Christina Zalaru

New substituted 2-(pyrazol-1-yl)-dialkylacetanilides with potential local anesthetic and antiarrhythmic action. Part II.

Nine substituted 2-(pyrazol-1-yl)-dialkylacetanilides were synthesized by N-alkylation of pyrazole and its derivatives with several 2-iodoacetanilides. The new compounds exhibited local anesthetic and antiarrhythmic actions. They have been characterized by elemental chemical analysis, UV-Vis, IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, SM spectra and pharmacology research.

Thermal behavior of several stable hydrazyl free radicals and of their parent hydrazines

A thermal analysis study has been performed for the stable free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and other ten free radical congeners, together with their corresponding parent hydrazines. Qualitative studies on the decomposition products showed that nitrogen dioxide plays a key role. A mechanistic decomposition pathway is also proposed.

Chemical Composition of the Aerial Part and Fruits of Coreopsis tinctoria

Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt. from the Asteraceae family is an annual plant originating from North America and is widespread all over the world [1]. It is cultivated for both its ornamental and dyeing properties because of its bright yellow daisy-like flowers with maroon centers. Recently, this plant has been used to treat several disorders including diarrhea, internal pain and bleeding, to strengthen blood, to control diabetes, and also as an emetic [2–4]. A critical search of the literature reveals that there are few papers dedicated to the Coreopsis genus, and most of them focused on the chemical composition of the petals [5, 6]. So far, only one paper described a systematic study on the metabolic and biological properties of Coreopsis tinctoria [7]. Considered an alien species in Romania, this plant is cultivated mostly for its decorative value and has been classified among the new and rare plants in Romanian flora [8]. Therefore, because of its interesting properties, Coreopsis tinctoria cultivated in Romania was subjected to a systematic study regarding its chemical composition. Thus, this study reports on the identification of the major volatile compounds found in both the dried fruits and the aerial parts of this plant. Plant Material. Coreopsis tinctoria plants were cultivated in Bucharest and their aerial parts were collected during the flowering period, while fruits were collected at maturity. The plant material was air-dried and further stored in hermetically sealed dark paper bags to protect them from humidity and light. The Coreopsis tinctoria plant was authenticated by botanists from the Bucharest Botanical Garden based on available literature [9]. Headspace GC/MS Analysis. A quantity of 0.5 g of dry plant material (whether aerial part or fruits) was placed in a 20 mL headspace vial sealed with a silicone rubber septum and aluminum cap. Gas chromatography was carried out using a Thermo Electron apparatus fitted with a Triplus headspace automatic sampler. A DB-5MS capillary column (25 m 0.25 mm; 0.25 m film thickness) was used. The GC oven temperature program was: initial temperature 60 C (3 min) followed by an increase of 10 C/min up to 200 C (2 min) and then 12 C/min to the final temperature of 240 C (2 min). The carrier gas (helium) flow rate was 1 mL/min. The headspace temperature was kept at 80 C for 10 min prior to the injection of 500 L of the headspace gas into the column. The source and interface temperatures were 200 and 250 C, respectively. The detector operated in the electron impact mode (70 eV). Detection was performed in the range of m/z 35–300. The mass spectrometer was operated in the full-scan mode. All peaks of the chromatograms were analyzed using Xcalibur® software and the NIST 11 Mass Spectral Library to identify the corresponding compounds. An alkane standard solution for GC (C8–C20 in hexane) was used for retention index (RI) calculations [10]. The relative percent of individual components was calculated based on GC peak areas. GC/MS analysis of both the aerial part of the plant and its fruits revealed the presence of 27 volatile constituents (Table 1). Among them, some compounds were present only in the aerial part of the plant, such as -pinene, cis-ocimene, and trans-ocimene, while others were present only in the fruits, such as myrtenol, cis-carveol, and carvone. The quantitative analysis showed that there were few compounds present at a percentage higher than 10%, while most of them were below 2%.

Rapid Analysis of the Volatile Components of Gaillardia aristata and G. × grandiflora

Gaillardia belongs to the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and is native to North and South America. More than 30 species of it have been reported. Among the Gaillardia species there are some hybrids, the well known being one that blooms with reddish-purple flowers and named Gaillardia grandiflora Burgunder (Burgundy Blanket Flower) [1]. This hybrid is obtained from the annual Gaillardia pulchella and the perennial Gaillardia aristata. Even so, Gaillardia plants are widely cultivated for ornamental purposes, studies reported in the literature revealing interesting biological activity of several Gaillardia species. Thus, Gaillardia aristata Pursh exhibits antioxidant activities and possesses anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and anticancer properties [2–4]. The other parent of the Burgunder hybrid, Gaillardia pulchella, is used in the treatment of gastroenteritis and skin disorders [5]. A critical review of the literature reveals that there are few papers describing the identification of volatile components of Gaillardia species. Thus, analysis of extracts of Gaillardia aristata and Gaillardia pulchella [4, 6] and a study of the essential oil obtained from flowers of Gaillardia aristata Pursh cultivated in Egypt [2] have been reported. No reference has been found for Burgunder species, either for essential oils or plants. Under these circumstances, this paper reports the results of a systematic study performed on Gaillardia aristata and Gaillardia grandiflora Burgunder in order to identify the major volatile compounds of these species. The method used was headspace gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (HS GC-MS), taking into account that headspace sampling has the advantage of being a rapid method that involves minimal sample manipulation. Plant Material. Plants of Gaillardia aristata Pursh and Gaillardia grandiflora Burgunder (voucher No. BUC 400642) were collected during the flowering period, and the plant material was air-dried and further stored in paper dark hermetic tight bags to protect them from humidity and light. The plants were authenticated by authors together with botanists from the Bucharest Botanical Garden. Headspace GC-MS Analysis. The headspace GC-MS instrumentation consisted of the Thermo Electron system, provided with a Triplus HS Autosampler. The 20 mL headspace vial containing a quantity of 0.5 g of dry plant was heated to 80 C for 10 min, and 500 L of the headspace gas was injected into the column. The GC-MS analyses were performed with a Focus GC chromatograph coupled with a Polaris Q ion trap mass detector. A DB-5MS capillary column (25 m 0.25 mm; 0.25 m film thickness) was used, and the carrier gas was helium at 1 mL/min. The GC oven temperature program was: initial temperature 60 C (3 min) followed by an increase of 10 C/min up to 200 C (2 min) and then 12 C/min to the final temperature of 240 C (2 min). The source and interface temperatures were 200 C and 250 C, respectively. The detector operated in the electron impact mode (70 eV). Detection was performed in the range of m/z 35–300. The mass spectrometer was operated in the full-scan mode. All peaks of the chromatograms were analyzed using Xcalibur® software and NIST 11 Mass Spectral Library in order to identify the corresponding compound. Alkane standard solution for GC (C8–C20 in hexane) was used for retention index (RI) calculation [7]. The relative percent of individual components was calculated based on GC peak areas.