applications.
Keywords: hydrothermal; Microflowers; Nickel cobaltite; supercapacitor

Stacking herbicide detoxification and resistant genes improves glyphosate tolerance and reduces phytotoxicity in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.) - Vennapusa, Amaranatha Reddy; Agarwal, Subham; Hm, Hanumanth Rao; Aarthy, Thiagarayaselvam; Babitha, K. C.; Thulasiram, V. Hirekodathakallu; Kulkarni, Mahesh J.; Melmaiee, Kalpalatha; Sudhakar, Chinta; Udayakumar, M.; Vemanna, Ramu S. (Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 2022)
Glyphosate residues retained in the growing meristematic tissues or in grains of glyphosate-resistant crops affect the plants physiological functions and crop yield. Removing glyphosate residues in the plants is desirable with no penalty on crop yield and quality. We report a new combination of scientific strategy to detoxify glyphosate that reduces the residual levels and improve crop resistance. The glyphosate detoxifying enzymes Aldo-keto reductase (AKR1) and mutated glycine oxidase (mGO) with different modes of action were co-expressed with modified EPSPS, which is insensitive to glyphosate in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.). The transgenic tobacco plants expressing individual PsAKR1, mGO, CP4-EPSPS, combinations of PsAKR1:CP4EPSPS, PsAKR1:mGO, and multigene with PsAKR1: mGO: CP4EPSPS genes were developed. The bio-efficacy studies of in-vitro leaf regeneration on different concentrations of glyphosate, seedling bioassay, and spray on transgenic tobacco plants demonstrate that glyphosate detoxification with enhanced resistance. Comparative analysis of the transgenic tobacco plants reveals that double and multigene expressing transgenics had reduced accumulation of shikimic acid, glyphosate, and its primary residue AMPA, and increased levels of sarcosine were observed in all PsAKR1 expressing transgenics. The multigene expressing rice transgenics showed improved glyphosate resis-tance with yield maintenance. In summary, results suggest that stacking genes with two different detoxification mechanisms and insensitive EPSPS is a potential approach for developing glyphosate-resistant plants with less residual content.
Keywords: Detoxification; Gene stacking; Glyphosate; Herbicide; Multigene; Residual toxicity; Resistant; rice; Tobacco; Transgenics

Statistical optimization of media for enhancing intracellular lipid content in Yarrowia lipolytica NCIM 3589 grown on waste cooking oil for biodiesel production - Jagtap, Shubhangi Ramling; RaviKumar, Ameeta; Raut, Gouri; Kumar, V. Ravi (Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society, 2022)

Steroidal alkaloids defence metabolism and plant growth are modulated by the joint action of gibberellin and jasmonate signalling - Panda, Sayantan; Jozwiak, Adam; Sonawane, Prashant D.; Szymanski, Jedrzej; Kazachkova, Yana; Vainer, Andrii; Kilambi, Himabindu Vasuki; Almekias-Siegl, Efrat; Dikaya, Varvara; Bocobza, Samuel; Shohat, Hagai; Meir, Sagit; et al. (New Phytologist, 2022)
Steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) are protective metabolites constitutively produced by Solanaceae species. Genes and enzymes generating the vast structural diversity of SGAs have been largely identified. Yet, mechanisms of hormone pathways coordinating defence (jasmonate; JA) and growth (gibberellin; GA) controlling SGAs metabolism remain unclear. We used tomato to decipher the hormonal regulation of SGAs metabolism during growth vs defence tradeoff. This was performed by genetic and biochemical characterisation of different JA and GA pathways components, coupled with in vitro experiments to elucidate the crosstalk between these hormone pathways mediating SGAs metabolism. We discovered that reduced active JA results in decreased SGA production, while low levels of GA or its receptor led to elevated SGA accumulation. We showed that MYC1 and MYC2 transcription factors mediate the JA/GA crosstalk by transcriptional activation of SGA biosynthesis and GA catabolism genes. Furthermore, MYC1 and MYC2 transcriptionally regulate the GA signalling suppressor DELLA that by itself interferes in JA-mediated SGA control by modulating MYC activity through protein-protein interaction. Chemical and fungal pathogen treatments reinforced the concept of JA/GA crosstalk during SGA metabolism. These findings revealed the mechanism of JA/GA interplay in SGA biosynthesis to balance the cost of chemical defence with growth.
Keywords: alpha-tomatine; defence; gibberellin (GA); growth; jasmonate (JA); steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs); Tomato

Strain-enhanced phase transformation of iron oxide for higher alcohol production from CO2 - Goud, Devender; Churipard, Sathyapal R.; Bagchi, Debabrata; Singh, Ashutosh Kumar; Riyaz, Mohd; Vinod, C. P.; Peter, Sebastian C. (ACS Catalysis, 2022)
Conversion of CO2 to higher alcohols (HAs) and higher hydrocarbons (HCs) has a greater advantage compared to C1 products because of their high energy density and wide range of applications in daily life. Despite the immense potential of these chemicals, not much of scientific research has been focused on the conversion of CO2 to HAs. In the present work, we have introduced the concept of strain in designing the material to enhance the CO(2 )to HA performance. We introduced strain in a traditional iron-based catalyst, Fe2O3, by the introduction of indium (In), which facilitates the selective conversion of CO2 to HA. An optimum strain favored a 36.7% CO2 conversion with a 42% HA selectivity, and a record yield of 15.42%. The strain has been tuned further with the introduction of K as a promoter. The introduced strain upon In substitution and K promotion favored the conversion of CO2, which is mapped by powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Further, the change in the mechanism upon In incorporation and K promotion has been probed by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy, and it is found that the OCHx intermediate, which produces HAs, is more prominent upon In substitution, which favored the enhancement of HA production compared to that of pristine Fe2O3.
Keywords: CO2 to HA; Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS); Phase transformation; reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction; strain

Structure-property insights into chiral thiophene copolymers by direct heteroarylation polymerization - Nikam, Shrikant B.; Singh, Chandrodai Pratap; Krishnamurty, Sailaja; Asha, S. K. (European Polymer Journal, 2022)
Chiral thiophene copolymers with fluorene as co monomer are designed having N-Boc-L-glutamic acid-1-tert-butyl ester as a chiral substituent located either on the thiophene unit or the fluorene unit with varying spacer length. The atom-economic direct heteroarylation polymerization (DHAP) method is utilized for the polymerization. Gibb's free energy (delta G) for polymerization determined using DFT calculations indicate difficulty in achieving high molar mass when the bulky chiral substituents are attached through short spacer to the backbone. The experimental observations are in agreement with the theoretical calculations with no polymer-ization or very low molar mass sticky compounds obtained for reactions with predicted + & UDelta;G values. Structure -property relationship are compared for two chiral polymers -P4 and P5 having the chiral substitution on thiophene and fluorene units respectively. No CD signal is observed in THF-a good solvent where the polymers are molecularly dissolved. Intense bisignated CD signal is observed for both polymers upon addition of methanol - a poor solvent, to their THF solution. The bisignate CD signal with maxima at lower wavelength and inflection point associated with the pi-pi* absorption band is characteristic of exciton coupling between polymer chains in a left handed helical orientation. Small differences are observed in the intensity of the CD signal for the polymers P4 and P5 highlighting the impact of steric hindrance of bulky pendant groups on polymer conformation. DHAP is an atom economic polymerization procedure that can be gainfully utilized for developing chiral conjugated polymers.
Keywords: chiral; DFT; Direct heteroarylation polymerization; Gibb?s free energy; Steric Hindrance

Structure-tailored surface oxide on Cu-Ga intermetallics enhances CO2 reduction selectivity to methanol at ultralow potential - Bagchi, Debabrata; Raj, Jithu; Singh, Ashutosh Kumar; Cherevotan, Arjun; Roy, Soumyabrata; Manoj, Kaja Sai; Vinod, C. P.; Peter, Sebastian C. (Advanced Materials, 2022)
Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (eCO(2)RR) is performed on two intermetallic compounds formed by copper and gallium metals (CuGa2 and Cu9Ga4). Among them, CuGa2 selectively converts CO2 to methanol with remarkable Faradaic efficiency of 77.26% at an extremely low potential of -0.3 V vs RHE. The high performance of CuGa2 compared to Cu9Ga4 is driven by its unique 2D structure, which retains surface and subsurface oxide species (Ga2O3) even in the reduction atmosphere. The Ga2O3 species is mapped by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) techniques and electrochemical measurements. The eCO(2)RR selectivity to methanol are decreased at higher potential due to the lattice expansion caused by the reduction of the Ga2O3, which is probed by in situ XAFS, quasi in situ powder X-ray diffraction, and ex situ XPS measurements. The mechanism of the formation of methanol is visualized by in situ infrared (IR) spectroscopy and the source of the carbon of methanol at the molecular level is confirmed from the isotope-labeling experiments in presence of (CO2)-C-13. Finally, to minimize the mass transport limitations and improve the overall eCO(2)RR performance, a poly(tetrafluoroethylene)-based gas diffusion electrode is used in the flow cell configuration.
Keywords: (2) reduction; CO; Electrochemistry; Methanol

Studies directed toward the synthesis of hedycoropyrans: total synthesis of des-hydroxy (-)-hedycoropyran B (ent-rhoiptelol B) - Kataria, Priyanka; Nomula, Rajesh; Kontham, Ravindar (Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 2022)
A full account of our efforts directed towards the synthesis of the diarylheptanoid-derived natural products hedycoropyrans that led to the total synthesis of ent-rhoiptelol B is described. In this endeavor, we have attempted two distinct synthetic strategies to access hedycoropyrans A and B, which led us to establish a facile synthetic route for des-hydroxy (-)-hedycoropyran B (ent-rhoiptelol B) from simple and readily accessible building blocks of 4-allylanisole and vanillin, employing Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation, CBS reduction, and an intramolecular AgOTf-catalyzed oxa-Michael reaction of suitably functionalized hydroxy-ynone as key transformations. The investigations disclosed herein will provide insights into designing novel synthetic routes for THP-DAH-derived natural products.

Studies directed toward the total synthesis of nannocystin A - Nomula, Rajesh; Pratapure, Madhukar S.; Kontham, Ravindar (ChemistrySelect, 2022)
A full account of our efforts directed toward the stereoselective total synthesis of nannocystin A, a macrocyclic myxobacterial metabolite, is presented. In this endeavor, we have attempted two distinct synthetic routes to access polyketide fragment (C1-C11) of macrocyclic depsipeptide (21-membered) natural product from readily accessible building blocks 1,3-propanediol and benzaldehyde employing Evans aldol, CBS reduction, Heck cross-coupling, and Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation as key transformations. Ultimately, accomplished the synthesis of the complete skeleton (21-membered precursor for macrocyclic depsipeptide) of the nannocystin A possessing desired stereochemistry and functional groups.
Keywords: amidation; Depsipeptide; Evans aldol reaction; Macrocycle; Nannocystins

Studies in instant water disinfection using natural oils - Dixit, Divya; Bhandari, Vinay M.; Mane, Maya B.; Balapure, Kshama (Biochemical Engineering Journal, 2022)
The present research reveals an instant and simple process for drinking water treatment by employing specific natural oils having antimicrobial properties to ensure complete elimination of harmful bacteria. The disinfection was studied for two different model bacteria, Gram-negative E. coli and Gram-positive, S. aureus. Seven natural oils, ajwain, thyme, oregano, peppermint, harsingar, cinnamon leaf and black pepper oil were evaluated and were found to yield 100% water disinfection within 1 min except for harsingar and black pepper oil. The process was also effective for the instant and 100% disinfection of real well water. The methodology for altering zeta potential, to an extent of 130%, for instant disinfection in drinking water treatment helps in selecting natural oils. Molecular docking studies indicated natural oils action as potential inhibitors of bacterial DNA gyrase. The studies indicate one of the lowest operating costs comparable to conventional chlorination. The simple meth-odology not requiring complex equipment has the potential to provide many options for implementations-from portability, household application to large scale water treatment plants.
Keywords: Bacteria removal; Natural oil; Technology; Water treatment; Zeta potential

Studies toward the total synthesis of (+)-neopeltolide using N-heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed oxo-acyloxylation/reductive oxa-Michael addition strategy - Reddi, Rambabu N.; Sudalai, Arumugam; Jo, Changbum (Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society, 2022)
This article describes a concise synthesis of two important fragments (tetrahydropyran [THP] and ketone moieties) of the cytotoxic macrolide (+)-neopeltolide in 10 long linear steps in enantiomerically pure form. Asymmetric Keck allylation to install the required C11 and C13 stereocenters, N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed oxoacyloxylation to functionalize alkenes, and reductive oxa-Michael addition to construct 2,6-difunctionalized THP unit intramolecularly are the important steps in synthetic efforts. Finally, Keck asymmetric allylation and Lewis acid-catalyzed diastereoselective allylation of the aldehyde were sequentially employed to establish the stereocenters at C11 and C13 positions, respectively.
Keywords: (+)-neopeltolide; Keck allylation; Macrolide; NHC-catalyzed oxoacyloxylation; reductive oxa-Michael addition

Study on anisotropy in wire arc additively manufactured Inconel 625 multi-layered wall and its correlation with molten pool thermal history - Nagallapati, Vishwanath; Choudhary, Amit; Torris, Arun; Muvvala, Gopinath; Dadasaheb, Sagar Pawar; Gudur, Srinath Ellaswamy (Materials Science and Engineering A-Structural Materials Properties Microstructure and Processing, 2022)
In the present study, the variation in molten pool thermal history with layer number during wire arc additive manufacturing of Inconel 625 wall was investigated. Further, its effect on the evolution of microstructure and anisotropy in mechanical and corrosion properties was reported. During the deposition process, the molten pool thermal history was monitored using a non-contact type IR pyrometer operating at 1.6 mu m wavelength. A total number of 40 layers were deposited, building a wall of 60 mm height. With an increase in layer number, the molten pool lifetime and cooling rate were found to increase and decrease, respectively, resulting in coarse grains and increased elemental segregation or Laves phase formation. To investigate its effect on mechanical properties, the samples were collected in a skewed fashion along the height with orientation in the deposition direction. The tensile specimens collected close to the substrate exhibited better strength and ductility, while the samples from the top location of the wall exhibited a relatively brittle mode of fracture, which was investigated by carrying out the fracture surface analysis using SEM. Corrosion test was also conducted along the height of the wall, wherein the samples close to substrate exhibited better corrosion resistance due to refined microstructure and low elemental segregations. Further, EDS, XRD analysis and hardness test were carried out to investigate the elemental composition, variation in phases and hardness with layer number, respectively.
Keywords: anisotropy; Layer number; mechanical properties; Molten pool thermal history; Wire arc additive manufacturing

Subcritical water hydrolysis of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine: hydrolysis mechanism, reaction pathways and optimization for selective production of 5-HMF and levulinic acid - Kulkarni, Sphurti Prakash; Dure, Shital N.; Joshi, Sunil S.; V. Pandare, Kiran; Mali, Nilesh A. (Carbohydrate Research, 2022)
In this study, the subcritical water hydrolysis of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (NAG), a monomer of abundant renewable marine biopolymer chitin, for production of value-added chemicals is investigated. The enhanced ionization of water at subcritical conditions (200 degrees C; 50-100 bar), provides enough acidity for deacetylation of NAG resulting in 80% yield of acetic acid along with traces of formic acid, lactic acid, glucose, fructose, 5hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF),etc. The significant humin formation indicates that the self-condensation and polymerisation of 5-HMF is favored in water at subcritical conditions. A catalyst p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH) was employed to selectively convert NAG to levulinic acid (LA) via ring opening of 5-HMF previously formed during hydrolysis. The maximum yield of 27.13 +/- 1% and 53.46 +/- 1% of 5-HMF and LA, respectively, was obtained at process conditions optimized using Box-Behnken design coupled with response surface methodology. Subcritical water enables greener conversion of NAG to platform chemicals wherein the selective production can be achieved by tuning the process conditions.
Keywords: 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural; chitin; Glucosamine; levulinic acid; Response surface methodology; Subcritical water

Substitution at sp(3) boron of a six-membered NHC center dot BH3: convenient access to a dihydroxyborenium cation - Kundu, Gargi; Ajithkumar, V. S.; Raj, K. Vipin; Vanka, Kumar; Tothadi, Srinu; Sen, Sakya S. (Chemical Communications, 2022)
Herein, we have undertaken the synthesis and investigated the reactivity of a 6-membered saturated NHC borane adduct (1). Direct electrophilic halogenation of 1 with a stoichiometric amount of I-2 led to NHC boryl iodides, 6-SIDipp center dot BH2I (2) and 6-SIDipp center dot BHI2 (3), which were further reacted with various nucleophiles to give novel 6-SIDipp based mono and disubstituted boranes with OTf (4 and 6) or ONO2 (5 and 7) functional groups. The addition of Br-2/H2O to 1 smoothly results in a dihydroxyborenium cation (8).

Substrate induced dynamical remodeling of the binding pocket generates GTPase specificity in DOCK family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors - Roy, Debopriya; Sengupta, Durba; Kulkarni, Kiran (Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2022)
Dedicator of cytokinesis (DOCK) family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) activate two members of Rho family GTPases, Rac1/Cdc42, to exert diverse cellular processes, including cell migration. As DOCK GEFs have been critically implicated in tumour cell migration, understanding their function and specificity is imperative for designing anti-metastatic drugs. Based on their GTPase specificity they have been classified as Rac, Cdc42 and dual specific GEFs. Despite extensive structural studies, the factors that determine GTPase specificity of DOCK GEFs have remained elusive. Here, we show that subtle dynamical coupling between GEF and GTPase structures modulate the binding interface to generate mutual spec-ificity. To cluster the dynamically coupled residues in GEF-GTPase complexes a novel intra-residue backbone-torsion-angles based mutual information (TMI) technique was employed. TMI was calcu-lated from 4500 trajectories obtained from a total of 4.5ms molecular dynamics simulations performed on members of all the three clades of DOCK GEFs. The obtained clusters suggest a specificity generation mechanism that involves optimization of the binding pocket for the crucial divergent residue at the 56th position of Rac/Cdc42 (FCdc42/WRac1). These clusters encompass five residues from the structural segment lobe C -a10 helix of the DOCK proteins and functional SWI region of GTPase, which induce orchestrated structural modulations to generate the specificity. Even the conserved residues from SWI region are seen to augment the specificity defining dynamical rearrangements. Furthermore, the pro-posed dynamical GTPase-DOCK GEF specificity model was verified using mutagenesis studies on Rac1 and dual GTPase specific Dock2 and Dock6, respectively. Thus the current study provides the generic substrate specificity determinants of DOCK GEFs, which are not apparent from the conventional struc-tural analysis.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Dedicator of cytokinesis; GTPase specificity; Guanine exchange factors; Molecular dynamics simulations; Mutual information; Rho GTPases

Suitability of different supported Ru, Pt and Ni catalysts for the hydrogenolysis of sorbitol - Kandasamy, Thirunavukkarasu; Banu, Marimuthu; Shanthi, R. Vijaya; Sivasanker, S. (Results in Engineering, 2022)
<ul class="issue-navigation u-margin-s-bottom u-bg-grey1" id="issue-navigation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; list-style: none; overflow: hidden; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: NexusSans, Arial, Helvetica, "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Arial Unicode MS", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 16px !important; background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245) !important;"> <div class="Abstracts u-font-gulliver text-s" id="abstracts" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; --sd-ui-line-height: calc(1em + 10px); font-size: 0.8rem; line-height: var(--sd-ui-line-height); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); font-family: ElsevierGulliver, Georgia, "Times New Roman", STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", Arial, Helvetica, "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif !important;"> In this article, the results of sorbitol <a class="topic-link" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/hydrogenolysis" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: transparent; word-break: break-word; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); text-underline-offset: 1px;" title="Learn more about hydrogenolysis from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages">hydrogenolysis (15% aq. solution), done in an autoclave reactor, over Ru, Pt and Ni loaded on SBA15, carbon coated SBA15 (SBA15C), activated carbon (AcC), Na–Y, Fly Ash (FA) and hydroxyapatite (HAP) catalysts by our group, were compared to find the best metal-support combinations. The metal loading was 1 wt% for Ru and Pt, 6 wt% for Ni and the catalysts' preparations were carried out by impregnation of respective salts. The catalysts were characterized with nitrogen and hydrogen adsorption measurements and X-ray diffraction. Addition of a base (Calcium hydroxide) to the reactants' mixture increased the overall conversion and selectivities of the glycols, ethylene glycol (EG) and 1,2-propylene glycol (PG). The catalysts’ performance at 60 bar and 220 °C with the presence of base (B), evaluated by the yield of glycols (PG + EG), showed the following order: Ni/Na–Y > Ru/AcC ∼ Ru/SBA15C > Ni/HAP ∼ Ru/SBA15 > Ni/SBA15 > Ru/Na–Y > Ni/FA ∼ Ni/AcC and the yields were 57, 40, 39, 33, 31, 29, 26, 22 and 21 wt%, respectively. Na–Y appeared to be the best support, especially for Ni metal; AcC and SBA15C were good supports for Ru and Pt respectively. <a class="topic-link" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/reusability" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: transparent; word-break: break-word; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); text-underline-offset: 1px;" title="Learn more about Reusability from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages">Reusability studies revealed that Ni on HAP was the best catalyst and exhibited only a small deactivation during four runs of loading it.

Sulfur functionalization via epoxide ring opening on a reduced graphene oxide surface to form metal (II) Organo-bis-[1,2]-oxathiin - Kumar, Praveen; Bajpai, Himanshu; Gopinath, Chinnakonda S.; Luwang, Meitram Niraj (Inorganic Chemistry, 2022)
The epoxide ring-opening reaction in graphene oxide (GO) by nucleophiles is a very fascinating and advanced methodology to develop novel functional material. Herewith, we report an advanced strategy for opening the epoxide ring on the rGO surface via easily an available nucleophile (Na2S), which is further functionalized with O atom to obtain four-membered rings (FMRs). The Cd coordination with the S atom puts extra stress on the FMR leading to the C-C bond cleavage of the four-membered heteroatomic rings on the rGO surface. This strategic approach leads to the fabrication of an innovative metal organo-bis-[1,2]-oxathiin (MOBOT) chemical moiety (M = Cd, Zn). The MOBOT compound further shows enhanced H-2 generation activity and hence is promising as a potential photocatalyst for solar hydrogen generation. This compound might also be a potential candidate for optoelectronic applications.

SUMOylation of dorsal attenuates Toll/NF-kappa B signaling - Hegde, Sushmitha; Sreejan, Ashley; Gadgil, Chetan J.; Ratnaparkhi, Girish S. (Genetics, 2022)
In Drosophila, Toll/NF-kappa B signaling plays key roles in both animal development and in host defense. The activation, intensity, and kinetics of Toll signaling are regulated by posttranslational modifications such as phosphorylation, SUMOylation, or ubiquitination that target multiple proteins in the Toll/NF-kappa B cascade. Here, we have generated a CRISPR-Cas9 edited Dorsal (DL) variant that is SUMO conjugation resistant. Intriguingly, embryos laid by dl(SCR) mothers overcome dl haploinsufficiency and complete the developmental program. This ability appears to be a result of higher transcriptional activation by DLSCR. In contrast, SUMOylation dampens DL transcriptional activation, ultimately conferring robustness to the dorso-ventral program. In the larval immune response, dl(SCR) animals show an increase in crystal cell numbers, stronger activation of humoral defense genes, and high cactus levels. A mathematical model that evaluates the contribution of the small fraction of SUMOylated DL (1-5%) suggests that it acts to block transcriptional activation, which is driven primarily by DL that is not SUMO conjugated. Our findings define SUMO conjugation as an important regulator of the Toll signaling cascade, in both development and host defense. Our results broadly suggest that SUMO attenuates DL at the level of transcriptional activation. Furthermore, we hypothesize that SUMO conjugation of DL may be part of a Ubc9-dependent mechanism that restrains Toll/NF-kappa B signaling.
Keywords: Drosophila; haploinsufficiency; innate immunity; SUMO; transcription

Superior processability of Antheraea mylitta silk with cryo-milling: performance in bone tissue regeneration - Parekh, Nimisha; Bijosh, C. K.; Kane, Kartiki; Panicker, Alaka; Nisal, Anuya; Wangikar, Pralhad; Agawane, Sachin (International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2022)
Non-mulberry silk polymers have a promising future in biomedical applications. However, the dissolution of nonmulberry silk fiber is a still challenge and this poor processability has limited the use of this material. Here, we report a unique protocol to process the Antheraea mylitta (AM) silk fiber. We have shown that the cryo-milling of silk fiber reduces the beta sheet content by more than 10% and results in an SF powder that completely dissolves in routine solvents like trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) within few hours to form highly concentrated solutions (\~20 wt %). Further, these solutions can be processed using conventional processing techniques such as electrospinning to form 3D scaffolds. Bombyx mori (BM) silk was used as a control sample in the study. In-vitro studies were also performed to monitor cell adhesion and proliferation and hMSCs differentiation into osteogenic lineage. Finally, the osteogenic potential of the scaffolds was also evaluated by a 4-week implantation study in rat calvarial model. The in-vitro and in-vivo results show that the processing techniques do not affect the biocompatibility of the material and the AM scaffolds support bone regeneration. Our results, thus, show that cryo-milling facilitates enhanced processability of non-mulberry silk and therefore expands its potential in biomedical applications.
Keywords: Bone tissue engineering; Calvarial defect; hMSCs; Non-mulberry silk fiber; Processing technique

Surface alteration driven bi-functional catalytic activity of alkali niobate-N doped graphene composite for exalted oxygen electrochemistry - Suman Kumari Jhajharia; Shashaank Gupta; Zinoy Manappadan; Kaliaperumal Selvaraj; Myoor K. Padmanabhan; Roop L. Mahajan (Applied Surface Science, 2022)
In this work, we establish that surface reconstruction, oxygen vacancies —specifically those located on the catalyst surface, and high crystallinity can be effective in tuning the catalytic activity of perovskite oxides. We report a high-performance electrocatalyst with an orthorhombic perovskite structure (NaNbO3), having an anisotropic surface layer and high crystallinity that exhibits superior activity and durability for the bi-functional oxygen electrochemistry compared to that of a similar perovskite composition with an isotropic surface layer and low crystallinity. The improvement in the electrocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is mainly attributed to the formation of an easy diffusion path on the surface layer due to the ionic movements, enhanced intrinsic activity of the catalytic sites resulting from the higher crystallinity, high oxygen vacancies and a large electrochemically active surface area. The sole key parameter in achieving all the acquired characteristics is the annealing temperature. We believe that the straightforward method of bringing the desired combination of properties by just tweaking the annealing temperature is handy and energy-efficient, and hence easily adoptable.
Keywords: Bi-functionality; N-doped graphene; Oxygen Evolution Reaction; oxygen reduction reaction; perovskite; Surface reconstruction

Sustainable CO2 reduction on in (2)O(3 )with exclusive CO selectivity: catalysis and in situ valence band photoelectron spectral investigations - Mhamane, Nitin B.; Chetry, Sibo; Ranjan, Ravi; Raja, Thirumalaiswamy; Gopinath, Chinnakonda S. (ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2022)
This study demonstrates a sustainable catalytic CO2 conversion to near 100% CO selectivity at ambient pressure on In2O3. Critically, high CO yield could be observed at the cost of undesired methanation, using a lower than stoichiometric amount of hydrogen in the feed; 1:1 and 1:0.67 CO2:H-2 ratios exhibit 98-99.6% CO selectivity with 25-38% CO2 conversion between 773 and 873 K. CO2 and H-2 conversion under steady-state conditions at 773-873 K suggests a 1:1 ratio of adsorbed reactants (with 1:0.67 CO2:H-2 feed) on the catalyst surface, underscoring the presence of an ideal reactant composition for the reverse water-gas shift reaction, while H-2-rich feed compositions show the H-2-dominated surface. Surface electronic structure changes, under near-operating conditions, were explored with near ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy (NAPPES), and the interesting findings are as follows: (a) A shift in the valence band to lower binding energy, up to 0.6 eV, was observed because of electron filling at high temperatures. (b) An observation of heterogeneous nature of the catalyst surface under NAPPES measurement conditions is attributed to the generation of active oxygen vacancy (O-v) sites, which in turn changes the work function of In2O3. (c) The above changes are found to be reversible, when the reaction was stopped. Vibrational features of the reactant molecules were observed to be broadened in the active temperature window of the catalyst supporting the heterogeneous character of the catalyst surface because of dynamic O-v generation. By optimizing gas hourly space velocity, CO2:H-2 ratio, and reaction temperature, exclusive CO selectivity is possible with a H-2:CO2 ratio of similar to 0.67, which will avoid the product separation stage altogether, while minimizing the expensive H-2 in the reactant feed.
Keywords: heterogeneous catalysis; Oxygen vacancy; photoelectron spectroscopy; RWGS; Work function

Sustainable composite of SnFe2O4 conversion alloying anode for lithium-ion storage - Yadav, Poonam; Parte, Golu; Malik, Wahid; Sabri, Ylias M.; Jones, Lathe A.; Shelke, V. Manjusha (Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 2022)
The development of high-performance, low-cost electrodes using sustainable materials for Li-ion batteries is of vital importance in view of their increasing demand for use in electronics and electric vehicles, as we transition from non-renewable energy resources. Challenges associated with commercial graphite anode materials include relatively low capacity, the use of high-temperature synthesis, Li dendrite formation, and limited rate capability. In this study, we present a tin ferrite SnFe2O4 (SFO) conversion alloying material (CAM), and its synergistic composite with a scalable and low-cost waste-derived carbon (WDC), which was prepared by low-temperature pyrolysis of a waste material sustainably. The combination of SFO with the WDC in the composite boosts the conductivity, diffusion kinetics, stability, and reversibility, and accommodates volume expansion upon cycling. The first charge capacity obtained for WDC, SFO, and SFO-WDC is 595, 1269, and 1331 mA h g(-1), respectively at 100 mA g(-1) in a Li-ion half-cell. In a full cell fabricated with LFP, a stable capacity of 80 mA h g(-1) at 100 mA g(-1) could be obtained, and the corresponding energy density for the SFO-WDCIILFP full cell is 300 W h kg(-1). Kinetic studies revealed that capacitance-controlled charge storage is dominant so the capacity was higher in the composite. This composite system addresses both the low capacity issue of the carbon anode and stability issues of CAMs while being compatible for use with current Li-ion battery technology.

Sustainable fabrication of copper nanoparticles: a potent and affordable candidate for water treatment, water disinfection, antioxidant activity and theranostic agent - Sinha, Tanur; Adhikari, Partha Pradip; Bhandari, Vinay M. (ChemistrySelect, 2022)
This study reports a simple, green, and large-scale biosynthetic fabrication of spherical copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs), approximate 28 nm, using the aqueous extracts of Diaplazium esulentum (Retz.) Sw. fern. Characterization was carried out for morphology, size, elemental analysis, crystallinity and for identification of functionalities responsible for reduction and stabilization. Extraordinary remediation efficiency was obtained for the developed Cu NPs for the elimination of two industrially important pollutants; Methyl Violet 6B and Methylene Blue (greater than 92 % within 150 mins). A mechanism was postulated for the process using the data on the identification of NPs and also spent NPs apart from degraded products. Furthermore, the Cu NPs revealed excellent antibacterial activity against gram positive bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumonia and Bacillus subtilis, as well as gram negative bacteria: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and potential action against fungal strains; Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. Additionally, the assay depicted that Cu NPs has fairly decent radical scavenging activity with IC50 value 2.11 mM. Moreover, the Cu NPs were found to exhibit profound anticancerous activity against two human cancer line cells. The present research work has implications for exploitation of DE fern extract for the development of Cu NPs and their numerous applications ranging from pollutants removal to antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant and anticancerous agents.
Keywords: Anticancer; antifungal; Antimicrobial; Antioxidant; Photodegradation and Phytosynthesis

Synergetic storage of ammonia over Al quantum dots embedded graphene sheets: a first principles perspective - Singh, Chandrodai Pratap; Krishnamurty, Sailaja (International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2022)
In view of the increasing energy demand and global warming, it is imperative to search for a renewable and environmental friendly fuel in lieu of non-renewable energy resources. Hydrogen stands out to be the best fuel as both, renewable and clean. Concerning the use of hydrogen as a fuel, its production as well as storage are current global challenges being worked on. In this article, a density functional theory based study is performed to identify the potential of supported Al cluster cages for ammonia storage. In this context, initially, stability of pristine and doped aluminum nanoclusters anchored on graphene sheet is evaluated following which thus supported stable nanoclusters are studied for the adsorption of NH3 to identify their storage capacity. For both, complexes and NH3 adsorbed complexes, Density of States (DOS), Charge Density Difference (CDD) and Bader charge analysis is done to understand their electronic properties.(c) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Aluminum nanoclusters; Defective graphene; Endohedral doping; NH 3 adsorption

Synergistic and competitive lipid interactions in the serotonin1A receptor microenvironment - Mohole, Madhura; Sengupta, Durba; Chattopadhyay, Amitabha (ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2022)
The interaction of lipids with G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) has been shown to modulate and dictate several aspects of GPCR organization and function. Diverse lipid interaction sites have been identified from structural biology, bioinformatics, and molecular dynamics studies. For example, multiple cholesterol interaction sites have been identified in the serotonin1A receptor, along with distinct and overlapping sphingolipid interaction sites. How these lipids interact with each other and what is the resultant effect on the receptor is still not clear. In this work, we have analyzed lipid-lipid crosstalk at the receptor of the serotonin1A receptor embedded in a membrane bilayer that mimics the neuronal membrane composition by long coarse-grain simulations. Using a set of similarity coefficients, we classified lipids that bind at the receptor together as synergistic cobinding, and those that bind individually as competitive. Our results show that certain lipids interact with the serotonin1A receptor in synergy with each other. Not surprisingly, the ganglioside GM1 and cholesterol show a synergistic cobinding, along with the relatively uncommon GM1-phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and cholesterol-PE synergy. In contrast, certain lipid pairs such as cholesterol and sphingomyelin appear to be in competition at several sites, despite their coexistence in lipid nanodomains. In addition, we observed intralipid competition between two lipid tails, with the receptor exhibiting increased interactions with the unsaturated lipid tails. We believe our work represents an important step in understanding the diversity of GPCR-lipid interactions and exploring synergistic cobinding and competition in natural membranes.
Keywords: GPCR; lipid crosstalk; Martini coarse-grain simulations; Membrane cholesterol; neuronal membranes

Synergistic electronic effects in AuCo nanoparticles stabilized in a triazine-based covalent organic framework: a catalyst for methyl orange and methylene blue reduction - Devulapalli, Venkata Swaroopa Datta; Kushwaha, Rinku; Ovalle, Edwin; Singh, Himan Dev; Shekhar, Pragalbh; Chakraborty, Debanjan; Vinod, Chathakudath Prabhakaran; Vaidhyanathan, Ramanathan; Borguet, Eric (ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2022)
Developing stable active catalysts for reducing water-soluble pollutants is a desirable target. In this pursuit, we have functionalized covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with gold (Au) and cobalt (Co) nanoparticles via a one-step aqueous synthesis process, and their catalytic activity in reducing methyl orange and methylene blue is examined. Operando absorbance measurements of methyl orange (anionic dye) reduction revealed AuCoCOF (1.3 Au/1.0 Co) to have superior kinetics over many other catalysts, which typically require additional external stimuli (e.g., photons) and higher catalyst loadings. After confirming the homogeneous dispersion of the nanoparticles on the COF support using three-dimensional (3D) tomography and material stability through powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), infrared (IR), and thermal studies, we investigated their redox activity. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) confirmed the involvement of both metals in the redox process, while spectroelectrochemical measurements show that their activity and kinetics remain unaltered by an applied potential. Solid-state UV measurements reveal that the neat COF is a semiconductor with a large band gap (2.8 eV), which is substantially lowered when loaded with cobalt nanoparticles (2.2 eV for CoCOF). The electronic synergy between Au and Co nanoparticles further reduces the band gap of AuCoCOF (1.9 eV). Thus, there is a definite advantage in doping non-noble metal nanoparticles into a noble metal lattice and nanoconfining them into a porous COF support. Our study highlights the significance of bimetallic COF-supported nanocatalysts, wherein one can engage each component toward targeted applications that demand redox activity with favorable kinetics.
Keywords: AuCoCOF; band gaps; Covalent organic framework; methyl orange reduction; Nanoparticles; UV-vis spectroscopy

Synthesis and antimycobacterial screening of a novel series of alpha-amino acids containing thiazole linker - Nalawade, Jitendra L.; Mhaske, Pravin C.; Shinde, Abhijit D.; Chavan, Abhijit P.; Abhale, Yogita K.; Sarkar, Dhiman; Bobade, Vivek D. (ARKIVOC, 2022)
A small focused library of uncommon (S)-2-amino-3-(4-(((4-methyl-2-arylthiazol-5-yl)methyl)amino)phenyl) propanoic acid (5a-e) and (S)-2-amino-3-(4-(((2-arylthiazol-4-yl)methyl)amino)phenyl)propanoic acid (9a-d) derivatives have been efficiently synthesized by employing molecular simplification. The title compounds were screened for inhibitory activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra (MTB) and Mycobacterium bovis (BCG) strains. The cytotoxicity study was conducted against primary Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs), on two different human tumor cells HeLa, and HCT 116 and was observed non-toxic to host cells.
Keywords: Amino acid; antibacterial activity; Cytotoxicity; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; synthesis; Thiazole

Synthesis and characterization of partially biobased aromatic (Co)polycarbonates containing biphenylene units and pendant pentadecyl chains - Ichake, Amol B.; Nagane, Samadhan S.; Jadhav, Uday A.; Torris, Arun; Grau, Etienne; Cramail, Henri; Wadgaonkar, Prakash P. (Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, 2022)
2-Pentadecyl-[1,1''-biphenyl]-4,4''-diol (PBD) is synthesized starting from cashew nut shell liquid-a by-product of cashew processing industry. A new series of partially biobased aromatic (co)polycarbonates possessing biphenylene units and pendant pentadecyl chains is synthesized by solution polycondensation of PBD or varying compositions of PBD and bisphenol-A with triphosgene in dry dichloromethane. Inherent viscosities and number average molecular weights of (co)polycarbonates are in the range 0.51-1.24 dL g(-1) and 18 x 10(3)- 43.4 x 10(3) g mol(-1), respectively indicating the formation of reasonably high molecular weight polymers. Flexible, transparent, and free-standing films of (co)polycarbonates can be cast from chloroform solution. (Co)polycarbonates are characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. T-10 and T-g values of (co)polycarbonates are in the range 417-433 and 8-147 degrees C, respectively. It is demonstrated that the T-g values can be tuned by incorporation of appropriate mol% of PBD as a comonomer in Bisphenol-A-based copolycarbonates. The lowering of the T-g values of (co)polycarbonates can be attributed primarily to the packing disruptive effect of flexible pentadecyl chains. Furthermore, the effect of incorporation of PBD as a comonomer on water contact angle values of (co)polycarbonates is evaluated.
Keywords: aromatic polycarbonates; biobased bisphenol; Cashew nut shell liquid; pentadecyl chain; Renewable resources

Synthesis and crystal structures of Mn(II) and Co(II) complexes as catalysts for oxidation of cyclohexanone - Tella, Adedibu C.; Isaac, Aaron Y.; Clayton, Hadley S.; Ogunlaja, Adeniyi S.; Venugopalan, Aswathy T.; Prabu, Marimuthu; Thirumalaiswamy, Raja (Inorganics, 2022)
The global demand on adipic usage in the production of plasticizers and synthetic polyamide is increasing. In line with the search for an efficient and energy-conserving way to isolate adipic acid (AA) in good yields, this paper introduces the oxidization of cyclohexanone utilizing two new coordination compounds, [Mn(2,6-pydc)(2)](imi) (1) and [Co(H(2)pza)(2)(H2O)(2)(NO3)].NO3 (2), as catalysts. Compounds 1 and 2 were synthesized by room temperature and refluxing methods, and characterized by spectral analyses (IR and UV-Vis.), SEM, BET, TGA, elemental, and X-ray crystallography. The single crystal structure of compound 1 revealed that pyridinedicarboxylate (2,6-pydc) and imidazole (imi) moieties were coordinated to the Mn(II) atom through imine nitrogen and deprotonated oxygen atoms, to form an undistorted octahedral coordination geometry with the N2O4 donor set. The axial and equatorial planes containing O2, O4, O5, and O7 atoms were from two adjacent 2,6-pydc ligands which formed the unidendate donor ligand; imi, on the other hand, acted as a bidendate donor ligand. For compound 2, the Co(II) atom was being coordinated by two pyrazinamide (H(2)pza) moieties, which acted as an unidendate donor ligand; two water molecules occupying the axial position, and one nitrate molecule occupying the apical position, were within the coordination sphere; a nitrate molecule was disordered outside the coordination sphere. The distance, 4.658 angstrom, between the Co1 atom and the N8 atom of the uncoordinated nitrate molecule, was within the range reported elsewhere. Cyclohexanone peroxidation experiments revealed that compound 1 exhibited unique catalytic performance by giving a 72.8% yield in adipic acid, in comparison to the 71.3% yield obtained with compound 2. The yields in AA were maintained by way of recyclability evaluation. The reaction kinetics of compound 2 gave less activation energy, E-a 2938 J mol(-1), while the thermodynamic parameters indicated that the chemical reactivity of cyclohexanone on the active surfaces of compounds 1 and 2 was via monolayer physisorption.
Keywords: cobalt; Complexes; cyclohexanone; Imidazole; managanese; Oxidation; pyrazinamide; pyridinedicarboxylate

Synthesis and ionic conductivity of calcium-doped ceria relevant to solid oxide fuel cell applications - Momin, Naeemakhtar; Manjanna, J.; Kobayashi, Satoru; Aruna, S. T.; Kumar, S. Senthil; Nayaka, G. P. (Materials Advances, 2022)
Towards the development of green energy devices, it is necessary to focus on commercial electrolyte materials for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs). Ca-doped ceria (CDC) samples having a composition of Ce(1−x)CaxO2−δ (0.03 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) were synthesized by a facile solid-state route and sintered at a lower temperature (1473 K). X-ray diffraction, Raman, X-ray photoelectron, Fourier-transform infrared, UV–VIS diffuse reflectance, field emission scanning electron microscopy – energy dispersive X-ray with elemental mapping, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques were used for the characterization of these CDC samples. The 0.10 CDC showed high oxide ion conductivity of 8.01 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 973 K with a lower activation energy of 0.78 eV. The 0.03 CDC, 0.05 CDC, and 0.07 CDC samples exhibited ionic conductivities of 1.66 × 10−4, 4.42 × 10−3, and 5.76 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 973 K with activation energies of 1.65, 1.01, and 0.92 eV, respectively. The present work aims to develop Ca-doped ceria as economically viable electrolytes for IT-SOFCs.

Synthesis, characterization and post-modification of aromatic (Co)polyesters possessing pendant maleimide groups - Jadhav, Uday A.; Nagane, Samadhan S.; Wadgaonkar, Prakash P. (High Performance Polymers, 2022)
A new series of (co)polyesters possessing pendent maleimide groups was synthesized by low temperature solution polycondensation of 4, 4’-(5-maleimidopentane-2, 2-diyl) diphenol (BPA-MA) with isophthalic acid chloride (IPC), terephthalic acid chloride (TPC) and a mixture of TPC and IPC (50:50 mol %). Copolyesters were also synthesized by polycondensation of varying compositions of BPA-MA and bisphenol-A (BPA) with IPC. The chemical structures and compositions of (co)polyesters were confirmed by NMR spectroscopy. Inherent viscosity values and number-average molecular weights of (co)polyesters were in the range 0.50–0.76 dL/g and 17,700-32,100 g/mol, respectively, indicating the formation of reasonably high molecular weight polymers. (Co)polyesters were readily soluble in common organic solvents and could be cast into tough, transparent and flexible films from chloroform solutions. (Co)polyesters exhibited 10% weight loss and glass transition temperatures in the range 464–468 and 142–178°C, respectively. A representative copolyester possessing pendant maleimide groups was chemically modified via metal-free azide-maleimide 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition click reaction with two azido compounds, namely, (azidomethyl)benzene (Bz-N3) and 1-(azidomethyl)-pyrene (Py-N3) to yield corresponding modified copolyesters in a quantitative manner.

Synthesis, characterization and single crystal x-ray structures of trifluroacetylacetonate copper(ii) complexes - Kumari, Neha; Bahadur, Vir; Butcher, Raymond J.; Kumbhar, Anupa A. (Journal of Chemical Crystallography, 2022)
{Three Cu(II) complexes of 1,1,1-trifluoroacetylacetonate, viz. [Cu(TFACAC)(2)(MeOH)] (1), [Cu(TFACAC)(2)(py)] (2) and [Cu(TFACAC)(2)(DABCO)] (3) were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-Visible spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Structures of complexes 1-3 were established by single crystal X-ray diffraction wherein 1 and 2 adapt square pyramidal geometry. Complex 1 crystallizes in triclinic space group P-(1), with a = 8.5059(6) angstrom
Keywords: Copper(II) complexes; crystal structure; cyclic voltammetry; DABCO; Pyridine; Trifluoroacetylacetone

Synthesis, characterization and UV-crosslinking of aromatic (Co)polycarbonates bearing pendant azido groups - Nagane, Samadhan S.; Kuhire, Sachin S.; Ichake, Amol B.; Talanikar, Aniket A.; Lochab, Bimlesh; Wadgaonkar, Prakash P. (ChemistrySelect, 2022)
A new series of (co)polycarbonates bearing pendent azido groups was synthesized by polycondensation of varying molar proportions of 4, 4'-(5-azidopentane-2, 2-diyl) diphenol and bisphenol-A with triphosgene. The chemical structures, compositions and random nature of (co)polycarbonates were confirmed by NMR spectroscopy. Inherent viscosities and number-average molecular weights of (co)polycarbonates were in the range 0.63-0.77 dL g(-1) and 35,400-43,400 g mol(-1), respectively indicating the formation of reasonably high molecular weight polymers. (Co)polycarbonates could be cast into tough, transparent and flexible films from chloroform solutions. (Co)polycarbonates were further characterized using IR spectroscopy, XRD, TGA and DSC. The thermal crosslinking of (co)polycarbonates bearing pendant azido groups was studied by DSC analysis. Independently, (co)polycarbonates bearing pendant azido groups were exposed to UV irradiation at wavelength of 254 nm and decomposition reaction of azido groups was monitored by FT-IR spectroscopy. The complete decomposition of azido groups was observed with exposure time of 30 min. The formed cross-linked (co)polycarbonates exhibited improved % char yield values compared to parent (co)polycarbonates. The measurement of mechanical properties of representative crosslinked (co)polycarbonates indicated increase in tensile strength and Young's modulus and decrease in % elongation compared to corresponding parent linear (co)polycarbonates.
Keywords: Aromatic polycarbonate; Pendant azido group; solution polycondensation; Triphosgene; UV-crosslinking

Synthesis, crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of a zinc(II) coordination polymer of 5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiolate - Pirimova, Mehribon; Torambetov, Batirbay; Kadirova, Shakhnoza; Ziyaev, Abdukhakim; Gonnade, Rajesh G.; Ashurov, Jamshid (Acta Crystallographica Section E Crystallographic Communications, 2022)
A new zinc coordination polymer with 5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiolate, namely, catena-poly[zinc(II)-bis(μ2-5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiolato)-κ2N3:S;κ2S:N3], [Zn(C8H5N2OS)2]n, was synthesized. The single-crystal X-ray <a class="ref_lookup_orange hideorange" href="https://goldbook.iupac.org/D01712.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="Navigator">diffraction analysis shows that the polymeric structure crystallizes in the centrosymmetric monoclinic C2/c <a class="ref_lookup_yellow hideyellow" href="https://dictionary.iucr.org/Space_group" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="Navigator">space group. The ZnII atom is coordinated to two S and two N atoms from four crystallographically independent (L) ligands, forming zigzag chains along the [001] direction. This polymer complex forms an eight-membered [Zn–S–C–N–Zn–S–C–N] chair-like ring with two ZnII atoms and two ligand molecules. On the Hirshfeld surface, the largest contributions come from the short contacts such as <a class="ref_lookup_orange hideorange" href="https://goldbook.iupac.org/V06597.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="Navigator">van der Waals forces, including H⋯H, C⋯H and S⋯H. Interactions including N⋯H, O⋯H and C⋯C contacts were also observed; however, their contribution to the overall stability of the <a class="ref_lookup_yellow hideyellow" href="https://dictionary.iucr.org/Lattice" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="Navigator">crystal lattice is minor.
Keywords: 3; 4-oxadiazole-2-thiol; coordination polymer; Hirshfeld surface analysis; crystal structure; zinc complex; 5-phenyl-1

Synthesis of 2D MoO3-x/N-doped-carbon nanocomposites via in situ carbonization of layered (NH4)Mo3O9-(NH4)(2)Mo4O13-organic hybrid nanomaterials for exceptionally efficient adsorption and separation of organic dyes - Gaikwad, Supriya Hanmant; Porel Mukherjee, Shatabdi (Environmental Science-Nano, 2022)
MoO3-x/N-doped-carbon (MoO3-x/N-C) nanocomposites with nanobelt structures were prepared by the in situ carbonization of the (NH4)Mo3O9-(NH4)(2)Mo4O13/oleylamine-oleic acid hybrids, and were designed using a two-step tailored nanoemulsion method followed by a solvothermal process. The MoO3-x/N-C nanocomposites possess high stability in a wide pH range of 1-11. In addition to the formation mechanism, detailed studies on adsorption properties, including adsorption isotherms, kinetics, mechanism, and reusability of the MoO3-x/N-C nanocomposites were systematically studied. The effects of various parameters on the adsorption characteristics, such as adsorbate concentration, contact time, pH, and temperature, were also evaluated. The detailed investigation of the kinetics and adsorption mechanism of MB from an aqueous solution showed that the adsorption process follows a pseudo-second-order kinetics and intraparticle diffusion model. The adsorption isotherm study demonstrated that the Langmuir isotherm model could illustrate the experimental data with a maximum adsorption capacity value of similar to 1360 mg g(-1), which turns out to be the highest among the previously reported adsorbents based on MoO3 nanomaterials, and is attributed to multiple adsorption mechanisms including electrostatic, pi-pi stacking, and H-bonding interactions between the MB dye and the MoO3-x/N-C nanocomposites. Thermodynamic analysis suggested that MB adsorption onto the MoO3-x/N-C nanocomposites was spontaneous and endothermic. Additionally, the adsorption and desorption cycles were examined for 100 ppm aqueous MB solution, where the removal efficiency by the MoO3-x/N-C nanocomposites remained at similar to 99% even after four regeneration cycles. Furthermore, the MoO3-x/N-C nanocomposites could selectively adsorb MB from a binary solution mixture containing two times higher concentrations of an anionic dye, methyl orange (MO), and the separation efficiency obtained was similar to 99% at neutral pH. More significantly, the MoO3-x/N-C nanocomposites could successfully and simultaneously adsorb several cationic dyes, including MB, malachite green (MG), crystal violet (CV), safranin O (SO), and separate an anionic dye, MO, from quaternary and pentanary dye mixture solutions with a separation efficiency of similar to 75% and 62%, respectively, at neutral pH. To the best of our knowledge, the effective separation of a single component by molybdenum oxide-based nanomaterials via a simple batch separation technique from a four/five-component mixed interfering analyte, close to a real matrix system, in an aqueous medium at neutral pH has not been reported so far. Therefore, the MoO3-x-based nanocomposite could be a new promising material for application in dye wastewater treatment.

Synthesis of a highly electron-deficient, water-stable, large ionic box: multielectron accumulation and proton conductivity - Shukla, Jyoti; Illathvalappil, Rajith; Kumar, Sharvan; Chorol, Sonam; Pandikassala, Ajmal; Kurungot, Sreekumar; Mukhopadhyay, Pritam (Organic Letters, 2022)
pi-acidic boxes exhibiting electron reservoir and proton conduction are unprecedented because of their instability in water. We present the synthesis of one of the strongest electron-deficient ionic boxes showing e(-) uptake as well as proton conductivity. Two large anions fit in the box to form anion-pi interactions and form infinite anion-solvent wires. The box with NO3-center dot center dot center dot water wires confers high proton conductivity and presents the first example that manifests redox and ionic functionality in an organic electron-deficient macrocycle.

Synthesis of central spiro-bis-THF fragments of symbiospirols A-C - Shinde, Mahesh H.; Kona, Chandrababu N.; Ramana, V. Chepuri (New Journal of Chemistry, 2022)
The gold catalysed alkynediol spiroketalization to assemble the central spiro-bis-THF fragments (C22-C33 and C36-C47) of symbiospirols A-C is documented. The adopted chiral pool approach employed commercially available d-glucose and l-malic acid in the synthesis of key building blocks. In addition, two other possible diastereomers have been synthesized in order to establish the relative stereochemistry of the unassigned THF-center of symbiospirols B/C.

Synthesis of indeno-[1,2-b]-quinoline-9,11(6H,10H)-dione and 7,7-dimethyl-10-aryl-7,8-dihydro-5H-indeno[1,2-b]quinoline-9,11(6H,10H )-dione derivatives in presence of heterogeneous Cu/zeolite-Y as a catalyst - Dhengale, Shankar D.; Rode, V. Chandrashekhar; Kolekar, Govind B.; Anbhule, V. Prashant (RSC Advances, 2022)
A simple method for the synthesis of indeno-[1,2-b]-quinoline-9,11-(6H,10H)-dione derivatives and 7,7-dimethyl-10-aryl-7,8-dihydro-5H-indeno[1,2-b]quinoline-9,11(6H,10H )-diones through the reaction of aromatic aldehydes, indan-1,3-dione, dimedone, and p-toluidine/ammonium acetate in the presence of heterogeneous CuO supported on a zeolite-Y catalyst has been investigated in ethanol under reflux conditions. By this method, the reaction time has been reduced, giving an excellent yield of the product. The catalyst was prepared by a hydrothermal method followed by a wet impregnation method. The catalyst had shown Bronsted acid sites and Lewis acid sites. The used catalyst could be actively recycled with a marginal decrease in yield up to five recycles. The prepared catalyst was characterized by FT-IR, pyridine FT-IR, XRD, SEM, EDS, XPS, TEM, and BET surface area analysis. The synthesized compounds were characterized by FT-IR, H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR and GC-MS spectroscopy.

Synthesis of new thiazole and pyrazole clubbed 1,2,3-triazol derivatives as potential antimycobacterial and antibacterial agents - Jagadale, Shivaji M.; Abhale, Yogita K.; Pawar, Hari R.; Shinde, Abhijit; Bobade, Vivek D.; Chavan, Abhijit P.; Sarkar, Dhiman; Mhaske, Pravin C. (Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds, 2022)
New series of 4-methyl-2-(4-substituted phenyl)-5-(4-((4-(4-substituted phenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)methyl)-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)thiazole, 6a-t and 4-(1,3-diphenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-1-((1,3-diphenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)methyl )-1H-1,2,3-triazole, 11a-o derivatives have been synthesized by applying copper-catalyzed [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction. The newly synthesized 1,3-thiazolyl-pyrazolyl-1,2,3-triazole (6a-t) and bis-pyrazolyl-1,2,3-triazole (11a-o) derivatives were screened for in vitro antimycobacterial activity against M. Tuberculosis H37Ra dormant and active and antibacterial activity against four pathogenic bacteria, E. coli (NCIM 2576), P. flurescence (NCIM 2059), S. aureus (NCIM 2602) and B. subtilis (NCIM 2162). Compounds 6a, 6f, 6j, 11e and 11m showed good activity against M tuberculosis H37Ra Active strain, also compounds 6g, 6h, 11f, 11n and 11o showed good activity against M tuberculosis H37Ra Dormant strain. Compounds 6b, 6i, 6l, 6o, 6r, 11k, 11l and 11m showed good activity against B. subtilis with IC50 1.99-2.96 mu g/mL. The antibacterial activity of thiazolyl-pyrazolyl-1,2,3-triazole and bis-pyrazolyl-1,2,3-triazole derivatives suggested that, these derivatives could lead to new compounds for treatment against bacterial infection.
Keywords: 123-Triazole; antibacterial activity; antimycobacterial activity; Pyrazole; Thiazole

Synthesis of ternary cocrystals, salts, and hydrates of acefylline with enhanced dissolution and high permeability - Allu, Suryanarayana; Garai, Abhijit; Chernyshev, Vladimir V.; Nangia, Ashwini K. (Crystal Growth & Design, 2022)
Acefylline (ACF) is a stimulant xanthine derivative drug, which is formulated as a piperazine salt for the treatment of bronchial asthma. ACF falls under BCS class IV category of low solubility and poor permeability, which together limit the bioavailability and efficacy of the drug. In this work, ACF binary and ternary cocrystals, salts–cocrystals, and their polymorphs are synthesized by cocrystallization with several coformers. Two different methods were adopted for the supramolecular assembly of the ternary systems A.B.C: (1) first, binary adducts A.B or A.C were crystallized by grinding a slurry of the components in a suitable solvent and then C was added and grinding was continued; and (2) all three components were taken in a solvent slurry and ground together. The former method was found to be superior in affording the ternary salt/cocrystal. The role of laboratory seeding is implicated to explain the variation in crystallization results at different stages of the project. Crystal structures of the product’s binary and ternary systems were solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and powder X-ray diffraction data for structure solution. The crystal structures show the recurrence of carboxylate–pyridinium and imidazole–acid heterosynthons in the binary and ternary adducts. The intermolecular interactions between ACF and the coformer are analyzed by Hirshfeld surfaces, 2D fingerprint plots, and an energy framework. The permeability of ACF increases in binary and ternary systems with selected coformers. The fast dissolution and high permeability of ACF-PIP make this salt an improved crystalline formulation of acefylline.

Salicylaldehydate coordinated two-dimensional-conjugated metal-organic frameworks - Mohammed, Abdul Khayum; Pena-Sanchez, Pilar; Pandikassala, Ajmal; Gaber, Safa; AlKhoori, Ayesha A.; Skorjanc, Tina; Polychronopoulou, Kyriaki; Kurungot, Sreekumar; Gandara, Felipe; Shetty, Dinesh (Chemical Communications, 2023)
A novel class of copper-based 2D-c-MOF was synthesized from 1,3,5-triformylphloroglucinol using green mechano-chemistry. Herein, metal coordination with the salicylaldehyde functional moiety was explored for the first time in MOFs. Moreover, an intrinsic semiconductive copper-based SA-MOF thin film was fabricated using an in situ salt-free method at room temperature.

Scalable optical fiber reactor for photocatalytic H2 production: addressing scattering issues - Walko, Priyanka S.; Devi, R. Nandini (International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2023)
Scattering is one of the main challenges in scaling up photocatalytic water splitting using the most prevalent powder catalysts. This can be overcome by decoupling the reaction medium from light transmission, as in the case of optical fibers. Here we explore utilizing optical fibers coated with 5 wt% CuO supported on TiO2 for photocatlytic H2 production from water-methanol mixtures. CuO/TiO2 is a well studied photo catalyst in which photoreduced Cu species are known to act as sensitizers for inducing visible light activity. Lower activity of sequentially coated systems indicates that appropriate interfaces of active Cu and TiO2 with water are desirable. The scalability of such optical fiber-based systems along with potential in non-potable turbid water media are demonstrated. Maximum activity of 22 mmoles of H2 in 8 h was obtained with 50 mg of catalyst coated on optical fibers, which increases linearly with increase in fiber numbers, whereas, drastic reduction in activity is observed in powder catalyst upon increasing the catalyst quantity. A one-to-one comparison of 700 mg of catalyst in powder form and coated on optical fibers indicates more than one order enhancement in activity in the optical fiber based system. In addition, -70% retention in activity in highly turbid non-potable water was observed as compared to powdered system which shows complete reduction in the activity by 99.99%. (c) 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: CuO; Optical fibers; photocatalytic water splitting; TiO2; Total internal reflection; Visible light utilisation

Scalable synthesis of dodecanethiol-capped bismuth nanoparticles by a solvent-free solid-state grinding method for reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol - Singh, Dinesh; Poddar, Pankaj (Langmuir, 2023)
Thiol-capped metal nanoparticles have two constituents:an inorganicmetal and an organic molecule as a shell. Both characters are inbuiltin the structure of the metal thiolate. Herein, we have investigatedbismuth dodecanethiolate as a precursor for the synthesis of dodecanethiol-cappedbismuth nanoparticles (Bi NPs) by a solid-state grinding method. Byusing sodium borohydride and bismuth dodecanethiolate, crystallinebismuth nanoparticles are synthesized in a solvent-free environmentat room temperature (24 & PLUSMN; 4 & DEG;C). Bi NPs are tested for catalyticactivity by reducing 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP)with an excess of NaBH4. Dodecanethiol-capped bismuth nanoparticlesexhibit an efficient reduction of 4-NP to 4-AP within 12 min. Additionally,these nanoparticles remain catalytically active for up to three cycles.

Scalable synthesis of silacyclohexanones and ready access to silicon building blocks - Ramesh, Eagala; Nandawadekar, Laxman D.; Rao, Ramana Sreenivasa; Reddy, D. Srinivasa (Organic Letters, 2023)
A simple and efficient two-step method for the synthesis of silacyclohexanones starting from bis(bromoethylsilanes) using TosMIC is presented. The prepared silacyclohexanones were transformed to nine different heterocycles with silicon incorporation. In addition, the developed methodology was used for the synthesis of a sila analogue of the HDAC6 inhibitor tubastatin A.

Seasonal dynamics and tree foliar habit drive the rhizobacterial diversity in congeneric Ficus species from Northern Western Ghats, India - Salunkhe, Vaishnavi H.; Kunte, Pooja S.; Paul, Dhiraj; Kasodekar, Amol K.; Kadoo, Narendra Y. (Rhizosphere, 2023)
Tree species, annual climatic cycle, and geochemical properties influence the tree rhizospheric microbiome. However, its understanding in the moist deciduous forest of Northern Western Ghats (NWG), India, is limited. Moreover, the effects of foliar habits of trees and seasonal variations on rhizobacterial communities across congeneric tree species are unexplored. Hence, we employed high throughput 16 S rRNA gene sequencing to examine the effects of foliar habits of congeneric tree species and seasonal influences on the rhizobacterial community. For this study, rhizospheric soil from Ficus arnottiana (deciduous) and Ficus talboti (evergreen) trees from NWG, India, was collected during three seasons (summer, monsoon, and winter) and subjected to high throughput sequencing. A total of 3031 amplicon sequence variants (ASV) were observed, of which 1257 and 1181 ASV were unique to F. arnottiana and F. talboti, respectively, and 593 ASV were common to both species. The phyla Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Chloroflexi were ubiquitous and contributed >90% to the rhizobacterial community. Some bacterial phyla were exclusively associated with either of the tree species and seasons. Different bacterial phyla performed similar functions in different seasons, indicating their functional redundancy and emphasizing their resilience and adaptability across seasons. It was observed that seasonal dynamics mainly drove the rhizobacterial diversity; however, it was also influenced by the foliar habits of the trees and geochemical properties. The study enhances the understanding of congeneric tree microbiomes and offers valuable insights into their potential applications through microbiome engineering.
Keywords: Amplicon variants; Bacterial diversity; Ficus arnottiana; Ficus talboti; Rhizosphere

Selective and generic photocatalytic oxidation of alcohol with Pd-TiO2 thin films: butanols to butanal/butanone with different morphologies of Pd and 0.5 theta(Pt)-Pd counterparts - Salgaonkar, Kranti N.; Kale, Sandip R.; Nalajala, Naresh; Mansuri, Sayana; Gopinath, Chinnakonda S. (Chemistry-An Asian Journal, 2023)
The present study reports on the photocatalytic oxidation of butanols to butanal/butanone using thin film form of facet-dependent nano-Pd supported on commercial TiO2 under one-sun condition and demonstrates the generic nature. Pd-nanocube (Pd-NC(100)), Pd-truncated octahedron (Pd-TO (100) and (111)), polycrystalline (Pd-PC), and their counterparts with half-a-monolayer Pt-coated on Pd (0.5 theta(Pt)-Pd)) have been used as co-catalyst. A potentially scalable thin film form of Pd/TiO2 photocatalyst, prepared by drop-casting method, has been employed to study oxidation of n-butanol, 2-butanol, and iso-butanol to corresponding aldehyde/ketone. 100% selectivity is demonstrated to respective aldehyde/ketone with any catalyst used in the present study with varying degree of butanols conversion by NMR. 0.5 theta(Pt)-Pd-TO/TiO2 shows the highest conversion of 2-butanol to butanone (13.6% in 4 h). Continuous 10 h of reaction with the most active 0.5 theta(Pt)-Pd-TO/P25 catalyst demonstrates 31% conversion of 2-butanol to butanone, and catalyst recyclability has been demonstrated. The present protocol can be scalable to large scales to maximize the conversion in direct sunlight. Due to its generic nature, the current method can also be applied to many other alcohols and substrate molecules.
Keywords: energy conversion; Nanomaterials; Oxidation; Photocatalysis; Sustainability

Selective and robust Ru catalyst for the aqueous phase aerobic oxidation of furfural to 2-furoic acid - Lokhande, Priya; Dhepe, Paresh L. (ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2023)
Synthesis of 2-furoic acid (FURA) via oxidation of furfural (FAL) is vital in evolving the biorefinery concept as FURA has numerous important applications in the pharmaceuticals and optic areas. Though few works on this reaction are done, those are marred with shortcomings such as the nonrecyclability of catalyst, dilute solutions, lower yields, or use of H2O2 as an oxidizing agent. Herein, we report catalytic aqueous phase oxidation of FAL to FURA using molecular oxygen as an oxidizing agent. For the synthesis of FURA, various catalysts with a combination of metal (Pt, Pd, Ru) and supports (carbon, Al2O3) were prepared and characterized by multiple techniques (X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)). Oxidation of FAL carried out over 5 wt % Ru/C catalyst in the presence of Na2CO3 yielded 83% of FURA at 120 degrees C and 15 bar oxygen pressure. The catalyst could show potential for reusability as similar activity was achieved after subjecting the spent catalyst to mild reduction treatment (150 degrees C). Studies on the effects of temperature, pressure, and time could help accomplish enhanced yields of FURA. Additionally, learning about the effect of base (weak/strong/solid) revealed that due to the weak basicity of Na2CO3, higher yields could be achieved by maintaining approximately a pH of 11, which is optimal for suppressing side reactions. Under the given conditions, FURA is stable (>90%) and also adsorption studies divulge that it is immediately removed from the catalyst surface, and hence higher yields could be achieved in our catalytic system. Using the initial rates methodology, an activation energy of 21.91 kJ mol(-1) was derived and also a high turn over frequency (TOF) (85.9 h(-1)) was observed under optimized conditions.
Keywords: 2-furoic acid (FURA); Biomass conversion; furfural (FAL); heterogeneous catalyst; Oxidation; ruthenium on carbon etc

Selective one pot multicomponent green synthesis of 3-[(aryl)(arylthio)methyl]-1H-indole derivatives utilizing enhanced Lewis acidic sites of Surfactant-assisted ZnO catalyst - Sangale, Vijay B. B.; Jagtap, Rohidas M. M.; Mali, Bhupendra P. P.; Gonnade, Rajesh G. G.; Pardeshi, Satish K. K. (ChemistrySelect, 2023)
Five different ZnO nanocrystallites (ZnO-1 to ZnO-5) were successfully synthesized by a surfactant-assisted hydrothermal technique using various surfactants. All the ZnO nanocrystallites are thoroughly characterized by XRD, IR, UV-DRS spectroscopy and FESEM-EDS analysis. Among the synthesized ZnO nanocrystallites, the CTAB-assisted synthesized ZnO-4 exhibited a fine disc-like morphology with a minimum crystallite size (23 nm). Subsequent to reaction optimization studies, the ZnO-4 is utilized as an efficient catalyst for one pot-three component green synthesis of 3-[(aryl)(arylthio)methyl]-1H-indoles (4a-4p) via. condensation of a variety of indoles, aromatic aldehydes and aromatic thiols at room temperature in water. The single-crystal X-ray structure of 3-[(phenyl)(phenylthio)methyl]-1H-indole (4a) is also been reported (CCDC 2170437). The Lewis acidic property of the catalyst-supported probable mechanism is well proposed subsequent to pyridine-IR studies of the ZnO catalysts. Indeed, CTAB-assisted synthesized ZnO-4 was found to be most effective and selective Lewis acid catalyst for the synthesis of a variety of 3-[(aryl)(arylthio)methyl]-1H-indole derivatives in water at ambient temperature with merits like higher yields, lower reaction time, catalyst recovery and reuse.
Keywords: 3-[(aryl)(arylthio)methyl]-1H-indole; green synthesis; Lewis acidity; Single crystal; ZnO

Selective oxidation of 5-HMF to DFF over alkali promoted Mn nanocomposite - Solanki, Bhanupratap Singh; Roh, Hyun-Seog; V. Rode, Chandrashekhar (Applied Catalysis A-General, 2023)
Various compositions of Cs promoted Mn catalysts were synthesized and investigated for selective oxidation of 5HMF to DFF, among which Mn-Cs(80:20) was found to be most efficient giving 91 % conversion of 5-HMF and 99 % selectivity to DFF. Detail characterization like N2-sorption, BET surface area, TG-DTA, XRD, XPS, FE-SEM-EDX, TEM, HR-TEM, CO2-TPD, H2-TPR, O2-TPO, FTIR, Raman spectra and CH3OH-IR were done to establish structureactivity correlation. Enhanced surface area, porosity, thermal stability, dual morphologies were observed due to inclusion of Cs in Mn lattice domain which further enhanced the crystallinity, and oxygen diffusion on the surface. Mixed morphologies comprising nanoparticles (4-5 nm) and nanocubes (50-60 nm) were observed with enhanced redox potential and reduced work function due to weakening of Mn-O bonds. Significant increase in the basicity of catalyst, interfacial redox properties and lattice oxygen led to highly efficient oxidation of 5-HMF to DFF via Mars-van Krevelen mechanism at relatively milder conditions i.e. T = 90 degrees C and PO2= 200 psig. The catalyst was easily recyclable up to 7 times with minor loss in activity which was regenerated heat treatment protocol.
Keywords: 5-HMF; Biomass; heterogeneous catalyst; polyurethane; Selective oxidation

Self-powered wearable breath sensor cum nanogenerator using AuNR-rGO-PVDF nanocomposite - Bang, Amruta D.; Ghalawat, Monika; Poddar, Pankaj; Kulkarni, Sulabha K.; Adhyapak, Parag V. (IEEE Sensors Journal, 2023)
Breathing is the most important function of living being. It is well known that breath contains 90% humidity along with various gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These gases are released during various metabolic activities in the body. These gases present in the breath can act as biomarkers to showcase healthiness or abnormalities in the body. Therefore, breath sensors are the need of time to detect diseases at early stages and in noninvasive way. Herein, we report, simple breath sensor using Au nanorods (AuNRs) and its nanocomposite with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). The nanocomposites system is designed in such a way that each component has its advantages for breath sensing. Here, AuNR being a good humidity sensitive material detects the breath efficiently. The ss phased PVDF being a very good ferroelectric material, contributes for voltage generation during sensing and enables the device to be self powered. The highly conducting rGO increases the sensitivity and voltage generation by facilitating the electron transport in the nanocomposite system. The nanocomposite was optimized with respect to PVDF, rGO and Au concentration. The as-synthesized materials were characterized by physiochemical characterization techniques such as field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), UV-Visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The ss phase formation of the PVDF was confirmed from the XRD peak at 20.41 degrees. SEM results revealed that AuNR have length 15-20 nm and aspect ratio similar to 3-4. Breath sensing tests were carried out for as synthesized nanocomposite material. The nanocomposite exhibited high sensitivity towards breath and generated the voltage of similar to 0.7 V within 0.8 s.
Keywords: Au nanorods (AuNRs); breath analyzer; breath sensor; nanogenerator

Settling and spreading behaviour of particle clusters in quiescent liquids in confined vessels - Pal, Sayan; Kulkarni, Amol A. (Particuology, 2023)
Here we report experiments on particle cluster settling at high Reynolds number in quiescent liquid contained in a vessel. The particles were observed to spread at the vessel bottom surface in a nearcircular annular shape after settling irrespective of the shape of the vessel cross-section and particle shape, size, and types. Effect of different parameters such as mass, type and aspect ratio of the particles, height, and viscosity of liquid was investigated on spreading behaviour. Formation of the hemispherical bottom cap of the cluster that bounces upon hitting the vessel bottom surface was found to be responsible for the final circular annular shape of the settled structure. Particle leakage from the cluster was seen in the form of a tail. In the liquid having viscosity beyond 100 cP, cluster breakage was observed that resulted in hindered settling and asymmetric shapes of finally settled particles. The observations are useful to understand the overall area over which settling and spreading of such clusters can be observed. (c) 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Keywords: Particle cluster; Settling; spreading; Temporal evolution

Shapeshifter TDP-43: molecular mechanism of structural polymorphism, aggregation, phase separation and their modulators - Doke, Abhilasha A.; Jha, Santosh Kumar (Biophysical Chemistry, 2023)
TDP-43 is a nucleic acid-binding protein that performs physiologically essential functions and is known to un-dergo phase separation and aggregation during stress. Initial observations have shown that TDP-43 forms het-erogeneous assemblies, including monomer, dimer, oligomers, aggregates, phase-separated assemblies, etc. However, the significance of each assembly of TDP-43 concerning its function, phase separation, and aggregation is poorly known. Furthermore, how different assemblies of TDP-43 are related to each other is unclear. In this review, we focus on the various assemblies of TDP-43 and discuss the plausible origin of the structural het-erogeneity of TDP-43. TDP-43 is involved in multiple physiological processes like phase separation, aggregation, prion-like seeding, and performing physiological functions. However, the molecular mechanism behind the physiological process performed by TDP-43 is not well understood. The current review discusses the plausible molecular mechanism of phase separation, aggregation, and prion-like propagation of TDP-43.
Keywords: Amyloid versus non-amyloid; Coacervation; Environmental conditions; Prion-like seeding; Structural heterogeneity; Thermodynamic and kinetic mechanism

Short review on recent advances in porous adsorbents for separation of oxygen from atmospheric air - Shrotri, Aadesh R. R.; Niphadkar, Prashant S. S.; Bokade, Vijay V. V.; Utgikar, Vivek P. P.; Nandanwar, Sachin U. U. (Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023)
Pure oxygen demand is continuously increasing worldwide due to wide applications including medical and industrial. Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is one of the promising techniques to separate O-2 from atmospheric air. The porous solid adsorbent is a key element in the PSA to trap nitrogen (N-2) and release O-2. Several adsorbents including low silica X (LSX), zeolite 5A, ion-exchanged LSX (Li-LSX, AgLi-LSX, Ca-LSX), Engelhard titanosilicate (Na-ETS-10, Ag-ETS-10), and SSZ-13 have been investigated for adsorption of N-2 from the air. This review article is a summarization of recent research work published on O-2 separation using different porous adsorbents via PSA. This review also emphasizes on the best porous sorbent for purification of O-2 by sorption of N-2 and Ar. The adsorption capacities with experimental conditions are also rigorously discussed. The review also proposed future trends and prospects for O-2 separation. This review will be helpful to choose remarkable adsorbent for the generation pure O-2.
Keywords: 13X zeolite; adsorbent; ETS-10; oxygen; Separation

Six-membered NHC stabilized monomeric zinc complexes - Gour, Kritika; Kundu, Gargi; Dash, Soumya Ranjan; Vanka, Kumar; Tothadi, Srinu; Sen, Sakya S. (European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2023)
This paper describes the rare use of a 6-membered saturated N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) known as 1,3-di(2,6-diisopropylphenyl) tetrahydropyrimidine-2-ylidene (abbreviated as 6-SI-Dipp) as a ligand in zinc chemistry. We report on the investigation of the reactions between 6-SI-Dipp and ZnX2, which resulted in a range of new monomeric 6-SIDipp center dot ZnX2 complexes (X=Et (1), Cl (2), Br (3), and I (4)). We also prepared a new NHC zinc complex where the two substituents of the zinc atom are different, 6-SIDipp center dot Zn(Et)Br (7) through the reaction of the proligand [6-SIDippH]Br with ZnEt2. We have observed that the reactions of complex 1 with sulfur and HBpin led to the removal of the ZnEt2 moiety, resulting in the formation of a C=S double bond and a B H activation product, respectively. Lastly, the reaction of 1 with five-membered NHCs led to the exchange of carbene and the formation of either 5-IDipp center dot ZnEt2 (8) or 5-SIDipp center dot ZnEt2 (9).
Keywords: Lewis adduct; NHC; X-ray diffraction; zinc

Size does matter: antibacterial activities and cytotoxic evaluation of polymorphic CuO nanostructures - Desai, Dnyanada G.; Navale, Govinda R.; Late, Dattatray J.; Dharne, Mahesh S.; Walke, Pravin S. (Journal of Materials Science, 2023)
Nanostructured materials play a significant role in antibacterial activities. However, understanding the geometrical influence at the nanoscale in terms of size- and shape-correlated physical properties on antibacterial activities is very essential. Herein, we report the antibacterial influence of various copper oxide nanostructures (CuO NS) such as nanoparticles (NPs) (< 10 nm), nanospheres (NSs) (50-100 nm), and porous nanoflowers (NFs) (asymptotic to 350 nm). The XRD confirmed the crystalline nature of CuO NPs without impurities. The antibacterial activities of CuO NPs were investigated by the microplate dilution method and confocal laser scanning microscopic (CLSM) imaging. NPs having a diameter less than 10 nm exhibited significant damage to the bacterial cell membrane than NSs and NFs. Interestingly, NPs illustrated relatively low antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii) than Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis). Acinetobacter baumannii was found to be more susceptible to the NPs than other bacterial strains, attributed to its increased membrane permeability. The death phase was observed at a concentration of 15.6 mu g mL(-1) and 3.9 mu g mL(-1) for P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii, respectively, when treated with CuO NP after the 8 h of incubation. Similarly, for S. aureus and S. epidermidis, the death phase was observed at the concentration of 31.2 mu g mL(-1) and 250 mu g mL(-1), respectively. Furthermore, as the cell cytotoxicity measurements against human fibroblast L9239 cells revealed that CuO NPs were safe. The morphological and cell viability assay demonstrated 100% cell survival, when treated with NPs and NSs (5, 10, and 25 mu g mL(-1)), signifies no cytotoxicity. Therefore, CuO nanoparticles can be used for clinical and therapeutic applications.

Solvation structure and dynamics of a small ion in an organic electrolyte - Kore, Shivshankar; Sahoo, Rudhi Ranjan; Santra, Binit; Sarkar, Archishman; Chowdhury, Tubai; Deshmukh, Samadhan H.; Hazarika, Sulagna; Chatterjee, Srijan; Bagchi, Sayan (Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A-Chemistry, 2023)
Organic carbonates are commonly used as electrolytes in commercial lithium-ion batteries. A detailed interpretation of the solvation structure and dynamics of the electrolyte around ions is necessary to understand the charge/discharge process in batteries. This work combines infrared absorption spectroscopy with quantum chemical calculations and molecular dynamics simulations to decipher the solvation structure of propylene carbonate, a cyclic carbonate, around the dissolved thiocyanate ion. Two dimensional infrared spectroscopy and polarization-selective pump probe spectroscopies have been utilized to extract the timescales of solvent fluctuation and the solute reorientational dynamics. The similarity in the slow timescales for the solute and the solvent dynamics signifies that similar processes control both dynamics.

Spatio-temporal variation of the microbiome and resistome repertoire along an anthropogenically dynamic segment of the Ganges River, India - Samson, Rachel; Rajput, Vinay; Yadav, Rakeshkumar; Shah, Manan; Dastager, Syed; Khairnar, Krishna; Dharne, Mahesh (Science of the Total Environment, 2023)
Aquatic ecosystems are regarded as a hub of antibiotic and metal resistance genes. River Ganges is a unique riverine system in India with socio-cultural and economic significance. However, it remains underexplored for its microbiome and associated resistomes along its anthropogenically impacted course. The present study utilized a nanopore sequenc-ing approach to depict the microbial community structure in the sediments of the river Ganges harboring antibiotic and metal resistance genes (A/MRGs) in lower stretches known for anthropogenic impact. Comprehensive microbiome analyses revealed resistance genes against 23 different types of metals and 28 classes of antibiotics. The most dominant ARG category was multidrug resistance, while the most prevalent MRGs conferred resistance against copper and zinc. Seasonal differences dismally affected the microbiota of the Ganges. However, resistance genes for fosmidomycin and tetracycline varied with season ANOVA, p < 0.05. Interestingly, 333 and 334 ARG subtypes were observed at all the locations in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon, respectively. The taxa associated with the dominant ARGs and MRGs were Pseudomonas and Burkholderia, which are important nosocomial pathogens. A substantial phage diversity for pathogenic and putrefying bacteria at all locations attracts attention for its use to tackle the dissemination of antibiotic and metal-resistant bacteria. This study suggests the accumulation of antibiotics and metals as the driving force for the emergence of resistance genes and the affiliated bacteria trafficking them. The present metagenomic as-sessment highlights the need for comprehensive, long-term biological and physicochemical monitoring and mitigation strategies toward the contaminants associated with ARGs and MRGs in this nationally important river.
Keywords: Antibiotics (ARGs); Bacteriophages; Heavy metals (MRGs); Metagenomics; Microbiome; River Ganges

Speed breeding opportunities and challenges for crop improvement - Sharma, Shivani; Kumar, Amit; Dhakte, Priyanka; Raturi, Gaurav; Vishwakarma, Gautam; Barbadikar, Kalyani M.; Das, B. K.; Shivaraj, S. M.; Sonah, Humira; Deshmukh, Rupesh (Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, 2023)
Crop improvement in light of the rapidly changing climate and the increasing human population continues to be one of the primary concerns for researchers across the globe. The rate at which current crop improvement programs are progressing is essentially inadequate to meet the food demand. There is an urgent need for redesigning the crops for climate resilience and sustainable yield and nutrition. The rate of crop improvement is largely impeded owing to the long generation time taken by crop plants during the breeding process. As a solution in this direction, speed breeding is now being practiced at a large scale to reduce generation time to accommodate multiple generations of crops per year. To enhance the efficiency of breeding, researchers are now adopting an integrated approach where speed breeding is used along with modern plant breeding and genetic engineering technologies. In the present review, we have summarized the technological aspects, opportunities, and limitations associated with speed breeding. The application of speed breeding such as mapping population development, haplotype-based breeding, transgenic breeding, and genome-edited line advancement has also been discussed. Speed breeding is a promising technology that expedites the goals of food and industrial crop improvement by reducing the breeding cycles for establishing nutritional security and sustainable agriculture.
Keywords: Genome editing; Genomic selection; Haplotype breeding; Speed breeding; Transgenic breeding

Strategies and practical approaches for stable and high energy density sodium-ion battery: a step closer to commercialization - Yadav, P.; Patrike, A.; Wasnik, K.; Shelke, V.; Shelke, M. (Materials Today Sustainability, 2023)
Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are reckoned as a potential alternative to Li-ion batteries (LIBs). Currently, the limited supply of precursors and the cost of LIBs have regenerated research and development interest in SIBs. Due to differences in the chemistry of lithium (Li) and sodium (Na), optimized methods for LIBs cannot be blindly applied to develop SIBs. Along with the judicial selection of electrode materials, electrolytes, and interfaces are very crucial for safe, high-power, and long-lasting batteries. The initial part of this review deals with the challenges faced in commercializing SIB full cells. Subsequently, the strategies to improve the energy density of SIB full cells through electrode modifications and electrolyte engineering are described in detail. This review comprehensively represents notable insights into the large-scale commercialization of potential sodium-ion batteries in the full cell.(c) 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Cathode additives; Electrolyte additives; Na compensation; Self -sacri ficial salts; Sodium -ion battery

Surface functionalization of inorganic nanoparticles with ligands: a necessary step for their utility - Bhattacharjee, Kaustav; Prasad, Bhagavatula L. V. (Chemical Society Reviews, 2023)
The importance of organic ligands in protecting inorganic nanoparticles and thus imparting the needed stabilization as colloidal dispersions was realised many years ago. Currently, the rational preparation of such nanoparticles with designed organic molecules/ligands resulting in the formation of functional nanoparticles (FNPs) that are tuned for a specific application is an area of immense research interest. The preparation of such FNPs for a desired application requires a clear understanding of the interactions at the nanoparticle (NP)-ligand and ligand-solvent interfaces, and demands a deep appreciation of the surface science and coordination chemistry. In this tutorial review, we briefly explore the evolution of surface-ligand chemistry and inform the readers that, apart from protecting the surface, ligands can modulate the physico-chemical properties of the underlying inorganic NPs as well. This review further presents the design principles for the rational preparation of such FNPs, where one or more ligand shells can be added to the nanoparticle surface, thereby improving the adaptability and amenability of the NP exterior towards the environment in which they are present, as required for a specific application.

Surface-induced demixing of self-assembled isomeric mixtures of citral - Saraf, Deepashri; Prakash, Shikha; Pinjari, Aadil; Pujari, Bhalchandra; Sengupta, Durba (Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2023)
The self-assembly of organic molecules and their interactions with metal surfaces have been of considerable interest, both for developing novel functional materials and for understanding fundamental design principles of nanostructures. In this study, we investigate the solution and surface-induced self-assembly of two stereoisomers of citral molecules (geranial and neral) using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. We demonstrate that the morphology of the aggregates in water is concentration dependent (ranging from distorted spherical to slab-like aggregates) but independent of isomer effects. The isomeric mixtures of citral indicate homogeneous mixing based on differential density maps and high values of Shannon entropy. Interestingly, surface-confinement of citral aggregates on a Cu(111) surface leads to phase segregation and demixing of the two isomers that is more apparent in the surface-bound monolayer in comparison to the adjacent layers. Positional ordering and formation of domains are observed over a series of isomeric citral mixtures with varying compositions, as indicated by high differential density and low values of Shannon entropy. Our work provides new insights into molecular self-assembly of organic molecules in nanostructures and metal-organic overlayers.(c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Citral; Isomers; Metal-organic interactions; molecular dynamics; Self-assembly; Shannon entropy

Sustainable and cleaner production of poly-gamma-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) biopolymer using floral waste and its anti-staling properties - Nair, Pranav G.; Dharne, Mahesh S. (Journal of Cleaner Production, 2023)
The framework of sustainable development (SD) hinges on 17 different ideals established by the United Nations. This call for SD can be addressed by the circular bio-economy concept, which not only ensures effective waste management but also encourages its valorization and repurposing, hence fostering both ecological and economic stability. One-third of the world's floral production is in jeopardy, and because there are no potential solutions for sustaining floral waste, it inevitably ends up in landfills and riverine systems, which is detrimental to the environment. Therefore, in the present study, floral waste that was destined for landfills or water bodies was productively valorized to poly gamma glutamic acid (gamma-PGA), a high value biopolymer, with a yield of 40 g/L and productivity of 1.6 g/L/h employing an L-glutamic acid (L-GA) independent feeding approach. When gamma-PGA was coated onto Vitis vinifera grapes, it exhibited excellent moisture retention, reduced microbial contamination, and preserved the grapes' aesthetic characteristics and nutrient content. The weight loss study demonstrated that grapes coated with 1% and 2% gamma-PGA experienced significantly lower weight loss (13% and 14% respectively) compared to the control group (21.6%). Moreover, a 5-min dip coating time proved to be the most effective in reducing weight loss to 12.43%. Over a period of 14 days, the control group exhibited a remarkably high weight loss (41%) in contrast to the treated group, which showed significantly lower weight loss (16%). Our work is a fine example of how the circular bio-economy and waste valorization may be used to achieve the long-term objectives of sustainable development, economic stability, and food security.
Keywords: Bio-economy; Floral waste; L-GA independent; Poly-gamma-glutamic acid; Valorization

Synthesis, biological evaluation and docking studies of silicon incorporated diarylpyrroles as MmpL3 inhibitors: an effective strategy towards development of potent anti-tubercular agents - Vasudevan, N.; Motiwala, Zenia; Ramesh, Remya; Wagh, Sachin B.; Shingare, Rahul D.; Katte, Revansiddha; Anand, Amitesh; Choudhary, Sushil; Kumar, Ajay; Gokhale, Rajesh S.; Kulkarni, Kiran A.; Reddy, D. Srinivasa (European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2023)
Growing global demand for new molecules to treat tuberculosis has created an urgent need to develop novel strategies to combat the menace. BM212 related compounds were found to be potent anti-TB agents and they inhibit mycolic acid transporter, MmpL3, a known potent drug target from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In order to enhance their inhibitory potency, several silicon analogues of diarylpyrroles related to BM212 were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for anti-tubercular activities. In Alamar blue assay, most of the silicon-incorporated compounds were found to be more potent than the parent compound (BM212), against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MIC = 1.7 & mu;M, H37Rv). Docking results from the crystal structure of MmpL3 and silicon analogues as pharmacophore model also strongly correlate with the biological assays and suggest that the incorporation of silicon in the inhibitor scaffold could enhance their potency by stabilizing the hydrophobic residues at the binding pocket. The best docking hit, compound 12 showed an MIC of 0.1 & mu;M against H37Rv with an acceptable in vitro ADME profile and excellent selectivity index. Overall, the present study indicates that, the designed silicon analogues, especially compound 12 could be a good inhibitor for an intrinsically flexible drug-binding pocket of MmpL3 and has potential for further development as anti-tubercular agents.
Keywords: antibiotic; BM212; docking studies; MmpL3 inhibitor; Silicon analogue; tuberculosis

Synthesis, characterization, crystal structure, in silico and computational studies on a novel Schiff base derived from α-chlorocinnamaldehyde and 4-aminoantipyrine - Adimudo, Hillary Chijioke; Agu, Chidike Justus; Okenyeka, Obinna U.; Eddy, Nnabuk O.; Dim, Ebubechukwu Nnamdi; Dege, Necmi; Bonardd, Sebastian; Vanka, Kumar; Ibezim, Akachukwu; Idika, Digbo Iku; Diaz, David Diaz; Obasi, Nnamdi Lawrence (Journal of Molecular Structure, 2023)
Schiff base, 4-(((1E,2Z)-2-chloro-3-phenylallylidene)amino)-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenyl-1,2 -dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one (1) was synthesized by condensation reaction of 4-aminoantipyrine and & alpha;-chlorocinnamaldehyde. The compound was characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ultraviolet (UV)-visible spectroscopy, proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H/13C NMR) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis (SC-XRD). Density functional theory (DFT) was used to compute molecular parameters and also compared them with experimental data. The X-ray diffraction data revealed that the compound crys-tallizes as a monoclinic crystal system with a space group of C2/c and Z = 8, and is stabilized by C12-H12MIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSISO1, and C8-H8AMIDLINE HORIZONTAL ELLIPSISO1 intramolecular hydrogen bonds. The presence of a distinctive azomethine C = N bond length N3-C12 of 1.283(3) & ANGS;, and 1640 cm-1 stretching vibration in the FT-IR spectrum are evidence of the formation of a Schiff base. The computational result indicates that the ionization energy (IE), and electron affinity (EA) values for the molecule are 4.025 and 2.110 eV, respectively. The positive value of EA suggests that the addition of an electron to the molecule would be an exothermic process. The evaluated energy is relatively low and is an expression of the ease of electron transfer from the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). Hirsfeld surface map over dnorm and curvedness surface indicated the presence of 7C-7C stacking while the shape factor index suggests donor and acceptor intermolecular C-H-7C. Analysis of Hirsfeld surfaces concerning the fingerprint indicated a minimal contribution from the de -di pair and reveals H–H as a major contribution to the Hirsfeld surface. However, the molecular packing did not confirm H–H as a significant contributor the packing. Docking calculations on the compound showed average theoretical binding energies toward aromatase (-5.99 & PLUSMN; 0.34 kcal/mol) and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) (-17.57 & PLUSMN; 6.85 kcal/mol), indicating binding interactions with both protein targets.
Keywords: Computational studies; molecular modeling; Schiff base; X-ray crystallography

Synthesis of 3 alkyl and 1,3-Bis(alkyl)indolizine amides from a-bromohydroxamates - Mane, Kishor D.; Bagwe, Sagar S.; More, Satish G.; Suryavanshi, Gurunath (Tetrahedron Letters, 2023)
A simple and catalyst-free method has been developed for the synthesis of hindered indolizine amide derivatives from functionalized alkyl bromides. The reaction of a variety of indolizine derivatives with azaoxyallyl cations generated in situ from a-bromoamides afforded a wide range of synthetically important mono- and di-alkylated indolizine amide derivatives in good to excellent yields.@2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: a -Bromohydroxamates; Amides; HFIP; Indolizine

Synthesis of N-functionalized 2,3-disubstituted benzofurans/naphthofurans from para-quinone methides and isocyanides via the [4+1] annulation pathway - Kale, Someshwar B.; Kumar, Manish; Shinde, Dinesh R.; Krishna, Gamidi Rama; Das, Utpal (Organic Chemistry Frontiers, 2023)
A scandium triflate catalyzed [4 + 1] cycloaddition reaction of 2-hydroxy-substituted para-quinone methides and isocyanides has been developed. This operationally simple, efficient and practical protocol provides straightforward access to a variety of N-functionalized 2,3-disubstituted benzofuran/naphthofuran derivatives with broad functional group compatibility and good scalability.

Synthesis of N-oxyethylene substituted imidazolium-based zwitterions as a recyclable solvent for cellulose dissolution - Jadhav, Sachin; Ganvir, Vivek; Singh, Madan Kumar; Shanmuganathan, Kadhiravan (Cellulose, 2023)
Cellulose is a readily available, renewable, and natural biomaterial that has the potential to replace synthetic fibres. However, their processing to shaped materials such as fibre or film is still complex and restricted due to its insolubility in most conventional solvents. Herein, we present the synthesis and cellulose dissolution characteristics of a new class of recyclable zwitterions composed of tethered N-oxyethylene substituted imidazolium cation and alkyl carboxylate anion. Investigations on cellulose dissolution showed that increasing the alkyl chain length of carboxylate anion and introduction of oxyethylene unit on imidazolium ring led to better cellulose dissolution ability, and up to 12% (w/w) cellulose could be dissolved in aqueous zwitterions at 105 degrees C. The thermal behavior of zwitterions and their cellulose solutions was characterized by TGA and found to be more stable than the NMMO and Lyocell solutions. Rheological characterization of cellulose solutions revealed viscoelastic behavior and zero shear viscosity of 6-12% (w/w) cellulose solution in hexanoate containing aqueous zwitterion was 555 to 5900 Pa.s at 120 degrees C. The characteristics of cellulose solution indicate its potential for processing to cellulose fibre by extrusion through a tiny spinneret. Physico-chemical analysis of regenerated cellulose indicates that zwitterions cause no adverse effect on cellulose structure and morphology during dissolution. The zwitterions are recovered after the cellulose regeneration process, and the recovery was found to be 99.6% after purification using the ion-exchange method.
Keywords: Carboxylate anion; Cellulose dissolution; Oxyethylene unit; Regenerated cellulose; Rheology; zwitterions

Synthesis of Si(IV)- and Ge(II)-substituted amines, hydrazone, and hydrazine from hypersilyl germylene - Ajithkumar, V. S.; Ghanwat, Pratiksha B.; Raj, K. Vipin; Vanka, Kumar; Gonnade, Rajesh G.; Sen, Sakya S. (Organometallics, 2023)
This study investigates the reactivity of a hypersilyl germylene [PhC-(NtBu)(2)GeSi-(SiMe3)(3)] (1) with various organic compounds including azides, diazoalkanes, 1,2-diphenylhydrazine, and trifluoroacetophenone. The reactivity observed in these reactions is driven by the insertion of the organic fragment between a silicon and germanium bond. This leads to the formation of novel compounds, including an amine featuring three different substituents from three different elements of group 14. When reacting with Me3SiCHN2, we observed the insertion of the diazoalkane fragment in an end-on fashion into the Ge-Si bond. An analogous trend was observed in reactions with 1,2-diphenylhydrazine and trifluoroacetophenone, where the N-N and C-O fragments were inserted into the Ge-Si bond. Multinuclear NMR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses were conducted to characterize the newly synthesized compounds.

Systematic study of rare-earth ions size-dependent structural phase transition from monazite to zircon-type in rare earth chromates using Raman spectroscopy - Ughade, Supriya; Poddar, Pankaj (Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 2023)
Rare earth chromates (RCrO4) undergo monazite to zircon-type structural phase transition due to a decreased rare-earth ion size. They also exhibit an intermediate mixed phase. However, there is no systematic study on the influence of structural distortion on their phononic behavior, which is quite sensitive to subtle environmental variations. A change in the room temperature phononic spectrum was studied in the family of RCrO4 compounds, where R was varied from La to Yb using Raman modes. With an increase in the atomic number from Nd to Yb for zircon-type phases, the external translational and rotational modes were observed to shift towards lower and higher wavenumbers, respectively. At the same time, all internal vibrational modes shifted towards higher phonon energies. A comparison between Raman modes for monazite, intermediate, and zircon-type RCrO4 phases showed a gradual shift in the internal modes towards a higher wavenumber. The confirmation of the change in Raman modes with the decreasing radius was found by comparing the rare-earth elements in DyCrO4 and LaCrO4 with non-rare-earth elements in YCrO4.
Keywords: monazite-type; Raman spectroscopy; rare earth chromates (RCrO4); YCrO4; zircon type