Estimating the Ground and Excited State Dipole Moments of Levofloxacin and Norfloxacin Drugs Using Solvatochromic Effects and Computational Work

Levofloxacin (LVF) and norfloxacin (NRF) are a group of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, broad spectrum used to treat various infections caused by many bacterial species. The drugs contain functional groups which control the type and degree of interaction with different solvents. In this research, the ground and excited state dipole moments of LVF and NRF drugs were estimated using solvatochromic effects and computational work. The dipole moments were estimated from absorption and emission spectra in polar and nonpolar solvents using Bakhshiev’s, Kawski–Chamma–Viallet, Lippert–Mataga, and Reichardt models. The results indicated the emission spectra are more strongly affected by solvent polarity than the absorption spectra. The calculated excited state dipole moment is larger than that of the ground state, indicating that the probe compounds are significantly more polarized in the excited state than in the ground state. From computational work, the HOMO-LUMO energy band gap, the dipole moments, electron charge density distribution, and oscillator strength were determined using the semiempirical MP6 method, DFT-B3LYP-6-31G, and DFT-B3LYP-3-21G employing Gaussian 09 software. In general, larger dipole moments were obtained by computation rather than from experiments due to the absence of solvent effects.

Modeling the Liquid Phase Exfoliation of Graphene in Polar and Nonpolar Solvents

Exfoliation is a promising technique to obtain graphene from graphite. The search for suitable exfoliation solvents is currently underway. The quality of the solvents used for spontaneous exfoliation is determined by a simple thermodynamic model. The model shows that the solvation energy of the organic solvents is higher for NMP (-177.37 mJ m-2) than other nonpolar solvents. It also shows that the solvation energy is correlated with sheet deformation and surface excess. Four groups of effective solvents are identified, including amine-, sulfoxide-, halogen-benzene-based solvents, in addition to cyclic structures with the oxygen atom. One can predict and screen potential solvents for spontaneous graphene exfoliation based on the reported mechanism.

Silica gel and microwave-promoted synthesis of dihydropyrrolizines and tetrahydroindolizines from enaminones

A wide range of N-(ethoxycarbonylmethyl)enaminones, prepared by the Eschenmoser sulfide contraction between N-(ethoxycarbonylmethyl)pyrrolidine-2-thione and various bromomethyl aryl and heteroaryl ketones, underwent cyclization in the presence of silica gel to give ethyl 6-(hetero)aryl-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolizine-5-carboxylates within minutes upon microwave heating in xylene at 150 °C. Instead of functioning as a nucleophile, the enaminone acted as an electrophile at its carbonyl group during the cyclization. Yields of the bicyclic products were generally above 75%. The analogous microwave-assisted reaction to produce ethyl 2-aryl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroindolizine-3-carboxylates from (E)-ethyl 2-[2-(2-oxo-2-arylethylidene)piperidin-1-yl]acetates failed in nonpolar solvents, but occurred in ethanol at lower temperature and microwave power, although requiring much longer time. A possible mechanism for the cyclization is presented, and further functionalization of the newly created pyrrole ring in the dihydropyrrolizine core is described.

Molecule transfer mechanism in 2D heterostructured lamellar membranes: The effects of dissolution and diffusion

Two-dimensional (2D) lamellar membranes are promising for efficient molecule transfer, while the underlying molecule transfer mechanism is rarely elucidated. Herein, heterostructured nanosheets are prepared by self-assembling small-sized hydrophilic cyanuric acid melamine (CMN) and hydrophobic g-C3N4 nanosheets. The resultant lamellar membranes show comparable affinity to both polar and nonpolar solvents, allowing them to dissolve on membrane surface and diffuse through membrane channels. Permeance results demonstrate that the transfer of polar solvents is controlled by dissolution and diffusion processes, while that of nonpolar solvents is governed by dissolution process. And the corresponding equations are established. Importantly, polar solvents are induced to form ordered arrangement in hydrophilic nanodomains and then maintain this state in hydrophobic nanodomains, affording low-resistance transfer thus high permeance: 1025 L m-2 h-1 bar-1 for acetonitrile. In contrast, nonpolar solvents with disordered arrangement acquire lower permeance than that of polar ones, but with comparable diffusion ability in these membranes.

Biocatalytic Silylation: The Condensation of Phenols and Alcohols with Triethylsilanol

Silicatein-α (Silα), a hydrolytic enzyme derived from siliceous marine sponges, is one of the few enzymes in nature capable of catalysing the metathesis of silicon–oxygen bonds. It is therefore of interest as a possible biocatalyst for the synthesis of organosiloxanes. To further investigate the substrate scope of this enzyme, a series of condensation reactions with a variety of phenols and aliphatic alcohols were carried out. In general, it was observed that Silα demonstrated a preference for phenols, though the conversions were relatively modest in most cases. In the two pairs of chiral alcohols that were investigated, it was found that the enzyme displayed a preference for the silylation of the S-enantiomers. Additionally, the enzyme’s tolerance to a range of solvents was tested. Silα had the highest level of substrate conversion in the nonpolar solvents n-octane and toluene, although the inclusion of up to 20% of 1,4-dioxane was tolerated. These results suggest that Silα is a potential candidate for directed evolution toward future application as a robust and selective biocatalyst for organosiloxane chemistry.

Features of the Electronic Structure of Excited Quadrupolar Molecules in Non-Polar Solvents

Interactions of the electronic subsystem of the quadrupolar fluorophore with intramolecular highfrequency antisymmetric vibrations and solvent polarization are responsible for charge transfer symmetry breaking (SB), which is observed after optical excitation of such molecules in polar solvents. It is known that although these two interactions are mathematically described in similar ways, only the interaction of the fluorophore with solvent orientational polarization can create a state with broken symmetry if this interaction is strong enough. Nevertheless, the interaction of a quadrupolar fluorophore with intramolecular highfrequency antisymmetric vibrations in nonpolar solvents leads to a considerable reconstruction of the electronic subsystem. The analysis of the excited state of quadrupolar molecules in nonpolar solvents performed in this study reveals that such molecules can behave like quantum twostate systems, that is, as a quasispin s = 1/2, having an electric dipole moment instead of a magnetic one. This feature of excited quadrupolar molecules may be of interest to emerging technologies of molecular electronics.

Development of an Enzyme-Coated Microcantilever-Based Biosensor for Specific Detection of Short-Chain Alcohols

This paper describes the development of a biosensor designed for the enzymatic detection of short-chain alcohols. The biorecognition element, alcohol dehydrogenase, was immobilized on self-assembled monolayers deposited on top of silicon nitride microcantilevers. The self-assembly process was performed by surface activation using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, followed by glutaraldehyde and biomolecule binding. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy were used. The biosensor showed a lower response time and sensibility from 0.03 to 1.2 mL/L. Its selectivity was analyzed through exposure to pure and mixed volatile solvents. Sensor sensibility was higher in the presence of short-chain alcohols and practically null involving other polar or nonpolar solvents.