Antibacterial sesquiterpenes from the stems and roots of Thuja sutchuenensis.

Eight new sesquiterpenes with diverse skeletons involving four cuparenes, denominated thujasutchins F-I (1-4), one eudesmane and one cedrol, named thujasutchin J (5) and thujasutchin K (6), as well as two thujopsenes thujasutchins L-M (7-8) together with three known congener compounds (9-11) were isolated from EtOAc soluble fraction of ethanolic extract of the stems and roots of Thuja sutchuenensis. Their structures including absolute configurations were unambiguously established by extensive interpretation of the NMR and mass spectroscopic data, X-ray diffractions, and ECD measurements powered by molecular calculations. The biological assays disclosed that 5 and 9 displayed potent inhibitory effect against Staphylococcus. aureus (CMCC 26003), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (JCSC 4744), Bacillus cereus (ATCC 10876), and Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 12228) with MICs ranging from 6.25 to 25 µg/mL.

Theoretical study on the radical scavenging activity and mechanism of four kinds of Gnetin molecule.

As an important subgroup of resveratrol oligomers, Gnetins received much attention due to their antioxidants. The four Gnetin molecules are divided into two major categories according to different structures, type-A (Gnetin-C, Gnetin-D) and type-B (Gnetin-L, Gnetin-F). Density functional theory (DFT) has been performed thermodynamically and kinetically in detail to analyze the structure and antioxidant activity of four Gnetins toward OH/OOH radical in the gas and solvents phase with four possible antioxidant mechanisms, namely, Hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT), Single electron transfer followed by proton transfer (SET-PT), Sequential proton-loss electron transfer (SPLET), and Radical adduct formation (RAF). From these calculations; Gnetins' order of antioxidant activity was estimated as: Gnetin-C ≈ Gnetin-L > Resveratrol > Gnetin-D > Gnetin-F. All investigations suggested that type A has a higher radical scavenging activity compared to type B. On the basis of the structure-activity relationship, type A structure may have more vital antioxidant potential in the future.

Radical Scavenging Activity of Puerarin: A Theoretical Study.

Puerarin is a C-glycoside of daidzein, one of the major bioactive ingredients isolated from the root of Pueraria lobata, which has a wide spectrum of pharmacological effects. Although puerarin is well-known for its effective antioxidant activity, there is seldom a systematic theoretical study on its radical scavenging activity. Herein, the free radical scavenging ability of puerarin was investigated systematically by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The reaction activity was compared with daidzein as well. Three reaction pathways: hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), single electron transfer followed by proton transfer (SET-PT), and sequential proton loss electron transfer (SPLET) were discussed and compared by thermodynamic parameters such as bond dissociation enthalpy (BDE), ionization potential (IP), proton dissociation enthalpy (PDE), proton affinity (PA), and electron transfer enthalpy (ETE). The reaction kinetics of puerarin with special radicals •OH and •OOH were also studied. The results obtained may be of great significance for better understanding the relationship between the antioxidant properties and structural design of puerarin, as well as other antioxidants.

Optical spin noise spectra of Rb atomic gas with homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening.

We study the optical spin noise spectra of Rb atomic gas with different broadening mechanisms. The first is homogeneous broadening using 250 Torr nitrogen buffer gas, while the other mechanism is inhomogeneous broadening via the Doppler effect without buffer gas. Spin noise signals are measured by the typical spin noise spectroscopy geometry (single-pass geometry) and the saturated absorption spectroscopy geometry (double-pass geometry). In the homogeneously broadened system, the line shape of the optical spin noise spectra shows a pronounced dip that vanishes at the center of the band in both geometries. In the inhomogeneously broadened system, however, a peak in the single-pass geometry and a dip in the double-pass geometry at the band center are observed. The difference between the optical spin noise spectra from these two systems arises from their different level-broadening mechanisms.