Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry characterization of ubiquitous minor lipids and oligosaccharides in milk of the camel (Camelus dromedarius) and their inhibition of oxidative stress in human plasma.

The aim of this study was to characterize minor lipids in methanol fraction extracted from raw camel milk after loading it on a water-preconditioned short C18 open column and fractionating with a gradient of methanol/water. The C18 column showed high fractionation efficiency of minor lipids, such as glycosphingolipids, lipopolysaccharides, or oligosaccharides, when compared with other constituents, in particular polysaccharides, proteins, and free fatty acids. Liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in negative ion mode was used to identify 21 new glycosphingolipids, lipopolysaccharides, and oligosaccharides. Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry was qualified to provide relevant data for recognizing the molecular mass, glycosylation sequences, and structure of saccharide moieties for the revealed compounds. The sequence of combinations of one selected lipopolysaccharide, which was considered the backbone of the remaining lipopolysaccharides, was confirmed in a density functional theory study. The obtained results showed that the tested fraction is a rich source of glycosphingolipids, lipopolysaccharides, and oligosaccharides with antioxidant activity.

Ru(ii)-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes: synthesis, characterization, transfer hydrogenation reactions and biological determination.

A series of ruthenium(ii) complexes with N-heterocyclic carbene ligands were successfully synthesized by transmetalation reactions between silver(i) N-heterocyclic carbene complexes and [RuCl2(p-cymene)]2 in dichloromethane under Ar conditions. All new compounds were characterized by spectroscopic and analytical methods. These ruthenium(ii)-NHC complexes were found to be efficient precatalysts for the transfer hydrogenation of ketones by using 2-propanol as the hydrogen source in the presence of KOH as a co-catalyst. The antibacterial activity of ruthenium N-heterocyclic carbene complexes 3a-f was measured by disc diffusion method against Gram positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Compounds 3d exhibited potential antibacterial activity against five bacterial species among the six used as indicator cells. The product 3e inhibits the growth of all the six tested microorganisms. Moreover, the antioxidant activity determination of these complexes 3a-f, using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) as reagent, showed that compounds 3b and 3d possess DPPH and ABTS antiradical activities. From a concentration of 1 mg ml-1, these two complexes presented a similar scavenging activity to that of the two used controls gallic acid (GA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). From a concentration of 10 mg ml-1, the percentage inhibition of complexes 3b and 3d was respectively 70% and 90%. In addition, these two Ru-NHC complexes exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans. Investigation of the anti-acetylcholinesterase activity of the studied complexes showed that compounds 3a, 3b, 3d and 3e exhibited good activity at 100 µg ml-1 and product 3d is the most active. In a cytotoxicity study the complexes 3 were evaluated against two human cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7. Both 3d and 3e complexes were found to be active against the tested cell lines showing comparable activity with examples in the literature.

Correction: Efficient in situ N-heterocyclic carbene palladium(ii) generated from Pd(OAc)2 catalysts for carbonylative Suzuki coupling reactions of arylboronic acids with 2-bromopyridine under inert conditions leading to unsymmetrical arylpyridine ketones: synthesis, characterization and cytotoxic activities.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C8RA08897G.].

Efficient in situ N-heterocyclic carbene palladium(ii) generated from Pd(OAc)2 catalysts for carbonylative Suzuki coupling reactions of arylboronic acids with 2-bromopyridine under inert conditions leading to unsymmetrical arylpyridine ketones: synthesis, characterization and cytotoxic activities.

N,N-Substituted benzimidazole salts were successfully synthesized and characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C {1H} NMR and IR techniques, which support the proposed structures. Catalysts generated in situ were efficiently used for the carbonylative cross-coupling reaction of 2 bromopyridine with various boronic acids. The reaction was carried out in THF at 110 °C in the presence of K2CO3 under inert conditions and yields unsymmetrical arylpyridine ketones. All N,N-substituted benzimidazole salts 2a-i and 4a-i studied in this work were screened for their cytotoxic activities against human cancer cell lines such us MDA-MB-231, MCF-7 and T47D. The N,N-substituted benzimidazoles 2e and 2f exhibited the most cytotoxic effect with promising cytotoxic activity with IC50 values of 4.45 µg mL-1 against MDA-MB-231 and 4.85 µg mL-1 against MCF7 respectively.

Fingerprinting of strong spermatogenesis steroidal saponins in male flowers of Phoenix dactylifera (Date Palm) by LC-ESI-MS.

A fingerprint of steroid saponins, the major constituent in 80% methanolic fraction from the male flowers of Phoenix dactylifera has been established. Under ESI-MS/MS conditions, the fragmentation patterns of [M - H]- ions exclusively displayed signals corresponding to the cleavage of the glycosidic bonds, thus allowing a rapid identification of 21 steroidal saponins. Moreover, two unique among them conjugated with histidine were detected by LC-ESI (-)-MS and DFT and were given tentative names of 3-o-histidine-26-o-hexosyl-dioscin and 3-o-histidine-26-o-dihexosyl-hydroxydioscin. Their steroidal saponins exhibited a significant improvement of the sperm cells count, motility and viability in male rats. These effects could be attributed to enhancing the levels of sex hormones.

LC-ESI-MS/MS profile of phenolic and glucosinolate compounds in samh flour (Mesembryanthemum forsskalei Hochst. ex Boiss) and the inhibition of oxidative stress by these compounds in human plasma.

Samh flour (Mesembryanthemum forsskalei) is a foodstuff with high protein content, which can be used as a replacement for wheat flour. It is often consumed by Bedouin tribes of northern Saudi Arabia. Very little is known about bioactive molecules present in samh flour, therefore we analyzed its extracts to evaluate the contents of secondary metabolites. A total of 43 secondary metabolites present in 60% MeOH extract of samh flour were tentatively identified using LC-ESI-MS/MS. These compounds represented five major categories: glucosinolates, sinapic acid and sinapoylglycosides, acylated flavonoids, flavonoids, and amide derivatives. Their effect on oxidative damage of proteins and lipids was determined in vitro by assessing levels of protein thiol groups and concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) in human plasma. Obtained results indicated that samh flour is a rich source of compounds with antioxidant activity.

Effect of alkyl chain length, head group and nature of the surfactant on the hydrolysis of 1,3-benzoxazine-2,4-dione and its derivatives.

The alkaline hydrolysis of carsalam (2H-1,3-benzoxazine-2,4(3H)-dione), denoted as I, and its N-substituted derivatives i.e., N-methyl-1,3-benzoxazine-2,4-dione (II) and N-benzoyl-1,3-benzoxazine-2,4-dione (III) was studied spectrophotometrically at physiological temperature. The rate of hydrolysis was found to be independent on the substrate concentration. In case of I, the reaction was fractional order with respect to [OH(-)] while for II and III, reaction obeyed the first order kinetics. Effect of cationic surfactants with varying hydrophobic chains (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB, tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide, TTAB and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide, DTAB) and with different head-group (cetyl pyridinium chloride, CPC) and anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) was also seen on the rate of alkaline hydrolysis of the carsalam and its derivatives. Cationic surfactants first catalyzed the rate of hydrolysis at lower concentrations followed by the inhibition at higher concentrations. The length of the alkyl chain had remarkable effect on the catalytic efficiency of the surfactants. Similarly N-substitution on substrate also increased the catalysis by micelles. The anionic surfactant SDS inhibited the rate of hydrolysis at all of the concentrations studied. The catalysis by cationic micelles followed by inhibition was treated in terms of the pseudophase ion-exchange model, while for the inhibition by SDS micelles the Menger-Portnoy model was used to fit the data. The effect of salts (NaCl, NaBr and (CH(3))(4)NBr) was also seen on the hydrolysis of II and it was found that all salts inhibited the rate of reaction. The inhibition follows the trend NaCl

Micellar effects on the alkaline hydrolysis of isatin and its derivatives.

Herein we have investigated the hydrolysis of 1H-indol-2,3-dione (isatin, I) and its derivatives of different hydrophobicities, viz. N-dimethylaminomethyl indol-2,3-dione (II), N-morpholinomethyl indol-2,3-dione (III), N-pipridinomethyl indol-2,3-dione (IV), N-heptylaminomethyl indol-2,3-dione (V), N-dodecylaminomethyl indol-2,3-dione (VI), N-hexylanilinomethyl indol-2,3-dione (VII), N-decylanilinomethyl indol-2,3-dione (VIII), and N-hexadecylanilinomethyl indol-2,3-dione (IX), in the presence of an excess amount of sodium hydroxide. All the isatin derivatives were synthesized in the laboratory. The progress of the reactions was studied by exploiting UV-visible spectrophotometry. The observed rate constant, k(w), increases linearly on increasing the hydroxide ion concentration, indicating first-order dependence on [OH(-)]. The effects of surfactants, cationic (cetyltrimethylammonium chloride, CTACl), and anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) were also investigated. The rate of reaction increased on increasing the concentration of CTACl and, after reaching a maximum, it started decreasing. Conversely, anionic micelles of SDS inhibited the rate of hydrolysis of isatin and its derivatives. The results of the effect of CTACl were analyzed using a pseudophase ion-exchange model while the inhibition by SDS was analyzed using a simple Menger-Portnoy model. The effects of added salts, such as NaBr, NaCl, and (CH(3))(4)NBr, were also seen on the isatin hydrolysis. It was found that the addition of salts decreased the rate enhancement efficiency of the CTACl.