The presence of both heavy metals and organic xenobiotic pollutants in a contaminated site
justifies the application of either a multitude of microbial degraders or microorganisms having
the capacity to detoxify a number of pollutants at the same time. Molybdenum is an essential
heavy metal that is toxic to ruminants at a high level. Ruminants such as cow and goats
experience severe hypocuprosis leading to scouring and death at a concentration as low as
several parts per million. In this study, a molybdenum-reducing bacterium with amide-degrading
capacity has been isolated from contaminated soils. The bacterium, using glucose as the best
electron donor reduces molybdenum in the form of sodium molybdate to molybdenum blue. The
maximal pH reduction occurs between 6.0 and 6.3, and the bacterium showed an excellent
reduction in temperatures between 25 and 40 oC. The reduction was maximal at molybdate
concentrations of between 15 and 25 mM. Molybdenum reduction incidentally was inhibited by
several toxic heavy metals. Other carbon sources including toxic xenobiotics such as amides
were screened for their ability to support molybdate reduction. Of all the amides, only
acrylamide can support molybdenum reduction. The other amides; such as acetamide and
propionamide can support growth. Analysis using phylogenetic analysis resulted in a tentative
identification of the bacterium as Pseudomonas sp. strain 135. This bacterium is essential in
remediating sites contaminated with molybdenum, especially in agricultural soil co-contaminated
with acrylamide, a known soil stabilizer.
The title di-thio-carbazate ester (I), C18H18N2S2 [systematic name: (E)-4-methyl-benzyl 2-[(E)-3-phenyl-allyl-idene]hydrazinecarbodi-thio-ate, comprises an almost planar central CN2S2 residue [r.m.s. deviation = 0.0131 Å]. The methyl-ene(tolyl-4) group forms a dihedral angle of 72.25 (4)° with the best plane through the remaining non-hydrogen atoms [r.m.s. deviation = 0.0586 Å] so the mol-ecule approximates mirror symmetry with the 4-tolyl group bis-ected by the plane. The configuration about both double bonds in the N-N=C-C=C chain is E; the chain has an all trans conformation. In the crystal, eight-membered centrosymmetric thio-amide synthons, {⋯HNCS}2, are formed via N-H⋯S(thione) hydrogen bonds. Connections between the dimers via C-H⋯π inter-actions lead to a three-dimensional architecture. A Hirshfeld surface analysis shows that (I) possesses an inter-action profile similar to that of a closely related analogue with an S-bound benzyl substituent, (II). Computational chemistry indicates the dimeric species of (II) connected via N-H⋯S hydrogen bonds is about 0.94 kcal mol(-1) more stable than that in (I).
The bidentate N-(1-Alkylpyridin-4(1H)-ylidene)amide (PYA) pro-ligands [H2LBn][Cl]2 (2), and [H2LMe][TfO]2 (3) were prepared by simple alkylation reactions of the known compound, N,N-di(pyridin-4-yl)oxalamide (H2L, 1). The Pd(II) complexes, [Pd(LBn)2][Cl]2 (4), [Pd(LMe)2][Cl][TfO] (5), Pd(LBn)Cl2 (6) and Pd(LMe)Cl2 (7) were synthesized through reactions between these pro-ligands and suitable Pd(II) substrates in the presence of base. The molecular structures of 3 and 6 were obtained by single crystal X-ray structure determinations. Studies of the experimental and computational DNA binding interactions of the compounds 1-7 revealed that overall 4 and 6 have the largest values for the binding parameters Kb and ΔGbo. The results showed a good correlation with the steric and electronic parameters obtained by quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) studies. In-vitro cytotoxicity studies against four different cell lines showed that the human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7, T47D and cervical cancer cell line HeLa had either higher or similar sensitivities towards 4, 6 and 2, respectively, compared to cisplatin. In general, the cytotoxicity of the compounds, represented by IC50 values, decreased in the order 4 > 6 > 2 > 5 > 3 > 1 > 7 in cancer cell lines. Apoptosis contributed significantly to the cytotoxic effects of these anticancer agents as evaluated by apoptosis studies.