NTR (nitroreductase NfsB from Escherichia coli) is a flavoprotein with broad substrate specificity, reducing nitroaromatics and quinones using either NADPH or NADH. One of its substrates is the prodrug CB1954 (5-[aziridin-1-yl]-2,4-dinitrobenzamide), which is converted into a cytotoxic agent; so NTR/CB1954 has potential for use in cancer gene therapy. However, wild-type NTR has poor kinetics an...

In this paper, a new simple method is presented for the estimation of the toxicity of nitroaromatic compounds including some well-known explosives. This method can predict the 50% lethal dose concentration for rats (LD50) as the estimation of toxicity in vivo. The prediction of LD50 of nitroaromatics through a new general correlation is based on the number of alkyl and nitro groups per molecula...

A self-catenated Zn(II)-organic framework formulated as [Zn2(3,3'-bpeab)(oba)2]·DMF (1) exhibiting a six-connected 44·610·8 topology has been successfully synthesized through the mixed-ligand of kinked 3,3'-bis[2-(4-pyridyl)ethenyl]azobenzene (3,3'-bpeab) and 4,4'-oxybis-benzoic acid (H2oba) under solvothermal condition. UV light triggers isomerization of complex 1 in a single-crystal-to-single...

We have examined the structure-activity relationships in methemoglobin (MetHb) formation by high explosives 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4,6-trinitrophenyl-N-nitramine (tetryl) and 2,4,6-trinitrophenyl-N-nitraminoethylnitrate (pentryl), and a number of model nitrobenzenes. In lysed human erythrocytes the rate constants of oxyhemoglobin (OxyHb) oxidation increased with an increase in single-el...

An Mn metal-organic framework (Mn-MOF), Mn-L, based on a pyrene-tetraacid linker (H4 L), displays a respectable fluorescence quantum yield of 8.3% in spite of the presence of the paramagnetic metal ions, due presumably to fixation of the metal ions in geometries that do not allow complete energy/charge-transfer quenching. Remarkably, the porous Mn-L MOF with ∼25% solvent-accessible volume exhib...

Several polymers have been used to detect nitroaromatic explosives by a variety of transduction schemes. Detection relies on both electronic and structural interactions between the sensing material and the analyte. Quenching of luminescent polymers by electron deficient nitroaromatic explosives, such as trinitrotoluene, may be monitored to detect explosives. Resistive sensing using carbon black...

The sorption kinetics and thermodynamics of 1,3-dinitrobenzene (DNB), m-nitrotoluene (mNT), p-nitrophenol (pNP), and nitrobenzene (NB) on as-grown and nitric acid-oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were investigated. The sorption kinetics was well described by a pseudo-second-order rate model, while both Langmuir and Freundlich models described the sorption isotherms well and the so...