Synthesis of calix (4) resorcinarene based amphiphilic macrocycle as an efficient nanocarrier for Amphotericin-B to enhance its oral bioavailability.

The supramolecular-based macrocyclic amphiphiles have fascinating attention and find extensive utilization in the pharmaceutical industry for efficient drug delivery. In this study, we designed and synthesized a new supramolecular amphiphilic macrocycle to serve as an efficient nanocarrier, achieved by treating 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde with 1-bromotetradecane. The derivatized product was subsequently treated with resorcinol to cyclize, resulting in the formation of a calix(4)-resorcinarene-based supramolecular amphiphilic macrocycle. The synthesized macrocycle and intermediate products were characterized using mass spectrometry, IR, and 1H NMR spectroscopic techniques. The amphotericin-B (Amph-B)-loaded and unloaded amphiphiles were screened for biocompatibility studies, vesicle formation, particle shape, size, surface charge, drug entrapment, in-vitro release profile, and stability through atomic force microscopy (AFM), Zetasizer, HPLC, and FT-IR. Amph-B -loaded macrocycle-based niosomal vesicles were investigated for in-vivo bioavailability in rabbits. The synthesized macrocycle exhibited no cytotoxicity against normal mouse fibroblast cells and was found to be hemocompatible and safe in mice following an acute toxicity study. The drug-loaded macrocycle-based vesicles appeared spherical, nano-sized, and homogeneous in size, with a notable negative surface charge. The vesicles remained stable after 30 days of storage. The results of Amph-B oral bioavailability and pharmacokinetics revealed that the newly tailored niosomal formulation enhanced drug solubility, protected drug degradation at gastric pH, facilitated sustained drug release at the specific target site, and delayed plasma drug clearance. Incorporating such advanced niosomal formulations in the field of drug delivery systems has the potential to revolutionize therapeutic outcomes and improve the quality of patient well-being.

A comprehensive study of product distributions and coke deposition during catalytic cracking of vacuum gas oil over hierarchical zeolites.

In this study, zeolites (Z) were used as catalysts in the cracking of a Colombian vacuum gas oil (VGO), with a focus on product distribution and coke deposition. The catalytic tests were carried out in a MAT-type reactor under typical conditions. The zeolites were subjected to alkaline treatment with NaOH at concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 0.4 mol/L, resulting in the creation of several samples (Z-0.05, Z-0.10, Z-0.20, Z-0.30 and Z-0.40) that were then hydrothermally stabilized (Z-0.05-M, Z-0.10-M, Z-0.20-M, Z-0.30-M and Z-0.40-M) to increase mesoporosity and reduced crystallinity. The increase in mesoporosity was accompanied by an improvement in acidity. Despite Z-0.30-M having higher acidity, Z-0.00-M and Z-0.10-M exhibited the highest activity due to their high crystallinity and microporosity, yielding the highest gas yields. Gasoline was the main product, with maximum yields exceeding 30%. Z-0.20-M produced more aromatic and olefin compounds than the others, resulting in higher quality gasoline. Coke formation followed the trend: Z-0.00-M < Z-0.10-M < Z-0.20-M < Z-0.30-M. The higher intracrystalline mesoporosity in the zeolites favored the formation of a more condensed coke.

Iron Oxide Powder as Responsible for the Generation of Industrial Polypropylene Waste and as a Co-Catalyst for the Pyrolysis of Non-Additive Resins.

For the synthesis of polymeric resins, it is of great importance to review the raw materials and the equipment to be used to avoid the presence of compounds that may affect the effectiveness of the polymerization and the characteristics of the plastic to be obtained. Iron oxide is a compound that can be present in reactors after maintenance due to the techniques used and the cleaning of this equipment, and it can affect the characteristics of the resins, reducing their quality. In this study, the presence of FeO in different concentrations was evaluated to determine its effects on the properties and pyrolysis of polypropylene resins by using X-ray refraction to determine the elements of the samples, evaluating thermal degradation by TGA, the variation in molecular weight by measuring the MFI, and the compounds obtained from pyrolysis by chromatography. The results showed that the thermal degradation decreased as the FeO concentration increased, while for the MFI, the relationship was directly proportional. The evaluation of the compounds obtained from pyrolysis showed an increase in the production of alcohols, alkynes, ketones, and acids, and a decrease in alkanes and alkenes, showing that FeO affects the properties of polypropylene and the compounds that are produced during pyrolysis.

Experimental Study of the Impact of Trace Amounts of Acetylene and Methylacetylene on the Synthesis, Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Polypropylene.

During the production of polymer-grade propylene, different processes are used to purify this compound and ensure that it is of the highest quality. However, some impurities such as acetylene and methyl acetylene are difficult to remove, and some of these impurities may be present in the propylene used to obtain polypropylene, which may have repercussions on the process. This study evaluates the impact of these acetylene and methyl acetylene impurities on the productivity of the polypropylene synthesis process and on the mechanical and thermal properties of the material obtained through the synthesis of eight samples with different concentrations of acetylene and eight samples with different concentrations of acetylene. We discovered that for the first concentrations of both acetylene (2 and 3 ppm) and methyl acetylene (0.03 and 0.1), the MFI, thermal recording, and mechanical properties of the resin were unaffected by the variation of the fluidity index, thermal degradation by TGA, and mechanical properties such as resistance to tension, bending, and impact. However, when the concentration exceeded 14 ppm for methyl acetylene and 12 ppm for acetylene, the resistance of this resin began to decrease linearly. Regarding production, this was affected by the first traces of acetylene and methyl acetylene progressively decreasing.

Pre-concentration of rosuvastatin using solid-phase extraction in a molecularly imprinted polymer and analytical application in water supply.

In this work, it is shown the development and validation of innovative analytical methodology based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) with molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) as a sorbent associated to UV-Vis spectroscopy to isolate and quantify, respectively, rosuvastatin (RSV) in water samples. For this purpose, porogenic solvent in MIP synthesis and SPE extraction parameters for MIP and non-imprinted polymers (NIP) were evaluated univariately for comparison purposes. The sorptive capacity and characterization studies by infrared spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy showed difference between MIP and NIP. The selectivity study of the MIP-RSV against other statins (simvastatin and atorvastatin) showed that the synthesized MIP can also be applied as a solid phase for isolation and quantitative pre-concentration of RSV and atorvastatin. The conjugation of SPE and UV-Vis spectroscopy in the determination of RSV in aqueous matrices led to large factor of pre-concentration (125 times), limit of detection (LOD) of 3 µg L-1, limit of quantification (LOQ) of 10 µg L-1, precision of 2.87% (n = 10), and accuracy of 83.1% (n = 4).

Quantification of neomycin in rubella vaccine by off/on metal ion mediated photoluminescence from functionalized graphene quantum dots.

The determination of neomycin sulfate was made using photoluminescent amino-functionalized graphene quantum dots (obtained from hydro-exfoliation of a mixture of citric acid and glutathione). From the several ions tested, Fe3+ was the best mediator to enable an off/on photoluminescence effect used for quantification. The mediation of Fe3+ was found to be crucial as it is responsible for the photoluminescence quenching effect, due to the interaction with quantum dots surface, also having large affinity towards neomycin that removes Fe3+ from the surface of GQDs, consequently, promoting restoration of the original nanomaterial photoluminescence. Such signal restoration was proportional to the neomycin sulfate concentration added. The linearized analytical response covered three orders of magnitude (10-7 to 10-5 mol L-1). The proposed method is an alternative to those requiring labor-intensive procedures for chemical the derivatization of neomycin (due to the lack of chromophore groups in aminoglycosides). The method was successfully tested in the analysis of rubella vaccine containing trace residues of neomycin and in pharmaceutical compositions containing neomycin sulfate after solid phase extraction using an aminoglycoside imprinted polymer to improve selectivity in determinations.

Gold nanoparticles coupled with graphene quantum dots in organized medium to quantify aminoglycoside anti-biotics in yellow fever vaccine after solid phase extraction using a selective imprinted polymer.

The determination of kanamycin sulfate was made indirectly by measuring its effect on photoluminescent amino functionalized graphene quantum dots (GQDs-amino) associated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that were produced by the reduction of AuCl4 with NaBH4 in an aqueous dispersion of GQDs-amino (obtained by the pyrolysis of citric acid and glutathione) also containing the cationic surfactant CTAB. The AuNPs-GQDs-amino-CTAB system presents a suppressed photoluminescence that is amplified in the presence of kanamycin. Under optimized experimental conditions, the photoluminescence amplification of the nanomaterial system showed a linear response as a function of kanamycin concentration, covering three orders of magnitude (10-7 to 10-5 mol L-1). The use of solid phase extraction with a cartridge packed with aminoglycoside selective molecularly imprinted polymer ensured selectivity in determinations made on yellow-fever vaccine and veterinary pharmaceutical formulations. The analytical results were statistically similar to those obtained with an HPLC-based fluorescence method (after chemical derivatization). The proposed method is a simple, sensitive and selective approach that does not involve the use of toxic reagents employed for chemical derivatization of aminoglycoside antibiotics.

Kanamycin detection at graphene quantum dot-decorated gold nanoparticles in organized medium after solid-phase extraction using an aminoglycoside imprinted polymer.

This is a description of the indirect determination of kanamycin sulfate though the photoluminescence enhancement of an aqueous dispersion of amino-functionalized graphene quantum dots (amino-GQDs) coupled with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in a cationic surfactant-rich medium. Specifically, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was used as the cationic surfactant in our work. Previously, solid phase extraction with a cartridge packed with aminoglycoside-selective imprinted polymer ensured selectivity in kanamycin determination in yellow-fever vaccine and veterinary pharmaceutical samples. The proposed method has trace analysis capability and it is simple to perform as it does not involve the use of toxic reagents employed for chemical derivatization of aminoglycoside antibiotics.