Economically attractive route for the preparation of high quality magnetic nanoparticles by the thermal decomposition of iron(III) acetylacetonate.

The thermal decomposition (TD) methods are among the most successful in obtaining magnetic nanoparticles with a high degree of control of size and narrow particle size distribution. Here we investigated the TD of iron(III) acetylacetonate in the presence of oleic acid, oleylamine, and a series of alcohols in order to disclose their role and also investigate economically attractive alternatives for the synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles without compromising their size and shape control. We have found that some affordable and reasonably less priced alcohols, such as 1,2-octanediol and cyclohexanol, may replace the commonly used and expensive 1,2-hexadecanediol, providing an economically attractive route for the synthesis of high quality magnetic nanoparticles.

Antischistosomal Activity of Oxindolimine-Metal Complexes.

In recent years, a class of oxindole-copper and -zinc complex derivatives have been reported as compounds with efficient proapoptotic activity toward different tumor cells (e.g., neuroblastomas, melanomas, monocytes).

Effect of oxindolimine copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes on human topoisomerase I activity.

The ability of oxindolimine copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes, known to have antitumor activity, to inhibit human topoisomerase IB has been tested through enzymatic kinetic assays and molecular docking simulations. These copper and zinc compounds are able to inhibit remarkably the cleavage reaction and only partially the religation step, the copper compound being more efficient than the zinc one. A complete inhibition activity of the cleavage is only obtained when the enzyme is pre-incubated with the compound, the inhibition being irreversible and reversible for the copper and zinc compounds, respectively.

Desferrioxamine-cadmium as a 'Trojan horse' for the delivery of Cd to bacteria and fungi.

Molecules naturally designed for the acquisition of essential metals can be used as a shuttle to deliver toxic metal ions to target organisms. In this study, we describe for the first time the synthesis of a derivative of cadmium and desferrioxamine B, a bacterial siderophore. The new compound was characterized by elemental analysis, vibrational (infrared and Raman) spectroscopy, mass coupled thermal analyses and X-ray diffraction methods.

Electronic structure and spectro-structural correlations of Fe(III)Zn(II) biomimetics for purple acid phosphatases: relevance to DNA cleavage and cytotoxic activity.

Purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) are a group of metallohydrolases that contain a dinuclear Fe(III)M(II) center (M(II) = Fe, Mn, Zn) in the active site and are able to catalyze the hydrolysis of a variety of phosphoric acid esters. The dinuclear complex [(H(2)O)Fe(III)(μ-OH)Zn(II)(L-H)](ClO(4))(2) (2) with the ligand 2-[N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl]-4-methyl-6-[N'-(2-pyridylmethyl)(2-hydroxybenzyl) aminomethyl]phenol (H(2)L-H) has recently been prepared and is found to closely mimic the coordination environment of the Fe(III)Zn(II) active site found in red kidney bean PAP (Neves et al. J.

A mixed-valence diacetate-bridged Mn(II)-Mn(III) complex incorporating a bridging phenolate ligand.

The synthesis and characterization of a new unsymmetrical dinucleating N,O-donor ligand, 2-[N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl]-6-[N-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-oxidobenzyl)-N-(2-pyridylamino)aminomethyl]-4-methylphenol (H2Ldtb), as well as the X-ray crystal structure of its corresponding mixed-valence diacetate-bridged manganese complex, di-mu-acetato-mu-{2-[N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl]-6-[N-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-oxidobenzyl)-N-(2-pyridylamino)aminomethyl]-4-methylphenolato}dimanganese(II,III) tetraphenylborate, [MnIIMnIII(C42H49N5O2)(C2H3O2)2](C24H20B), are reported. The complex may be regarded as an interesting structural model for the mixed-valence MnII-MnIII state of manganese catalase.