Department of Chemistry

In medical practices, the determination of enantiomeric ratio of the chiral drugs is very important for their activities, bioavailabilities and biodegradation. Only homochiral medication is safe for humans. The chiral analysis in biological samples is the first and most important step. The present article describes the technical strategies of the enantiomeric resolution of racemic drugs in biological samples. Attempts have been made to describe sample preparation by solid-phase extraction and enantiomeric resolution by chiral high-performance liquid chromatography. Various chiral stationary phases used in chiral separations of racemic drugs have been described. Efforts are also made to discuss the chiral recognition mechanism and future perspectives of chiral analyses in biological samples.

The land use/land cover is an important component to understand the human intervention with the environment. The land use/land cover pattern is an outcome of natural and socio-economic factors and their utilization by man in time and space. Land is becoming a scarce resource due to immense agricultural and demographic pressure. Hence, information on land use/land cover (LU/LC) and possibilities for their optimal use is essential for the selection, planning and implementation of land use schemes to meet the increasing demands for basic human needs, basically housing. Land which is one of the basic and finite resources for human existence is deteriorating with the rapid growth of population. The main objective of this study is to assess the LU/LC in 1971 and 2009 and to identify the locations, types, and trends of the main land use changes in the last 40 years in the eastern-most district, Ballia in Uttar Pradesh. Two sets of data, i.e., SOI toposheet (1971) and Landsat TM imagery (20...

The main objective of this paper is to assess the spatial variation of arsenic (As) in medium aquifer and to relate it with surface elevation and slope generated using Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) satellite data and water table. Water samples were collected in both pre-and post-monsoon season in 2011. The analysis of water samples for As were carried out by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Total 33 water samples from medium aquifer (80-120 feet) were taken both in pre-and post-monsoon season in 2011 from the 17 blocks of the Ballia district the eastern most district of Uttar Pradesh. Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) model was used for interpolation of As concentrations. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied to examine the nature of relationships and statistical association amongst the variables. The results show that high As is generally found in areas of low surface elevation, low slopes and low water table in the district. The relationships among groundwater As, slopes and water table are non-linear and these variables have inverse relationships. On the basis of scatter plot and statistical analysis between groundwater As and elevation, As and slope, and As and water table shows the linear relationships among all these variables. The correlation of coefficient (r²) value between As and surface elevation were 0.78 and 0.68, respectively in pre-and post-monsoon. The scatter plots show that the correlation coefficients (r²) between As and slope are 0.69 and 0.65 in pre-and post-monsoon respectively. Correlation of coefficients (r²) between As and water table are 0.74 and 0.71 in pre-and post-monsoon respectively. The results show that more than 90% areas contain As above the permissible limit of 10 ppb in both pre-and post-monsoon seasons.

The chiral separation is urgently required in medical science as one of the enantiomers is pharmaceutically active while the other may be inactive or toxic or ballast. Among various CSPs amylase based phases are the best one due to their wide range of applications. Cetirizine, oxybutynin and brinzolamide are chiral; and anti-allergic, anti-spasmodic and anti-ocular drugs. R-enantiomers of oxybutynin and brinzolamide are about two times pharmaceutically active than their corresponding antipodes, while it is vice versa in case of cetirizine. The enantiomers of these drugs were resolved on Amycoat [tris-(3,5-dimethylphenyl carbamate)] column (150 x 46 mm) column. The mobile phases used were n-hexane-2-propanol-DEA (70:30:0.2, v/v), n-hexane-2-PrOH-DEA (80:20:0.1, v/v) and n-hexane-2-propanol (90:10, v/v) for cetirizine, oxybutynin and brinzolamide drugs separately and, respectively. The flow rate was 0.5 mL min-1 with 225 nm detection at 25±1 ºC. The capacity factors of cetirizine, oxy...

The study examines the spatial variation of arsenic (As) level in groundwater of deep aquifers with respect to surface elevation, slope, and water-table, in Ballia, the eastern most districts of Uttar Pradesh. Total 33 water samples from deep aquifer and their site locations were taken from the 17 blocks of the district during pre and post-monsoon seasons during 2011. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) was used for the analyses of water samples. Geographic information system (GIS) is used to show the spatial variation of As and Global positioning system (GPS) for mapping the sampling site. Inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation model was used for the preparation of As concentrations maps. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied to examine the nature of relationships and statistical association amongst the variables. The result shows inverse relationships between groundwater As, slopes and water-table in deep aquifers i.e. high As is found in areas of low surface elevation, low slopes, and low water-table in the district. It is also observed that As concentration is controlled by the regional topography rainfall, withdrawal of water and the local-scale groundwater level in the district. The correlation of coefficient (r²) value between As and surface elevation is 0.75 for both pre and post-monsoon. The r² value between As and slope were 0.70 and 0.69 pre-monsoon and post-monsoon respectively. The r² value between As and water-table is 0.79 and 0.76 in pre and post-monsoon respectively. The results show that As in most of the deep aquifer was under the permissible limit.

The present study describes spatial variation of arsenic (As) in groundwater with respect to surface elevation and slope using SRTM data. In total, 34 water samples were collected from shallow aquifers covering all 17 blocks of Ballia district in the pre and post-monsoon season during 2011. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) was used for arsenic testing. Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) model was applied for interpolation of As concentrations. The statistical method was applied to assess the spatial variations amongst the variables. The result showed that the highest arsenic concentrations were found at low surface elevation, slopes and water table. The results also show the inverse relationship among these variables. The relationships between groundwater arsenic, slopes and water table were non-linear. These variables had negative corrections with As in groundwater. The study showed that more than 90 % areas contain arsenic above the permissible limit of 10 ppb in both pre-and post monsoon seasons.

Among many diseases, allergy appears to be a serious problem for human beings. Various forms of allergic disorders make people tense, leading to some other health issues. Many medications, including nonracemic and racemic ones, are used to treat this problem. It is important to have exact analysis strategies just to see any medication side effects, plasma profiles, and working efficiency. Therefore, efforts are made to review simple and chiral HPLC methods for antiallergic drugs; HPLC is the best analytical technique. The highlights in this article include the world scenario, causes of allergy, the effect of allergy on the economy, the mechanism of allergy in humans, classes of antiallergic drugs, simple drugs, chiral drugs, analysis by HPLC, and the chiral recognition mechanism. Moreover, attempts are also made to highlight the management of allergies and future perspectives.

Arsenic in the ground water is a worldwide problem as about 150 million people are at risk and more than 70 countries are suffering from this havoc. Arsenic is a carcinogen and responsible of various types of cancers. India is also having this problem in some parts including Ballia District, UP. The overall objective of this study to study the mitigation of arsenic by using chemical data and GIS application. 100 samples were collected from deep, medium and shallow aquifer twice in pre-monsoon (April, 2010) and post-monsoon seasons (December, 2010). The samples were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometer and correlated with geological features. The correlation between arsenic contamination with geological features and seasonal variation were analyzed by GIS. The Arsenic concentrations in shallow, medium and deep aquifers were 14-820, 30-450 and 6-300 ppb in pre-monsoon. But in post-monsoon these values were 13-950, 10-600 and 2-500 ppb, respectively. The seasonal variations were analyzed indicating high arsenic concentrations in post-monsoon season. These results indicated that arsenic mitigation is from shallow to medium and deep aquifers. The concentration of arsenic is found in all blocks of the study area. There was evidence of seasonal variation in concentrations of arsenic between pre and post-monsoon seasons. The concentrations of arsenic were higher in post-monsoon than pre-monsoon due to insufficient rainfall during study year.

Objectives: Increasing cardiovascular patients is a matter of global issue. Various drugs are being used to cure these ailments with different mode of actions. The present article describes simultaneous and Fast SPE-HPLC analyses of nine anti-hypertensive drugs in human plasma. Methods: Cardiovascular drugs such as amiloride, metoprolol, hydrochlorothiazide, carvidilol, amlodipine, furosemide, telmisertan, losartan and olmesartan were separated by HPLC on Sushell C 8 (150 x 4.6 mm, 2.6 µm) column. The mobile phase was phosphate buffer (65% with 0.8% TEA) in acetonitrile; 0.5 mL/min flow rate, 230 nm detection and 40±1ºC temperature. The values of retention, separation and resolution factors were from 0. 19-3.40, 1.20-3.60 and 2.43-12.37, respectively. The values of retention times, tailing factor and number of theoretical plates ranged from 2. 64-11.60, 1.20-1.34 and 25883-144283, respectively. The percentage bindings with plasma determined by SPE were 40, 35, 70, 90, 70, 90, 90, 90, and 90%, respectively. The developed SPE-HPLC methods were applied successfully for monitoring these drugs into human plasma.

The present study describes spatial variation of arsenic (As) in groundwater with respect to surface elevation and slope using SRTM data. In total, 34 water samples were collected from shallow aquifers covering all 17 blocks of Ballia district in the pre and post-monsoon season during 2011. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) was used for arsenic testing. Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) model was applied for interpolation of As concentrations. The statistical method was applied to assess the spatial variations amongst the variables. The result showed that the highest arsenic concentrations were found at low surface elevation, slopes and water table. The results also show the inverse relationship among these variables. The relationships between groundwater arsenic, slopes and water table were non-linear. These variables had negative corrections with As in groundwater. The study showed that more than 90 % areas contain arsenic above the permissible limit of 10 ppb in both pre-and post monsoon seasons.

A fast LC-MS method has been developed for the identi cation of berberine in plant extracts. The retention times for the standard berberine and berberine extracted from Berberis vulgaris, Berberis aquifolium, and Hydrastis canadensis were 1.80, 1.82, 1.79 and 1.79, respectively, using mobile phase of a mixture of ammonium acetate buffer and acetonitrile with gradient mode. The column used Waters Acquity BEH C 18 (50 x 2.1 mm, 1.7 µm). The purity of the standard berberine was recorded as 98.86% with desired mass of 336 while these values were 61.82, 69.02 and 49.98% for berberine extracted from Berberis vulgaris, Berberis aquifolium and Hydrastis canadensis. In addition, an arti cial intelligence technique was also applied to predict the possible activity of berberine against 27 known diseases. The results indicated berberine as the most active against Dengue larvicide, E. coli, Alzheimer and PTR L Major with 1.0 as the maximum probability. The outcomes reported herein are very important to determine the purity of the plants that extracted berberine in the future. The antibacterial activity of berberine was carried by MTT assay. The IC 50 of berberine was calculated 136.3 µM against E. coli, while IC 50 of a standard kanamycin taken as positive drug control calculated 10.87 µM. Also, the applied arti cial intelligence may be extended to predict the biological activity of berberine or more diseases.

Processibility is one of the important requirements for the commercial utilization of conducting polymers. Studies on composites and blends based on nano polyaniline (PANI) dispersions have become the subject of scientific curiosity with regard to their morphology, stability, and electron transport properties. In general, polymer nanocomposites are made by dispersing inorganic or organic nanoparticles into either a conventional thermoplastic or a thermoset polymer. The present study reports the synthesis of nanostructured MO-PANI and castor oil polyurethane (COPU)-based composites. The effect of loading of nanostructured MO-PANI in COPU on the spectral, physicochemical and morphological properties has been analyzed.

Epoxy Blend Polyvinylchloride Renewable resource Biodegradability a b s t r a c t With the aim to utilize linseed oil epoxy -a product from sustainable resource for the processing of hard polymers, blends of linseed oil epoxy (LOE) with polyvinylchloride (PVC) were prepared for the first time by solution blending of the requisite amounts of the two components in the weight ratios LOE/PVC-85/15, 65/35, 55/45, 45/55, 35/65, and 15/85 through solution method by mixing in tetrahydrofuran (THF). The miscibility of the two components in solution phase was investigated by relative viscosity, reduced viscosity and density measurements. The blend with 85 wt% of LOE yielded stiff and flexible films with maximum stress of 33 MPa and 216% elongation at break. Biodegradability of these blends has been studied by soil burial test, enzymatic degradation, and hydrolytic degradation in phosphate buffer. The blend LOE/PVC 85/15 showed the highest biodegradation of 68 wt% in 6 months in the soil burial test. The degradability was found to increase with the increase in LOE content in the blend compositions. The potential applications for such sustainable resource based blend films include packaging materials and biodegradable plastic sheets which can be formed into products such as bio-bags. .in (S.M. Ashraf). A v a i l a b l e a t w w w . s c i e n c e d i r e c t . c o m h t t p : / / w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / b i o m b i o e b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 4 ( 2 0 1 0 ) 3 9 6 -4 0 1 0961-9534/$ -see front matter ª

Due to serious environmental consequences of dyestuff usage and disposal, stringent regulations and measures are being adopted by governments all over the world. Among the various adsorbents used, conducting polymers have recently attracted attention for the removal of dyes and waste water purification. The present study, reports for the first time, utilization of nanotubes of conducting poly(1-naphthylamine) (PNA) as an adsorbent for the removal of sulphonate dyes -commassie brilliant blue R-250 (CB) and orange G (OG). The adsorption of CB as well as OG dyes onto PNA-camphorsulphonic acid (CSA) and PNA was studied by equilibrium isotherms, and adsorption kinetics, while the conformational, morphological and conductivity changes of the dye adsorbed PNA nanotubes were investigated by UV-vis, morphological and conductivity measurements. Maximum adsorption capacity of PNA-CSA in CB acidic and basic media was obtained as 252 mg of dye/g of PNA and 188 mg of dye/g of PNA, respectively, while for PNA, the adsorption capacity was found to be 200 mg of dye/g of PNA and 185 mg of dye/g of PNA in acidic and basic media, respectively. Likewise, maximum adsorption capacity of PNA-CSA for OG in acidic and basic media was obtained respectively as 328 mg of dye/g of PNA and 296 mg of dye/g of PNA while for PNA, the adsorption capacity was found as 315 mg of dye/g of PNA and 277 mg of dye/g of PNA in acidic and basic media. UV-vis studies confirmed the doping of PNA by the dyes in acidic and basic media. Conductivity measurements revealed that dye adsorbed PNA exhibited conductivity in the semi-conducting range. The nanotubes of PNA revealed adsorption capacity in both acidic, basic media even in the dedoped state, the property not shown by other conducting polymers. PNA can, therefore, be used as a pH independent adsorbent for the removal of dyes in doped and dedoped states.

The present article highlights some preliminary investigations based on a convenient and inexpensive chemical method for preparing novel poly (1-naphthylamine) (PNA) nanostructures in the presence of different alcohols. The effect of alcoholic medium on the polymerization and morphology of PNA was investigated. Results revealed that nanomorphology can be controlled under appropriate preparative conditions. The particle sizes thus obtained were of 5-50 nm exhibiting a much smaller range than polyaniline nanoparticles synthesized under similar conditions.

Efficient utilization of inherently conducting polymers in nano technological applications faces the challenge to assemble them into highly ordered structures which may yield novel properties. The present study reports for the first time the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured poly (1-naphthylamine) (PNA) dispersed polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composites. The composites were prepared by loading PNA from 2 wt% to 10 wt% in PVA in aqueous as well as nonaqueous media. The composites were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, TEM, stress-strain studies, electrical conductivity measurements and moisture absorption studies under controlled humidity. A discrete but uniform distribution of nanoparticles was obtained in PNA/PVA composites synthesized in water having particle size between 5 and 30 nm. A self assembled network of nanostructured PNA particles was obtained in case of PNA/PVA composites synthesized in N-methylpyrolidone (NMP) with particle sizes between 10 and 65 nm. The variation in the nanostructured morphology of PNA particles in PVA matrix in the two cases resulted from the pronounced interaction of PVA with NMP through hydrogen bonding. This leads to the formation of a homogeneous matrix that facilitates the formation of a self assembled network of PNA nano particles. In case of PNA/PVA composites synthesized in water, lower affinity of PVA towards water was responsible for a discrete, agglomerate free distribution of PNA particles. We have found that the PNA/PVA nano composite synthesized in water exhibited good mechanical properties and electrical conductivity (8.1 Â 10 À1 S/cm) as well as lowest moisture absorption (4 wt%) which holds potential for use in semiconductor and biomedical devices.

The growing environmental concerns have led to the formulation of new coating strategies by employing inherently conductive polymers (ICPs) as a key component in order to eliminate the toxic heavy metals from protective coatings. Also, the renewable resources are given increasing priority within chemical industry and the energy community. Emphasis is therefore, being laid on the production and processing of polymers from renewable resources which show advantages when compared with petrochemical raw materials and are regarded as an ideal raw material. The present work reports the investigations on the corrosion-resistance performance of soya oil alkyd, containing nano polyaniline (PANI) against mild steel (MS). The corrosion-protective performance was evaluated in terms of physicomechanical properties, corrosion rate, open circuit potential measurements (OCP) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. The performance was compared to the reported PANI coatings.

Inherently conducting polymers (ICP) have attracted the attention of researchers because of their low cost and environmental stability. However, for commercial applications the poor processibility and solubility of ICPs have inhibited their widespread use. To avoid these disadvantages adducts, blends, and composites of conducting polymers have been developed. With a view to enhance the processibility of polyaniline (PANI), this work reports the synthesis of nano PANI polydihydroxydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) adduct and the formulation of its nanocomposite via the dispersion of this nano adduct in butylated melamine formaldehyde (BMF) cured soy alkyd (SA) in different weight loadings (0.25 wt %, 0.5 wt %, 1 wt %).

The present study reports a novel approach for the rapid intercalation of linseed oil-derived fatty amide (LFA) in organo-montmorillonite (OMMT)-CloisiteV R 93A. The intercalation of LFA (0.25, 0.5, and 1 wt %) in CloisiteV R 93A was carried by varying the microwave irradiation time from 30 to 90 s. X-ray diffraction studies confirmed that microwave irradiation resulted in higher intercalation in a shorter reaction time. The basal spacings were shifted from 12.34 to 16.45 Å on microwave irradiation for 30 s while exfoliation occurred at and beyond 60 s exposure. Controlled morphology of the nanohybrids was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy analysis on microwave irradiation for 30 s. This biomodified CloisiteV R 93A could be used for the preparation of polyesters, polyesteramides, and polyurethanes of controlled morphology for various applications in biomedicine.