Composite Hydrogel of Poly(vinyl alcohol) Loaded by Citrus hystrix Leaf Extract, Chitosan, and Sodium Alginate with In Vitro Antibacterial and Release Test

Citrus hystrix leaves have been used traditionally as a spice, a traditional medicine for respiratory and digestive disorders, and a remedy for bacterial infections. This study reports on the synthesis of composite hydrogels using the freeze-thaw method with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as the building block loaded by C. hystrix leaf extract (CHLE). Additionally, chitosan (CS) and sodium alginate (SA) were also loaded, respectively, to increase the antibacterial activity and to control the extract release of the composite hydrogels. The combinations of the compositions were PVA, PVA/CHLE, PVA/CHLE/CS, PVA/CHLE/SA, and PVA/CHLE/SA/CS. The internal morphology of the hydrogels shows some changes after the PVA/CHLE hydrogel was loaded by CS, SA, and SA/CS. The analysis of the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra confirmed the presence of PVA, CHLE, CS, and SA in the composite hydrogels. From the X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization, it was shown that the composite hydrogels maintained their semicrystalline properties with decreasing crystallinity degree after being loaded by CS, SA, and SA/CS, as also supported by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) characterization. The compressive strength of the PVA/CHLE hydrogel decreases after the loading of CS, SA, and SA/CS, so that it becomes more elastic. Despite being loaded in the composite hydrogels, the CHLE retained its antibacterial activity, as evidenced in the in vitro antibacterial test. The loading of CS succeeded in increasing the antibacterial activity of the composite hydrogels, while the loading of SA resulted in the decrease of the antibacterial activity. The release of extract from the composite hydrogels was successfully slowed down after the loading of CS, SA, and SA/CS, resulting in a controlled release following the pseudo-Fickian diffusion. The cytotoxic activity test proved that all hydrogel samples can be used safely on normal cells up to concentrations above 1000 μg/mL.

Reactions of Criegee Intermediates with Alcohols at Air-Aqueous Interfaces

The fate of Criegee intermediates (CIs) from the gas-phase ozonolysis of unsaturated organic compounds in the troposphere is largely controlled by their reactions with water vapor. We recently found that against all expectations carboxylic acids compete at millimolar concentrations with water for CIs at the air-liquid interface of aqueous organic media. This outcome is consistent with both the low water concentration in the outermost interfacial layers and the enrichment of the competing acids therein. Here we show, via online electrospray mass spectrometric detection, that CIs generated in situ in the fast ozonolysis of sesquiterpenes (C₁₅H₂₄) on the surface of water:acetonitrile microjets react with n ≥ 4 linear alcohols C_nH_2n+1OH to produce high molecular weight C_15+n ethers in one step. The OH group of 1-octanol proved to be ∼25 times less reactive than that of n-octanoic toward CIs at the same bulk molar concentration, revealing that the reactivity of hydroxylic species depends on both acidities and interfacial affinities. CI interfacial reactions with surface-active hydroxylic species, by bypassing water, represent shortcuts to molecular complexity in atmospheric aerosols.

Criegee Chemistry on Aqueous Organic Surfaces

In the troposphere, the fate of gas-phase Criegee intermediates (CIs) is deemed to be determined by their reactions with water molecules. Here it is shown that CIs produced in situ on the surface of water/acetonitrile (W/AN) solutions react competitively with millimolar carboxylic acids. Present experiments probe, via online electrospray mass spectrometry, CIs' chemistry on the surface of α-humulene and β-caryophyllene in W/AN microjets exposed to O₃(g) for <10 μs. Mass-specific identification lets us establish the progeny of products and intermediates generated in the early stages of CIs' reactions with H₂O, D₂O, H₂¹⁸O, and n-alkyl-COOH (n = 1-7). It is found that n-alkyl-COOH competes for CIs with interfacial water, their competitiveness being an increasing function of n. Present findings demonstrate that CIs can react with species other than H₂O on the surface of aqueous organic aerosols due to the low water concentrations prevalent in the outermost interfacial layers.

Efficient scavenging of Criegee intermediates on water by surface-active cis-pinonic acid

Criegee intermediates efficiently react with surface-active cis-pinonic acid rather than linear alkyl organic acids of similar size, or interfacial water molecules at air-aqueous interfaces.

Highly Oxidized RO2 Radicals and Consecutive Products from the Ozonolysis of Three Sesquiterpenes

The formation of highly oxidized multifunctional organic compounds (HOMs) from the ozonolysis of three sesquiterpenes, α-cedrene, β-caryophyllene, and α-humulene, was investigated for the first time. Sesquiterpenes contribute 2.4% to the global carbon emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) and can be responsible for up to 70% of the regional BVOC emissions. HOMs were detected with chemical ionization-atmospheric pressure interface-time-of-flight mass spectrometry and nitrate and acetate ionization. Acetate ions were more sensitive toward highly oxidized RO2 radicals containing a single hydroperoxide moiety. Under the chosen reaction conditions, product formation was dominated by highly oxidized RO2 radicals which react with NO, NO2, HO2, and other RO2 radicals under atmospheric conditions. The ozonolysis of sesquiterpenes resulted in molar HOM yields of 0.6% for α-cedrene (acetate), 1.8% for β-caryophyllene (acetate), and 1.4% for α-humulene (nitrate) afflicted with an uncertainty factor of 2. Molar yields of highly oxidized RO2 radicals were identical with HOM yields measuring the corresponding closed-shell products. HOM formation from ozonolysis of α-cedrene was explained by an autoxidation mechanism initiated by ozone attack at the double bond similar to that found in the ozonolysis of cyclohexene and limonene.

Chemical transformations of characteristic hop secondary metabolites in relation to beer properties and the brewing process: a review

The annual production of hops (Humulus lupulus L.) exceeds 100,000 mt and is almost exclusively consumed by the brewing industry. The value of hops is attributed to their characteristic secondary metabolites; these metabolites are precursors which are transformed during the brewing process into important bittering, aromatising and preservative components with rather low efficiency. By selectively transforming these components off-line, both their utilisation efficiency and functionality can be significantly improved. Therefore, the chemical transformations of these secondary metabolites will be considered with special attention to recent advances in the field. The considered components are the hop alpha-acids, hop beta-acids and xanthohumol, which are components unique to hops, and alpha-humulene and beta-caryophyllene, sesquiterpenes which are highly characteristic of hops.

Determination of gas-phase ozonolysis rate coefficients of a number of sesquiterpenes at elevated temperatures using the relative rate method

The rates of ozonolysis of four sesquiterpenes, β-caryophyllene, α-humulene, isolongifolene and α-cedrene, are determined in the gas phase at an elevated temperature of 366 ± 3 K and a pressure of ~780 Torr using the EXTreme RAnge chamber (EXTRA). The experimentally obtained rate coefficients agree with extrapolated room temperature rate coefficients for isolongifolene and α-cedrene but not for β-caryophyllene and α-humulene, which were found to be three orders of magnitude slower than this in the literature. These new measurements support the hypothesis that operating under ambient conditions, kinetic measurements of condensable species can be influenced adversely by heterogeneous processes and should therefore be treated with caution.