Current Organic Chemistry - Volume 27, Issue 14, 2023

Biogenic metallic nanoparticles (NPs) produced from garlic and ginger have a wide range of applications in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and electronics industries. Despite many commercial NPs reported, NPs made from natural extracts are more affordable, straightforward and environmentally friendly than synthetic approaches. Biogenic metallic NPs derived from garlic and ginger have superior biocompatibility, better dispersion, higher stability, and stronger biological activities. This is due to the fact that garlic and ginger possess significant activities against multi-drug resisted pathogens and are in high demand, especially for the prevention of microbial diseases. This review placed a substantial emphasis on comparative investigations of the synthesis of mono-, bi-, and tri-metallic NPs with a variety of sizes and forms, as well as applications using materials like ginger and garlic. The benefits and drawbacks of mono-metallic, bi-metallic, and tri-metallic biogenic NPs produced from garlic and ginger are also comprehensively highlighted. Recent improvements have opened the way to site-specific targeting and drug delivery by these metallic NPs.

A variety of biomolecules known as enzymes are found in honey and originated from bees and plant nectars. The plant yields nectar that aids bees in producing honey. Diastases, invertases, glucosidases, glucose oxidases and proteases are the common enzymes present in honey and highly sensitive toward UV-vis light, heat, and microwave energy. Among all enzymes, invertase and diastase have been used for assessing the freshness of honey. The enzyme's capacity to transform amylose into glucose enhances the sweetness and flavor of honey. The role of enzymatic reactions in two types of honey, based upon bee sting morphology, namely honey from honey bees (HB) and stingless bees (SB) are discussed in this review. Enzymes that act as the main ingredient in honey production are comprehensively discussed for their significance in producing good quality and therapeutic properties of honey.

Organic transformations under suitable environment-friendly conditions have a great impact on the Green Chemistry area. In this context, heteropoly compounds (HPCs) have received considerable attention due to their ability to act as solid catalysts, with the advantage of being used and reused for different organic transformations without appreciable loss of their catalytic activity. In this review article, we report the recent results (2010-2022) obtained for the selective oxidation of organic substrates using a clean oxidant, such as oxygen or aqueous hydrogen peroxide, and HPCs as catalysts. Some of the investigated substrates correspond to the families of hydrocarbons, alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, ketones, amines, and sulfides, among others.

The site-selective diversification of molecules is a pertinent unresolved issue within the area of organic chemistry. The functionalization of Csp³-H has changed the landscape of synthetic chemistry by enabling effective direct coupling of compounds and reducing chemical waste by avoiding the usage of pre-functionalized compounds. The 1,2,3,4- tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ), a molecule with potential bioactivity, has a stereoselective center at the C1 position. However, there is still a fundamental problem with the C1-functionalization of THIQs. To address this, transition metal-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) has evolved into an essential tool because such reactions can be carried out with enantio-, regio-, and stereoselectivity. In particular, copper-promoted CDC reactions have undoubtedly made substantial progress in THIQ chemistry as a selective protocol. The α-Csp³-H bond adjacent to the N-atom of THIQs is activated using copper catalysts, followed by dehydrogenative coupling with various alkynyl, alkane, and alkene groups to form the Csp-Csp³, Csp³-Csp3, and Csp³-Csp² bonds and produce optically active C1-substituted THIQs. The A³ coupling strategies also produce the endo-yne-THIQs with higher selectivity. This critical discussion highlights all recent advancements (between 2010 and 2022) in CDC reactions to THIQs with the substrate scope and plausible mechanistic routes. This study may be extremely useful to scientists and researchers working on copper-promoted CDC.

Hybrid molecules based on fullerene С60 and strained polycyclic hydrocarbons were synthesized for the first time using the Bingel-Hirsch reaction. The films of fullerene derivatives were deposited by centrifugation. The synthesized hybrid fullerene С60 derivatives containing one strained polycyclic hydrocarbon moiety showed better charge carrier mobility than the fullerene derivatives containing two polycyclic hydrocarbon moieties. Apart from current-voltage characteristics, the morphology of the prepared hybrid compounds was studied. The best current- voltage characteristics were found for films with lower roughness. The fullerene С60 adducts containing strained polycyclic hydrocarbon moieties were used to fabricate organic field effect transistors (OFETs) with high-quality films; owing to this, the manufacturing process is compatible with modern printed organic electronics.