Eco-benevolent synthesis of ZnO-NPs and ZnO-MFs from Inula oculus-christi L. (Asteraceae) with effective antioxidant, antimicrobial, DNA cleavage, and decolorization efficiencies.

As a result of the changes occurring globally in recent years, millions of people are facing challenging and even life-threatening diseases such as cancer and the COVID-19 pandemic, among others. This phenomenon has spurred researchers towards developing and implementing innovative and environmentally friendly scientific methods, merging disciplines with significant technological potential, such as nanotechnology with medicinal plants. Therefore, the focus of this research is to synthesize zinc nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and microflowers (ZnO-MFs) using extracts of the medicinal plant I. oculus christi prepared in n-hexane and methanol as new bioreduction and capping agents through a simple and environmentally friendly chemical approach. Optical, thermal, and morphological structural analyses of ZnO-NPs and ZnO-MFs were conducted using Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). Metabolic profiles of extracts from different plant parts were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and supported by visualization of contents through Principal Component Analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis heatmaps, and Pearson correlation graphs. Interestingly, ZnO-NPs and ZnO-MFs exhibited strong antioxidant properties and demonstrated particularly potent antimicrobial activity against Micrococcus luteus NRRL B-4375, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, and Candida albicans ATCC 10231 strains compared to standard antibiotics. Furthermore, ZnO-NPs and ZnO-MFs showed excellent plasmid DNA-cleavage activity of pBR322 with increasing doses. The photocatalytic performance of the synthesized ZnO-NPs and ZnO-MFs was evaluated for methylene blue (MB), congo red (CR), and safranin-O (SO) dyes, demonstrating remarkable color removal efficiency. Overall, the results provide a promising avenue for the green synthesis of ZnO-NPs and ZnO-MFs using I. oculus-christi L. inflorescence and pappus extracts, potentially revolutionizing biopharmaceutical and catalytic applications in these fields.

Synthesis, characterization, thermal behavior, and DNA-cleaving studies of cyano-bridged nickel(II)-copper(II) complexes of 4-(pyridin-2-ylazenyl)resorcinol.

We present here the syntheses of a mononuclear Cu(II) complex and two polynuclear Cu(II)-Ni(II) complexes of the azenyl ligand, 4-(pyridin-2-ylazenyl)resorcinol (HL; 1). The reaction of HL (1) and copper(II) perchlorate with KCN gave a mononuclear complex [CuL(CN)] (4). Using 4, one pentanuclear complex, [{CuL(NC)}(4) Ni](ClO(4))(2) (5) and one trinuclear complex, [{CuL(CN)}(2) NiL]ClO(4) (6), were prepared and characterized by elemental analyses, magnetic susceptibility, molar conductance, IR, and thermal analysis. Stoichiometric and spectral results of the mononuclear Cu(II) complex indicated that the metal/ligand/CN ratio was 1 : 1 : 1, and the ligand behaved as a tridentate ligand forming neutral metal chelates through the pyridinyl and azenyl N-, and resorcinol O-atom. The interaction between the compounds (the ligand 1, its Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes without CN, i.e., 2 and 3, and its complexes with CN, 4-6) and DNA has also been investigated by agarose gel electrophoresis. The pentanuclear Cu(4) Ni complex (5) with H(2) O(2) as a co-oxidant exhibited the strongest DNA-cleaving activity.