Prolinamides are present in secondary metabolites and have wide-ranging biological properties as well as antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. N -(4′-substituted phenyl)- l -prolinamides 4a – 4w were synthesized in two steps, starting from the condensation of p -fluoronitrobenzene 1a – 1b with l -proline 2a – 2b , under aqueous–alcoholic basic conditions to afford N -aryl- l -prolines 3a – 3c , which underwent amidation via a two-stage, one-pot reaction involving SOCl ₂ and amines, to furnish l -prolinamides in 20–80% yield. The cytotoxicities of 4a – 4w against four human carcinoma cell lines (SGC7901, HCT-116, HepG2 and A549) were evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay; with good tumour inhibitory activities (79.50 ± 1.24%–50.04 ± 1.45%) against HepG2. 4a exhibited the best anti-tumour activity against A549 with percentage cell inhibition of 95.41 ± 0.67% at 100 µM. Likewise, 4s (70.13 ± 3.41%) and 4u (83.36 ± 1.70%) displayed stronger antineoplastic potencies against A549 than the standard, 5-fluorouracil (64.29 ± 2.09%), whereas 4a (93.33 ± 1.36%) and 4u (81.29 ± 2.32%) outperformed the reference (81.20 ± 0.08%) against HCT-116. SGC7901 showed lower percentage cell viabilities with 4u (8.02 ± 1.54%) and 4w (27.27 ± 2.38%). These results underscore the antiproliferative efficacies of l -prolinamides while exposing 4a and 4u as promising broad-spectrum anti-cancer agents. Structure-activity relationship studies are discussed.

Electrocyclizations of acyclic conjugated π-motifs have emerged as a versatile and effective strategy for accessing various ring systems with excellent functional group tolerability and controllable selectivity. Typically, the realization of 6π-electrocyclization of heptatrienyl cations to afford seven-membered motif has proven difficult due to the high-energy state of the cyclizing seven-membered intermediate. Instead, it undergoes the Nazarov cyclization, affording a five-membered pyrrole product. However, the incorporation of a Au(I)-catalyst, a nitrogen atom and tosylamide group in the heptatrienyl cations unexpectedly circumvented the aforementioned high energy state to afford a seven-membered azepine product via 6π-electrocyclization in the annulation of 3-en-1-ynamides with isoxazoles. Therefore, extensive computational studies were carried out to investigate the mechanism of Au(I)-catalyzed [4+3] annulation of 3-en-1-ynamides with dimethylisoxazoles to produce a seven-membered 4H-azepine via the 6π-electrocyclization of azaheptatrienyl cations. Computational results showed that after the formation of the key α-imino gold carbene intermediate, the annulation of 3-en-1-ynamides with dimethylisoxazole occurs via the unusual 6π-electrocyclization to afford a seven-membered 4H-azepine exclusively. However, the annulation of 3-cyclohexen-1-ynamides with dimethylisoxazole occurs via the commonly proposed aza-Nazarov cyclization pathway to majorly generate five-membered pyrrole derivatives. The results from the DFT predictive analysis revealed that the key factors responsible for the different chemo-, and regio-selectivities observed are the cooperating effect of the tosylamide group on C¹, the uninterrupted π-conjugation pattern of the α-imino gold(I) carbene and the substitution pattern at the cyclization termini. The Au(I)-catalyst is believed to assist in the stabilization of the azaheptatrienyl cation.

The resistance of bacteria to current antibiotic drugs and the re-occurrence of different ailments after several therapeutic protocols continue to be a cause for concern. Arylated amino acids are vital synthons to many compounds; they serve as essential building blocks in the synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles with various biological activities. This research reports on the synthesis of some N-aryl amino acids and evaluates their antibacterial activities. The N-aryl amino acids 3a–3j were obtained by reacting different 4-substituted fluorobenzene 1a–1d with different amino acids 2a–2g via a metal-free base-induced aryl amination reaction of aryl halides. The antibacterial activities of the synthesized compounds were evaluated against eight bacterial strains (Four Gram-positive, Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Streptococcus pneumonia (ATCC 33400), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), and Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 14990), and four Gram-negative, Enterobacter cloacae (ATCC 43560), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Proteus mirabilis (ATCC 43071), and Klebsiella oxytoca (ATCC 13182) using the agar well diffusion method with streptomycin as a reference drug. The biological screening indicates that the synthesized compounds 3a, 3e, and 3j have promising broad-spectrum antibacterial potential, as the N-aryl amino acid displayed activity that was comparable to the standard drug against Streptococcus pneumonia, Escherichia coli, and Proteus mirabilis.

Economic crises have led to an increase in entrepreneurial activities like street food vending. However, roasting food on the streets can increase food contamination. This study compares the concentrations of heavy metals such as Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn in home-roasted and street-roasted chicken, maize, meat, fish, and plantain in Nigeria. The food samples were digested with acid, and the concentrations of these elements in the digests were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer. The results showed that the concentrations of the heavy metals in street-roasted food were higher than in home-roasted food. The mean concentration of these metals in street-roasted food decreased in the following order: Fe > Mn > Pb > Cr > Cu > Cd and in home-roasted food in the decreasing order: Fe > Mn > Pb > Cr > Cd > Cu. Moreover, the total heavy metal concentration in street-roasted food followed the decreasing order: Maize > Meat > Chicken > Plantain > Fish, and in home-roasted food, the decreasing order: Fish > Chicken > Maize >Plantain > Meat. The highest risk among the heavy metals studied is posed by Pb, which is likely to pose a risk to both adults and children due to the Target Hazard Quotient of above 1. The findings emphasized the importance of monitoring and regulating the street food industry to reduce the health risks linked with consuming contaminated food.

Compound ( E )‐1‐(((4‐chloro‐2‐hydroxyphenyl)imino)methyl)naphthalen‐2‐ol ( HNC ) was prepared by the reaction between 2‐hydroxynaphthyl‐1‐carboxaldehyde and 2‐amino‐5‐chlorophenol in an equimolar ratio and obtained in moderate yield. HNC was characterized using physicochemical and various spectroscopic techniques. The slow evaporation of a hot methanolic solution of HNC resulted in the formation of the zwitterionic ketoenamine form of HNC , and denoted as HNC′ . Structurally, HNC′ comprises one naphthoxide ring bridged with one chlorophenol ring by the azomethine group, and the torsion angle between the naphthoxide and the chlorophenol ring is 11.78°, speculating a nonplanar geometry. The density functional theory (DFT) at M06‐2X/def2‐TZVP level of theory described the facile enolimine‐ketoenamine tautomerism and the highest occupied molecular orbital‐lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gap of 5.757 eV for HNC, consistent with a moderately reactive scaffold. The inhibitory potential of HNC against cyclin‐dependent kinases 2 (CDK2) was evaluated using molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area (MM‐GBSA) free energy calculations. Docking results showed that HNC achieved a binding score of ‐8.75 kcal/mol, slightly lower than the reference inhibitor Roscovitine (RVT), which scored ‐9.41 kcal/mol. MM‐GBSA calculations yielded ΔG _total values of ‐40.95 kcal/mol for HNC and ‐41.14 kcal/mol for RVT, suggesting comparable binding affinities. Generally, our findings pose HNC as a credible CDK2 inhibitor and tractable starting point for optimization toward selective antiproliferative agents.

Essential oils are complex mixtures of volatile compounds that are extracted from different parts of plants and possess diverse biological activity. In this work, the essential oils of Parquetina nigrescens leaves harvested in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state, were extracted using hydrodistillation and the oils were analysed with Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Twenty six (26) different compounds were found in the oil with Caryophyllene (49.38 %) and α-Citral (14.49%), being the most prevalent chemical compounds detected while Endo–Borneol (6.06 %), Citral (5.82 %), 3-Carene (4.18 %), 10-epi- γ-Eudesmol (3.75 %), Selin-6-en-4α-ol (3.76 %), and α-Pinene (2.19 %) were present is smaller quantities and other compounds were only found available in negligible amounts. The oil was screened for its antibacterial activity against K. pneumoniae, E. coli, and S. aureus. In comparison to the standard drug, the oil displayed good activity against the bacteria screened. E. Coli was the most susceptible to the antibacterial effect of the oil, as the best activity was observed against it (22.00±1.26 mm), followed by K. pneumonia (19.00±1.11 mm) and S. aerus (18.00±1.23 mm). This result underscores the relevance of Parquetina nigrescens in traditional medicine practice.