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In this paper we continue our efforts in the search for new Schiff bases as resveratrol analogues as promising antitubercular and antileishmanial agents. Compounds were evaluated in vitro against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Leishmania species. Compounds showed varying activity against promastigotes of all Leishmania species tested (concentration leading to reduction of 50% of parasite growth-IC 50 values ranging from 1.60 to 15.53 µg mL ). Furthermore, the compounds showed comparable or better effect than drugs commonly used in tuberculosis treatment such as Cycloserine®. The analogue that was the most active for M. tuberculosis had minimal inhibitory concentration MIC 90 = 0.78 µg mL -1 . The in vitro cytotoxicity on Vero cells (CC 50 ), as well as the selectivity index (SI = CC 50 /MIC) were also evaluated, and showed that the synthesized analogues are not cytotoxic.

This research has been an effort to develop synthetic resveratrol analogs in order to improve the depigmenting potential of natural resveratrol. Six resveratrol analogs were synthesized and tested for tyrosinase inhibitory activity in vitro, by qualitative and quantitative steps. The results showed the analog C as being the most powerful tyrosinase inhibitor (IA50 = 65.67 ± 0.60 μg/mL), followed by the analogs B, E, F, A, and D, respectively. The analog C presented a tyrosinase inhibition potential better than natural resveratrol (P < 0.001). The best depigmenting activity was provided by the presence of hydroxyl in the orthoposition on the second phenolic ring.

The intercalated layered materials are commonly built from structures complex enough to have large unit cells and, because of this, calculations of their electronic structures are very demanding in terms of memory, processing and time. Also, the versatility of these compounds enables the synthesis of a large number of derived materials difficult to characterize. Only in the last two decades, a combination of theoretical methodologies and advances in processing made density-functional theory (DFT) calculations quite interesting as an investigation tool for this family of materials. Since the intercalated layered or lamellar compounds correspond to a large group of important classes of materials and their experimental data were, and are still being, generated, only a small part of the data comes from electronic structure simulations. In this review, we have listed some relevant types of intercalated lamellar materials, the useful methodologies implemented in the standard suit of codes for DFT calculations and examples of the many applications of the calculations to the understanding of physical and chemical properties, to the planning of novel materials with desirable properties, and even to assist the structural characterization, by simulating complex results from nuclear magnetic resonance, vibrational spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction. In addition to the properties simulated directly as observables, other quantities such as density of states, partial charges and electronic density difference, provide relevant information about the materials and their behavior under diverse physical and chemical conditions. The combination of the geometric, electronic and vibrational structures also leads to the simulations of thermodynamic potentials, entropy and phase diagrams in the solid state. This significant ensemble of research tools makes DFT calculations very compelling and useful to gain new insights into innovation developments for intercalated lamellar materials.

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A rapid method has been proposed for determination of the main conjugated linoleic acid precursors such as linoleic (C18:2 n-6) and linolenic (C18:3 n-3) acids in forages by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with direct UV detection at 200 nm. Among the fatty acids found in forages, C18:2 n-6 and C18:3 n-3 have received particular attention due to their roles as precursors for the synthesis of conjugated linoleic acid, a class of health-enhancing compounds that is predominantly found in dairy products. The electrolyte background consisted of 12.0 mmol/L tetraborate buffer (pH 9.2) added to 12.0 mmol/L Brij 35®, 17% acetonitrile, and 33% methanol. Under the optimized conditions, the baseline separation of C18:2 n-6 and C18:3 n-3 was achieved within 4 min. The CZE-UV method was compared to GC with a flame ionization detector, which is the American Oil Chemists' Society (AOCS 996.06) official method for fatty acid analysis. The methods did not show any evidence of significant differences within 95% confidence interval (P>0.05). The CZE-UV method was successfully applied to the analysis of 80 genotypes of Brachiaria ruzizienses clones submitted to a genetic improvement program in agricultural research.

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