A facile synthesis of undoped and 2.0 % selenium-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (NPs) was efficaciously accomplished through a mechanochemical route using zinc acetate dihydrate, oxalic acid, and Se powder in a solid state reaction. After calcination at 450 °C, the obtained nanostructures were probed by X-ray diffraction, where the acquired data revealed the pertinence of the wurtzite hexagonal ZnO for both undoped (ZnO) and doped (Se/ZnO) NPs and crystallite sizes of 30 and 24 nm for ZnO and Se/ZnO, respectively. The formation of the target NPs was confirmed by the scanning and transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and the Fourier transformation infrared molecular vibrations data. The porosity investigations indicated 33.65 m²/g Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area, 197 Å pore diameter, and 0.172 cm³/g pore volume for the Se/ZnO NPs compared to lower values for the pristine ZnO. The band gap energies were 3.19 and 3.15 eV for ZnO and Se/ZnO as perceived from the Tauc plots of the UV-visible absorption measurements. The photodegradation of methylene blue dye under UV illumination was found to follow the pseudo–first-order kinetics with an enhanced performance by the doped samples as reflected by the higher (3.2 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹) rate constant relative to the undoped sample (1.7 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹). A photodegradation mechanism was suggested in the light of the band gap energy investigation. The obtained findings indicate the improvement of ZnO properties by doping with Se through a simplistic and inexpensive approach.

In this study, we report the synthesis of two new copper complexes: [Cu(C₁₁H₇O₂)(SCN)(C₁₀H₈N₂)], denoted as (C-1), and [Cu(C₁₁H₇O₂) (C₁₂H₈N₂) Cl]·H₂O, denoted as (C-2). They are based on 2,2′-bipyridine or 1,10-phenanthroline and 2-hydroxy-1-naphtaldehyde ligands. The obtained complexes were characterized by FT-IR, UV-visible spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Molecular docking was employed to predict the binding mode involved in the interaction between the two synthetic copper (II) complexes and HIV-1 protease enzyme. The X-ray structural analysis revealed that the crystal structures of both complexes are mainly stabilized by several intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds. The fingerprint plots associated with the Hirshfeld surfaces of both complexes clearly show that H···H interactions provide the largest contributions. According to the docking results, the synthesized complexes exhibit promising features which enable them to be bound to the HIV-protease enzyme.

1-Benzyl-2-(methylthio)-imidazole-5-ketone is obtained in a few simple steps starting from thiocyanate and glycine amide (glycin). Subsequent treatment with diethyl phosphorocyanidate and functional group manipulations gives 1-benzyl-5-chloromethyl-imidazolium chloride. This compound is converted under mild O’Donnell conditions into the corresponding L-histidine derivative. After deprotection L-histidine is obtained in good yield and 99% enantiomeric excess. 2'-¹³C-L-Histidine has been obtained via this new scheme with high (99%) ¹³C incorporation starting with commercially available ¹³C- thiocyanate. This synthetic scheme allows access to any isotopomer of L-histidine and many other biologically important imidazole derivatives.