Ibrahim Elghamry

Herein, we report the design, synthesis, and characterization of novel organoselenium (OSe) hybrids (5–19) via modifications of the lead, N‐(4‐selaneylphenyl)‐2‐selaneylacetamide. The OSe‐based thiazol 9 showed the highest growth inhibition % (GI%) of 64.72% relative to the positive reference doxorubicin (DOX), with a GI% of 79.5%. Furthermore, the novel OSe derivatives showed low GI% values compared to the normal cell lines employed, demonstrating their selectivity. The OSe tethered N‐chloroacetamide 5 and Schiff base 19 showed a cytotoxic effect with an IC₅₀ of (25.07 and 11.61 µM), respectively, against the A549 tumor cell line and IC₅₀ of (34.22 and 20.12 µM), respectively, against the HELA cancer cell line. Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay to study the JAK1 and the STAT3 inhibitory potentials of OSe compounds 5 and 19 in the A549 cancer cells both showed promising inhibitory activities with IC₅₀ values of 25.07 and 11.61 µM, respectively. Protein expression analysis on the A549 cancer cell line on OSe compounds 5 and 19 showed upregulation of P53, BAX, and Caspases 3, 6, 8, and 9 as apoptotic proteins. However, both candidates expressed downregulation of the antiapoptotic proteins (BCL2, MMP2, and MMP9). Moreover, OSe compounds 5 and 19 described the downregulation of the examined inflammatory proteins: COX2, IL‐6, and IL‐1β. In addition, OSe compound 19 showed potential cell cycle arrest at the G0, S, and G2‐M layers, with an increase in cellular levels. Finally, molecular docking studies of OSe compound 19 showed the most promising inhibitory potential toward the JAK1 and STAT3 target receptors, with binding scores and interactions exceeding that of the cocrystallized inhibitor of JAK1.

Computational and in vitro assessments of the anti-inflammatory potential of organoselenium Schiff bases.

A novel approach was used to synthesize the 5,10,15,20-tetrakis (p-thiophenol) porphyrin (TPTH-P) (2), which involved the demethylation of tetra (p-anisole) porphyrin (1) in the presence of ZnCl₂ as a catalyst and DMF as a solvent at 100 °C. The demethylation step was followed by an acidification step with concentrated H₂SO₄ to yield the desired TPTH-P (2) in an almost quantitative yield (95%). The chemical structure of the synthesized porphyrin thiol (TPTH-P) (2) was verified through spectroscopic techniques (NMR, IR, UV-Vis). The catalytic activity of TPTH-P in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was investigated in 0.1 M of H₂SO₄ and 1 M of KNO₃. A self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of TPTH-P was formed on a gold electrode. The immersion time during SAM formation and the electrochemical activation cycles in H₂SO₄ were found to be important to enhancing the activity of the Au-TPTH-P electrode in the HER. Contact angle measurements and electrochemical techniques, including cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and chronoamperometry, were used to characterize and evaluate the electrochemical activities of the SAM.

In this work, acid-functionalized multiwalled carbon (MWCNTs–CO₂H) nanotube was successfully functionalized with a heterocyclic scaffold, namely benzimidazole, to give novel functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (BI@MWCNTs). Then, FTIR, XRD, TEM, EDX, Raman spectroscopy, DLS, and BET analyses were used to characterize the synthesized BI@MWCNTs. The effectiveness of the adsorption of two heavy metal ions, Cd²⁺ and Pb²⁺, in single metal and mixed metal solutions on the prepared material was investigated. Influencing parameters for the adsorption method, for example duration, pH, starting metal concentration, and BI@MWCNT dosage, were examined for both metal ions. Moreover, adsorption equilibrium isotherms fit with the Langmuir and Freundlich models perfectly, while the intra-particle diffusion models provide pseudo-second order adsorption kinetics. The adsorption of Cd²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions onto BI@MWCNTs revealed an endothermic and a spontaneous method with great affinity as a result of the negative values of Gibbs free energy (ΔG) and the positive values of enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS). Both Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ ions were completely eliminated from aqueous solution (100 and 98%, respectively) using the prepared material. Additionally, BI@MWCNTs have a high adsorption capacity and were regenerated in a simple way and reused for six cycles, which make them a cost-effective and efficient absorbent for the removal of such heavy metal ions from wastewater.

A series of N-substituted saccharins namely 2-(1,1-dioxido-3-oxobenzo[d]isothiazol-2(3H)-yl) acetonitrile (2) and (alkyl 1,1-dioxido-3-oxobenzo[d]isothiazol-2(3H)-yl) acetate (3a–g) were synthesized, in moderate to excellent yields, from commercially available starting materials by two different approaches and their chemical structures were characterized by spectroscopic techniques (¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, IR, and MS). All the synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory toward IL-6 and TNF-α, antioxidant, as well as their anticancer activities against hepatic cancer cells. In addition, their anti-fungal and antibacterial activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were tested. All the tested compounds have exhibited excellent (3a, d, e) to moderate anti-inflammatory activity. Additionally, esters (3b, f) and nitrile (2) showed excellent antioxidant activity. Furthermore, ester 3f, with isopropyl ester, exhibited the highest cytotoxic activity compared to the other esters. Moreover, all compounds were evaluated as selective inhibitors of the human COX-1 enzyme using molecular docking by calculating the free energy of binding, inhibition constant, and other parameters to find out the binding affinity. The molecular study showed that esters (3d, f) and nitrile (2) revealed the highest binding affinities, hence enhancing the inhibition activity with the active site of the COX-1 enzyme. All the tested compounds have more negative Gibbs free, electrostatic, and total intermolecular energies than the standard inhibitor ASA. These results indicate that, all the tested sultams are potent anti-inflammatory drugs as compared to standard inhibitors. Finally, the chemical properties and the quantum factors of synthesized sultams were calculated based on density functional theory (DFT) to predict reactivity, and then correlated with the experimental data. Ester 3f showed the lowest ionization potential and lowest energy gap (E_gap = 7.5691 eV), which was correlated with its cytotoxic activity. Furthermore, the spatial electron distribution of HOMO, LUMO were computed and it clearly indicates the electron donation ability of all the tested compounds.

The development of earth-abundant transition metal-based catalysts, supported by a conductive carbonaceous matrix, has received great attention in the field of conversion of formaldehyde derivatives into toxic-free species. Herein, we report a comprehensive investigation of bimetallic electrocatalyst activity towards the electrooxidation of formaldehyde. The bimetallic phosphate catalyst is prepared by co-precipitation of Ni and Mn phosphate precursors using a simple reflux approach. Then the bimetallic catalyst is produced by mixing the Ni/Mn with carbon fibres (CNFs). The structural properties and crystallinity of the catalyst were investigated by using several techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and Brunauer Emmett−Teller theory. The system performance was studied under potentiostatic conditions. Some theoretical thermodynamic and kinetic models were applied to assess the system performance. Accordingly, key electrochemical parameters, including surface coverage (Γ) of active species, charge transfer rate (k_s), diffusion coefficient of the formaldehyde (D), and catalytic rate constant (k_cat) were calculated at Γ = 1.690 × 10⁻⁴ mmol cm⁻², k_s = 1.0800 s⁻¹, D = 1.185 × 10⁻³ cm² s⁻¹ and k_cat = 1.08 × 10⁵ cm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹. These findings demonstrate the intrinsic electrocatalytic activity of formaldehyde electrooxidation on nickel/manganese phosphate- CNFs in alkaline medium.