First inventory and assessment of the Geoheritage of Zagora province from the project Bani Geopark (South-Eastern Morocco)

© 2020 The Geologists' Association Zagora Province in south eastern Morocco is characterised by its desert environment as well as its culture, people, biodiversity and geology inherited from the Anti-Atlas chain. But the value of this geodiversity is not widely recognised. Ordovician and Quaternary deposits are the most dominant outcrops in the province. Within the former, the Fezouata Shales constitute an information source for palaeontologists about the marine life explosion at the beginning of the Ordovician Period. Taking into account this important scientific value, the fossiliferous Fezouata Formation presents a global geoheritage with a geo-educational potential. In addition, the Ordovician and the Quaternary deposits in Zagora Province provide a rich geodiversity of scientific, educational and tourism interests. In order to protect and to promote this geoheritage, an inventory of geosites and geodiversity sites is being established, which should serve as a database helping the regional authorities to properly manage the geoheritage within the framework of the future aspiring Bani Geopark. In the present paper an assessment of the geosites’ scientific value was established using a quantitative methodology in order to obtain numerical scores. Adding the quantitative assessment of the degradation degree has resulted in the fossiliferous geosites from Fezouata Formation being selected as the most vulnerable areas in need of geoconservation programmes and protection strategies

The Ordovician Foum Larjamme Tunnel Paleo-valleys from Bani Geopark Project—Assessment of Geological Heritage for Geo-education and Geotourism Purposes

The late Ordovician glaciation gave birth to tunnel valleys and their filling in the fields that made up Northern Gondwana at that time. A valuable geoheritage value is attributed to these valleys as they constitute an important part of the Earth history evolution. This study focuses on the scientific value of the Hirnantian tunnel valleys through the case study of Foum Larjamme region, in southeastern of Morocco. The region is a key geosite in the Bani Geopark project. In addition, it constitutes a key locality witnessing the major event of the Hirnantian glaciation. However, it is only recognized by the general public for its archaeological and historical heritage. The present paper describes and assesses the significant scientific value of Foum Larjamme paleo-tunnel valleys. Considering its geographical position and its geological diversity, the study decribes the high geo-educational and geotouristic potentials of the geosite. Furthermore, this geosite is considered as a field laboratory to study and teach the geological risk controlled by the natural phenomena

Synthesis, X-ray Crystal Structure, Anticancer, Hirshfeld Surface Analysis, DFT, TD-DFT, ADMET, and Molecular Docking of 3-Phenyl-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-h]-13,4-thiaza-11-crown-4

In this work, we describe the synthesis of new macrocycles derived from 3-phenyl-1,2,4-triazole-5-thione 1 in a heterogeneous medium using liquid–solid phase transfer catalysis (PTC) conditions. The structures of the two compounds (3 and 4) isolated were elucidated based on spectral data (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR) and confirmed in the case of 3-phenyl-1,2,4-triazolo [3,4-h]-13,4--thiaza-11-crown-4 (3) by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Furthermore, the experimental spectral and the X-ray geometrical parameters were compared with their corresponding predicted ones obtained at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. The intercontacts between crystal units were investigated through Hirshfeld surface analysis. The drug-like macrocycles were predicted using ADMET and drug-likeness properties, which showed that 3 may act as an inhibitor of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK). This assumption was confirmed by the well-binding fitting of 3 into the binding site of DNA-PK and the formation of a stable 3-DNA-PK complex with a binding energy of −7 kcal-mol−1. Finally, the anticancer activity of 3 was assessed by an MTT assay against A549 cells, which showed that 3 has moderate anticancer activity compared to that of the doxorubicin reference drug

Nanoarchitectonics and Molecular Docking of 4-(Dimethylamino)Pyridin-1-Ium 2-3 Methyl-4-Oxo-Pyri-Do[1,2-<i>a</i>]Pyrimidine-3-Carboxylate

A retro-Claisen reaction of 1-(4-oxo-4H-pyrido [1,2-a]pyrimidin-3-yl)butane-1,3-dione, 3, in the presence of potassium hydroxide and 4-dimethylamino-pyridine has been carried out, leading to 4-(dimethylamino)pyridin-1-ium 2-methyl-4-oxo-pyrido [1,2-a]pyrimidine-3-carboxylate 5. A plausible mechanism explaining the formation of the title compound has been proposed. A single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis confirms the crystal structure of the isolated organic salt (5). In the crystal, the title compound adopts a layered structure where there are stacks of cations and anions formed by slipped π-stacking interactions. These stacks are linked by regions consisting of water molecules that are hydrogen-bonded together. DFT and Hirshfeld surface analysis supported the experimental results of the molecular geometry and the intercontacts between different units in the crystal. The druglikeness, ADMET properties, and predicted targets were investigated, and the observed results suggest that 5 may act as a carbonic anhydrase I inhibitor. The assumption is confirmed by docking 5 into the active binding site of carbonic anhydrase, which shows it to have good binding affinities and to form stable complexes with the active residues of carbonic anhydrase I