Chemical Constituent, Antimicrobial Activity, and Synergistic Effect of the Stem, Leaf, and Flower Essential Oil of the Artemisia fragrans Willd. from Khoy.

Artemisia fragrans is commonly used as a folk medicine as antispasmodic, anti-pyretic, anti-inflammatory, and abortifacient agents. The villagers use its pungent odor to repel rodents, mites, and pests, as well as its essential oil and smoke after burning to treat lung infections after uprooting the plant. Herein, we extracted the essential oils (EOs) of different parts of the plant and analyzed their chemical compositions and antibacterial activities. The chemical analysis led to the identification of 73, 59, and 57 compounds in the EOs of the stem, leaf, and flower, respectively. All of the EOs exhibited antibacterial activities against both G+ and G- bacteria. The EOs of the leaf and flower were more effective against tested bacteria, except B. anthracis and P. aeruginosa, compared to that of the stem. The binary combination of the EOs (stem and flower) or (stem and leaf) showed a synergistic effect. Statistical analysis indicated EOs of leaf and flower are more potent than that of the stem. These findings suggest the application of leaf and flower of the plant, which not only can prevent its uprooting but also ensure better therapeutic function.

Achillea filipendulina Lam.: Chemical Constituents and Antimicrobial Activities of Essential Oil of Stem, Leaf, and Flower.

In this study, we extracted the essential oils of the stem, leaf, and flower of Achillea filipendulina, analyzed them, and studied their antibacterial properties. Of 16, 53, and 35 compounds identified in the stem, leaf, and flowers, respectively, only five are present in all three segments of the plant. The essential oil of the stem was mainly composed of neryl acetate, spathulenol, carvacrol, santolina alcohol, and trans-caryophyllene oxide. However, the main identified components of leaf were 1,8-cineole, camphor, ascaridole, trans-isoascaridole, and piperitone oxide and the main components of the flower oil were ascaridole, trans-isoascaridole, 1,8-cineole, p-cymene, and camphor. The extracted oil from different segments demonstrated varying antibacterial properties against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, demonstrated by disk, minimum inhibitory concentration, and minimum bactericidal concentration methods. These suggest that the application of all segments of aerial parts of A. filipendulina may have a better therapeutic effect in fighting pathogenic systems.

Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Achillea tenuifolia Lam. Essential Oil at Different Phenological Stages from Khoy.

Achillea species and in particular Achillea tenuifolia Lam. is generally used as a food flavor and traditional remedies, especially in the initial developmental stage for medical conditions in the Mediterranean part of Iran. In this report, we extracted the essential oil from the aerial parts of A. tenuifolia (collected from Khoy), at various developmental stages (i. e., vegetative, flowering and fruiting), characterized them and studied their antibacterial activities. Of 46, 51 and 38 components found in the vegetative, flowering, and fruiting stages, respectively, 35 were present in all three stages, including oxygenated terpenes such as carvacrol (30.85-34.11), germacrene C (16.21-17.87), spathulenol (7.26-8.96), ß-sesquiphellandrene (4.11-4.25), τ-muurolol (2.27-3.25) and α-cadinol (2.01-3.29). We witnessed that the composition of the essential oils varies with phenological stages and geographic regions. The essential oil demonstrated substantial antibacterial properties against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, indicated by disk method, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) assays. Except Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the essential oils of various phenological stages showed higher antibacterial activity against tested bacteria, with Bacillus anthracis as the most sensitive strain. Moreover, although antibacterial characteristics of the essential oil from the vegetative and flowering stages were similar (p=0.91), they were significantly different from those of fruiting stage (p<0.005 in both MIC and MBC tests). This emphasizes the importance of the developmental stage of the plant in the biological properties of its essential oil and justifies the widespread application of this plant in the vegetative stage.

Effect of nano silver and silver nitrate on seed yield of (Ocimum basilicum L.).

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nano silver and silver nitrate on yield of seed in basil plant. The study was carried out in a randomized block design with three replications. RESULTS: Four levels of either silver nitrate (0, 100, 200 and 300 ppm) or nano silver (0, 20, 40, and 60 ppm) were sprayed on basil plant at seed growth stage. The results showed that there was no significant difference between 100 ppm of silver nitrate and 60 ppm concentration of nano silver on the shoot silver concentration. However, increasing the concentration of silver nitrate from 100 to 300 ppm caused a decrease in seed yield. In contrast, a raise in the concentration of nano silver from 20 to 60 ppm has led to an improvement in the seed yield. Additionally, the lowest amount of seed yield was found with control plants. CONCLUSIONS: Finally, with increasing level of silver nitrate, the polyphenol compound content was raised but the enhancing level of nano silver resulting in the reduction of these components. In conclusion, nano silver can be used instead of other compounds of silver.

Synthesis, Crystal Structure and Electrochemical Behavior of Two New Ni-based Complexes: [Ni2(ttpy)2(SCN)4] and [Ni(ttpy)2](CH3OH)2 (2I).

A simple synthetic procedure has been used to prepare two new nickel(II) complexes [Ni2(ttpy)2(SCN)4], (1) and [Ni(ttpy)2](CH3OH)2 (2I), (2) from 4'-p-tolyl-2,2':6',2"-terpyridine (ttpy) ligand, potassium thiocyanate, and potassium iodide in good yields. The single crystal X-ray analyses reveal that the metals in these complexes are sixfold coordinated with M:L ratio of 1:1 and 1:2 for (1) and (2), respectively. In both complexes, the Ni(II) has distorted octahedral geometry including N5S and N6 environments. Versatile interactions in supramolecular level containing coordinative bonding, I•••H, and N•••H hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking play considerable roles in forming crystal packing of (1) and (2). From obtained data it is concluded that differences in coordination abilities, of used counterions, cause the formation of complexes with 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of metal and ligand. Electrochemical behaviors of the both complexes were investigated.

Synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and antibacterial activity of new cobalt(II) complexes of unsymmetrical tetradentate (OSN2) Schiff base ligands.

Cobalt ion complexes with the Schiff bases, (4-X-2-{[2-(2-pyridine-2-yl-ethylsulfanyl)ethylimino]methyl}phenol (X=methoxy (OMe), phenylazo (N(2)Ph), bromo (Br), nitro (NO(2))),were synthesized and investigated by several techniques using elemental analysis (C, H, N), FTIR, electronic spectra and molar conductivity. The thermal stability of free ligands and related cobalt complexes were studied by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). Cyclic voltammetry indicates that the investigated cobalt complexes, under the experimental conditions, have irreversible redox behavior. The synthesized compounds have antibacterial activity against the four Gram-positive bacteria: Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus agalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus anthracis and also against the two Gram-negative bacteria: Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The activity data show that the parent Schiff bases are more potent antibacterials than the cobalt complexes.

Preparation of Zinc (II) and cadmium (II) complexes of the tetradentate Schiff base ligand 2-((E)-(2-(2-(pyridine-2-yl)- ethylthio)ethylimino)methyl)-4-bromophenol (PytBrsalH).

We describe the synthesis and characterization of two new zinc (II) and cadmium (II) complexes of the tetradentate dissymmetric Schiff base ligand 2-((E)-(2-(2-(pyridine-2-yl)ethylthio)ethylimino)methyl)-4-bromophenol (PytBrsalH), prepared from 1-(2-pyridyl)-3-thia-5-aminopentane (pyta) and 5-bromosalicylaldehyde. The complexes were synthesized by treating an ethanolic solution of the ligand with equimolar amounts of appropriate metal salts in 1 M methanolic solution of NaOH or alternatively, by a more direct route in which the two reactants are added to a solution of the ligand immediately after formation of the latter and prior to any isolation. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, (1)H-NMR, electronic spectra and molar conductivity. According to obtained data, the probable coordination geometries of zinc and cadmium in these complexes with mixed N, S and O donor atoms are tetrahedral- and octahedral-like,respectively. Both complexes were found to be 1:1 electrolyte systems in acetonitrile.