Barks of Three Wild Pyrus Taxa: Phenolic Constituents, Antioxidant Activity, and in Vitro and in Silico Investigations of α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase Inhibition.

Dry MeOH extracts of the twig barks of Pyrus communis subsp. pyraster, P. spinosa and their hybrid P.×jordanovii nothosubsp. velenovskyi, collected in wild in Serbia, were analyzed. By LC/MS, the contents of arbutin (99.9-131.0 mg/g), chlorogenic acid (2.2-6.3 mg/g), catechin (1.0-5.3 mg/g) and total dimeric and trimeric procyanidins (42.2-61.3 mg/g), including procyanidin B2 (8.9-17.2 mg/g), were determined. Colorimetrically, high contents of total phenolics (436.2-533.4 mg GAE/g) and tannins (339.4-425.7 mg GAE/g), as well as strong total antioxidant activities (FRAP values 4.5-5.9 mmol Fe2+ /g), and DPPH (SC50 =6.6-7.1 µg/ml) and hydroxyl radical (SC50 =447.1-727.7 µg/ml) scavenging abilities were revealed. In vitro, all extracts exhibited notable inhibition of α-amylase (IC50 =310.8-617.7 µg/ml) and particularly strong inhibition of α-glucosidase (IC50 =2.1-3.7 µg/ml). Molecular docking predicted that among identified compounds procyanidin B2 is the best inhibitor of these carbohydrate-digesting enzymes. Obtained results showed that the barks of investigated Pyrus hybrid and its parent taxa have similar composition and bioactivity.

Solvatochromism of symmetrical 2,6-distyrylpyridines. An experimental and theoretical study.

Seven symmetrical 2,6-distyrylpyridines, phenyl-substituted with hydrogen-bond donors, hydrogen-bond acceptors, halogens and hydrophobic moieties were synthesized and their spectroscopic characterization was done. Solvent effects on the absorption and fluorescence spectra were analyzed and quantified using the Kamlet-Taft and Catalán approach. The obtained results were rationalized by comparison of electrostatic potentials of the molecules in the ground and in excited state and by comparison of the frontier molecular orbitals (HOMO and LUMO), derived from quantum-mechanical calculations (HF, DFT, MP2). Analysis of the results revealed an important influence of non-specific (dispersive) interactions on the solvatochromic behavior of the compounds. 1D and 2D NMR data, in silico obtained conformational assembly of the compound, and the NMR analysis of molecular flexibility in solution (NAMFIS), were used to estimate population of conformers and to deconvolute the UV-Vis spectrum of representative derivative; inferring that the conformational assembly is more complex than was assumed in so far published literature data for this class of compounds. Along with this, the emission spectra of the representative compounds were decomposed by the Multivariate Curve Resolution analysis.