This investigation describes the synthesis of eugenol analogs presenting 1,2,3-triazole fragments and evaluation of their antileishmanial activity. The alkylation of guaiacol (1) with allyl bromide afforded 1-(allyloxy)-2-methoxybenzene (2) (93% yield). The Claisen rearrangement conducted with 1 gave ortho eugenol (3) (82% yield). Alkylation procedures performed with 3 produced 1-allyl-3-methoxy-2-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)benzene (4) (73% yield) and 1-allyl-3-methoxy-2-(pent-4-yn-1-yloxy)benzene (6) (53% yield). The copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions involving alkynes 4 and 6 with different benzylic azides afforded twenty-two eugenol analogs with 1,2,3-triazole functionalities (48-93% yield). We screened the compounds at 10 μmol L 1 against Leishmania braziliensis intracellular amastigotes during macrophage infection. The action of these compounds was compared with the known leishmanicidal drug amphotericin B. None of the analogs were toxic to macrophages at 10 μmol L-1. The cytotoxic concentration at 50% (CC50), effective concentration at 50% (EC50), and selectivity index (SI) were determined to the best compounds 4-((2-allyl-6-methoxy)phenoxymethyl)-1-(4-chlorobenzyl)-1 H-1,2,3-triazole (8c) and 4-((2-allyl-6-methoxy)phenoxymethyl)-1-(4-trifluoromethoxybenzyl)-1 H-1,2,3-triazole (8h). They showed a significant leishmanicidal effect, with EC50 of 28.09 µmol L-1 (8c) and 52.03 µmol L-1 (8h). The SIs were 9.7 for 8c and > 5.7 for 8h. These compounds have the potential as new leishmanicidal agents against L. braziliensis and may represent a starting point for the development of alternative treatments for cutaneous leishmaniasis.

A determinação de elementos terras raras (REE) em catalisadores gastos provenientes da indústria de petróleo é proposta. Foram testados três procedimentos de tratamento de amostra, um sem adição de HF e outros dois usando diferentes quantidades de HF e ácido bórico, além de uma etapa de evaporação assistida por radiação micro-ondas para dissolução dos fluoretos de REE. O meio contendo 1,0 mL de HF e 8,0 mL de ácido bórico foi eficiente para promover a completa digestão da amostra. Estudos foram realizados usando uma célula de reação para redução de interferências por íons poliatômicos para quatro elementos por espectrometria de massas com plasma acoplado indutivamente (ICP-MS). Material de referência certificado, TDB-1, foi utilizado para avaliar a exatidão do método aplicado a dez amostras de catalisadores. O procedimento proposto é rápido, eficiente e apresentou exatidão e precisão adequadas para 14 dos 16 analitos determinados. Testes de adição e recuperação apresentaram valores entre 87% e 101%.

The determination of rare earth elements (REE) in spent catalyst samples from oil refinery is proposed. Three sample treatment procedures were tested, one without HF and two using different amounts of HF and boric acid. A microwave evaporation step to promote the dissolution of the REE fluorides was carried out. The medium containing 1.0 mL of HF and 8.0 mL of boric acid promoted the complete digestion. Studies were carried out using a reaction cell to overcome polyatomic interferences on four elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Certified reference material, TDB-1, was used to evaluate the method accuracy applied to ten spent catalysts. The sample treatment is fast and promotes the complete digestion of the samples and the developed procedure led to proper accuracy for 14 of the 16 determined analytes. Recovery tests presented values between 87% and 101%.

Iron oxide nanoparticles (ION) have been studied for essential applications, like detection of biological constituents (virus, bacterials, cell, nucleic acids, protein, enzyme, etc.), magnetic bioseparation and clinic therapy and diagnosis (such as MRI magnetic fluid and hyperthermia). In this work, γ-Fe2O3has been synthetized by a adapted sol-gel method and entraped in poly ε-caprolactone (PCL) nanocapsules. The superparamagnetic nanocapsules have been formulated by double emulsion evaporation method. Some variables affecting the polydispersity index, zeta potential surface and size of nanocapsules were studied aiming optimize the formulation process of maghemite-loaded PCL nanocapsules. The following parameters were selected: sonication time, PCL concentration in organic phase, PVA concentration in external aqueous phase and maghemite/PCL weight ratio. Under these experimental conditions, the resulting nanocapsules displayed a mean size of about 346 nm and a maghemite content of about 7.5 µg/mg of nanocapsules and superparamagnetic behaviour at room temperature.