Recent achievements in the synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives.

Benzimidazoles are a class of heterocyclic compounds in which a benzene ring is fused to the 4 and 5 positions of an imidazole ring. Benzimidazole refers to the parent compound, while benzimidazoles are a class of heterocyclic compounds having similar ring structures, but different substituents. Benzimidazole derivatives possess a wide range of bioactivities including antimicrobial, anthelmintic, antiviral, anticancer, and antihypertensive activities. Many compounds possessing a benzimidazole skeleton have been employed as drugs in the market. The application of benzimidazoles in other fields has also been documented. The synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives has attracted much attention from chemists and numerous articles on the synthesis of this class of heterocyclic compound have been reported over the years. The condensation between 1,2-benzenediamine and aldehydes has received intensive interest, while many novel methods have been developed. In this article, we will give a comprehensive review of studies on the synthesis of benzimidazole, which date back to 2013. We have also tried to describe reaction mechanisms as much as we can. The work might be useful for chemists who work in the synthesis of heterocycles or drug chemistry.

Recent Development in the Synthesis of Thiazoles.

BACKGROUND: Thiazole-containing compounds are widely found in natural products as well as synthetic sources. Many thiazole-based compounds possess a broad spectrum of bioactivities, and some of them are well-known drugs in the markets. The use of thiazole derivatives in other fields such as organic materials, cosmetics, and organic synthesis has also been widely reported. Due to a wide range of applicability, the synthesis of thiazole-containing compounds has attracted extensive interest from chemists, and many studies in the synthesis of thiazole skeleton have been reported recently. OBJECTIVE: This review article will discuss recent studies in the synthesis of thiazoles (from2012). Besides the well-established Hantzsch thiazole synthesis, a large number of novel methods have been developed for the synthesis of thiazole derivatives. In most cases, reaction mechanisms have also been described. CONCLUSION: The synthesis of thiazole derivatives has drawn great attention from chemists, and many studies in the synthesis of these heterocycles have been reported recently. The classical method, the Hantzsch thiazole synthesis has received great research interest from chemists. Moreover, many new methods have been established to synthesize thiazole-derived compounds. Unquestionably, more and more approaches to access thiazole skeleton will appear in the literature. The application of well-established thiazole synthesis methods to the synthesis of drugs, organic materials, and natural products will almost certainly be studied.

Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cell: Photoanodes, Counter Electrodes, and Electrolytes.

In this study, we provide the reader with an overview of quantum dot application in solar cells to replace dye molecules, where the quantum dots play a key role in photon absorption and excited charge generation in the device. The brief shows the types of quantum dot sensitized solar cells and presents the obtained results of them for each type of cell, and provides the advantages and disadvantages. Lastly, methods are proposed to improve the efficiency performance in the next researching.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate production from rice straw hydrolysate obtained by alkaline pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis using Bacillus strains isolated from decomposing straw.

Rice straw is an important low-cost feedstock for bio-based economy. This report presents a study in which rice straw was used both as a source for isolation of bacteria producing the biodegradable polyester polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), as well as the carbon source for the production of the polymer by the isolated bacteria. Of the 100 bacterial isolates, seven were found to be positive for PHA production by Nile blue staining and were identified as Bacillus species by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Three isolates showed 100% sequence identity to B. cereus, one to B. paranthracis, two with 99 and 100% identity to B. anthracis, while one was closely similar to B. thuringiensis. For use in PHA production, rice straw was subjected to mild alkaline pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. Comparison of pretreatment by 2% sodium hydroxide, 2% calcium hydroxide and 20% aqueous ammonia, respectively, at different temperatures showed maximum weight loss with NaOH at 80 °C for 5 h, but ammonia for 15 h at 80 °C led to highest lignin removal of 63%. The ammonia-pretreated rice straw also led to highest release of total reducing sugar up to 92% on hydrolysis by a cocktail of cellulases and hemicellulases at 50 °C. Cultivation of the Bacillus isolates on the pretreated rice straw revealed highest PHA content of 59.3 and 46.4%, and PHA concentration of 2.96 and 2.51 g/L by Bacillus cereus VK92 and VK98, respectively.