Proanthocyanidins are condensed tannins with various pharmacological properties. These phytochemicals are considered as 'offense and defense molecules because of their human health benefits. The validation of their diverse health aspects, namely, antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, neuroprotective, and antimicrobial has earned them repute in thermochemistry. Proanthocyanidins are oligo- or polymers of monomeric flavan-3-ols produced as an end product of flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Agricultural wastes and food processing wastes contain immense amount of proanthocyanidins, exploitation of which can be a sustainable source of dietary supplements and functional ingredients. The current review article discusses recent developments in the health promoting properties of proanthocyanidins and the associated hurdles.

Titania (TiO₂) is widely used in the chemical industry as an efficacious catalyst support, benefiting from its unique strong metal–support interaction. Many proposals have been made to rationalize this effect at the macroscopic level, yet the underlying molecular mechanism is not understood due to the presence of multiple catalytic species on the TiO₂ surface. This challenge can be addressed with metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) featuring well-defined metal oxo/hydroxo clusters for supporting single-site catalysts. Herein we report that the Ti₈(μ₂-O)₈(μ₂-OH)₄ node of the Ti-BDC MOF (MIL-125) provides a single-site model of the classical TiO₂ support to enable Co^II-hydride-catalyzed arene hydrogenation. The catalytic activity of the supported Co^II-hydride is strongly dependent on the reduction of the Ti-oxo cluster, definitively proving the pivotal role of Ti^III in the performance of the supported catalyst. This work thus provides a molecularly precise model of Ti-oxo clusters for understating the strong metal–support interaction of TiO₂-supported heterogeneous catalysts.

The unprecedented carbodiimide-mediated condensation between pyridines and anthranilic acids via pyridine dearomatization at room temperature has been developed to provide a straightforward approach to pyridoquinazolones. The value of this approach has further been demonstrated by its application to one-step, gram-scale syntheses of a series of pyridoquinazolone-based natural products and their analogues from readily available starting materials.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a global health concern, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. HFMD caused by Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and Coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) infection is usually self-limited but occasionally leads to severe pulmonary edema, neurological complications, and even death. Unfortunately, no effective drugs are currently available in clinical practice for the prevention and treatment of HFMD. Thus, anti-HFMD drugs must be urgently developed. A previous study had reported that lycorine could inhibit EV71 replication. In the present study, we found that LY-55, a lycorine derivative, inhibited the replication of EV71 and CVA16 in vitro and provided partial protection to mice from EV71 infection, as indicated by the decreased viral load and protein expression levels in muscles, clinical scores, and increased survival rates of infected mice. Mechanistically, LY-55 was not directly viricidal. Instead, the LY-55-mediated inhibition of EV71 and CVA16 was found to be mechanistically possible, at least in part, through downregulating autophagy, which plays an important role for EV71 and CVA16 replication. These findings suggest that LY-55 could be a potential lead or supplement for the development of anti-HFMD agents in the future.