Herein, we reported the imino phosphonate compounds: (4‐methoxy‐benzylidene‐amino‐phenyl‐methyl‐phosphonic acid diethyl ester (MBPDE), 4‐hydroxy‐benzylidene‐amino‐phenyl‐methyl‐phosphonic acid diethyl ester (HBPDE) and 4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxy‐benzylidene‐amino‐phenyl‐methyl‐phosphonic acid diethyl ester (HMBPD) form the chemical reaction of diethyl (α‐amino benzyl)phosphonate hydrochloride and substituted benzaldehyde. These compounds were characterized by various spectroscopic techniques: FT‐IR, Mass, UV–VIS, 1H NMR and 13 C NMR. Additionally, the optimized molecular structures, FT‐IR, natural bond orbitals (NBOs), frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), non‐linear optical (NLO) properties were calculated by the density functional theory (DFT) using the B3LYP functional with the 6–311+G(d,p) basis set. Moreover, UV–Visible spectrum of MBPDE, HBPDE and HMBPD were predicted in different solvents using the time dependent TD‐DFT [B3LYP/6‐311+G(d,p)] method using Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM). The non‐linear optical (NLO) properties were calculated by M06 functional with the 6–311+G(d,p) basis set. A synergistic relationship is observed between the experimental and theoretical findings. NBO analysis provided insights about the stability and charge delocalization of the entitled molecules. The global reactivity descriptors were achieved through HOMO‐LUMO energies. The efficiency of the entitled molecules concerning charge transfer and participation in diverse chemical reactivities were figured out perceptibly by applying the frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) analysis. The average polarizability <α> values: 277.184, 261.332 and 280.254 a.u. of the MBPDE, HBPDE and HMBPD were determined respectively. The total first hyperpolarizability (βtot) values of the MBPDE, HBPDE and HMBPD were also obtained to be 992.900, 781.527 and 1107.526 a.u. respectively. The compound HMBPD comprising of higher magnitude of average polarizability and the total first hyperpolarizability (βtot) values than MBPDE and HBPDE molecules. Moreover, NLO properties of urea molecule were found smaller in comparison to the MBPDE, HBPDE and HMBPD. The medicinal importances of these novel compounds as well as its contribution towards nonlinear optical field are our future targets.

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β-chitin was isolated from marine waste, giant Humboldt squid Dosidicus gigas, and further converted to nanofibers by use of a collider machine under acidic conditions (pH 3). The FTIR, TGA, and NMR analysis confirmed the efficient extraction of β-chitin. The SEM, TEM, and XRD characterization results verified that β-chitin crystalline structure were maintained after mechanical treatment. The mean particle size of β-chitin nanofibers was in the range between 10 and 15 nm, according to the TEM analysis. In addition, the β-chitin nanofibers were converted into films by the simple solvent-casting and drying process at 60 °C. The obtained films had high lightness, which was evidenced by the CIELAB color test. Moreover, the films showed the medium swelling degree (250–290%) in aqueous solutions of different pH and good mechanical resistance in the range between 4 and 17 MPa, depending on film thickness. The results obtained in this work show that marine waste can be efficiently converted to biomaterial by use of mild extractive conditions and simple mechanical treatment, offering great potential for the future development of sustainable multifunctional materials for various industrial applications such as food packaging, agriculture, and/or wound dressing.

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E-selectin is a cell-adhesion receptor with specific recognition capacity toward sialo-fucosylated Lewis carbohydrates present in leukocytes and tumor cells. E-selectin interactions mediate the progress of inflammatory processes and tumor metastasis, which aroused the interest in using this protein as a biomolecular target to design glycomimetic inhibitors for active targeting or therapeutic purposes. In this work, we report the rational discovery of two novel glycomimetic peptides targeting E-selectin based on mutations of the reference selectin-binding peptide IELLQAR. Sixteen single or double mutants at Ile1, Leu3, Leu4, and Arg7 residues were evaluated as potential candidates for E-selectin targeting using 50 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Nine peptides showing a stable association with the functional pocket were modified by adding a cysteine residue to the N-terminus to confer versatility for further chemical conjugation. Subsequent 50 ns MD simulations resulted in five cysteine-modified peptides with retained or improved E-selectin binding potential. Then, 300 ns accelerated MD (aMD) simulations were used to examine the binding properties of the best five cysteine-modified peptides. CIEELQAR and CIELFQAR exhibit the most selective association with the functional pocket of E-selectin, as revealed by potential of mean force profiles. Microscale thermophoresis experiments confirmed the E-selectin binding capacity of the selected peptides with K D values in the low micromolar range (CIEELQAR K D = 35.0 ± 1.4 μM; CIELFQAR K D = 16.4 ± 0.7 μM), which are 25-fold lower than the reported value for the native ligand sLex (K D = 878 μM). Our findings support the potential of CIEELQAR and CIELFQAR as novel E-selectin-targeting peptides with high recognition capacity and versatility for chemical conjugation, which are critical for enabling future applications in active targeting.

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