Botrytis cinerea is a ubiquitous necrotrophic filamentous fungal phytopathogen that lacks host specificity and can affect more than 1000 different plant species. In this work, we explored L1 [(E)-2-{[(2-aminopyridin-2-yl)imino]-methyl}-4,6-di-tert-butylphenol], a pyridine Schiff base harboring an intramolecular bond (IHB), regarding their antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea. Moreover, we present a full characterization of the L1 by NMR and powder diffraction, as well as UV–vis, in the presence of previously untested different organic solvents. Complementary time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were performed, and the noncovalent interaction (NCI) index was determined. Moreover, we obtained a scan-rate study on cyclic voltammetry of L1. Finally, we tested the antifungal activity of L1 against two strains of Botrytis cinerea (B05.10, a standard laboratory strain; and A1, a wild type strains isolated from Chilean blueberries). We found that L1 acts as an efficient antifungal agent against Botrytis cinerea at 26 °C, even better than the commercial antifungal agent fenhexamid. Although the antifungal activity was also observed at 4 °C, the effect was less pronounced. These results show the high versatility of this kind of pyridine Schiff bases in biological applications.
β-Cyclodextrin (βCD), the less water soluble of the cyclodextrins, has been used as a capping agent in the preparation of semiconductor nanocrystals or quantum dots (QDs). Nevertheless, no reports have been found in the use of the highly water-soluble polymer of this, prepared by the crosslinking of the βCD units with epichlorohydrin in basic medium (βCDP). This polymer, besides to overcome the low solubility of the βCD, increases the inclusion constant of the guest; two parameters that deserve its use as capping agent, instead of the native cyclodextrin. In the present manuscript, we afforded the in-situ aqueous preparation of cadmium telluride (CdTe) QDs capped with βCDP. The polymer influence on the photoluminescent properties of the nanocrystals was analyzed. The βCDP controls the nanocrystals growth during the Oswald ripening stage. Consequently, the CdTe capped βCDP QDs showed lower Stokes-shift values, higher photoluminescent efficiency, and narrower size distribution than for nanocrystals obtained in the absence of polymer. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis revealed the composition and crystallinity of the CdTe QDs. This βCDP capped CdTe QDs is a potential scaffold for the supramolecular modification of QDs surface.