Stability improvement of UV-filter between methoxy cinnamic acid derivatives and cyclodextrins inclusion complexes based on DFT and TD-DFT investigations

Structures and UV-vis absorption spectra of the host-guest interaction of the methoxy cinnamic acid (MCA) derivatives and cyclodextrins (CDs) were performed by using the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations. All geometries of MCA derivatives (4-MCA, 245-MCA, 246-MCA), three types of CD (αCD, βCD, γCD), and five host-guest inclusion complexes between MCA and CD consisting of 4-MCA/αCD (1), 4-MCA/βCD (2), 245-MCA/βCD (3), 246-MCA/βCD (4), and 246-MCA/γCD (5) were fully optimized by using the M06-2X/6-31G (d,p) levels of theory. Two orientations (A and B) of the MCA guest molecule were considered. Upon examining the optimized geometry, five complexes of the methoxy cinnamic acid molecules are located inside the cavity of CD. Orientation B was more stable than orientation A because of the stronger intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl group of CD and the carboxylic group of MCA. The results indicated that the intermolecular hydrogen bond is mainly the driving force of formation between methoxy cinnamic acid and cyclodextrins. To reveal the host-guest interaction that is relevant to UV-filter compounds, the UV-vis absorption spectra were performed using TD-DFT calculations. The obtained results confirmed that orientation B is the most stable orientation and can absorb in both UVB and UVA regions which is similar to the parent MCA. Therefore, this knowledge will bring to understand the host-guest interaction between methoxy cinnamic acid and cyclodextrin complexes. The theoretical results are expected to provide valuable information for improving the stability of further UV-filter compounds.

Imaging the distribution of DMPBD and terpinen-4-ol inclusion complexes with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin by using TOF-SIMS

The distribution of terpinen-4-ol (TP4ol) and DMPBD inclusion complexes with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPbCD) in human skin has been investigated using the TOF-SIMS technique. TP4ol and DMPBD have been found to be major components of Zingiber cassumunar Roxb. (Plai) oil extracted by steam distillation. The results mainly show accumulation of TP4ol and DMPBD inclusion complexes with HPbCD in the epidermis and dermis whereas these two compounds without cyclodextrin cannot penetrate into the epidermis. This approach can be expanded for investigation of anti-inflammatory action and relief of muscle pain.

Excito-repellency Activity of Andrographis paniculata (Lamiales: Acanthaceae) Against Colonized Mosquitoes

Excito-repellency activity of plant extracts have been increasingly studied as mosquito repellents. In this study, the crude extract of Andrographis paniculata was evaluated for its noncontact repellency, contact excitation (irritancy + repellency), and knockdown/toxicity response against five colonized mosquitoes; Aedes aegypti (L.), Aedes albopictus (Skuse), Anopheles dirus Peyton & Harrison, Anopheles epiroticus Linton & Harbach, and Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae) using an excito-repellency assay system under laboratory-controlled conditions. The escape responses were observed at four different concentrations (0.5-5.0% w/v) with A. paniculata showing strong spatial repellency against Ae. albopictus (96.7% escape) and Ae. aegypti (71.7% escape) at the 2.5% and 0.5% concentrations, respectively. At 0.5% and 5.0% concentrations, the greatest repellency was seen for An. dirus (48.2% escape) and Cx. quinquefasciatus (59.7% escape), respectively. Comparatively, low repellency action was observed against An. epiroticus (1.6-15.0% escape). Escape in contact assays (before adjustment) was generally less pronounced compared to noncontact spatial repellency, with Ae. albopictus showing highest percent escape (71.4% escape) in the contact assay at 1.0% concentration. After adjusting for spatial repellency, escape due to contact irritancy alone was either not present or an insignificant contribution to the overall avoidance response for all species. No knockdown or mortality at 24-h postexposure was observed in any trials. These findings indicate that the A. paniculata crude extract is more active against day-biting mosquitoes; however, this may be a reflection of the time of testing. This study demonstrates compelling evidence that A. paniculata extract performs primarily as a spatial repellent. Further investigations exploring the use A. paniculata as a potential active ingredient in repellent products are needed.

Study of Colloidal Suspensions of Silicon Nanoparticles: Effect of Surface Oxidation on the Photoluminescence Property

Nanosilicon is currently under intensive research owing to its extremely promising properties, particularly in photonics domain. However, the photoluminescence (PL) mechanism of silicon nanocrystal remains unclear. We propose, in this paper, a simple method to investigate the PL properties of silicon nanoparticles by exposing the nanoparticles directly to the solvents. The interaction between the nanoparticles and different solvents allows us to assume that not only the quantum size effect but also the surface defect states play a critical role in the PL mechanism, especially at high energy region. This can be confirmed by the results of Transmission Electron Microscopy, FTIR and Raman Spectroscopy.

Photophysical properties and photochemistry of substituted cinnamates and cinnamic acids for UVB blocking: effect of hydroxy, nitro, and fluoro substitutions at ortho, meta, and para positions

Photophysical properties and photochemistry of various substituted cinnamates and cinnamic acids for ultraviolet B blocking were investigated experimentally and theoretically. This series includes monohydroxy, -nitro, and -fluoro derivatives. The absorption spectra were satisfactorily reproduced by the direct SAC-CI method with respect to the peak position and intensity. The transition character of the low-lying two ππ* and σπ* states for these 18 derivatives was analyzed. The para derivatives have a different transition character of the ππ* transitions compared with those of the ortho and meta derivatives. To elucidate the relaxation mechanism, the emission spectra were observed with oxygen quenching and the photostability was examined experimentally. The calculated radiative lifetimes indicate that the ortho- and meta-substituted derivatives have longer lifetimes for emission than the para derivatives. The potential energy curves of the first and second singlet excited states of the hydroxy derivatives as well as the vertical singlet and triplet transitions were examined to investigate the relaxation qualitatively. The ortho and meta derivatives have an energy barrier or flat surface in S1 resulting in fluorescence, whereas the para derivatives show nonradiative decay without an energy barrier. The para-hydroxy derivative was found to be an excellent UV absorber based on its broad absorption in the UVB/UVA regions, less emission, and higher photostability.

The photoinduced transformation of fluorescent DNA base analogue tC triggers DNA melting

While fluorescent analogues of the canonical nucleobases have proven to be highly valuable in a large number of applications, up until today, fluorescent DNA base analogues remain virtually inapplicable for single-molecule fluorescence experiments which require extremely bright and photostable dyes. Insight into the photodegradation processes of these fluorophores is thus a key step in the continuous development towards dyes with improved performances. Here, we show that the commercially available fluorescent nucleobase analogue tC under intense long-term illumination and in the presence of O2 is degraded to form a single photoreaction product which we suggest to be the sulfoxide form of tC. The photoproduct is characterized by a blue-shifted absorption and a less intense fluorescence compared to that of tC. Interestingly, when tC is positioned inside double-stranded DNA this photodriven conversion of tC to its photoproduct greatly reduces the duplex stability of the overall double helix in which the probe is positioned. Since tC can be excited selectively at 400 nm, well outside the absorption band of the natural DNA bases, this observation points towards the application of tC as a general light-triggered switch of DNA duplex stability.