S. Sabharwal

1-Aza-sugars from d-glucose. Preparation of 1-deoxy-5-dehydroxymethyl-nojirimycin, its analogues and evaluation of glycosidase inhibitory activity

D-glucose derived pentodialdoses 11a-c on reduction followed by tosylation, azide displacement, hydrogenation and protection with -Cbz group gave N-Cbz protected compounds 14a-c, respectively, which on removal of 1,2-acetonide functionality and hydrogenation afforded corresponding 1-aza-sugars 3, 9 and 10 in good overall yields. The glycosidase inhibition activity of these 1-aza-sugars was tested with sweet almond as a rich source of different glycosidases.

Decoloration and degradation of Reactive Red-120 dye by electron beam irradiation in aqueous solution.

The decoloration and degradation of aqueous solution of the reactive azo dye viz. Reactive Red-120 (RR-120) was carried out by electron beam irradiation. The change in decoloration percentage, removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC), solution pH and five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD(5)) were investigated with respect to the applied dose. However, the concentration of the dye in the solution showed a great influence on all these observables. During the radiolysis process, it was found that the decoloration of dye was caused by the destruction of the chromophore group of the dye molecule, whereas COD and TOC removal were depended on the extent of mineralization of the dye. The decrease in pH during the radiolysis process indicated the fragmentation of the large dye molecule into smaller organic components mostly like smaller organic acids. The BOD(5)/COD ratio of the unirradiated dye solution was in the range of 0.1-0.2, which could be classified as non-biodegradable wastewater. However, the BOD(5)/COD ratio increased upon irradiation and it indicated the transformation of non-biodegradable dye solution into biodegradable solution. This study showed that electron beam irradiation could be a promising method for treatment of textile wastewater containing RR-120 dye.

A versatile access to calystegine analogues as potential glycosidases inhibitors.

An efficient metathetic strategy and nitrone chemistry have been suitably tethered to construct 8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octanes as versatile precursors for the synthesis of several calystegine analogues. This synthetic strategy relies on the ability of mannose-derived nitrone to undergo a highly stereoselective nucleophilic addition of various Grignard reagents to access syn orientation of alkenes, which then smoothly undergo ring-closing metathesis (RCM) to provide this framework. These RCM products 18 and 20 have been successfully used as advance precursors to synthesize many calystegine analogues (27, 36, 38, 40, 43, and 44) either by syn-dihydroxylation or by hydrogenation and followed by global deprotection. Interestingly, both compounds 36 and 40 exhibited significant noncompetitive inhibition against alpha-mannosidase and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase.

Development of adsorbent from Teflon waste by radiation induced grafting: Equilibrium and kinetic adsorption of dyes

Mutual radiation grafting technique was employed to graft polyacrylic acid (PAA) onto Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) scrap using high energy gamma radiation. Polyacrylic acid-g-Teflon (PAA-g-Teflon) adsorbent was characterized by grafting extent measurement, FTIR spectroscopy, SEM and wet ability & surface energy analysis. The PAA-g-Teflon adsorbent was studied for dye adsorption from aqueous solution of basic dyes, namely, Basic red 29 (BR29) and Basic yellow 11 (BY11). The equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models, whereas, adsorption kinetics was analyzed using pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intra-particle diffusion kinetic models. Equilibrium adsorption of BR29 was better explained by Langmuir adsorption model, while that of BY11 by Freundlich adsorption model. The adsorption capacity for BY11 was more than for BR29. Separation factor (R(L)) was found to be in the range 0 < R(L) < 1, indicating favorable adsorption of dyes. Higher coefficient of determination (r(2) > 0.99) and better agreement between the q(e,cal) and q(e,exp) values suggested that pseudo-second order kinetic model better represents the kinetic adsorption data. The non-linearity obtained for intra-particle diffusion plot indicated, more than one process is involved in the adsorption of basic dyes. The desorption studies showed that ~95% of the adsorbed dye could be eluted in suitable eluent.

Antibacterial activities of Nd doped and Ag coated TiO2 nanoparticles under solar light irradiation

Nanosized (8-9 nm) Nd doped and Ag coated TiO(2) nanoparticles have been synthesized by sol-gel method. The physicochemical properties of these particles were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance UV-visible (DRUV) spectra and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis. The antibacterial activities of the samples were studied for Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) both, under the light and dark conditions. The results reveal that the extent of activity shows the order as undoped TiO(2)<Nd doped TiO(2)<Ag coated TiO(2). The mechanism of bactericidal action of the nanoparticles, in presence of sunlight has been explained with the help of microscopic analyses. The bacterial damage is observed to proceed through initial perforation of the cell, damage of cell wall and finally the bacterial death.

Purification, some properties of a D-galactose-binding leaf lectin from Erythrina indica and further characterization of seed lectin.

Lectin from a leaf of Erythrina indica was isolated by affinity chromatography on Lactamyl-Seralose 4B. Lectin gave a single band in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). In SDS-gel electrophoresis under reducing and non-reducing conditions Erythrina indica leaf lectin (EiLL) split into two bands with subunit molecular weights of 30 and 33 kDa, whereas 58 kDa was obtained for the intact lectin by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. EiLL agglutinated all human RBC types, with a slight preference for the O blood group. Lectin was found to be a glycoprotein with a neutral sugar content of 9.5%. The carbohydrate specificity of lectin was directed towards D-galactose and its derivatives with pronounced preference for lactose. EiLL had pH optima at pH 7.0; above and below this pH lectin lost sugar-binding capability rapidly. Lectin showed broad temperature optima from 25 to 50 degrees C; however, at 55 degrees C EiLL lost more than 90% of its activity and at 60 degrees C it was totally inactivated. The pI of EiLL was found to be 7.6. The amino acid analysis of EiLL indicated that the lectin was rich in acidic as well as hydrophobic amino acids and totally lacked cysteine and methionine. The N-terminal amino acids were Val-Glu-Thr-IIe-Ser-Phe-Ser-Phe-Ser-Glu-Phe-Glu-Ala-Gly-Asn-Asp-X-Leu-Thr-Gln-Glu-Gly-Ala-Ala-Leu-. Chemical modification studies of both EiLL and Erythrina indica seed lectin (EiSL) with phenylglyoxal, DEP and DTNB revealed an absence of arginine, histidine and cysteine, respectively, in or near the ligand-binding site of both lectins. Modification of tyrosine with NAI led to partial inactivation of EiLL and EiSL; however, total inactivation was observed upon NBS-modification of two tryptophan residues in EiSL. Despite the apparent importance of these tryptophan residues for lectin activity they did not seem to have a direct role in binding haptenic sugar as D-galactose did not protect lectin from inactivation by NBS.

Electron Beam Grafted Polymer Adsorbent for Removal of Heavy Metal Ion from Aqueous Solution

Abstract An electron beam grafted adsorbent was synthesized by post irradiation grafting of acrylonitrile (AN) on to a non‐woven thermally bonded polypropylene (PP) sheet using 2 MeV electron beam accelerator. The grafted poly(acrylonitrile) chains were chemically modified to convert a nitrile group to an amidoxime (AMO) group, a chelating group responsible for metal ion uptake from an aqueous solution. The effect of various experimental variables viz. dose, dose rate, temperature, and solvent composition on the grafting extent was investigated. PP grafted with the amidoxime group (AMO‐g‐PP) was tested for its suitability as an adsorbent for removal of heavy metal ions such as Co2+, Ni2+, Mn2+, and Cd2+ from aqueous solution. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were used to investigate the type of adsorption of these ions. The adsorption capacities of the adsorbent for the metal ions were found to follow the order Cd2+>Co2+>Ni2+>Mn2+. The kinetics of adsorption of these ions indicated that the rate of adsorption of Cd2+ was faster than that of other ions studied.

Aziridine carboxylate from D-glucose: synthesis of polyhydroxylated piperidine, pyrrolidine alkaloids and study of their glycosidase inhibition

The D-glucose derived aziridine carboxylate 5 was obtained from (E)-ethyl-6-bromo-1,2-O-isopropylidene-3-O-benzyl-5-deoxy-alpha-D-xylo-5-eno-heptofuranuronate 4 through conjugate addition of benzylamine and in situ intramolecular nucleophilic expulsion of bromine. The regioselective aziridine ring-opening, using water as a nucleophile, resulted in the alpha-hydroxy-beta-aminoester 6, which was exploited in the synthesis of six and five membered azasugars 1b/1c and 2b/2c, respectively. The glycosidase inhibitory activity of the title compounds was evaluated.

One-step synthesis of Ag–reduced graphene oxide–multiwalled carbon nanotubes for enhanced antibacterial activities

The present study reports a rapid one-step preparation of Ag nanoparticles decorated reduced graphene oxide–multiwalled carbon nanotube hybrids (Ag–rGO–MWCNTs) by heating a mixture of graphene oxide (GO), acid functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs), and an aqueous solution of AgNO3 in the presence of NaOH at 80 °C without the addition of any external reducing agent. The product was characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The symmetrical shape of the UV-Vis absorption peak at 398 nm indicates the presence of small and uniform sized Ag nanoparticles in the case of Ag–rGO–MWCNTs. Moreover, the XRD peaks at 2θ = ∼38.1°, 44.2°, 64.5°, and 77.5° for the above mentioned composite suggest the formation of metallic Ag nanoparticles. The morphology of the sample was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM images reveal that there is a lower degree of curls, folds, wrinkles and aggregation in the case of Ag–rGO–MWCNTs. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of Ag–rGO–MWCNTs was examined for Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Bacillus subtilis. Positive results were obtained for E. coli only. For comparison, silver nanoparticles decorated reduced graphene oxide (Ag–rGO) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Ag–MWCNTs) were prepared using a similar method and after characterization, their antimicrobial activity towards Escherichia coli (E. coli) was also studied. The results indicated that Ag–rGO–MWCNTs has a superior antibacterial activity, which may be due to the synergistic effects of rGO, MWCNTs and silver nanoparticles as compared to that of Ag–rGO and Ag–MWCNTs. Moreover, the possible mechanism for the antimicrobial activity of Ag–rGO–MWCNTs has been discussed.

Green synthesis of polysaccharide stabilized gold nanoparticles: chemo catalytic and room temperature operable vapor sensing application

A facile, one pot, completely green, and cheap route for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has been developed by using locust bean gum (LBG), both as a reducing and a stabilizing agent. Synthesized AuNPs were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, TEM, XRD, dynamic light scattering analysis (DLS) and EDAX. A characteristic surface plasmon peak at 537 nm confirmed the formation of AuNPs. Synthesized AuNPs were found to be an efficient catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP). The reaction follows pseudo-first order kinetics with a rate constant of 14.46 × 10−2 min−1. Furthermore, the catalytic efficiency of AuNPs for ethanol vapor sensing was investigated by doping AuNPs in a tin oxide (SnO2) matrix synthesized by a single step thermal decomposition method. The AuNPs doped SnO2 sensor showed a fast response (∼5 seconds) and excellent ethanol sensing behavior in the range of 10 to 120 ppm at room temperature. A two fold increase in ethanol vapor sensing response was observed with AuNPs doped SnO2 as compared with the pure SnO2 sensor.