A facile photo-induced synthesis of COOH functionalized meso-macroporous carbon films and their excellent sensing capability for aromatic amines

A simple photo-induced approach is developed for the preparation of COOH functionalized meso-macroporous carbon films with tunable pores without using any inorganic mesoporous silica templates, which show excellent sensing selectivity for aniline and the selectivity can be enhanced upon increasing COOH functional groups.     

A Single‐Step Synthesis of Electroactive Mesoporous ProDOT‐Silica Structures

The single‐step preparation of highly ordered mesoporous silica hybrid nanocomposites with conjugated polymers was explored using a novel cationic 3,4‐propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT) surfactant (PrS). The method does not require high‐temperature calcination or a washing procedure. The combination of self‐assembly of the silica surfactant and in situ polymerization of the ProDOT tail is responsible for creation of the mesoporosity with ultralarge pores, large pore volume, and electroactivity. As this novel material exhibits excellent textural parameters together with electrical conductivity, we believe that this could find potential applications in various fields. This novel concept of creating mesoporosity without a calcination process is a significant breakthrough in the field of mesoporous materials and the method can be further generalized as a rational preparation of various mesoporous hybrid materials having different structures and pore diameters.     

An Expedient Approach for the Synthesis of Bioactive Pyrazole,Isoxazole and Benzodiazepine‐Substituted Quinolin‐2(1H)‐one Derivatives

A sequence of functionalized pyrazole, isoxazole and benzodiazepine‐substituted quinolone derivatives were synthesized in good yield starting from readily available starting precursors. These approaches lead to the synthesis of hitherto unknown compounds with a varied substitution pattern by both conventional and microwave‐assisted method. A good number of analogues were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity against human cervical and colon cancer cell lines by MTT protocol. Almost all the selected compounds showed remarkable cytotoxic activities. Among them, compound 4g and 4i emerged as the most promising scaffolds. These scaffolds will be used for further molecular level studies.     

Antioxidant and structure-activity relationships of five tetraoxygenated xanthones from Swertia minor (Griscb.) Knobl

Antioxidant activity-guided fractionations of chloroform extract of Swertia minor yielded five known tetraoxygenated xanthones (1-5), of which compound 3 was isolated for the first time from plant sources. Compounds 1-5 were identified with the aid of extensive NMR spectroscopic studies. A relationship between the structural features of 1-5 and their antioxidant activity was also determined. Among these bioactive isolates (1-5), compound 4 exhibited strong scavenging effect in DPPH (IC(50)?=?10.31?μg?mL(-1)), FRAP (8536.32?±?34.1?Mmol Fe (II)?g(-1)) and metal chelating (17.2?±?0.88?mg?EDTA?g(-1)) assays. Compound 5 was potently active in secondary antioxidant assay (i.e. binding to metal ions strongly); however, its primary antioxidant capacity was found to be feeble.     

Internal stress dependent structural transition in ferromagnetic Ni-Mn-Ga nanoparticles prepared by ball milling

Ni-Mn-Ga nanoparticles were prepared by ball milling technique. X-ray diffraction pattern of the milled powders has a broad peak near the location of the prominent peak for the Heusler phase of Ni₂MnGa, indicating very disordered structures with small particle sizes. Structural properties of milled Ni-Mn-Ga particles recover to those of the bulk state after appropriate annealing temperature. It is worth noting that particles with size above 50 nm exhibit martensitic transformation. The average internal stress was calculated to be 2.83-1.13 MPa stored in the distorted lattice. Saturation magnetization of the milled sample increases with annealing temperature due to re-crystallization and grain growth.