There is continued interest in Nano Carbon Materials (NCMs) and two of these, Fullerene C60 and Graphene have received Nobel prizes. Low solubility in most solvents has been a stumbling block in their industrial use. We report here the successful synthesis of a new water soluble tri-adduct of Fullerene C60 using a two-step procedure to obtain the water soluble s-Tri-(1-aziridino-2, 3-dimethoxy-benzene-5-carboxylato-6-carboxylic acid)-H-Fullerene C60-Manganese (II) Complex ( III ). Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-MS) and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) studies critically helped recognize the presence of an atom of Manganese in the complex. The new complex was also characterized by Ultra violet-Visible (UV-Vis.). Fourier Transform-Infra Red (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), and powder X-ray diffraction. The new compound has been shown to possess anti-cancer activity comparable to Doxorubicin, currently the most used anti-cancer drug. This new water soluble Fullerene C60-Manganese (II) tri-adduct complex ( III ) thus holds much promise for the fields of biology, biochemistry, medicine, and materials science.

The use of a new small aryl azido-N-Hydroxysuccinimidyl heterobifunctional crosslinker for crosslinking of αAcrystallin and lysozyme is described here. The crosslinker is based on the small molecule, 3-hydroxy anthranilic acid (3HAA) a part of the kynurenine pathway in Tryptophan metabolism. Enhanced amounts of 3HAA are found in disease states in the human body. The new crosslinker contains a photo labile azido group and an amine reactive, N-hydroxy succinimide (NHS) group. Small crosslinkers capture interacting protein interfaces better, while the larger ones are more useful for identifying interacting partners. Our earlier work has shown that aryl azides in this series lead to 'long lived' transients allowing for increased intermolecular reaction rates, otherwise difficult to achieve. Using this crosslinker, successful crosslinking of αA-Crystallin & lysozyme has been demonstrated in two steps i. e. incubation followed by photolysis (366 nm, 6W UV lamp). Previous studies on αA-Crystallin have mostly used only homobifunctional crosslinkers. As hypothesized by us, the use of a heterobifunctional crosslinker has indeed led to more efficient crosslinking. This has been confirmed using SDS-PAGE, ESI-MS/MS (following trypsinization of the homo and hetero 'dimer' bands) and use of StavroX 3.6.0.1, the bioinformatics software especially suited for analyzing intermolecular crosslinking. These investigations are expected to lead to a better understanding of the role of αA-Crystallin in chaperoning mechanism and in cataractogenesis.

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The application of Cu (I)-catalyzed halogen atom transfer radical cyclization (ATRC) for the synthesis of two different series of chlorinated, heteroatom rich and differently fused tricyclic β-lactams has been demonstrated. N-substituted-3,4dihydropyrimidine-2(1H)-thiones synthesized by Biginelli reaction were used as starting materials for this synthetic pathway which upon S-allylation/alkylation furnished 2-allylthio/alkylthio-1,4-dihydropyrimidines (cyclic imines). Staudinger reaction of these cyclic imines with dichloroketene was employed to obtain the bicyclic dichloro-S-allyl/N-allyl-β-lactams, which upon subsequent Cu(I)-catalyzed ATRC produced two different series of tricyclic β-lactams. The difference in the relative behavior of N-allyl bicyclic dichloro-β-lactams and S-allyl bicyclic dichloro-β-lactams towards ATRC was also introspected in terms of their relative rates of cyclization, the amount of catalyst loading needed and the stabilities of tricyclic-β-lactams obtained after cyclization. To study the relative reactivity of Nallyl group and S-allyl group towards ATRC, the bicyclic dichloro-β-lactams having both S-allyl and N-allyl groups were synthesized. The intramolecular competitive experiments revealed the high reactivity of S-allyl group towards ATRC than the N-allyl group.[a] Dr. N. DawraMehr Chand Mahajan DAV College for Women Sector 36-A, Chandigarh,

There are many “Save the Soil” movements highlighting the degradation of the soil due to excessive use of fertilizers, ground water contamination and environmental pollution. An alternative strategy is the use of humic acids from Organic Matter (OM) in soils. Humic acids help grow better vegetables, quality fruits like (peas, potatoes, tomatoes, pomegranates, mangoes), cereals, and pulses. These create supramolecular self– assemblies capable of retaining water and not allowing loss of minerals and ions. Humic acids isolated from soil, lignite and city solid waste are emerging as attractive sources for developing value added products from them. There is much interest in exploiting the commercial aspects in the energy sector of the economy as these new technologies could help in cleaning the environment as well. In this paper, the isolation of a new humic acid from the soil of Gwal Pahari, Gurgaon, Haryana, India is described. This water soluble, Ninhydrin positive Gwal Pahari Acid (GPA) contains thirteen chiral centers and contains both partly rigid and dynamic systems capable of exhibiting pseudo rotation. The proposed structure of this new humic acid is based on spectroscopic studies (e.g. FT-IR, UV-visible spectroscopy), detailed mass spectrometry, and very challenging 1H- NMR and 2D-NMR studies. Ion leakage studies on Arabidopsis thaliana have shown that the new compound provides protection to the plant, and greenhouse studies demonstrate that Gwal Pahari Acid brings about substantial growth in the tomato plant.

Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials have attracted a lot of interest as ideal platforms for gaining fundamental insights into magnetism and as promising candidates for applications in spintronics. The potential of 2D magnets would be greatly enhanced by the efficient interaction between magnetism and other physical properties, such as electric, topological, and elastic properties. In this work, we use first-principles density functional theory to study the interplay between the structure and magnetic ordering of an elemental titanium monolayer in non-magnetic, ferromagnetic, and antiferromagnetic configurations crystallizing in square and honeycomb lattices. Our results reveal that planar structures favor ferromagnetic ordering whereas buckling of the monolayer favors antiferromagnetic ordering in the system. Our results are understood in terms of the coupling of the ZO phonon mode with the magnetic ordering of the material. Our results highlight the potential for creating novel devices where the magnetic moment and the magnetic state of the system can be tuned with atomic scale fluctuations of a free standing magnetic membrane.

The Graphene-based functional structures with large surface areas, ease of functionalization/modification, and photothermal features are currently very attractive for cancer nanotherapy applications. The reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) structures having moderate cytotoxicity have been used against human cancerous cells. We developed a water soluble rGO by heating with an aryl azide (a “green” reagent) followed by mild oxidation with aqueous alkaline KMnO4 yielding the c0lorless, water soluble rGO-arylaziridino-Mn (II) complex. The anti-cancer property of the compound was tested in human monocytic U937 cell line, CT26 murine colon carcinoma cell line and 4T1 murine breast cancer cell lines. rGOarylaziridino-Mn (II) complex significantly induced apoptosis in the above cells in a concentration dependent manner in vitro, similar to an effect of known anti-cancer drug Doxorubicin.

Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been rendered water soluble as an aryl aziridino derivative decorated with carboxylic acids as a Mn (II) complex (III). This leads to increased root growth in Arabidopsis thaliana. The discovery of Nano‐carbon materials (NCMs) [Fullerenes, Carbon Nano Tubes (CNTs) and Graphene] has been recognized by the award of two Nobel prizes. Large‐scale industrial use of NCMs is hampered by their low solubility in most common solvents. The tensile strength of SWCNTs is approximately twenty three times more than that of steel and yet it is five times lighter. Successful functionalization makes CNTs more soluble allowing for many more possible applications in biomedical and material science (Solar cells). Synthesis of the water soluble SWCNT‐aryl‐aziridino‐carboxylic acid decorated Mn (II) complex (III) is described here along with its characterization using UV‐Visible, FT‐IR, Raman spectroscopy, EPR, TEM, Cyclic voltammetry techniques, confirming successful functionalization. SWCNT has been made water soluble by a two‐step procedure not involving any harsh steps like treatment with conc. acids. This has been achieved by reaction with an aryl azide followed by alkaline KMnO4 oxidation, when the above complex SWCNT−Mn (II) complex (III) was obtained. This complex has been observed to lead to increased root length growth in Arabidopsis thaliana.