New Bioactive Oleanane Type Compounds from Coriandrum sativum

Five (1–5) new bioactive oleanane type triterpenoids have been isolated from ethyl acetate soluble fraction of ethanolic extract of Coriandrum sativum Linn. of Umbelliferae family. Ethanolic extract of the whole plant was fractionated in organic solvents. Ethyl acetate fraction was subjected to column chromatography on HPLC RP-18 to get 1-oxo-11β,21β-dihydroxy-oleanane (1), 1-oxo-11β-hydroxy-21β-O-acetyloleanane (2), 1-oxo-11β-hydroxy-21β-O-angeloyloleanane (3), 1-oxo-11β-O-angeloyl-21β-O-acetyloleanane (4), and 1-oxo-11β,21β-O-dibenzoyloleanane (5). The structures were elucidated after analysis of spectroscopic data, UV, IR, NMR (1H, 13C, 1D, and 2D), and mass measurements. Suspension in water of crude ethyl acetate extract was employed to treat sheep with ringworm disease. All isolated compounds (1–5) displayed excellent activity in terms of inhibition zones, MICs, MBCs, and MFCs against both bacteria and fungi. Ethyl acetate extract showed excellent antiringworm activity in sheep

Organotin(IV) esters of 4-maleimido-benzoic acid: synthesis, characterization and in vitro anti-leishmanial effects

Six new diorganotin(IV) esters with the general composition R2SnL2 (where R: Me(1), Et(2), Pr(3), Bu(4), Ph(5), Bz(6) and L(7): p-N-maleimido-benzoic acid) have been synthesized. Solid state FTIR and 119mSn Mössbauer spectra revealed bidentate behavior of L towards the diorganotin(IV) centre in the distorted octahedral products. ¹H, 13C and 119Sn NMR spectra in CDCl3 indicated hexacoordination in 1-4, penta-coordination of 5 in skew-trapezoidal geometry, and absence of hypercoordination in tetrahedral 6. Elemental analyses data have been found to corroborate the stoichiometry of the title organotin(IV) compounds. In vitro anti-leishmanial screenings have been conducted on five leishmanial strains of L. major, L. tropica, L. infantum, L. mex. mex. and L. donovani. Promising results have been observed and, on the basis of the data obtained during these assays, a structure-activity relationship has been suggested. The increasing size of the R groups in the {R2SnIV}2+ moieties increased the lipophilicity of organotin(IV) complexes, which thereby enhanced the anti-leishmanial activity

Impact of Block Length and Temperature over Self-Assembling Behavior of Block Copolymers

Self-assembling behavior of block copolymers having water-soluble portion as one of the blocks plays key role in the properties and applications of the copolymers. Therefore, we have synthesized block copolymers of different block length and investigated their self-assembling behavior with reference to concentration and temperature using surface tension and conductance measurement techniques. The results obtained through both techniques concluded that critical micelles concentration (CMC) was decreased from 0.100 to 0.078 g/dL with the increase in length of water insoluble block and 0.100 to 0.068 g/dL for the increased temperature. ΔGmic was also decreased with the increase in temperature of the system, concluding that the micellization process was encouraged with the increase in temperature and block length. However, ΔHmic values were highest for short block length copolymer. The surface excess concentration obtained from surface tension data concluded that it was highest for short block length and vice versa and was increased with the increase in temperature of the system. However, the minimum area per molecule was largest for highest molecular weight copolymers or having longest water insoluble block and decreases with the increase in temperature

Preparation, morphology and sonication time dependence of silver nanoparticles in amphiphilic block copolymers of PEO with polystyrene or PMMA

Composite materials comprising arrays of silver nanoparticles in amphiphilic copolymers have been prepared by sonochemically enhanced borohydride reduction of precursor silver nitrate (AgNO3). The precursor was incorporated into the cores of polymeric micelles formed from block copolymers of polystyrene (PS) or poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The copolymers were synthesised with varying hydrophobic block lengths from a PEO macroinitiator by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). UV/visible spectroscopy was used to confirm the formation of elemental silver and the effect of sonication time on the appearance of the silver nanoparticles was determined. The growth was faster than when gold nanoparticles are formed in comparable block copolymers. Nanoparticles formed in copolymers with PMMA blocks were more stable to agglomeration than when polystyrene was used. Electron microscopy revealed the morphology of the nanocomposites which confirmed that both block copolymers are vehicles for the formation of well-defined films containing nanoparticulate silver. However, AgNP formation shows some significant differences from previous reports of gold NP containing materials formed under similar conditions

Heavy metal ions in milk samples collected from animals feed with city ef- fluent irrigated fodder

Abstract: Untreated city effluent is used as source of irrigation in Faisalabad, Pakistan for raising different crops including fodder which is used for feeding the animals in the cattle's farms. This paper reports a study to assess the risks and opportunities associated with this practice by determining heavy metals concentration in milk, which is used in daily life excessively. Heavy metals and other properties were measured in typical effluents, four soils and three fodder crops. It was found that the city effluent increased heavy metals concentrations in the soil and ultimately in fodder. Furthermore Heavy metals concentrations in the milk were found above those normally associated with suitability for human consumption. It is recommended that effluent should be treated before it's used for raising different crops

Comparative study of structure: activity relationship of di and triorganotin (IV) complexes of monomethyl glutarate

A series of di and triorganotin(IV) complexes of monomethyl glutarate have been synthesized and characterized through ¹H 13C 119Sn NMR, FT-IR and 119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy. On the basis of these techniques, it is proposed that the ligand molecule is bound to the tin atom through the carbonyl oxygen. The data reveal that diorganotin(IV) complexes exhibit hexa-coordination with octahedral geometry, while triorganotin(IV) complexes have penta-coordination with trigonal bipyramidal geometry. Biological evaluation against various microorganisms indicate that diorganotin(IV) complexes are less active than the triorganotin(IV) complexes

New Bioactive Oleanane Type Compounds from Coriandrum sativum Linn.

Five (1–5) new bioactive oleanane type triterpenoids have been isolated from ethyl acetate soluble fraction of ethanolic extract of Coriandrum sativum Linn. of Umbelliferae family. Ethanolic extract of the whole plant was fractionated in organic solvents. Ethyl acetate fraction was subjected to column chromatography on HPLC RP-18 to get 1-oxo-11β,21β-dihydroxy-oleanane (1), 1-oxo-11β-hydroxy-21β-O-acetyloleanane (2), 1-oxo-11β-hydroxy-21β-O-angeloyloleanane (3), 1-oxo-11β-O-angeloyl-21β-O-acetyloleanane (4), and 1-oxo-11β,21β-O-dibenzoyloleanane (5). The structures were elucidated after analysis of spectroscopic data, UV, IR, NMR (1H, 13C, 1D, and 2D), and mass measurements. Suspension in water of crude ethyl acetate extract was employed to treat sheep with ringworm disease. All isolated compounds (1–5) displayed excellent activity in terms of inhibition zones, MICs, MBCs, and MFCs against both bacteria and fungi. Ethyl acetate extract showed excellent antiringworm activity in sheep

Effect of traffic pollution on photosynthesis

Vehicular exhaust is considered as one of the worst form of environmental pollution. To assess the effect of traffic pollution on photosynthesis, leaf samples of four different types of plants at different distances from the busy traffic road were collected from Wah. The samples consisted of sunny, shady and semi shady leaves of Orange, Guava, Loquat and Eucalyptus trees. The wet leaves were minced and homogenized before undertaking analysis for different parameters like total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotene content. The results showed that average values of total chlorophyll varied in the range of 0.004-0.019, chlorophyll a and b in the range of 0.009-0.01 and carotene content in the range of 0.17-0.22g/l of the sample taken. These values were in decreasing order of sunny/ semishady/ shady. The concentration of all the pigments increased as the distance from the busy road increased. In order to verify the bad effect of traffic pollution, the under groundwater in the vicinity of the trees under study were collected and analyzed for pH, conductivity, hardness, alkalinity, sodium, potassium, chloride and sulphate ions. The pH and hardness values of water samples were higher than the normal values but the conductivity was lower the desired value. The particulate matter, CO, SO2 and NO2 concentration in air samples collected from the roadside were within the permissible levels. But the lead concentration was above the permissible limits. The concentrations of lead, CO, SO2 and NO2 and particulates were comparatively higher in the dense traffic areas and their concentrations tend to decrease as we go away from the busy roads. Water and air quality analysis showed that vehicular exhaust had significant effect on the photosynthesis of plants. Journal of Environmental Extension Vol.4 2003: 51-5

Water pollution: Major issue in urban areas

Like most of developing countries urbanization and industrialization have not gone in pace with environmental pollution, resulting in numerous problems arising from environmental pollution. This is specifically true about water bodies wherein various toxic solid wastes, effluents and emission are being discharged, resulting in an excessive amount of toxic and hazardous metals in local ground water. Due to discharge of untreated industrial effluents in the sewage channels, the ground water quality is deteriorated to great extent therefore availability of healthy, clean and good quality drinking water is a matter of great concern in the urban areas. The extent of ground water contamination was evaluated in the third biggest city of Pakistan well known as Manchester of Pakistan that is Faisalabad. Water samples were collected from the hand pumps installed within the 10 m circumference of the sewage channels. These samples were analysed for pH, Total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness, alkalinity, sulphate (SO 4 -2 ), chloride (Cl -), sodium (Na + ) and potassium (K + ) by following the standard methods described by the American society for testing and materials (ASTM, 1993). Furthermore, heavy metals ions like cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel and zinc were determined by varian AA-1445 series atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AOAC, 1984). Results revealed that in most of the cases water samples were not fit for drinking purposes when compared with the standard guide lines available for drinking waters