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5-(Cyanomethyl)-3-((5,5-dimethyl-3-oxocyclohex-1-en-1-yl)amino)-1H-pyrazole-4-carbonitrile (3) is used as a key for the synthesis of arylidenes 5a-fvia its reaction with some aldehydes 4a-f. 5-[(5,5-Dimethyl-3-oxocyclohex-1-en-1-yl)amino]-3-(2-imino-2H-chromen-3-yl)-1H-pyrazole-4-carbonitrile (7) was synthesized via the reaction of compound (3) with 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde in EtOH/piperidine. The target compounds were tested against cotton leafworm larvae in their second and fourth instar. The available data demonstrated that the LC50 values for commercial phenylpyrazole were 3.37 mg/L and 4.55 mg/L for the most affected synthesized compound, 5b. The chemical structure of compound 5b has two cyano moieties, a pyrazole ring and a chlorophenyl, which may be increasing it efficiency. Evaluation of the latent effects of the examined synthesized compounds on various biological parameters, including adult longevity, pupal weight, proportion of normal, deformed pupae, adult emergency, fecundity, and egg hatchability, was done in an additional effort to slightly improve insecticidal compounds. Twelve synthesized compounds were subjected to a molecular docking analysis against glutamate-activated chloride channels. Twelve artificial compounds with the PDB ID of 4COF were subjected to a molecular docking study against the gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor (GABA)., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

An operationally simple one-pot three-component and convenient synthesis method for a series of diverse purine analogues of 5-amino-7-(substituted)- N -(4-sulfamoylphenyl)-4,7-dihydro-[1,2,4]-triazolo[1,5- a ][1,3,5]triazine-2-carboxamide derivatives generated in situ via the reaction of 2-hydrazinyl- N -(4-sulfamoylphenyl)-2-thioxoacetamide, cyanoguanidine and a variety of aldehydes was achieved under green conditions. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of the newly synthesized compounds using indomethacin as a reference medication; all compounds were tested for in vitro anti-inflammatory activity using the inhibition of albumin denaturation, RBC hemolysis technique and COX inhibition assay. The results showed that all evaluated compounds exhibited significant in vitro anti-inflammatory efficacy leading to excellently effective RBC membrane stabilization, inhibition of protein denaturation, and inhibition of COX enzymes when compared to those of indomethacin. At concentrations of 50, 100, 200, and 300 μg ml -1 , these compounds decreased COX-1 and COX-2 activities more than indomethacin and have IC 50 values in the range of 40.04-87.29 μg ml -1 for COX-1 and 27.76-42.3 μg ml -1 for COX-2 while indomethacin showed IC 50 = 91.57 for COX-1 and 42.66 μg ml -1 for COX-2. The anti-inflammatory findings show the need for more investigation to define the properties underlying the evaluated compounds' anti-inflammatory abilities. The enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX 2) (PDB ID: 5IKT) was docked with ten synthetic substances. With docking scores ( S ) of -8.82, -7.82, and -7.76 kcal mol -1 , 7-furan triazolo-triazine (4), 7-(2-hydroxy phenyl) triazolo-triazine (11), and 7-(4-dimethylamino phenyl) triazolo-triazine (12) had the greatest binding affinities, respectively. Therefore, these substances have COX-2 (PDB ID: 5IKT) inhibitory capabilities and hence may be investigated for COX 2 targeting development. Furthermore, both the top-ranked compounds (4 and 11) and the standard indomethacin were subjected to DFT analysis. The HOMO - LUMO energy difference (Δ E ) of the mentioned compounds was found to be less than that of indomethacin., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Introduction: This study focuses on the development of novel antimicrobial agents. A Schiff base ligand, 6-(2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylideneamino)-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)acetamido)-3,3-dimethyl-7-oxo- 4-thia-1-azabicyclo [3.2.0] heptane-2-carboxylic acid, synthesized through the condensation of amoxicillin and vanillin in methanol, served as the foundation. Polydentate mixed ligand complexes were then formed by reacting the Schiff base with metal ions (Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II)) and nicotinamide in specific ratios., Methods: Characterization involved various techniques, such as 1H-NMR, FT-IR, UV-Vis, and elemental analysis for the ligand, and Atomic Absorption, FT-IR, UV-Vis, magnetic susceptibility, and conductance measurements for the Schiff base-metal ion complexes., Results: Quantum chemical features of both ligands and metal complexes were computed, refining their electronic and molecular structures theoretically. Antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was assessed for the starting materials, ligands, and synthesized complexes, revealing significant effects on certain species. In-silico binding modes with Escherichia coli (PDB ID: 5iq9) were determined through molecular docking., Conclusion: This study underscores the potential applications of the Schiff base ligands and their metal complexes in developing new antimicrobial agents., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

In keeping with our investigation, a simple and practical synthesis of novel heterocyclic compounds with a sulfamoyl moiety that can be employed as insecticidal agents was reported. The compound 2-hydrazinyl- N -(4-sulfamoylphenyl)-2-thioxoacetamide 1 was coupled smoothly with triethylorthoformate or a variety of halo compounds, namely phenacyl chloride, chloroacetyl chloride, chloroacetaldehyde, chloroacetone, 1,3-dichloropropane, 1,2-dichloroethane, ethyl chloroformate, 2,3-dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone, and chloroanil respectively, which afforded the 1,3,4-thiadiazole and 1,3,4-thiadiazine derivatives. The new products structure was determined using elemental and spectral analysis. Under laboratory conditions, the biological and toxicological effects of the synthetic compounds were also evaluated as insecticides against Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.). Compounds 3 and 5 had LC 50 values of 6.42 and 6.90 mg/L, respectively. The investigated compounds (from 2 to 11 ) had been undergoing molecular docking investigation for prediction of the optimal arrangement and strength of binding between the ligand (herein, the investigated compounds (from 2 to 11 )) and a receptor (herein, the 2CH5) molecule. The binding affinity within docking score ( S , kcal/mol) ranged between -8.23 (for compound 5 ), -8.12 (for compound 3 ) and -8.03 (for compound 9 ) to -6.01 (for compound 8 ). These compounds were shown to have a variety of binding interactions within the 2CH5 active site, as evidenced by protein-ligand docking configurations. This study gives evidence that those compounds have 2CH5-inhibitory capabilities and hence may be used for 2CH5-targeting development. Furthermore, the three top-ranked compounds ( 5 , 3 , and 9 ) and the standard buprofezin were subjected to density functional theory (DFT) analysis. The highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) energy difference (Δ E ) of compounds 5 , 3 , and 9 was found to be comparable to that of buprofezin. These findings highlighted the potential and relevance of charge transfer at the molecular level.

One-third of total government spending across the globe goes to public procurement, amounting to about 10 trillion dollars a year. Despite its vast size and crucial importance for economic and political developments, there is a lack of globally comparable data on contract awards and tenders run. To fill this gap, this article introduces the Global Public Procurement Dataset (GPPD). Using web scraping methods, we collected official public procurement data on over 72 million contracts from 42 countries between 2006 and 2021 (time period covered varies by country due to data availability constraints). To overcome the inconsistency of data publishing formats in each country, we standardized the published information to fit a common data standard. For each country, key information is collected on the buyer(s) and supplier(s), geolocation information, product classification, price information, and details of the contracting process such as contract award date or the procedure type followed. GPPD is a contract-level dataset where specific filters are calculated allowing to reduce the dataset to the successfully awarded contracts if needed. We also add several corruption risk indicators and a composite corruption risk index for each contract which allows for an objective assessment of risks and comparison across time, organizations, or countries. The data can be reused to answer research questions dealing with public procurement spending efficiency among others. Using unique organizational identification numbers or organization names allows connecting the data to company registries to study broader topics such as ownership networks., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships which have, or could be perceived to have, influenced the work reported in this article., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Quinazoline compounds have gained significant attention in the fields of agriculture and chemistry due to their diverse activities. In this study, we focused on a series of quinazoline derivatives ( 4a-l ). The objectives involved multiple aspects, including preparation, evaluation of their agricultural bioactivity against the maize aphid ( Rhopalosiphum maidis ), estimation of the structure-activity relationships (SAR), and conducting molecular docking analysis. The results of the agricultural bioactivities revealed that compound ( 4b ) possesses the highest insecticidal activity, and the other compounds have good potential as insecticidal agents. We conducted the SARs and also molecular docking investigation to elucidate the binding modes and interactions of these compounds with target proteins relevant to the agricultural bioactivity. The docking results provided valuable information on the binding affinities and molecular interactions, aiding in the rationalization of the observed bioactivity trends. The enzyme, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), was docked with the 12 synthetic compounds ( 4a-l ). Among these compounds, ( 4b ), ( 4i ), and ( 4e )exhibited the highest binding affinity, with docking scores (S) of -7.96, -7.83, and -7.73 kcal/mol, respectively. They were followed by compounds ( 4d ) (S = -7.57 kcal/mol), ( 4c ) (S = -7.53 kcal/mol), ( 4g ) (S = -7.34 kcal/mol), ( 4f ) (S = -7.23 kcal/mol), ( 4h ) (S = -7.14 kcal/mol), ( 4k ) (S = -6.61 kcal/mol), ( 4j ) (S = -6.57 kcal/mol), ( 4a ) (S = -6.28 kcal/mol), and finally ( 4l ) (S = -6.01 kcal/mol). These compounds were shown to have a variety of binding interactions within the 2ACE active site, as evidenced by protein-ligand docking configurations. This study gives evidence that those compounds have AChE-inhibitory capabilities and, hence, may be used for AChE-targeting development. Also, the findings in this study highlight the potential of these compounds as agricultural agents and provide valuable insights for the design and development of some quinazoline derivatives with enhanced bioactivity for crop protection.

The exploration encompassed the synthesis and characterization of two innovative complexes, namely FePHNS and CuPHNS, employing a diverse array of analytical techniques such as elemental analysis, infrared and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, molar conductivity measurements, magnetic susceptibility assessments, and thermal analysis (TGA). In the spectral domain, infrared spectroscopy substantiated the tridentate ONS coordination of the PHNS ligand to the central metal atom. Thermal analysis offered valuable insights into the distribution and content of water molecules within the complexes. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were harnessed to validate the molecular structures of both the PHNS ligand and its complex entities, providing an intricate comprehension of their quantum chemical parameters. The investigation extended to an evaluation of the in vitro antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant efficacy of the PHNS ligand and its complexes, revealing heightened biological activities for the complexes in comparison to the free PHNS ligand, notably with the CuPHNS complex demonstrating the highest activity, while the PHNS ligand exhibited the lowest. To delve into potential physiological activities, molecular docking studies were conducted, predicting the binding affinity of the compounds to proteins 2vf5 (Glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase in complex with glucosamine-6-phosphate) from Escherichia coli, 3cku (rate oxidase from Aspergillus flavus complexed with its inhibitor 8-azaxanthin and chloride) from Aspergillus flavus, and 5IJT (Crystal structure of Human Peroxiredoxin 2 Oxidized). The ensuing analysis of protein-ligand interactions and binding energies underscored the promising physiological activities of the investigated compounds, warranting further exploration for their potential in novel drug development., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Among the toxic heavy metals, Ni(II) can cause a variety of side effects on human health, such as allergy, cardiovascular and kidney diseases, lung fibrosis, lung, and nasal cancer. It is therefore critical from a public health and environmental perspective to determine and monitor Ni(II) ions in drinking water, foods, and environmental samples. In this study, a novel selective chemosensor (4-[{[4-(3-Chlorophenyl)-1,3-Thiazol-2-yl]Hydrazono}Methyl]phenyl4-methylBenzene Sulfonate (CTHMBS) was developed for the colorimetric detection of Ni(II) in aqueous medium. The presence of Ni(II) led to a distinct naked-eye color change from yellow to reddish-brown in aqueous solution. To examine the binding mechanism of CTHMBS to Ni(II), UV-vis spectroscopy analysis and DFT calculations were conducted. The detection limit of CTHMBS for Ni(II) was 11.87 µM, and the sensing ability of CTHMBS for Ni(II) was successfully carried out in real water samples., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry.)

The main target of the current framework is the designing and synthesizing of novel iron(III), cobalt(II), and cupper(II) complex compounds emanating from bioactive nucleus, 4-hydroxy-2H-pyrano[3,2- c ]quinoline-2,5(6H)-dione ligand, to enhance comprehension as potential antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant alternatives by means of using DFT calculations and molecular docking investigation. Thus, the new complexes had been synthesized and characterized using various analytical techniques, including elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, UV spectroscopy, conductivity, and magnetic testing, as well as thermal analysis. The 4-hydroxy-2H-pyrano[3,2- c ]quinoline-2,5(6H)-dione ligand exhibits monobasic bidentate OO donor properties toward the metal core, as shown by its infrared spectroscopic characteristics. The use of thermal analysis techniques allows for the identification and characterization of water molecules present inside the complexes, as well as the determination of their distribution patterns. The molecular structures of free ligand and its metal complex compounds have been verified through the use of density functional theory (DFT) simulations. These simulations also provide a valuable understanding of the quantum chemical characteristics associated with these structures. In vitro experiments were conducted to evaluate the antioxidant, antibacterial, as well as antifungal and the properties of the free ligand and its corresponding complex compounds. DATA revealed that synthesized metal complex compounds have heightened biological efficacy as related to the unbound ligand. Furthermore, molecular docking analysis was done to understand the interactions between the studied compounds and proteins derived from Escherichia coli (pdb ID: 2vf5), Aspergillus flavus (pdb ID: 3cku), and humans (pdb ID: 5IJT), which are considered to be significant in drug design. Lastly, a correlation between in vitro efficacies with molecular docking data was done and analyzed., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a global health crisis. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly contagious virus that can cause severe respiratory illness. There is no specific treatment for COVID-19, and the development of new drugs is urgently needed., Problem Statement: The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M pro ) enzyme is a critical viral enzyme that plays a vital role in viral replication. The inhibition of M pro enzyme can be an effective strategy for developing new COVID-19 drugs., Methodology: An efficient operationally simple and convenient green synthesis method had been done towards a series of novel spiro-N-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)-2-carboxamide derivatives, in ethanol at room temperature in green conditions, up to 90% yield. The molecular structures of the synthesized compounds were verified using spectroscopic methods.The title compounds were subjected to in silico analysis, including Lipinski's rule and ADMET prediction, in addition to pharmacophore modeling and molecular docking against the active site of SARS-CoV-2 target main protease (M pro ) enzyme (6LU7). Furthermore, both of the top-ranked compounds (5 and 6) and the standard Nirmatrelvir were subjected to DFT analysis., Findings: The synthesized compounds exhibited good binding affinity to SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzyme, with binding energy scores ranging from - 7.33 kcal/mol (compound 6) and - 7.22kcal/mol (compound 5) to - 6.54 kcal/mol (compounds 8 and 9). The top-ranked compounds (5 and 6) had lower HOMO-LUMO energy difference (ΔE) than the standard drug Nirmatrelvir. This highlights the potential and relevance of charge transfer at the molecular level., Recommendation: These findings suggest that the synthesized spiro-N-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)-2-carboxamide derivatives could be potential candidates for COVID-19 drug development. To confirm these drugs' antiviral efficacy in vivo, more research is required. With very little possibility of failure, this proven method could aid in the search for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic's desperately needed medications., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

In the pursuit of tracking some physicochemical properties of fluids down to the molecular level, ab initio molecular surface analyses were performed on 169 molecules. This included electrostatic potential (EP), average local ionization energy (ALIE), and electron localization function (ELF) mapped onto an electron density isosurface value of 0.001 au. Using stepwise linear regression (SLR) analysis, it was found that besides the well-studied EP, ALIE and ELF played important roles in determining the normal boiling and freezing points and critical temperatures of fluids. Apparently, the ALIE and ELF were relevant to the attractive polarization forces and repulsive Pauli forces, respectively, between molecules. To further demonstrate and rationalize this assumption, a localized molecular orbital energy decomposition analysis (LMO-EDA) was carried out. In the LMO-EDA analysis, the complexes of the helium atom, He, and ClCl, ClBr, ClI, OCO, OCS, OCSe, and CO/OC molecules were investigated, where the helium atom faced different molecular sites in each molecule. Fortunately, the results showed that lower the ALIE value on a molecular site, the stronger ( i.e. , more attractive) the polarization interaction energy. The results also indicated that higher the ELF value on a molecular site, the stronger ( i.e. , more repulsive) the Pauli interaction. The work is aimed to present novel molecular-based rationales to physical chemists, chemical engineers, and materials scientists.

We report on the numerical simulation results of the propagation of Fourier-transformed super-Gaussian beams with cubic phase modulation, which we refer to as super-Airy beams. We show the effect of the truncation profile on the propagation of the "Airy" intensity distribution and propose methods to improve the non-diffracting propagation length. We show that super-Gaussian beams with cubic phase modulation would form, what we believe to be, truncated Airy beams after being optically Fourier-transformed. The results show that Airy beams with smaller curvature would preserve their non-diffracting characteristics for longer propagation distances than Airy beams with larger curvature. Airy beam curvature is a controllable parameter by the phase transformation step. The presented results suggest that Fourier-transforming super-Gaussian beams with cubic phase modulation would form Airy beams with up to > 350% increase in their non-diffracting propagation distance compared to Fourier-transformed Gaussian beams.

Although crop plants provide the majority of human food, pests and insects frequently cause huge economic losses. In order to develop innovative insecticidal compounds with low toxicity and a positive environmental impact, we developed new N-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-carboxamide derivatives (2-12). With the use of spectroscopic techniques and elemental data, the chemical structure of these new compounds was meticulously clarified. The toxicological and biological effects of the synthesized compound of the cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval, 1833) under laboratory conditions were also investigated. Regarding the determined LC 50 values, compounds 3, 7, 8, and 10 showed the most potent toxic effect with LC 50 values of 29.60, 30.06, 27.65 and 29.01 ppm, respectively. A molecular docking investigation of twelve synthetic compounds (from compound 2 to compound 12) was performed against AChE (Acetylcholinesterase). There was a wide range of binding affinities shown by these compounds. This work suggests that these substances may have insecticidal and AChE inhibitory properties, and it may be possible to further explore them in the process of creating pesticides that target AChE., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

El-Saghier reaction is the novel, general, and green reaction of various amines with ethyl cyanoacetate and ethyl glycinate hydrochloride. A new series of imidazolidin-4-ones and bis- N -(alkyl/aryl) imidazolidin-4-ones was synthesized in a sequential, one-pot procedure under neat conditions for 2 h at 70 °C. Excellent high yields (90-98%) were achieved in a short period of time while avoiding issues related to the hazardous solvents utilized (cost, safety, and pollution). The spectrum analyses and elemental data of the newly synthesized compounds helped us to clarify their structures. The obtained compounds were tested for antibacterial activity in vitro and compared to the standard antibiotic chloramphenicol as the standard, measuring the inhibition zone (nm) and activity index (%). With an antibacterial percentage value of 80.0 against Escherichia coli , N , N '-(propane-1,3-diyl) bis(2-(4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1 H -imidazole-2-yl) acetamide) proved to be the most effective. Antimicrobial activity was confirmed by a molecular docking investigation to investigate how chemicals bind to the bacterial FabH-CoA complex in E. coli (PDB ID: 1HNJ)., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Herien, three new Fe(III) (FeAZD), Ni(II) (NiAZD), and Cu(II) (CuAZD) complexes were synthesized and characterized using various physicochemical and spectroscopic approaches. The H 2 AZD ligand acted as a bi-basic bi-dentate NO ligand in a 1:1 molar ratio. The results revealed that the FeAZD and CuAZD complexes had octahedral geometry, while the NiAZD had a tetrahedral geometry. The optimized geometry, HOMO and LUMO analysis of the ligand and its metal complexes was determined via Density functional theory (DFT) using the B3LYP with 6-311 G(d,p), and LanL2DZ level of theory. The FeAZD, NiAZD and CuAZD had lower energy gap, 7.40, 7.93 and 7.06 eV, respectively, than the free ligand (9.58 eV), which proposed that CuAZD was more active one. The free ligand and its metal complexes were in vitro investigated for their antibacterial and antifungal activity. The results illustrated that the metal complexes had higher antibacterial and antifungal activity than the free ligand. More specifically, the CuAZD demonstrated good antibacterial activity against E. coli, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, B. cereus, and A. flavus, T. rubrum, and C. albicans, with activity indexes of 72.22%, 65.01%, 77.78%, and 72.22%, 63.16%, 59.09%, and 61.90%, respectively. Also, the metal complexes showed lower MIC (6.25-3.125 ppm) compared to the free ligand (about 50 ppm). Finally, molecular docking was utilized to investigate the ability of the free ligand and its metal complexes to inhibit the growth of E. coli (PDB ID: 5iq9). The results showed that the CuAZD had the highest binding affinity to the receptor, with a more negative docking score of - 7.05 Kcal/mol, and lower inhibition constant (Ki) of 6.90 µM. That is indicating that it may be the most effective at inhibiting the growth of E. coli (PDB ID: 5iq9)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This work synthesized three new CrAz 2 , MnAz 2 , and FeAz 2 complexes and investigated them using IR, mass, UV spectroscopy, elemental analysis, conductivity and magnetic tests, and thermogravimetric analysis. The azo-ligand, 4-(2-hydroxyphenylAzo)-1-naphthol (Az), couples with metal ions via its nitrogen (in -N=N- bonds) and oxygen (in hydroxyl group) atoms, according to the IR spectra of these complexes. Through thermal examination (TG/TGA), the number and location of water in the complexes were also determined. Density functional theory (DFT) theory is applied to ameliorate the structures of the ligand (Az) and metal complexes and analyze the quantum chemical characteristics of these complexes. The antifungal and antibacterial activity of the ligand and its complexes opposed to several hazardous bacteria and fungi was investigated in vitro. Metal complexes were discovered to have a higher inhibitory impact on some organisms than the free ligand. The MnAz 2 complex exhibited the best activity among the studied materials, whereas the CrAz 2 complex had the lowest. The compounds' binding affinity to the E. coli (PDB ID: 1hnj) structure was predicted using molecular docking. Binding energies were calculated by analyzing protein-substrate interactions. These encouraging findings imply that these chemicals may have physiological effects and may be valuable for a variety of medical uses in the future., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Since the first report of the organoselenium compound, ebselen, as a potent inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 M pro main protease by Z. Jin et al. (Nature, 2020), different OSe analogs have been developed and evaluated for their anti-COVID-19 activities. Herein, organoselenium-clubbed Schiff bases were synthesized in good yields (up to 87%) and characterized using different spectroscopic techniques. Their geometries were studied by DFT using the B3LYP/6-311 (d, p) approach. Ten FDA-approved drugs targeting COVID-19 were used as model pharmacophores to interpret the binding requirements of COVID-19 inhibitors. The antiviral efficiency of the novel organoselenium compounds was assessed by molecular docking against the 6LU7 protein to investigate their possible interactions. Our results showed that the COVID-19 primary protease bound to organoselenium ligands with high binding energy scores ranging from -8.19 to -7.33 Kcal/mol for 4c and 4a to -6.10 to -6.20 Kcal/mol for 6b and 6a . Furthermore, the docking data showed that 4c and 4a are good M pro inhibitors. Moreover, the drug-likeness studies, including Lipinski's rule and ADMET properties, were also assessed. Interestingly, the organoselenium candidates manifested solid pharmacokinetic qualities in the ADMET studies. Overall, the results demonstrated that the organoselenium-based Schiff bases might serve as possible drugs for the COVID-19 epidemic.

A new heterocyclic azo dye ligand (L) was synthesized by the combination of 4-amino antipyrine with 4-aminophenol. The new Cr(III), Mn(II), Fe(III), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) complexes were synthesized in excellent yields. The metal chelate structures were elucidated using elemental analyses, FT-IR, 1 H-NMR, mass, magnetic moment, diffused reflectance spectral and thermal analysis (TG-DTG), and molar conductivity measurement. According to the FT-IR study, the azo dye ligand exhibited neutral tri-dentate behavior, binding to the metal ions with the azo N, carbonyl O, and protonated phenolic OH. The 1 H-NMR spectral study of the Zn(II) complex supported the coordination of the zo dye ligand without proton displacement of the phenolic OH. Diffused reflectance and magnetic moment studies revealed the octahedral geometry of the complexes, as well as their good electrolytic nature, excepting the Zn(II) and Cd(II) complexes, which were nonelectrolytes, as deduced from the molar conductivity study. The theoretical calculations of optimized HOMO-LUMO energies, geometrical parameters, electronic spectra, natural atomic charges, 3D-plots of MEP, and vibrational wavenumbers were computed and elucidated using LANL2DZ and 6-311G (d, p) basis sets of density functional theory (DFT) with the approach of B3LYP DFT and TD-DFT methods. The ligand and complexes have been assayed for their antimicrobial activity and compared with the standard drugs. Most of the complexes have manifested excellent antimicrobial activity against various microbial strains. A molecular docking investigation was also performed, to acquire more information about the binding mode and energy of the ligand and its metal complexes to the Escherichia coli receptor using molecular docking. Altogether, the newly created ligand and complexes showed positive antibacterial effects and are worth future study.

Novelmanganese(II), iron(III), cobalt(II), nickel(II), and copper(II) chelates were synthesized and studied using elemental analysis (EA), infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and conductivity, as well as magnetic measurements and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). The azo-ligand 1-[(4-nitrophenyl)diazenyl]-2-naphthol (HL) chelates to the metal ions via the nitrogen and oxygen centers of the azo group and the hydroxyl, respectively. The amounts of H 2 O present and its precise position were identified by thermal analysis. Density functional theory (DFT) was employed to theoretically elucidate the molecular structures of the ligand and the metal complexes. Furthermore, the quantum chemical parameters were also evaluated. The antimicrobial properties were evaluated against a group of fungal and bacterial microbes. Interestingly, the bioactivity of the complexes is enhanced compared to free ligands. Within this context, the CuL complex manifested the lowest activity, whereas the FeL complex had the greatest. Molecular docking was used to foretell the drugs' binding affinity for the structure of Escherichia coli (PDB ID: 1hnj). Protein-substrate interactions were resolved, and binding energies were accordingly calculated.

This article presents a global database of government contracts funded by the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and EuropeAid, principally from the years 2000-2017. The contract-level data were directly collected from the official contract publication sites of these organisations using webscraping methods. While the source publication formats are diverse both over time and across publishers, we standardized and harmonized the datasets so that they can be analysed jointly. The datasets contain key information on the contracting parties (e.g. buyer and supplier names) the contract's content (e.g. contract value and product description) and details of the contracting process (e.g. contract award date or the procedure followed). In addition, it also contains information on the development aid projects of the contracts (e.g. project title and value). The data has wide reuse potential for researchers looking for detailed micro-level information on how major development aid spending takes place and what impacts it has. This database underlies the research article "Anti-corruption in aid-funded procurement: Is corruption reduced or merely displaced?" [1] which develops corruption risk indicators using the dataset presented., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships which have, or could be perceived to have, influenced the work reported in this article., (© 2022 The Authors.)

A hybrid group IV ridge waveguide platform is demonstrated, with potential application across the optical spectrum from ultraviolet to the far infrared wavelengths. The waveguides are fabricated by partial etching of sub-micron ridges in a nanocrystalline diamond thin film grown on top of a silicon wafer. To create vertical confinement, the diamond film is locally undercut by exposing the chip to an isotropic fluorine plasma etch via etch holes surrounding the waveguides, resulting in a mechanically stable suspended air-clad waveguide platform. Optical characterization of the waveguides at 1550 nm yields an average optical loss of 4.67 ± 0.47 dB/mm. Further improvement to the fabrication process is expected to significantly reduce this waveguide loss.