Sujata Deo

Analysis of minerals and heavy metals in some spices collected from local market.

Herbs and spices are sources of many bioactive compounds that can improve the taste of food as well as affect the digestion metabolism. Along with that they may also contain some substances as pesticides , heavy metals and which have harmful effect on the body. In this work, five of the most popularly used spices and herb were studied to determine Pb , Cd , As ,Hg , Mn , Cu , Co , Se , Ni , Cr content in them .This was analysed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer(AAS). The results were compared with the safety standards (WHO). The average concentration of heavy metals as Pb detected ranged from 3.3ppm-4.59ppm , Cd ranged from 0.04pm-0.4 ppm . concentration of As was from 0.7ppm -1.5ppm , concentration of Se ranged from Negligible to 2.26 ppm . Mn ranged from 28.73 ppm-562.6 ppm , Ni was found to range between 2.82 ppm - 5.76 ppm , (Cu) was found to be in a range of 2.30 ppm - 19.69 ppm in C.Zeylanicum , Myristica fragrans , Ocimum sanctum , Syzygium aromaticum and Cinnamomum tamala and most of them were well within the permissible limits. Although a few spices are of global importance, many are used as condiments locally in the regions of their natural occurance. The addition of spices that may be contaminated with trace and heavy metals to food as a habit may result in accumulation of these in human organs and lead to different health problems. The widespread contamination of spices and herbs with heavy metals in last two decades has increased the scientific interest as it has the harmful effect on human health..T his has lead the researchers to study the effect of heavy metals on food , air and water and to determine their permissibility for human consumption.(10). Several studies were done to determine the concentration of heavy metals in spices .(11) and to study their harmful effects. Heavy metals beyond the permissible limits affects the human health and my lead to illness of human foetus ,preterm labour and mental retardation in children. Adults may suffer from fatigue, high blood pressure and kidney troubles. The objective of this work is to estimate the levels of heavy metals that is Lead , Cadmium ,Arsenic , Selenium , Manganese , Nickel and Copper that may be present in the selected spices available in local markets of Nagpur region. The levels of investigated heavy metals were compared with the recommended levels by the international organizations as FAO and WHO.

Synthesis of novel benzofluorenone derivatives and their HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitory activity

Novel benzofluorenone derivatives have been prepared in remarkably outstanding yield through intramolecular cyclization of β-arylidene-β-benzoylpropionic acid. The reaction was promoted proficiently by extremely small amounts of montmorillonite K10 acting as a heterogeneous catalyst using ethanolic medium at 100 °C. It is for the first time that, these newly synthesized benzofluorenone derivatives exhibited anti-HIV (antiretroviral) activity. This important activity was estimated by using regular assay kits. Further, among the synthesized basic benzofluorenone derivatives, the compound named ‘2C’ was found to be most potent with the lowest IC50 (21.86 µg/mL) followed by the compound ‘2G’ with IC50 (27.40 µg/mL).

Basic ionic liquid [BMIM][OH] as heterogeneous catalyst mediated solvent-free Stobbe condensation applying grindstone technique for the synthesis of novel β-arylidene-β-benzoylpropionic acid derivatives

ABSTRACTThe basic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydroxide, i.e. [BMIM][OH], proficiently catalyzed Stobbe condensation in solvent-free condition. An extensive range of aromatic aldehydes simply undergo condensations with methyl-β-benzoyl propionate. The reactions proceed at room temperature and are very fast (10 min). However, the most crucial feature of this methodology is the solvent-free approach and applying grindstone technique for condensation, which is generally not possible by any other conventional reagents and was not addressed adequately in literature providing a general and convenient procedure. The potential application of [BMIM][OH] in organic synthesis is increasing rapidly due to its high yields of the desired products (80%–92%), minimal reaction time, reaction simplicity, and low-cost chemicals. All novel compounds of β-arylidene-β-benzoylpropionic acid derivatives were characterized by IR, 1H NMR, and mass spectra.

Montmorillonite K10 Catalysed Condensation of 1-(3-Chlorophenyl)-4-(3-chloropropyl) piperazine and 1,2,4-Triazolo [4,3-a]pyridine-3-(2H)-one: A Proficient and Green Synthesis of Trazodone Hydrochloride and Its Analogues

Montmorillonite K10 clay has an extremely significant heterogeneous catalyst for condensation reaction with high yield of the product as compared to other reported reagents. Background: Novel green, synthetic methodology has been adopted for the synthesis of 2-[3-{4-(3-chlorophenyl)-1-piperazinyl}propyl]-1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a] pyridine-3-(2H)-one hydrochloride (5) analogues using Montmorillonite K10 (MK10) as an effective-efficient heterogeneous catalyst. The present synthesis offers various significant features with numerous advantages such as outstanding yields, operational simplicity, recyclability and reusability of the catalyst for this synthetic reaction. Methods and findings: Condensation reaction is the only exceptional tool for the synthesis of numerous biologically significant organic compounds. In the current investigation, condensation of 1-(3-chlorophenyl)-4-(3-chloropropyl) piperazine (3) and 1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]pyridine-3-(2H)-one (4) in the presence of MK10 under thermal condition has been carried out with afford the corresponding products i.e., (5) analogues with good yields (88-95%) over conventional reagents. MK10 is such a heterogeneous catalyst which can be completely recovered and reusable for a three times without potential loss in its catalytic activity.