A series of thioureas were synthesized as inhibitors of NO production in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages. We investigated the effect of lipophilic moiety and N-substituents of the thioureas on the activity. Phenoxazine and carbazole-containing derivatives revealed higher activity than indole-containing thioureas. The appropriate spacer between lipophilic tail and thiourea head and methyl substituent at N3 position of thiourea brought beneficial effect on the inhibition of NO production. Among prepared compounds, phenoxazine-containing derivative 2a was the most potent with $2.32 {\mu}M$ of $IC_{50}$ value. RT-PCR analysis suggested that the prepared thioureas inhibited NO production through the suppression of iNOS mRNA expression.

Noble N-substituted-3-fluoropyrroles derivatives were prepared from new precursor via ring formation. The addition reaction of ethyl iododifluoroacetate to vinyl trimethylsilane under the Cu(0) catalyst resulted in the formation of ethyl-2,2-difluoro-4-iodo-4-(trimethylsilyl)butanolate, which reacted with diisobutylaluminium hydride at $-30^{\circ}C$ to yield 2,2-diflouro-4-iodo-4-(trimethylsilyl)butanal. Finally, a series of N-substituted-3-fluoropyrrole derivatives were synthesized by the reaction of 2,2-diflouro-4-iodo-4-(trimethylsilyl)butanal with $NH_4OH$ or primary amines followed by reaction with KF solution.

A comprehensive comparative investigation of small carbohydrates in laser desorption ionization was performed on supporting materials composed of sodiated 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB), carbon nanotubes, an ionic liquid matrix of DHB-pyridine, a binary matrix of DHB-aminopyrazine, zinc oxide nanoparticles, and gold nanoparticles. The abundance of $[M+Na]^+$ ions, where M is glucose or sucrose, was compared for each supporting material. The highest sensitivity for both glucose and sucrose, with a detection limit of 3 pmol, was observed with carbon nanotubes. Both carbon nanotubes and the ionic liquid matrix exhibited the highest reproducibility.

In this work, we report on the characterization of six low-$T_g$ poly[methyl-3-(9-carbazolyl) propylsiloxane] based photorefractive (PR) composites sensitized with poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) in different concentrations, ranging from 0.2 to 1 wt %. At 632.8 nm, photoconductivity, space charge field, refractive index modulation, and grating buildup time were measured versus external electric field. The photoconductivity was strongly dependent on the visible light absorption and mobility. The magnitude of space charge field was affected by the conductivity contrast $\sigma_{ph}/(\sigma_{ph}+\sigma_d)$. The refractive index modulation increased with the magnitude of space charge field and the PR grating buildup speed increased with the photoconductivity.

A powder, containing 80 percent of blue cobalt aluminate $(CoAl_2O_4)$ crystallites, was synthesized at $210 ^{\circ}C$ using a (metal nitrate-malonic acid-ammonium hydroxide-ammonium nitrate) system. The optimal amount of concentrated ammonia water and initial decomposition temperature were determined for the blue $CoAl_2O_4$ crystallites preparation. Three $CoAl_2O_4$ precursor pastes, corresponding to the various amounts of concentrated ammonia water, were prepared by evaporating the initial solutions in an electric furnace fixed at $80 ^{\circ}C$ under a vacuum of 25 torr. The initial solution was used to dissolve the starting materials. The powder with the maximum content (80%) of blue $CoAl_2O_4$ crystallites was prepared when the prepared precursor was decomposed at $210 ^{\circ}C$. The blue $CoAl_2O_4$ crystallite content in the prepared sample decreased with increasing initial decomposition temperature. For 0.2 mole of the $Al^{3+}$ ion, the chemical compositions of the precursor corresponded to molar ratios of 0.4, 1.40, 2.56 and 2.00 for the $Co^{2+}$ ion, malonic acid, ammonia and ammonium nitrate per mole of the $Al^{3+}$ ion, respectively. The blue $CoAl_2O_4$ crystallite content in the sample decreased with the amount of ammonia deviated from the optimal value. The characteristics of the powders were examined using X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller technique.

Human histamine H1 receptor (HHR1) is a G protein-coupled receptor and a primary target for antiallergic therapy. Here, the ligand-based three-dimensional pharmacophore models were built from a set of known HHR1 inverse agonists using HypoGen module of CATALYST software. All ten generated pharmacophore models consist of five essential features: hydrogen bond acceptor, ring aromatic, positive ionizable and two hydrophobic functions. Best model had a correlation coefficient of 0.854 for training set compounds and it was validated with an external test set with a high correlation value of 0.925. Using this model Maybridge database containing 60,000 compounds was screened for potential leads. A rigorous screening for drug-like compounds unveiled RH01692 and SPB00834, two novel molecules for HHR1 with good CATALYST fit and estimated activity values. The new lead molecules were docked into the active site of constructed HHR1 homology model based on recently crystallized squid rhodopsin as template. Both the hit compounds were found to have critical interactions with Glu177, Phe432 and other important amino acids. The interpretations of this study may effectively be deployed in designing of novel HHR1 inverse agonists.

Calculations are presented for the $\gamma$-aminobutyric acid-$(H_2O)_n$ (n = 0-5) clusters in both canonical and zwitterionic forms. We examine the effects of microsolvation on the structures and transformation between the canonical and zwitterionic forms. The canonical forms are predicted to be more stable for n = 0-4. With five microsolvating water molecules, the two forms of $\gamma$-aminobutyric acid become quasidegenerate, with the energies of zwitterionic forms slightly (by 1 - 3 kcal/mol) higher. The lowest energy zwitterionic conformer of $\gamma$-aminobutyric acid-$(H_2O)_5$ cluster is calculated to isomerize to canonical form through a barrier-less proton transfer process and is thus predicted to be kinetically unstable. Therefore, we predict that the canonical conformers of $\gamma$-aminobutyric acid should be observed predominantly in the gas phase at low temperature in presence of up to five water molecules.

Four quinolone alkaloids were isolated by bioactivity-guided fractionation from the methanol extracts of Evodiae fructus fruits. Structures of compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis ($^1H$-, $^{13}$C-NMR and MS), as follows: 1-methyl-2-undecyl-4(1H)-quinolone (1), evocarpine (2), dihydroevocarpine (3) and mixture of [1-methyl-2-[(Z)-10-pentadecenyl]-4(1H)-quinolone and 1-methyl-2-[(Z)-6-pentadecenyl]-4(1H)-quinolone] (4). They inhibited the interaction of sICAM-1 and LFA-1 in THP-1 cells at $IC_{50}$ values of >150 (1), 109.8 (2), >150 (3) and $40.9 {\mu}M$ (4), respectively,

The new idarubicin analogues (12 and 13) with a glucose or galactoseas as a glycone were synthesized from daunomycin (2). (+)-4-Demethoxydaunomycinone (6) obtained from reaction of 2 with $AlCl_3$ was converted to 4-trifluoromethanesulfonyl daunomycinone (7) through reaction with trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride. The treatment of 7 with 1,1-bis-(diphenylphospino)ferrocene/$Pd(OAc)_2$ in triethylamine/formic acid/dioxane provided the idarubicinone (5b). Glycosylation of 7-hydroxy group of 5b with two kinds of tetraacetyl pyranosyl halide (8 and 9) by a modified Koenigs-Knorr procedure and then deacetylation using aqueous 0.1 N LiOH solution and amberlite cationic resin gave the objective materials. The in vitro MTT assay of the analogues (12b and 13a) in comparison with idarubicin (5a) on peripheral blood human promyelocytic-leukemia cell line and human breast cancer cell line were also described.

The reaction of N,N-diethyl carbamates of 1H-[1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-b]pyridin-1-ol (4-HOAt) 7, 3H-[1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-b]pyridin-3-ol (7-HOAt) 8, 1H-benzo[d][1,2,3]triazol-1-ol (HOBt) 9, 6-chloro-1H-benzo[d][1,2,3]triazol-1-ol (Cl-HOBt) 10, 6-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-benzo[d][1,2,3]triazol-1-ol ($CF_3$-HOBt) 11, and 6-nitro-1H-benzo[d][1,2,3]triazol-1-ol ($NO_2$-HOBt) 12 with morpholine and piperidine in $CH_3CN$ underwent acyl nucleophilic substitution to give the corresponding carboxamide derivatives. The reactants and products were identified by elemental analysis, IR and NMR. We measured the kinetics of these reactions spectrophotometrically in $CH_3CN$ at a range of temperatures. The rates of morpholinolysis and piperidinolysis were found to fit the Hammett equation and correlated with $\sigma$-Hammett values. The values were 1.44 - 1.21 for morpholinolysis and 1.95 - 1.72 for piperidinolysis depending on the temperature. The $Br{\phi}$nsted-type plot was linear with a $\beta_lg = -0.49 \pm 0.02$ and $-0.67 \pm 0.03$. The kinetic data and structure-reactivity relationships indicate that the reaction of 9-12 with amines proceeds by a concerted mechanism. The deviation from linearity of the correlation ${\Delta}H^#$ vs. ${\Delta}S^#$ and plot of $logk_{pip}$ vs. $logk_{morph}$ and $Br{\phi}$nsted-type correlation indicate that the reactions of amines with carbamates 7 and 8 is attributed to the electronic nature of their leaving groups.

Quinine (QN) is a weak anion-exchange type chiral selector and QN-based silica stationary phases have been widely used for enantioseparation of acidic chiral analytes in HPLC and recently in CEC. In this work we report enantioseparation of non-acidic chiral analytes on a quinine carbamate-immobilized zirconia (QNZ) in reversed-phase (RP) CEC. Influences of pH, composition of the buffer, acetonitrile content and the applied voltage on enantioseparation were examined. Enantiomers of the analytes investigated are well separated in acetonitrile/phosphate buffer mobile phases. Separation data on QNZ were compared to those on QN-bonded silica (QNS). Retention was longer but better enantioselectivity and resolution were obtained on QNZ than QNS.

For the discovery of new antivirals against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV), we prepared and evaluated several benzoquinoline compounds as its 3C-like protease (3CLpro) inhibitors. Based on the computer modeling study that each of the two rigid benzoquinolinone and N-phenoltetrazole moieties of the compound 1 is bound to the S1 and S2 sites, respectively, of the SARS protease by forming H-bonds and hydrophobic interactions, we designed and synthesized alkylated benzoquinolines at both the sites of the hydroxyl groups. We found that the compound 2a showed five times higher inhibiting activity against the 3CLpro compared to the compound 1.

Photoexcitation of a precursor ion inside a cell floated at high voltage installed in a tandem time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer provides triple tandem mass spectrometric information and allows kinetic and mechanistic studies. In this work, the factors affecting, or downgrading, the performance of the technique were identified. Ion-optical and computational analyses showed that an optimum instrument could be designed by utilizing a reflectron with linear-plus-quadratic potential inside. Theoretical predictions were confirmed by tests with instruments built with different ion-optical layout. With optimized instruments, masses of intermediate ions in the consecutive dissociation of a precursor ion could be determined with the maximum error of $\pm5$ Da. We also observed excellent agreement in dynamical parameters (critical energy and entropy) for the dissociation of a model peptide ion determined by instruments with different ion-optical layout operated under optimum conditions. This suggests that these parameters can be determined reliably by the kinetic method developed previously when properly designed and operated tandem TOF instruments are used.

In this study, NO reduction behaviors of copper-loaded mesoporous molecular sieves (Cu/MCM-41) have been investigated. The Cu loading on MCM-41 surfaces was accomplished by a chemical reduction method with different Cu contents (5, 10, 20, and 40%). $N_2/77$ K adsorption isotherm characteristics, including the specific surface area and pore volume, were studied by BET's equation. NO reduction behaviors were confirmed by a gas chromatography. From the experimental results, the Cu loading amount on MCM-41 led to the increase of NO reduction efficiency in spite of decreasing the specific surface area of catalysts. This result indicates that highly ordered porous structure in the MCM-41 and the presence of active metal particles lead the synergistical NO reduction reactions due to the increase in adsorption energy of MCM-41 surfaces by the Cu particles.

The heterogeneous electron transfer at $SiMo_{12}O_{40}^{4-}$ monolayers on GC, HOPG, and Au electrode surfaces are investigated using cyclic voltammetric and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) methods. The electron transfer of negatively charged $Fe(CN)_6^{3-}$ species is retarded at $SiMo_{12}O_{40}^{4-}$-modified electrode surfaces, while that of positively charged $Ru(NH_3)_6^{3+}$species is accelerated at the modified surfaces. This is due to the electrostatic interactions between $SiMo_{12}O_{40}^{4-}$ layers on surfaces and charged redox species. The electron transfer kinetics of a neutral redox species, 1,1‘-ferrocenedimethanol (FDM), is not affected by the modification of electrode surfaces with $SiMo_{12}O_{40}^{4-}$, indicating the $SiMo_{12}O_{40}^{4-}$ monolayers do not impart barriers to electron transfer of neutral redox species. This is different from the case of thiolate SAMs which always add barriers to electron transfer. The effect of $SiMo_{12}O_{40}^{4-}$ layers on the electron transfer of charged redox species is dependent on the kind of electrodes, where HOPG surfaces exhibit marked effects. Possible mechanisms responsible for different electron transfer behaviors at $SiMo_{12}O_{40}^{4-}$ layers are proposed.

Transparent conducting undoped and Al impurity doped ZnO films were deposited on glass substrate by spin coat technique using 24 days aged ZnO precursor solution with solution of ethanol and diethanolamine. The films were characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), electrical resistivity ($\rho$), carrier concentration (n), and hall mobility ($\mu$) measurements. XRD data show that the deposited film shows polycrystalline nature with hexagonal wurtzite structure with preferential orientation along (002) crystal plane. The SEM images show that surface morphology, porosity and grain sizes are affected by doping concentration. The Al doped samples show high transmittance and better resistivity. With increasing Al concentration only mild change in optical band gap is observed. Optical properties are not affected by aging of parent solution. A lowest resistivity ($8.5 \times 10^{-2}$ ohm cm) is observed at 2 atomic percent (at.%) Al. With further increase in Al concentration, the resistivity started to increase significantly. The decrease resistivity with increasing Al concentration can be attributed to increase in both carrier concentration and hall mobility.

Adsorption structures of the self-assembled thin films of $\alpha$-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) anchoring on $TiO_2$ surfaces have been studied by using temperature-dependent diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier-transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy. From the presence of the strong $\nu(COO^-)$ band at ~1390 $cm^{-1}$ along with the disappearance of the OH bands in the carboxylic acid group in the DRIFT spectra at room temperature, CHCA appeared to adsorb onto $TiO_2$ surfaces as a carboxylate form. The absence of the out-of-plane benzene ring modes of CHCA in the DRIFT spectra suggests a rather vertical orientation of CHCA on $TiO_2$. Above ~220$ ^{\circ}C$, CHCA seemed to start to thermally degrade on $TiO_2$ surfaces referring from the disappearance of most vibrational modes in the DRIFT spectra, whereas the $\nu$(C ≡ N) bands were found to remain relatively conspicuous as the temperature increased even up to ~460$^{\circ}C$.

Monometallic, bimetallic and trimetallic particles consisting of different weight compositions of Pt-Pd-Rh over pure alumina wash coats have been synthesized and their catalytic performance on methane conversion was studied from 150 to $600^{\circ}C$. Different catalyst formulations with variable Pt, Pd and Rh contents for bimetallic and trimetallic systems were tried and $Pt_{(1.5)}Rh_{(0.3)}/Al_2O_3$ and $Pt_{(1.0)}Pd_{(1.0)}Rh_{(0.3)}/Al_2O_3$ shows low $T_{50}$ and $T_{90}$ temperatures. Bimetallic and trimetallic particle synergism acts as three way catalysts and therefore, all the catalysts show 100% methane conversion. The effect of supports such as $ZrO_2$ and $TiO_2$ on methane combustion was investigated; from $T_{50}$ and $T_{90}$ results both $Al_2O_3$ and $ZrO_2$ are suitable supports for low temperature methane combustion.

Three organic sensitizers, JK-128, JK-129, and JK-130 containing quinoline unit are designed and synthesized. Under standard global AM 1.5 solar condition, the JK-130 sensitized solar cell gave a short circuit photocurrent density of 11.52 mA $cm^{-2}$, an open circuit voltage of 0.70 V, and a fill factor of 0.75, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 6.07%. We found that the $\eta$ of JK-130 was higher than those of other two cells due to the higher photocurrent. The higher $J_{sc}$ value is attributed to the broad and intense absorption spectrum of JK-130.

Photoelectrocatalytic decolorization of methlene blue (MB) in the presence of two types of carbon nanotube/titania and yttrium-treated carbon nanotube/titania electrodes in aqueous solutions were studied under visible light. The prepared composite electrodes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and photoelectrocatalytic activity. The photoelectrocatalytic performances of the supported catalysts were evaluated for the decolorization of MB solution under visible light irradiation. The results showed that yttrium incorporation enhanced the decolorization rate of MB. It was found that the photoelectrocatalytic degradation of a MB solution could be attributed to the combined effects caused by the photo-degradation of titania, the electron assistance of carbon nanotube network, the enhancement of yttrium and a function of the applied potential. The repeatability of photocatalytic activity was also tested. The presence of yttrium enhanced the hydrophillicity of yttrium-carbon nanotubes/titania electrode because more OH groups can be adsorbed on the surface.

The simultaneous detection of Cd (II), Pb (II), Cu (II), and Hg (II) ions in aqueous medium using a BDD electrode with DPASV is described. XPS was used to characterize the chemical states of trace metal ions deposited on the BDD electrode surface. Experimental parameters that affect response, such as pH, deposition time, deposition potential, and pulse amplitude were carefully optimized. The detection limits for Cd (II), Pb (II), Cu (II), and Hg (II) ions were 3.5 ppb, 2.0 ppb, 0.1 ppb and 0.7 ppb, respectively. The application of the BDD electrode on the electrochemical pretreatment for the simultaneous metal detection in the dye waste water was also investigated.

A distinguished class of hydrophobic ionic liquids bearing a Br${\o}$nsted acidic character derived from amide-like compounds were prepared by a neutralization reaction of N,N-diethylformamide, N,N-dibutylformamide, 1-formylpiperidine, and $\varepsilon$-caprolactam with trifluoroacetic acid and physical absorptions of $CO_2$ in these ionic liquids were demonstrated and evaluated. $CO_2$ solubilities in these ionic liquids were influenced by the molecular structure of the cation and were apparently increased with the molar volume. Comparison based on a volume unit reveals that $CO_2$ solubilities in these liquids are relatively higher than those in imidazolium-based ionic liquids. Henry's coefficients calculated from low-pressure solubility tests at 313 to 333 K were used to derive the thermodynamics quantities. Enthalpy and entropy of solvation may share equal contributions in solubility.

In this paper, we characterized bimetallic Pt-Ru/C alloy catalysts having four different compositions and compared the catalytic activities of the prepared alloys for CO oxidation. ICP-AES, EDS, XRD, TEM, and XAS were used to investigate the composition, degree of alloying, particle size, and electronic structure of the prepared Pt-Ru/C catalysts. Those results indicated the synthesis of the alloy catalysts with intended composition and uniform size. The electrochemical study of the characterized alloys showed higher catalytic activity for CO oxidation than that of the commercial Pt/C (E-TEK, Inc., 20 wt %) catalyst. Especially, it was shown that the alloy catalyst with Ru composition of 50 atomic % gave the highest catalytic activity for CO oxidation.

A sensory element against carbaryl, as a widely used pesticide was prepared based on adsorbed acetylcholine esterase (AChE) from Torpedo california. Octadecyl was substituted on macro-porous silica, confirmed by infra-red (IR) spectroscopy and quantitatively estimated through thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). Immobilization of the enzyme was achieved by adsorption on this support. Activity of the immobilization product was measured as a function of the loaded enzyme concentration, and maximum binding capacity of the support was estimated to be 43.18 nmol.mg-1. The immobilized preparations were stable for more than two months at storage conditions and showed consistency in continuous operations. Possible application of the immobilized AChE for quantitative analysis of carbaryl is proposed in this study.

We investigated the adsorption and desorption characteristics of benzene molecules on $Si(001)-2{\times}n$ surfaces using a variable-low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. When benzene was adsorbed on a $Si(001)-2{\times}n$ surface at a low coverage, five distinct adsorption configurations were found: tight-binding (TB), standard-butterfly (SB), twisted-bridge, diagonal-bridge, and pedestal. The TB and SB configurations were the most dominant ones and could be reversibly interconverted, diffused, and desorbed by applying an electric field between the tip and the surface. The population ratios of the TB and SB configurations were affected by the benzene coverage: at high coverage, the population ratio of SB increased over that of TB, which was favored at low coverage. The desorption yield decreased with increasing benzene coverage and/or density of vacancy defect. These results suggest that the interaction between the benzene molecules is important at a high coverage, and that the vacancy defects modify the adsorption and desorption energies of the benzene molecules on Si(001) surface.