Simple and green approach for photoluminescent carbon dots prepared from faba bean seeds as a luminescent probe for determination of Hg+ ions and cell imaging.

In this research, for the first time, a dedicated sensor was designed to detect Hg+ ions using photoluminescent carbon dots (CDs). Due to the preferred green synthesis of CDs from bio-resources, carbohydrate-rich faba bean seeds as a potential carbon precursor were applied to the synthesis of CDs. The CDs were prepared from the faba bean seeds using the hydrothermal method in an aqueous solution in the absence of substances such as an acid or base and any other additives. The synthesized CDs exhibited maximum emission intensity at 387 nm when excited at 310 nm and their luminescence quantum yield was calculated to be ~5.94%. Then, the fluorescence emission of CDs was examined in the presence of different metal ions. Results revealed that the CDs had good selectivity towards the Hg+ ions, so the fluorescence emission was significantly changed in the presence of these ions with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 0.35 µM. Furthermore, because of their very low cytotoxicity, these CDs can be applied for cell imaging.

Potential of graphene oxide as a drug delivery system for Sumatriptan: a detailed density functional theory study.

The adsorption property of Sumatriptan drug onto graphene oxide (GO) was studied using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. All possible initial positions of drug adsorption were considered to find out which one is energetically favorable. According to the achieved findings, the stronger interactions occurred between the positively polarized parts of the Sumatriptan (i.e. hydrogen atoms of the-OH and -NH parts) and negatively polarized oxygen atoms of the GO. The presence of non-covalent interactions of GO and Sumatriptan was confirmed based on the determined geometrical parameters, electronic structure analysis results, and adsorption energies. Different parameters such as frontier molecular orbital (FMO), natural bond orbital (NBO), dipole moment, and solation energy were investigated. Global indices such as hardness, softness, chemical potential, and electrophilicity of all systems were calculated and compared. The adsorption energy values were determined within the range of -8.39 to -10.59 kcal/mol (-1.87 to -5.67 BSSE corrected) in the water solvent for different adsorption geometries. The obtained results show that GO can act as a promising carrier/sensor for Sumatriptan drug in practical application.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Chemical Composition, Antioxidant and Biological Activities of the Essential Oil and Extract of the Seeds of Glycine max (Soybean) from North Iran.

Glycine max (L.) Merrill (soybean) is a major leguminous crop, cultivated globally as well as in Iran. This study examines the chemical composition of soybean essential oil, and evaluates the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of seeds on various plant pathogens that commonly cause irreparable damages to agricultural crops. The essential oil of soybean seeds was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial activity was tested against 14 microorganisms, including three gram-positive, five gram-negative bacteria, and six fungi, using disk diffusion method and the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration technique. The soybean seeds were also subjected to screening for possible antioxidant activity by using catalase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Forty components were identified, representing 96.68% of the total oil. The major constituents of the oil were carvacrol (13.44%), (E,E)-2,4-decadienal (9.15%), p-allylanisole (5.65%), p-cymene (4.87%), and limonene (4.75%). The oil showed significant activity against Pseudomonas syringae subsp. syringae, Rathayibacter toxicus with MIC = 25 µg/mL, and Pyricularia oryzae with MIC = 12.5 µg/mL. In addition, the free radical scavenging capacity of the essential oil was determined with an IC50 value of 162.35 µg/mL. Our results suggest that this plant may be a potential source of biocide, for economical and environmentally friendly disease control strategies. It may also be a good candidate for further biological and pharmacological investigations.

Antioxidant and antibacterial activity of flavonoid-, polyphenol- and anthocyanin-rich extracts from Thymus kotschyanus boiss & hohen aerial parts.

The total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of flavonoid- (water, ethyl acetate and hexane fractions), polyphenol- and anthocyanin-rich extracts of Thymus kotschyanus aerial parts were investigated. All the extracts showed significant amounts of phenolic and flavonoid compounds and exhibited strong antioxidant activity. Among the extracts, water fraction contained the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents (881.06 ± 16.52 mg GAE/g of extract and 74.60 ± 3.05 mg QE/g of extract, respectively). It also presented the highest DPPH(•) scavenging activity with an IC50 of 14.21 ± 0.53 µg mL(-1), and the highest reducing power at 400 µg mL(-1) by A700 = 2.46 ± 0.04. The extracts were found to exert moderate antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. These findings highlighted a scientific basis to the traditional usage of T. kotschyanus, also showed its potential as a rich source of natural antioxidant and antibacterial compounds.

Evaluation of the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of ethanol extracts from berries, leaves and stems of Hedera pastuchovii Woron. ex Grossh.

This study was designed to examine the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, radical scavenging and antibacterial activity of the ethanolic extracts from leaves, berries and stems of Hedera pastuchovii Woron. ex Grossh. The berry extract, which contained the highest phenolic and flavonoid compounds, showed an appreciable DPPH(·) scavenging ability in comparison with leaf and stem extracts. The various extracts exhibited moderate to good activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, and the effectiveness of leaf extract was higher for all tested bacteria.

Biochemical activities of acetone extracts of Hyssopus angustifolius.

Antioxidant and antihemolytic activities of acetone extracts of Hyssopus angustifolius flowers, leaf and stems were investigated employing different in vitro and ex vivo assay systems. IC50, for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity were 239.4 +/- 8.4 microg/mL for flowers, 357.8 +/- 11.1 microg/mL for stems and 182.5 +/- 7.5 microg/mL for leaf. All extracts showed moderate nitric oxide scavenging activity. The leaf extract exhibited better hydrogen peroxide scavenging and Fe2+ chelating activity than the others (IC50 were 261.0 +/- 6.2 microg/mL for hydrogen peroxide and 534.0 +/- 9.9 microg/mL for Fe3+ chelating activity). The extracts exhibited good antioxidant activity in linoleic acid peroxidation system and weak reducing power ability. The leaf extract showed better antihemolytic activity than the flower and stem (IC50 = 65.7 +/- 1.8 microg/mL).

Biological activities of ethyl acetate extract of different parts of Hyssopus angustifolius.

CONTEXT: Hyssopus angustifolius M. Bieb. (Lamiaceae) is one of the most important medicinal plants in Iranian traditional medicine for the treatment of lung inflammation, laryngitis and cough relief. Much attention has been paid to this medicinal plant because of its traditional uses. OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the antioxidant and antihemolytic activities of ethyl acetate extract of stems, leaf and flowers of Hyssopus angustifolius. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Antioxidant activity of extracts was evaluated by employing six different models, i.e., DPPH, nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide scavenging, metal chelating and reducing power activities and hemoglobin-induced linoleic acid system. Also, antihemolytic activity was evaluated against hydrogen peroxide-induced hemolysis. RESULTS: Flowers extract showed the better activity than leaf and stems extracts in DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC50 was 275.4 ± 7.6 µg mL⁻¹). Leaf, stems and flowers extracts showed good nitric oxide scavenging activity (IC50 were 376.6 ± 11.4 µg mL⁻¹ for flowers, 297.6 ± 9.6 µg mL⁻¹ µg mL⁻¹ for leaves and 837.8 ± 19.2 µg mL⁻¹ for stems). The leaf extract exhibited better hydrogen peroxide scavenging and Fe²âº chelating activity than stems and flowers extracts. In hemoglobin-induced linoleic acid system, all of the extracts exhibited very good activity. Also, extracts show weak reducing power activity. The ethyl acetate extract of leaf showed better antihemolytic activity than the flower and stems (IC50 was 94.0 ± 2.4 µg mL⁻¹). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: These findings give a scientific basis to the traditional usage of Hyssopus angustifolius, also showing its potential as rich sources of natural antioxidant compounds.

Three-component Synthesis of Novel Highly Functionalized 2,6-dihydropyrimido[2,1-a]isoindole Derivatives.

Three-component reaction of dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates, isocyanides and 1,3- diimino isoindoline affords highly functionalized 2,6-dihydropyrimido[2,1-a]isoindole derivatives in good yields under catalyst free and mild reaction conditions.

Methyl (Z)-3-({5-[(E)-(tert-butyl-amino)-methyl-idene]-4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1,3-thia-zol-2-yl}sulfan-yl)prop-2-enoate.

In the title compound, C(12)H(16)N(2)O(3)S(2), the S-vinyl, and tert-butyl-enamine fragments make dihedral angles of 14.19 (2) and 0.85 (2)°, respectively, with the thia-zole ring. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked into chains with graph-set motifs C(5) along [100] by C-H⋯O inter-actions. The mol-ecular conformation is stabilized by an intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bond.

tert-Butyl 6-benzoyl-5-hydr-oxy-2-oxo-2H-chromene-4-carboxyl-ate.

In the title compound, C(21)H(18)O(6), a previously unknown coumarin derivative, the benzoyl substitutent makes a dihedral angle of 53.80 (16)° with the plane of the coumarin rings. An intramolecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bond is observed.

(E)-Dimethyl 2-(6-benzoyl-7-hydr-oxy-4-methoxy-carbonyl-2-oxo-2H-chromen-8-yl)but-2-enedioate.

The mol-ecule of the title compound, C(24)H(18)O(10), a previously unknown coumarin derivative, contains methoxy-carbonyl, 2-butenedioate and benzoyl groups aligned at angles of 28.04 (2), 76.89 (3) and 42.48 (13)°, respectively, to the plane of the coumarin ring system. Intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonding between hydr-oxy and carbonyl groups and weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonding is present in the crystal structure. The two carbon atoms and attached H atom of the ethylene bond are disordered over two positions, with site occupancy factors of ca 0.9 and 0.1.