We described the facile synthesis of sub-15 nm CeO₂ nanowires for catalyzing the selective synthesis of nitrosobenzene from aniline at room temperature.

Chagas disease is a so-called “neglected disease” and endemic to Latin America. Nifurtimox and benznidazole are drugs that have considerable efficacy in the treatment of the acute phase of the disease but cause many significant side effects. Furthermore, in the Chronic Phase its efficiency is reduced and their therapeutic effectiveness is dependent on the type of T. cruzi strain. For this reason, the present work aims to drive basic research towards the discovery of new chemical entities to treat Chagas disease. Differently substituted 5,7-diaryl-2,3-dihydro-1,4-diazepines were synthesized by cyclocondensation of substituted flavones with ethylenediamine and tested as anti-Trypanosoma cruzi candidates. Epimastigotes of the Y strain from T. cruzi were used in this study and the number of parasites was determined in a Neubauer chamber. The most potent diaryldiazepine that reduced epimastigote proliferation exhibited an IC₅₀ value of 0.25 μM, which is significantly more active than benznidazole.

Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is classified as a neglected disease by the World Health Organization. For clinical treatment, only two drugs have been on the market, Benznidazole and Nifurtimox, both of which are recommended for use in the acute phase but present low cure rates in the chronic phase. Furthermore, strong side effects may result in discontinuation of this treatment. Faced with this situation, we report the synthesis and trypanocidal activity of 3-benzoyl-flavanones. Novel 3-benzoyl-flavanone derivatives were prepared in satisfactory yields in the 3-step synthetic procedure. According to recommended guidelines, the whole cell-based screening methodology was utilized that allowed for the simultaneous use of both parasite forms responsible for human infection. The majority of the tested compounds displayed promising anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity and the most potent flavanone bearing a nitrofuran moiety was more potent than the reference drug, Benznidazole.

A series of novel xylitan derivatives derived from xylitol were synthesized using operationally simple procedures. A xylitan acetonide was the key intermediate used to prepare benzoate, arylsulfonate esters and 1,2,3-triazole derivatives of xylitan. These compounds were evaluated for their in vitro anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity against trypomastigote and amastigote forms of the parasite in T. cruzi-infected cell lineages. Benznidazole was used as positive control against T. cruzi and cytotoxicity was determined in mammalian L929 cells. The arylsulfonate xylitan derivative bearing a nitro group displayed the best activity of all the compounds tested, and was slightly more potent than the reference drug benznidazole. The importance of the isopropylidene ketal moiety was established and the greater lipophilicity of these compounds suggests enhancement in cell penetration.

Polyaminopyridines (PAPy) were chemically prepared from amino-bromopyridines by a CuI/l-proline-catalyzed C-N polycondensation reaction. The formation of the polymer was confirmed by GPC, XRD, XRF, FTIR, UV-vis (λ_max = 400 nm), ¹H and ¹³C NMR. The number-average molecular weights (M_n) were estimated by end-group analysis using X-ray fluorescence (up to 6000 Da). TGA analysis of PAPy with higher M_n showed greater thermal stability up to 170 ^oC. Viscosity measurements of polymer in formic acid at 30 ^oC indicated a polyelectrolyte nature of PAPy solutions. Furthermore, the amorphicity of the material was observed by X-ray diffraction analysis.