Bio-based polyester-polyurethane foams: synthesis and degradability by Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus clavatus.

In this article, the degradability by Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus clavatus of three bio-based polyurethane (PU) foams is compared to previous degradability studies involving a Pseudomonas sp. bacterium and similar initial materials (Spontón et al. in Int. Biodet. Biodeg. 85:85-94, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2013.05.019 ). First, three new polyester-polyurethane foams were prepared from mixtures of castor oil (CO), maleated castor oil (MACO), toluene diisocyanate (TDI), and water. Then, their degradation tests were carried out in an aqueous medium, and employing the two mentioned fungi, after their isolation from the environment. From the degradation tests, the following was observed: (a) the insoluble (and slightly collapsed) foams exhibited free hydroxyl, carboxyl, and amine moieties; and (b) the water soluble (and low molar mass) compounds contained amines, carboxylic acids, and glycerol. The most degraded foam contained the highest amount of MACO, and therefore the highest concentration of hydrolytic bonds. A basic biodegradation mechanism was proposed that involves hydrolysis and oxidation reactions.

PEGylation of Chrysin Improves Its Water Solubility while Preserving the In Vitro Biological Activity.

Chrysin is a natural flavonoid that despite having numerous biological properties, its therapeutic value is limited due to its very low solubility in aqueous media. In this work, chrysin was conjugated with methoxypolyethylene glycols (mPEGs) of different molecular weights (350, 500, 750, and 2000 g/mol), affording PEGylated chrysins with high yields and excellent purities. In all cases, an increase in the water solubility of the conjugates was observed, which was highest when 500 g/mol of mPEG was used in the PEGylation reaction. Furthermore, in aqueous solution, PEGylated chrysins formed aggregates of ellipsoid shape. Electrochemical studies showed that the redox properties were conserved after PEGylation. While in vitro antibacterial and antifungal studies probed that the intrinsic activity was conserved, in vitro antitumor activities against HepG2 (liver carcinoma cells) and PC3 (prostate cancer cell) showed that PEGylated chrysins retained the cytotoxic activity and the ability of induction of apoptosis for the evaluated human cancer cells.

PEGylation of genistein-loaded bovine serum albumin nanoparticles and its effect on in vitro cell viability and genotoxicity properties.

Self-assembled bovine serum albumin nanoparticles loaded with the isoflavone genistein have shown apoptosis-mediated cytotoxicity against murine mammary adenocarcinoma F3II cells. Due to their protein nature and small particle size (13-15 nm), their parenteral administration could be affected by possible immunogenic reactions and rapid clearance from the bloodstream. To avoid these problems, PEGylation of the systems was achieved in this work by using a 30 kDa methoxy-polyethylene glycol carbonyl imidazole derivative through the reaction between the carbonyl imidazole group and the amino groups of Lys residues on the protein surface, which was confirmed by a 17% reduction in the available amino groups content measured by the o-phthaldialdehyde method. PEGylated isoforms were obtained, showing an increase of particle size from 13 to 15 nm to around 260 nm, and were purified by SEC-FPLC and characterized by SDS-PAGE, DLS and AFM techniques. The effect of PEGylation on BSAnp-Gen cytotoxicity and genotoxicity against F3II cells was evaluated in vitro by MTT assay, flow cytometry analysis and micronucleus assay. From the results, PEGylation produced an improvement of the biological properties of genistein-loaded nanoparticles in terms of cytotoxicity (lower IC50), not affecting the induction of apoptosis, decreasing the genotoxicity of the systems (less induction of micronucleus formation).

Cobalt Corroles as Electrocatalysts for Water Oxidation: Strong Effect of Substituents on Catalytic Activity.

Two Co(III) complexes (1Py2 and 2Py2) of new corrole ligands H3L1 (5,15-bis(p-methylcarboxyphenyl)-10-(o-methylcarboxyphenyl)corrole) and H3L2 (5,15-bis(p-nitrophenyl)-10-(o-methylcarboxyphenyl)corrole) with two apical pyridine ligands have been synthesized and thoroughly characterized by cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis-NIR, and EPR spectroscopy, spectroelectrochemistry, single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies, and DFT methods. Complexes 1Py2 and 2Py2 possess much lower oxidation potentials than cobalt(III)-tris-pentafluorophenylcorrole (Co(tpfc)) and similar corroles containing pentafluorophenyl (C6F5) substituents, thus allowing access to high oxidation states of the former metallocorroles using mild chemical oxidants. The spectroscopic (UV-vis-NIR and EPR) and electronic properties of several oxidation states of these complexes have been determined by a combination of the mentioned methods. Complexes 1Py2 and 2Py2 undergo three oxidations within 1.3 V vs FcH+/FcH in MeCN, and we show that both complexes catalyze water oxidation in an MeCN/H2O mixture upon the third oxidation, with kobs (TOF) values of 1.86 s-1 at 1.29 V (1Py2) and 1.67 s-1 at 1.37 V (2Py2). These values are five times higher than previously reported TOF values for C6F5-substituted cobalt(III) corroles, a finding we ascribe to the additional charge in the corrole macrocycle due to the increased oxidation state. This work opens up new possibilities in the study of metallocorrole water oxidation catalysts, particularly by allowing spectroscopic probing of high-oxidation states and showing strong substituent-effects on catalytic activity of the corrole complexes.

Photo-curable poly-(ethylene glycol)-fumarate elastomers with controlled structural composition and their evaluation as eluting systems.

Elastomeric poly-ester materials have extraordinary potential for soft tissue engineering applications. In connection, in the last 10 years, cross-linkable oligo-(polyethylene glycol fumarate)s emerged as promising materials for obtaining hydrogels for bone tissue engineering applications. In this work we prepared a new family of photo-curable poly-(ethylene glycol)-fumarate elastomers with controlled structural composition. These novel elastomers were obtained by photo-curing of fumarate pre-polymers based on diethylene glycol and oligo-ethylene glycols (PEGs 200 and 400), under extremely mild experimental conditions using a low power UV source. The synthesis of fumarate pre-polymers, which were obtained by thermal poly-condensation, and the photo-curing process, were both here discussed on the basis of their structural differences and proposed operating mechanisms. Finally, the photo-radical cross-linking reactions were performed in the presence of anti-cancer drugs (doxorubicin and paclitaxel), in order to evaluate the potential application of the elastomers as new eluting systems. Thus, different release profiles were obtained for hydrophilic (doxorubicin) and hydrophobic (paclitaxel) anticancer drugs, and these differences are discussed on the basis of the structure of the elastomers.

Radical amination with trimethylstannylated benzophenone imine.

Intermolecular radical amination reactions of various primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl radicals by using trimethylstannylated benzophenone imine A as a novel radical acceptor to provide imines of type B are described. These imines are readily reduced with NaBH(4) to the corresponding secondary amines C. The novel radical amination can be combined with typical radical cyclization reactions.

Fast tin-free hydrodehalogenation and reductive radical cyclization reactions: a new reduction process.

The photostimulated reactions of several aryl and alkyl chlorides and bromides with the monoanion of reduced ethyl benzoate 5H furnish the reduced products in high yields. If the aryl moieties have suitable double bonds, the cyclized reduced products are obtained in high yields. The photostimulated reaction of 1-allyloxy-2-bromobenzene (1a) with 5H affords 3-methyl-2,3-dihydro-benzofuran (2a) in 97% yield. When 1-allyloxy-2-chlorobenzene (1b) is used, the yield of 2a is only 55%, which increases up to 91% when acetone enolate ion is added to the reaction mixture as entrainment reagent. With diallyl-(2-bromophenyl)amine (3a), and 2-allyloxy-1-halonaphthalenes (chloro, 4b, and bromo, 4a) the cyclized reduced products are obtained in yields above 96%. By competition experiments, 5H reacts ca. 5 times faster with 1-naphthyl radicals than benzenethiolate ions do, which is near the diffusion limit rate.

Syntheses of 3-substituted 2,3-dihydrobenzofuranes, 1,2-dihydronaphtho(2,1-b)furanes, and 2,3-dihydro-1H-indoles by tandem ring closure-S(RN)1 reactions.

3-Substituted 2,3-dihydrobenzofuranes (7a-c), 1,2-dihydronaphtho(2,1-b)furanes (10a-c), and N-substituted 2,3-dihydro-1H-indoles (8a-c, 9a,b) are obtained in very good yields by S(RN)1 photostimulated reactions in liquid ammonia from adequate haloaromatic compounds ortho-substituted with a suitable double bond (3a,b; 4a,b; 5a; 6a,b) and Me3Sn-, Ph2P-, and -CH2NO2 anions. The novelty of the work involves the versatile application of a 5-exo ring closure process during the propagation cycle of the S(RN)1 reaction; the alkyl radical intermediates formed react with the nucleophiles to afford the ring closure-substituted heterocycles. The factors governing the observed product distribution are discussed.