Larvicidal Activity against Spodoptera frugiperda of some Constituents from two Diospyros Species. In silico Pesticide-likeness Properties, Acetylcholinesterase Activity and Molecular Docking.

This report informs for the first time the chemical constituents of Diospyros xolocotzii and Diospyros digyna, the pesticidal and the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition potential of some compounds calculated by in silico approaches, the larvicidal activity against Spodoptera frugiperda of available compounds, the AChE inhibition of selected compounds, and the results of the molecular docking of the most active ones with this receptor. From the aerial parts of D. xolocotzii were isolated pentacyclic triterpenes (1-4, 6, 10, 11-13), phytosterols (15-17), and isodiospyrin (18), whereas the analysis of aerial parts of D. digyna conducted to the isolation of pentacyclic triterpenes (4, 5, 7-9, 11-14), (4S)-shinanolone (19), and scopoletin (20). For comparison purposes, origanal (21) was chemically prepared from 11. The in silico analysis showed that the tested compounds have pesticide potential. The larvicidal activities of 11>13>12 indicated that the increase of the oxidation degree at C-28 increases their bioactivity. Compounds 11 and 21 presented the higher inhibition in the acetylcholinesterase assay, and the higher binding energies, and for the interactionswith AChE by molecular docking. Both Diospyros species are sources of triterpenes with pesticidal potential and the molecular changes in lupane triterpenes correlate with the observed bioactivity and molecular docking.

Evaluation of selected natural sesquiterpenes as sensitizing agents of ß-lactam-resistant bacterial strains.

AIMS: To evaluate the capacity of fourteen sesquiterpenes to enhance the action of known antibiotics against two ß-lactam resistant strains, and to determine a possible mechanism of antibiotic sensitization by assessing their ability to inhibit a ß-lactamase enzyme. METHODS AND RESULTS: The broth microdilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ß-lactams cefuroxime (CEFM) and cefepime (CPM) against Staphylococcus aureus 23MR and Escherichia coli 82MR strains in the absence and presence of subinhibitory concentrations of fourteen natural sesquiterpenes. (1R,4R)-4H-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-hydroxycadalen-15-oic acid (5), xerantolide (8), estafiatin (11), and ambrosin (12) exhibited the best sensitizing effects in both strains. These compounds were able to reduce the MIC of CEFM by 2-fold (from 15.0 to 7.5 µg/mL) and CPM by 15-fold (from 0.9 to 0.06 µg/mL) in S. aureus 23MR. For E. coli 82MR, the MIC of CEFM was reduced up to 8-fold (from 120.0 to 15.0 µg/mL). In this strain, the activity of 8 and 11 surpassed that of clavulanic acid (positive reference), which reduced the MIC of CEFM from 120.0 to 60.0 µg/mL. To elucidate a possible mechanism of antibiotic sensitization, molecular docking studies were conducted with ß-lactamases. These studies revealed an affinity with the enzymes (energies > -4.93 kcal/mol) by the formation of hydrogen bonds with certain conserved amino acid residues within the active sites. However, the in vitro results indicated only marginal inhibition, with percentages <50%. CONCLUSIONS: The bioevaluations indicate that nine of fourteen sesquiterpenes enhance the action of CEFM and CPM against the ß-lactam resistant strains, and these compounds displayed moderate activity as inhibitors of ß-lactamase.

Mechanical Vibrations of Atomically Defined Metal Clusters: From Nano- to Molecular-Size Oscillators.

Acoustic vibrations of small nanoparticles are still ruled by continuum mechanics laws down to diameters of a few nanometers. The elastic behavior at lower sizes (<1-2 nm), where nanoparticles become molecular clusters made by few tens to few atoms, is still little explored. The question remains to which extent the transition from small continuous-mass solids to discrete-atom molecular clusters affects their specific low-frequency vibrational modes, whose period is classically expected to linearly scale with diameter. Here, we investigate experimentally by ultrafast time-resolved optical spectroscopy the acoustic response of atomically defined ligand-protected metal clusters Au n(SR) m with a number n of atoms ranging from 10 to 102 (0.5-1.5 nm diameter range). Two periods, corresponding to fundamental breathing- and quadrupolar-like acoustic modes, are detected, with the latter scaling linearly with cluster diameters and the former taking a constant value. Theoretical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) predict in the case of bare clusters vibrational periods scaling with size down to diatomic molecules. For ligand-protected clusters, they show a pronounced effect of the ligand molecules on the breathing-like mode vibrational period at the origin of its constant value. This deviation from classical elasticity predictions results from mechanical mass-loading effects due to the protecting layer. This study shows that clusters characteristic vibrational frequencies are compatible with extrapolation of continuum mechanics model down to few atoms, which is in agreement with DFT computations.

Theoretical study of [Ni (H2O)n]2+(H2O)m (n ≤ 6, m ≤ 18).

The [Ni-(H(2)O)(n)](2+)(H(2)O)(m) (n ≤ 6, m ≤ 18) complexes were studied by means of first-principles all-electron calculations performed with the BPW91 gradient corrected functional and the 6-311+G(d,p) basis sets for the H, O, and Ni atoms. Triplet states were found as low-lying states for each (n, m) combination. The estimated Ni(2+)-(H(2)O)(n) binding energies (112.8-57.4 kcal/mol for the first layer and 52.0-23.0 kcal/mol for the second one) decreases and the Ni(2+)-OH(2) bond lengths lengthen as n + m increases. With six H(2)O moieties the Ni(2+) ion furnishes its first coordination sphere of octahedral geometry. Further water addition renders the formation of the second layer. The effect of Ni(2+) on the (H(2)O)(n)···(H(2)O)(m) hydrogen bond formation for several "n" and "m" combinations was studied, revealing an enhancement of this kind of bonding, which is of key importance for the stabilization and growth of the clusters. For some n + m isomers the second layer appears before the first octahedral layer is fully formed. For example, the square planar Ni(2+)-(H(2)O)(4) core originates two-dimensional 4 + 2 and 4 + 4 isomers, where each outer water molecule accepts two H-bonds, lying 2.0 kcal/mol above the 6 and 6 + 2 ground states. The clusters were also studied by IR spectra; the OH stretching vibrational frequencies allowed us to identify the outer solvation shells by the presence of red-shifted hydrogen bond regions.

Theoretical study of the low-lying States of Fe2-(C6H6)3.

Using the gradient-corrected BPW91 method and 6311++G(2d,2p) basis sets, it was found that adsorption of benzene by iron atoms forms a multiple-decker sandwich (MDS) geometry for the ground state (GS) of Fe(2)-(C(6)H(6))(3), as Fe(2) is broken. Though decoordination occurs, the ligands are bonded symmetrically to the Fe sites by η(6) (for the two external rings) and two η(3) (for the central ring) Fe-C coordinations; this big amount of Fe-C bonds enhances the stability of the MDS GS. This is unexpected, as the experiment suggests MDS for TM(n)-(C(6)H(6))(m) species of earlier transition metals (TMs) and clusters covered with benzene, i.e., rice-ball (RB) structures, for late 3d atoms. However, preserving Fe(2), an RB state was found, quasi-degenerate with the GS, with a smaller amount of Fe-C contacts and a stronger Fe(2) bond. The MDS shows higher stability for electron attachment and deletion events, but its adiabatic electron affinity, 1.11 eV, differs more from the experiment (0.80 ± 0.1 eV) than the one (0.97 eV) for RB. Thus, MDS and RB states can appear in a sample of Fe(2)-(C(6)H(6))(3). Like the electron affinity, the ionization energy of the complex is also smaller than those of the metal and benzene moieties, but closer to the former, signifying that the electron, delocalized through the 3d-π bonds, is mainly deleted from the metallic units.

Theoretical study of the structural and electronic properties of the Fe(n)(C(6)H(6))(m), n

The ground state, GS, geometries for Fe(1,2)(benzene)(1,2) clusters were determined by means of all-electron calculations done with the density functional BPW91/6311++G(2d,2p) method. The stability of Fe(C(6)H(6))(1,2) is accomplished by the formation of Fe-C eta(6) coordinations in the half-sandwich and sandwich GS structures, which are of lower spin, 2S = 2 (S is the total spin) than the Fe atom, 2S = 4. Departures from eta(6) bonding occur on [Fe(C(6)H(6))(2)](-), since the GS of this anion, of less symmetric sandwich geometry, presents eta(6) and eta(2) coordination, which is mainly due to the enhanced repulsion of the adsorbed benzene units. On Fe(2)(C(6)H(6))(1,2) the stronger Fe(2) bond, compared to the Fe-C ones, produce rice-ball geometries, where the Fe(2) molecule, although with a longer bond length, is preserved. For example, in Fe(2)(C(6)H(6)), Fe(2) lies perpendicular or parallel to the benzene ring depending on the charge of the complex, and in [Fe(2)(C(6)H(6))(2)](+/-0, +/-1) the benzene ligands are placed above and beneath the molecular axis of Fe(2), producing highly compact structures. Multiple decker sandwich states, where Fe(2) is not retained, are located more than 20 kcal mol(-1) above the GS levels. Electron affinities, agreeing well with experimental results, ionization and binding energies, and vibrational frequencies were also determined, providing insight on the complexes.

Theoretical study of the structural and electronic properties of the Fe(6)-(C(6)H(6))(m), m = 3, 4, complexes.

The adsorption of benzene on the magnetic Fe(6) cluster was studied by means of first principles all-electron calculations done with gradient corrected density functional theory. In the M = 2S + 1 = 13 (S is the total spin) ground state (GS) of Fe(6)-(C(6)H(6))(3) each benzene is bonded with one Fe atom, forming eta(6) coordinations with C-Fe contacts of 2.12-2.17 A; though the Fe(6) cluster structure is preserved, it presents more distortion than in bare Fe(6). The M = 13 GS of Fe(6)-(C(6)H(6))(4) shows a more distorted geometry with three eta(6) and one eta(2) coordinations, as the bonding with the fourth benzene was reduced to two C-Fe bonds. Thus, Fe(6)-(C(6)H(6))(4) may be viewed as a Fe(6) core covered by a layer of benzene molecules. The d-pi bonding interactions are clearly reflected by the estimated adiabatic ionization energies (4.60 and 4.42 eV for m = 3 and 4, respectively), because they are significantly smaller than that of bare Fe(6), 6.15 eV. The adiabatic electron affinities also are diminished clearly, 1.02 and 1.13 eV, for m = 3 and 4, respectively, as compared to that of Fe(6), 1.61 eV. The magnetic moments of the Fe(6)-(C(6)H(6))(3,4) complexes are strongly quenched, by 8.0 magneton bohrs (mu(B)), with respect to the value, 20.0 mu(B), of the isolated Fe(6) cluster. Lastly, the vibrational spectra show IR bands placed near those of free benzene and several forbidden IR modes of benzene turn IR active in the reduced symmetry of the complexes.

Bonding and magnetism of Fe(6)-(C(6)H(6))(m), m = 1, 2.

The interactions of one and two benzene molecules with the superparamagnetic Fe(6) cluster were studied by means of gradient-corrected density functional theory. The ground state, GS, of bare Fe(6) presents a distorted octahedral structure with 2S = 20; S is the total spin. For the calculated 2S = 16 GS of the neutral Fe(6)-C(6)H(6) complex, as well as in the positive and negative ions both with 2S = 15, the benzene unit is adsorbed on one axial Fe(a) atom. The 2S = 14 GS for Fe(6)-(C(6)H(6))(2) resembles a sandwich structure, with the metal Fe(6) cluster separating the benzene rings that are bonded symmetrically on the two axial sites of Fe(6). The binding is accounted for by electrostatic interactions and by 3d-pi bonds, as revealed by the molecular orbitals. Though each C-Fe bond is weak, eta(6) coordinations were indicated by the topology of the electronic density. The 3d-pi bonding is reflected by the adiabatic ionization energies and electron affinities, which are smaller than those of bare Fe(6). The computed IR spectra show vibrational bands near those of bare benzene; some forbidden IR modes in benzene and in Fe(6) become IR active in Fe(6)-(C(6)H(6))(1,2). The results show a strong perturbation of the electronic structure of Fe(6). The decrease of its magnetic moment implies that the magnetic effects play an important role in the adsorption of benzene.

Bonding of benzene with excited States of Fe7.

The interaction between high-spin Fe7 clusters and a benzene molecule was studied using the BPW91/6-311++G(2d,2p) method. The Fe7-C6H6 ground state has a T-shaped structure, similar to that of the benzene dimer, and a multiplicity M = 2S + 1 = 19 (S = total spin). The carbon atoms are bonded to a single equatorial iron atom, which experiences a dramatic decrease in its magnetic moment, from 3.1 to -0.8 mu(B); the magnetic moments of other Fe atoms are larger than those in the ground-state Fe7 cluster. Such unexpected magnetic behavior of the cluster is crucial for adsorption of benzene.