Regioisomeric thieno[3,4-d]thiazole-based A-Q-D-Q-A-type NIR acceptors for efficient non-fullerene organic solar cells.

This study explores the potential of regioisomeric quinoidal-resonance π-spacers in designing near-infrared (NIR) non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) for high-performance organic solar cell devices. Adopting thienothiazole as the π-spacer, two new isomeric A-Q-D-Q-A NFAs, TzN-S and TzS-S, are designed and synthesized. Both NFAs demonstrate a broad spectral response extended to the NIR region. However, they exhibit different photovoltaic properties when they were mixed with the PCE10 donor to fabricate respective solar cells. The optimal device of TzS-S achieves a PCE of 10.75%, much higher than that of TzN-S based ones (6.13%). The more favorable energetic offset and better molecular packing contribute to the better charge generation and transport, which explains the relative superiority of TzS-S NFA. This work sheds new light on the regioisomeric effect of component materials for optoelectronic applications.

Natural products based crown ethers: synthesis and their anticancer potential.

Natural products based novel crown ethers have been prepared by employing biologically active natural structures including tetrahydroisoquinoline, chrysin and biochanin-A as the side arms. The resulting crown scaffolds were evaluated for their anticancer potential against two cancer cell lines i.e. NCI-H460 (non-small lung carcinoma), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma). The comparative study showed that the addition of crown scaffold put marked effects on antiproliferative profile of parent natural precursors and is significant for lung carcinoma in particular. Biochanin-A derived crown ether showed three (03) folds higher antiproliferative activity (IC50 = 6.08 ± 0.07 µM) against lung carcinoma as compared to standard drug cisplatin (IC50 = 19.00 ± 1.24 µM). Cytotoxic trends for NIH-3T3 cell lines were also examined and found reduced as compared to parent natural structures. Hence, these findings could open a new pathway towards developing effective carcinostatic drugs.HIGHLIGHTSFour natural products based novel crown ethers have been developed.Comparative antiproliferative screening of crown ethers and natural precursors.Addition of crown showed marked effects on anticancer profile of natural products.Crown formation is significant for lung carcinoma potential in particular.Biochanin-A derived crown ether found three folds more active than standard drug.

Natural products embedded crown ethers as potent insulin secretory agents.

Natural products embedded crown ethers were prepared by utilizing bioactive natural products including chrysin, tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ), and biochanin-A. The prepared crown ether scaffolds were evaluated and compared with their natural product precursors for insulin secretory activity on isolated mice islets and for their fluorescent properties. All the crown adducts were found more active as compared to their natural product precursors. Bischrysin 32-crown-10 (6d), THIQ 15-Crown-5 (6a) and chrysin 16-crown-5 (6c) showed mild, moderate and strong insulin secretory activity, respectively when compared with the standard drug tolbutamide (TB). Particularly crown derivative 6c showed strong activity (31.10 ng/islet/h) that is almost two (02) fold higher than that of standard drug TB (16.82 ng/islet/h). To the best of our knowledge crown ethers based antidiabetic study is being reported for the first time in literature through this work. Furthermore, fluorescence study showed the significant increase in absorption and emission maximum (hypsochromic effect) in crown structures when compared with their natural product precursors. Present optimistic results obtained from this study may be a guided template for developing new effective insulin secretory agents.

New series of 3,5-disubstituted tetrahydro-2H-1,3,5-thiadiazine thione (THTT) derivatives: Synthesis and potent antileishmanial activity.

Four series of heterocyclic compounds, namely, tetrahydro-2H-1,3,5-thiadiazine thione derivatives were synthesized in good to excellent yields and were screened for their in vitro antileishmanial activities against Leishmania major (promastigotes). Most of the compounds showed significant antileishmanial activity within the range of IC50 = 15.48-39.36 µM when compared with standard pentamidine (IC50 = 14.95 µM). The structure-activity relationship showed that N-3 and N-5 substituents have a key role against leishmanicidal activity. The ester analogues (series B) were found to have a 1.5 to 5-fold reduced activity compared to their acidic counterparts. Cytotoxicity against mammalian mouse fibroblast 3 T3 cells was also evaluated and compared between the acid and its ester analogue. The reduction of antileishmanial activity and loss of toxicity in the newly developed THTT ester derivative indicates that these compounds can be used as a template study for the production of effective antileishmanial ester prodrugs.

Antioxidant Activity and Volatile and Phenolic Profiles of Essential Oil and Different Extracts of Wild Mint (Mentha longifolia) from the Pakistani Flora.

The antioxidant activity and free radical scavenging capacity of the essential oil and three different extracts of wildly grown Mentha longifolia (M. longifolia) were studied. The essential oil from M. longifolia aerial parts was isolated by hydrodistillation technique using Clevenger-type apparatus. The extracts were prepared with three solvents of different polarity (n-hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol) using Soxhlet extractor. Maximum extract yield was obtained with methanol (12.6 g/100 g) while the minimum with dichloromethane (3.50 g/100 g). The essential oil content was found to be 1.07 g/100 g. A total of 19 constituents were identified in the M. longifolia oil using GC/MS. The main components detected were piperitenone oxide, piperitenone, germacrene D, borneol, and ß -caryophyllene. The total phenolics (TP) and total flavonoids (TF) contents of the methanol extract of M. longifolia were found to be significantly higher than dichloromethane and hexane extracts. The dichloromethane and methanol extracts exhibited excellent antioxidant activity as assessed by 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging ability, bleaching ß -carotene, and inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation assays. The essential oil and hexane extract showed comparatively weaker antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities. The results of the study have validated the medicinal and antioxidant potential of M. longifolia essential oil and extracts.