Search

Amoebae of the genus Acanthamoeba can cause diseases such as amoebic keratitis and granulomatous amoebic encephalitis. Until now, treatment options for these diseases have not been fully effective and have several drawbacks. Therefore, research into new drugs is needed for more effective treatment of Acanthamoeba infections. Eugenol, a phenolic aromatic compound mainly derived from cloves, has a variety of pharmaceutical properties. In this study, nine eugenol derivatives (K1-K9), consisting of five new and four known compounds, were synthesized and screened for their antiamoebic properties against Acanthamoeba sp. The structure of these compounds was characterized spectroscopically by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis), 1H and 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometer (MS). The derived molecules were screened for antiamoebic activity by determining IC50 values based on 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and observation of amoeba morphological changes by light and fluorescence microscopy. Most of the tested compounds possessed strong to moderate cytotoxic effects against trophozoite cells with IC50 values ranging from 0.61 to 24.83 μg/mL. Observation of amoebae morphology by light microscopy showed that the compounds caused the transformed cells to be roundish and reduced in size. Furthermore, fluorescence microscopy observation using acridine orange (AO) and propidium iodide (PI) (AO/PI) staining showed that the cells have damaged membranes by displaying a green cytoplasm with orange-stained lysosomes. Acidification of the lysosomal structure indicated disruption of the internal structure of Acanthamoeba cells when treated with eugenol derivatives. The observed biological results were also confirmed by interaction simulations based on molecular docking between eugenol derivatives and Acanthamoeba profilin. These interactions could affect the actin-binding ability of the protein, disrupting the shape and mobility of Acanthamoeba. The overall results of this study demonstrate that eugenol derivatives can be considered as potential drugs against infections caused by Acanthamoeba.

β-agonists are a class of synthetic phenylethanolamine compounds that were originally designed to reduce asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They remain widely used but unfortunately, misuse in animal farming and sports activities due to their huge medical and economic benefits. As a result, they have been found in a variety of matrices and subsequently end up in multiple water bodies in the environment. However, their environmental occurrence and fates are only evaluated on an occasional basis as they happen at a very trace level. The development of appropriate analytical procedures is critical in providing reliable data related to their occurrence and concentrations in various water bodies. Coupling high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry have been the most extensively used approach for great sensitivity and high selectivity for their determination in the environment. Sample preparation is important for obtaining lower detection limits, and the online solid-phase extraction has been comprehensively used considering the physicochemical properties of β-agonists. This review presented the systematic development of the preceding research on β-agonist detection approaches published between 1985-2020, emphasizing their analysis, resolution in environmental waters, and highlighting the significant scientific approach from the existing analytical techniques suitable for their ultra-trace determination.

This study describes a simple green one-pot synthesis of the Palladium Nanocatalyst (PdNC) using the crude extract of a seaweed Saragassum cervicorne (S. cervicorne). The formation of PdNC was monitored by Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The characteristic functional groups of phytochemicals in extract and capped PdNC surfaces were identified by FTIR analysis. The Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of the extract revealed the smooth surface area while that of the catalyst was found to be rough and irregular whereas Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirms the existence of Pd in the catalyst. The powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the crystalline nature of PdNC with a cubic face-centred structure. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to record the images of PdNC with a particle size of 3.131 to 16.45 nm. TGA reports reveal the degradation of the PdNC occurred at 197.8 °C. The catalytic activity PdNC was tested against the reduction of hazardous azo-dyes such as Congo red (CR), Methyl orange (MO) and Methyl red (MR) with NaBH4 as electron donor. The PdNC catalysed azo-dyes in presence of aqueous NaBH4 and was examined by UV–visible spectroscopy where PdNC mediated the electron transfer from NaBH4 to azo-dyes as a carrier. The maximum degradation was observed for Methyl Orange (0.08 mM) of about 99.66% with 60 μg/μL PdNC. Congo red (0.1 mM) showed the highest degradation of 99.25% with a catalyst loading of 40 μg/μl while that of Methyl red (0.1 mM) with 80 μg/ μL catalyst was 95.45%. The preparation of catalyst using water and exploiting water-soluble components of S. cervicorne as reducing agents makes this one-pot preparation of catalyst a novel approach for the preparation of Pd nanocatalyst. The replacement of non-toxic solvents, as well as the use of unexplored brown seaweed, is of primary importance from an economic as well as environmental perspective. Therefore, the newly prepared PdNC is a promising catalytic material obtained by the green facile synthetic method and exhibit enhanced catalytic activity in stimulation on the reduction of harmful azo dyes.

One-pot synthetic method was adopted to prepare three isomers 4-(ortho-fluorophenyl)thiosemi- carbazide), 4-(meta-fluorophenyl)thiosemicarbazide and 4-(para-fluorophenyl)thiosemicarbazide. The products were obtained in ethanolic solution from a reaction between ortho, meta and para derivatives of fluorophenyl isothiocyanate and hydrazine hydrate. This work presents the theoretical Molecular Electrostatic Potential (MEP) and Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital-Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO-LUMO) computational data through Gaussview 5.0.9 and Gaussian09 software. Experimental Cole-cole plot for conductivity determination was also illustrated. The present data is important to manipulate the properties of compounds according to the position of a fluorine atom.

The structural investigation of synthesized compounds can be carried out by various spectroscopic techniques. It is an important prospect in order to elucidate the structure of the desired products before being further utilized. The preparation of new p-nitro stilbene Schiff base derivatives as an electrochemical DNA potential spacer was synthesized using (E)-4-(4-nitrostyryl)aniline from Heck reaction with aldehydes in ethanolic solution. The data presented here in this article contains FTIR, UV-Vis and 1H and 13C NMR of (E)-4-(4-nitrostyryl)aniline and nitrostyryl aniline derivatives.