3-Methoxy-2,4-di-O-methylgyrophoric acid

Background: Cycas circinalis leaves are used to treat diabetes mellitus in local medicinal systems without any scientifically proved information on their medicinal potential and phytochemicals. In this study, the total phenolic contents, total flavonoid contents, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging and inhibitory effects on α-glucosidase and α-amylase were determined for optimized hydroethanolic leaf extracts. Secondary metabolites were identified using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS). In vivo studies on diabetic albino mice were also carried out to evaluate the impact of the most active extract on their blood glucose levels. Results: The 60% ethanolic extract showed the highest extract yield (209.70 ± 0.20 g kg-1 ) and total phenolic (154.24 ± 3.28 mg gallic acid equivalent) and flavonoid (78.52 ± 1.65 mg rutin equivalent per gram dried extract) contents and exhibited the maximum DPPH scavenging activity (IC50 = 59.68 ± 2.82 μg mL-1 ). The IC50 values for inhibition of α-glucosidase (58.42 ± 2.22 μg mL-1 ) and α-amylase (74.11 ± 1.70 μg mL-1 ) were also significant for the 60% ethanolic extract. The untargeted UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS-based metabolite profiling confirmed the presence of iridoid glucoside, gibberellin A4, O-β-d-glucosyl-4-hydroxy-cinnamate, 3-methoxy-2-phyenyl-4H-furo[2,3-h]chromen-4-one, kaempferol, withaferin A, amentoflavone, quercitin-3-O-(6″-malonyl glucoside), ellagic acid, and gallic acid. Plant extract at a dose of 500 mg kg-1 body weight reduced the blood glucose level by a considerable extent and also improved the lipid profile of diabetic mice after a 28-day trial. Conclusion: The findings revealed the medicinal potential of C. circinalis leaves to treat diabetes mellitus and provided the nutraceutical leads for functional food development. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

In this work, the carbon paste electrode (CPE) was modified using the cis-dioxo-bis[3-methoxy-2,2-dimethylpropanediamine] molybdenum(VI) complex and 1-octanaminium,N,N,N-trioctyl bromide. Using the modified electrode, the best separation of anodic peaks for ascorbic acid and dopamine was obtained in solutions with pH 5.0 and the linear range for ascorbic acid is acquired in the range from 3.0 × 10-6 to 6.0 × 10-3 M and for dopamine from 2.0 × 10-6 to 1.0 × 10-2 M. The limits of detection (S/N = 3) were 4 × 10-7 M and 5 × 10-7 M for dopamine and ascorbic acid, respectively. Surface regeneration and the very easy preparation of the modified CPE together with the very good peak resolution and sub-micromolar detection limits designate the prepared carbon paste electrode appropriate for simultaneous voltammetric determination of dopamine and ascorbic acid.

Synthetic cathinones are a type of new psychoactive substances (NPS) that have been seriously abused. Owing to the rapid variation in their structures, the absence of reference standards poses a challenge in quantitative investigations. In this study, a 1H quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (1H qNMR) method was established using maleic acid as the internal standard and the shared signal (i.e., the methylidyne hydrogen) on the parent synthetic cathinones structure as the quantitative peak. Taking 3-methoxy-2-(methylamino)-1-(4-methylphenyl)propan-1-one (mexedrone) as an example, this study optimized the acquisition parameters and conducted method validation, including an evaluation of the specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, and robustness. Using this 1H qNMR method, the contents of mexedrone and its analogues, including 1-(3-chlorophenyl)-2-(ethylamino)-propan-1-one (3-CEC), 4-chloro-α-pyrroli-dinopropiophenone (4-Cl-α-PVP), 1-(3,4-methylenedioxy-phenyl)-2-propylamino-propan-1-one (propylone), and methcathinone, were obtained. The obtained results showed that the method was accurate, rapid, versatile, and can be used to address the qualitative and quantitative issues related to similar substances.