Agrochemical Sectors Research Articles

Enantioselective Synthesis of Flavonoids and Their Diverse Applications in Nutrition, Health, and Medicine: A Mini Review

AbstractEnantioselective synthesis, which yields one enantiomer in higher concentration or purity than the other, has transformed the production of flavonoids. Flavonoids, which are found in large quantities in nature and are known to exhibit a diverse array of physiological activities, are an ideal choice for enantioselective synthesis due to the significance of chirality in their therapeutic effects. Enantioselective synthesis is used in the medicinal, nutraceutical, and agrochemical sectors to produce flavonoids, which are useful in the development of novel therapeutics with improved effectiveness and fewer adverse reactions. The ability to obtain specific enantiomers of flavonoids facilitates the elucidation of biochemical strategies and the relationship between structure and activity, thereby providing avenues for tailored drug design and optimization. This review highlights the critical role that enantioselective synthesis plays in achieving the full potential of flavonoids for a variety of therapeutic and non‐therapeutic applications. It also discusses the challenges and prospects of enantioselective syntheses to create relevant classes of flavonoid monomers, emphasizing their applications in the field. The review focused on the synthetic methods for fabricating native flavonoids and their analogs, highlighting the critical role that enantioselective synthesis of flavonoids plays in maximizing their therapeutic potential for enhancing human health and wellbeing.

Bacterial degradation of phenol: a review of the current state of knowledge

Phenol is a toxic and recalcitrant contaminant widely used in various industries, including petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical industries. Bacterial degradation of phenol is a promising method for treating phenol-contaminated wastewater. The biodegradation of phenol by bacteria can effectively remove it from the environment, making it a valuable alternative to traditional chemical treatment methods. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the bacterial biodegradation of phenol, including those in the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical sectors, the metabolic pathways involved in phenol degradation, and the factors that influence the efficiency of phenol biodegradation. This paper also discusses the challenges and limitations of using bacteria for the biodegradation of phenol, including the need for further research to improve the efficiency and sustainability of the process. The outcome of this review demonstrates that bacterial biodegradation is a promising and effective method for treating phenol-contaminated wastewater and provides a foundation for future research to improve the efficiency and continuous use of this process.

Synthesis and Preliminary Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Microbial Evaluation of New 4,5-Dihydro-1H-Pyrazole Derivatives

Abstract
 Organic compounds with pyrazole cores have a variety of uses, notably in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors. The interest in creating pyrazole compounds, examining their many features, and looking for potential uses is growing. Our work has concert with synthesis of chalcones and pyrazolines, then finally pyrazoline-aniline derivatives and evaluation their anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal activities

Effect of Mergers and Acquisitions on Organizational Competitiveness in Agrochemical Industry in Kenya

Purpose: The study's objective was to determine how mergers and acquisitions affected organizational competitiveness in Kenya's agrochemical sector. The following specific objectives served as the study's direction: to evaluate how market expansion affected organizational effectiveness; to examine how effective governance affected organizational effectiveness; to examine how adequate human resource levels affected organizational competitiveness; and to assess how production capacity affected organizational competitiveness among Kenya's agrochemical industry.
 Methodology: The study's core research subjects were managers and employees of Nairobi's agrochemical companies, utilizing a cross-sectional research design. The study gathered information from 281 respondents as its sample size using multi-stage sampling techniques. Questionnaires were used to collect data on employees, and scheduled interviews were used to collect data on managers. Content analysis techniques were used to examine qualitative data. Quantitative data was categorized and coded using a code book made in accordance with the research variables. The data was examined using SPSS version 25 (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences). Descriptive findings showing positive means and standard deviation obtained by all variables. Additionally, inferential statistics are presented in form of a correlation analysis conducted to determine the effect of production capacity, effective governance, HR adequacy, and market extensions on organizational competitiveness.
 Findings: The results indicate strong positive relationships between these factors and organizational competitiveness. Increasing production capacity, implementing effective governance practices, investing in HR adequacy, and expanding into new markets were all found to enhance organizational competitiveness. The statistical analysis supports these findings, with significant correlation coefficients and a regression model that explains a significant portion of the variance in organizational competitiveness. The chapter emphasizes the importance of focusing on these factors to improve organizational competitiveness and achieve long-term success.
 Unique contributions to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that policy makers should encourage research into alternative pesticides and fertilizers and regulate the use of agrochemicals to minimize their negative impact on the environment and human health. Companies and organizations in the industry should take responsibility for the safety of their products and provide incentives for sustainable agricultural practices. The government should regulate the use of agrochemicals and invest in research and development of alternative pesticides and fertilizers. Other stakeholders should raise awareness and support research on sustainable agricultural practices.

Metal‐Organic Frameworks as a New Platform for Enantioselective Separations

AbstractThe enantioselective separation of racemic mixtures is highly important in the pharmaceutical, food and agrochemical sector. Metal‐organic frameworks, as a class of highly porous materials are emerging as highly efficient and selective platforms for chiral recognition and separation owing to their ultrahigh porosities, functionalized pore walls, controllable pore chemistry and presence of highly ordered chiral recognition sites. In this review, we summarize the progress made in the synthesis of chiral MOFs via direct and indirect methods, followed by their applications in some important chiral separations of alcohols, drugs, amino acids, biologically relevant molecules and important chiral organic mixtures. The developments in chiral MOF membranes as thin films for practical industrial use are also explored. Finally, the outlook for the MOFs as emerging platforms for enantioseparation and the future directions are discussed.

Degradation of personal care product 2-chloropyrine detected in surface water

Surface water bodies are getting contaminated day by day. Pollutants like 2-Chloropyridine (a class of halogenated pyridine derivative which are widely used in pharmaceutical and agrochemical sector) is detected in surface water bodies. It is toxic and carcinogenic. One of the reason of its presence in water bodies can be attributed to effluents from sewage treatment and industrial waste treatment plants, which may be due to inefficient conventional treatment technologies. Use of Advanced Oxidation technologies like Fenton’s oxidation has proven to be a promising alternative to degrade these recalcitrant and non-biodegradable compounds. The Present study accesses the applicability of laterite soil as a source of iron catalyst in Fenton’s oxidation process to degrade2-chloropyridine (2-CP) at various concentrations. Parameters like pH, dosage of laterite iron, hydrogen peroxide are optimized. Effect of initial concentration of the target compound on degradation kinetics is also investigated. Up to 75% degradation was achieved in a total reaction time period of 10hrs corresponding to Laterite iron: H2O2 ratio of 1:50 at a pH of 3 for a sample containing 2-CP compound at 10 mg/L. Use of iron in Fenton’s oxidation process harnessed from the laterite soil can be a suitable alternative to treat polluted water bodies contaminated with pharmaceutical halopyridine compounds.

A Comment on Continuous Flow Technologies within the Agrochemical Industry

The agrochemical sector operates on a large scale within a highly complex environment. Cost-effective production on an increasing scale in a sustainable fashion imposes massive constraints on the industry. Here we offer a perspective on flow chemistry, with literature highlights showing how the application of this technology can impact chemical processes (especially at the early stages of R&D) for agrochemicals, with clear benefits in comparison with a traditional batch vessel, be it safety, quality, or throughput. The value of flow chemistry for the business is clear, and the number of examples reported in the literature will undoubtably continue to increase in the agrochemical industry.

Intermolecular Amine Transfer to Enantioenriched trans-3-Phenylglycidates by an α/β-Aminomutase to Access Both anti-Phenylserine Isomers

β-Hydroxy-α-amino acids are noncanonical amino acids with two stereocenters and with useful applications in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors. Here, a 5-methylidene-3,5-dihydro-4H-imidazo...

Conformational Analysis of Acyclic α-Fluoro Sulfur Motifs.

Bioactive small molecules containing α‐fluoro sulfur motifs [RS(O)nCH2F] are appearing with increasing frequency in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors. Prominent examples include the anti‐asthma drug Flovent® and the phenylpyrazole insecticide pyrafluprole. Given the popularity of these structural units in bioactive small molecule design, together with the varying oxidation states of sulfur, a conformational analysis of α‐fluoro sulfides, sulfoxides, and sulfones, would be instructive in order to delineate the non‐covalent interactions that manifest themselves in structure. A combined crystallographic and computational analysis demonstrates the importance of hyperconjugative donor‐acceptor interactions in achieving acyclic conformational control. The conformational disparity in the syn‐ and anti‐diastereoisomers of α‐fluorosulfoxides is particularly noteworthy.

Solar Driven Photocatalysis – an Efficient Method for Removal of Pesticides from Water and Wastewater

Owing to extensive agricultural activity, the growth of the agrochemical sector has expanded substantially over the last several decades. The use of pesticides has raised significantly for recent years as farming practices have become very demanding. Pollution of water bodies has become widespread and detracting due to the accumulation of pesticides. The standard biological treatment based on microorganism action is not a suitable technique in the processing of pesticides present in water due to their contamination even at extremely low levels. Scientists have adopted various measures to decontaminate water and introduced other methods for pesticide abatement. The efficient and fruitful methodology of photocatalytic degradation is because of the advantage of its total mineralization and not its delegate transformation. So as to utilize practical, protected, and green science innovation, photocatalytic debasement of pesticides as an imaginative technique for future examinations, comprehension of the middle of the road arrangement, corruption pathway, biodegradability, and natural maintainability is required. The aim of the review is to present several technologies based on the solar-driven photocatalytic removal of pesticides from different waters.

Mejora de la línea de llenado de una empresa del sector agroquímico mediante la aplicación de criterios de satisfacción CTS y el ciclo PHVA.

Hoy las organizaciones tienen el desafío de adaptarse a un entorno que puede ser cambiante e impredecible, con un alto nivel de competencia y demanda para mejorar, crecer y desarrollarse de acuerdo con las necesidades del Mercado. Por lo tanto las organizaciones necesitan herramientas que les ayuden en su evolución para garantizar la satisfacción del cliente y ser más competitivas; incluido en estas herramientas está el ciclo PHVA, que permite mejorar continuamente los procesos de una organización y contribuye de manera beneficiosa a una organización, por esta razón este estudió apunta a un enfoque basado en la identificación de CTS y la implementación de un ciclo PHVA que es una herramienta de gestión en la cual esta metodología permitirá resolver problemas recurrentes crónicos determinando las causas de la calidad más importante. Problemas en el proceso de llenado, de la llenadora PACKER LLPAC-02, en el área de producción para resolver estos problemas que tiene un impacto en la empresa; primero, se lleva a cabo la identificación de los criterios de satisfacción de CTS en el proceso de llenado y luego se aplica la metodología del ciclo PHVA para determinar los problemas crónicos que afectan dicho proceso.

Development of Functional Nanomaterials from Wheat Bran Derived Arabinoxylan for Nucleic Acid Delivery.

Wheat bran is a major byproduct of the wheat industry and a rich source of cellulosic and hemicellulosic compounds. We developed a facile and reproducible method to generate functional nanomaterials from wheat bran derived polysaccharide, Arabinoxylan (AX). We first established that AX derived from wheat bran was chemically equivalent to commercially available AX extracted from wheat flour. Through facile chemical modification, positive and negatively charged domains were introduced along AX backbone, which in turn induced local electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions promoting the formation of nanoparticulate structures. The extracted, chemically modified AX was characterized using FTIR, 1H NMR, and elemental analysis. We observed that, while both anionic and cationic AX self-assemble into stable, spherical nanoparticles with a low polydispersity index, the unmodified AX did not exhibit such self-organizational properties. To form functionally active nanomaterials, we further complexed negatively charged CRISPR-Cas9 DNA with cationic AX. Through gel electrophoretic studies, we identified that, at a feed ratio of DNA to AX of 1:15, AX is capable of forming polyplexes with DNA in the form of nanoparticles with an average hydrodynamic diameter of ∼100 nm and surface charge of -1.40 ± 0.91 mV. We envision that chemically modified AX, originally sourced from agricultural waste materials and not from food products, can be used as functional nanomaterials for gene delivery in the agrochemical sector thus catalyzing the circular approach of sustainability.

Metabolomics reveals differential mechanisms of toxicity of hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine)-derived nanoparticles to the soil-borne fungus Verticillium dahliae Kleb

There is a consensus on the urge for the discovery and assessment of alternative, improved sources of bioactivity that could be developed as plant protection products (PPPs), in order to combat issues that the agrochemical sector is facing. Based on the recent advances in nanotechnology, nanoparticles seem to have a great potential towards the development of the next generation nano-PPPs used as active ingredients (a.i.) per se or as nanocarriers in their formulation. Nonetheless, information on their mode(s)-of-action (MoA) and mechanisms of toxicity is yet largely unknown, representing a bottleneck in their further assessment and development. Therefore, we have undertaken the task to assess the fungitoxicity of hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) (HPEI), quaternized hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) (QPEI), and guanidinylated hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) (GPEI) nanoparticles to the soil-born plant pathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae Kleb, and dissect their effects on its metabolism applying GC/EI/MS metabolomics. Results revealed that functionalization of HPEI nanoparticles with guanidinium end groups (GPEI) increases their toxicity to V. dahliae, while functionalization with quaternary ammonium end groups (QPEI) decreases it. The treatments with the nanoparticles affected the chemical homeostasis of the fungus, altering substantially its amino acid pool, energy production, and fatty acid content, causing additionally oxidative and osmotic stresses. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the comparative toxicity of HPEI, QPEI, and GPEI to filamentous fungi applying metabolomics. The findings could be exploited in the study of the quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) of HPEI-derived nanoparticles and their further development as nano-PPPs.

Composition effect of Cu-based nanoparticles on phytopathogenic bacteria. Antibacterial studies and phytotoxicity evaluation

Nanotechnology can offer new possibilities to the agrochemical sector providing plant protection products that can reduce the quantities and frequency of their use, by getting maximum effect on the target pest. Herein, copper based nanoparticles (Cu-based NPs) of different composition have been hydrothermally synthesized in the presence of the biocompatible surfactants polyethylene glycol (PEG1000), tetraethylene glycol (TEG) and polysorbate 20 (Tween 20) and tested in vitro and in vivo on plant pathogenic bacterial strains. The obtained NPs, Cu@Tween20, Cu@TEG, Cu2O@TWEEN20 and CuO@PEG1000 with sizes 46, 39, 12 and 18 nm respectively were evaluated in vitro as antibacterial agents, against three phytopathogenic Gram-negative bacterial strains, Erwinia amylovora, Xanthomonas campestris and Pseudomonas syringae. Cu NPs were found the most potent in the in vitro studies against all bacterial strains studied, with the lowest MIC value <3 μg/mL for E. amylovora and MBC value 100 μg/mL for P. syringae always in comparison with the wide used conventional pesticide Kocide 2000 35 WG tested at the registered dose of 1000 μg/mL. Further investigation was performed on testing the antibacterial activity of Cu@TWEEN20 and Cu2O@TWEEN20 nanoparticles in vivo in pot experiments under greenhouse conditions on bean plants (P. vulgaris). The penetration of the nanoparticles, labelled with Alizarin Red S, was investigated in plant tissues under a fluorescence microscope while their possible impact on plant photosynthesis and growth has been estimated. Cu-based NPs were found to penetrate the plant tissues without causing any toxicity.

Catalytic Enantio- and Diastereoselective Mannich Addition of TosMIC to Ketimines.

Chiral amines bearing a stereocenter in the α position are ubiquitous compounds with many applications in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors, as well as in catalysis. Catalytic asymmetric Mannich additions represent a valuable method to access such compounds in enantioenriched form. This work reports the first enantio- and diastereoselective addition of commercially available p-toluenesulfonylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC) to ketimines, affording 2-imidazolines bearing two contiguous stereocenters, one of which is fully-substituted, with high yields and excellent stereocontrol. The reaction, catalyzed by silver oxide and a dihydroquinine-derived N,P-ligand, is broad in scope, operationally simple, and scalable. Derivatization of the products provides enantioenriched vicinal diamines, precursors to NHC ligands and sp3 -rich heterocyclic scaffolds. Computations are used to understand catalysis and rationalize stereoselectivity.

Deracemization and Stereoinversion of α‐Amino Acids by l‐Amino Acid Deaminase

AbstractEnantiomerically pure α‐amino acids are compounds of primary interest for the fine chemical, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical sectors. Amino acid oxidases are used for resolving d,l‐amino acids in biocatalysis. We recently demonstrated that l‐amino acid deaminase from Proteus myxofaciens (PmaLAAD) shows peculiar features for biotechnological applications, such as a high production level as soluble protein in Escherichia coli and a stable binding with the flavin cofactor. Since l‐amino acid deaminases are membrane‐bound enzymes, previous applications were mainly based on the use of cell‐based methods. Now, taking advantage of the broad substrate specificity of PmaLAAD, a number of natural and synthetic l‐amino acids were fully converted by the purified enzyme into the corresponding α‐keto acids: the fastest conversion was obtained for 4‐nitrophenylalanine. Analogously, starting from racemic solutions, the full resolution (ee &gt;99%) was also achieved. Notably, d,l‐1‐naphthylalanine was resolved either into the d‐ or the l‐enantiomer by using PmaLAAD or the d‐amino acid oxidase variant having a glycine at position 213, respectively, and was fully deracemized when the two enzymes were used jointly. Moreover, the complete stereoinversion of l‐4‐nitrophenylalanine was achieved using PmaLAAD and a small molar excess of borane tert‐butylamine complex. Taken together, recombinant PmaLAAD represents an l‐specific amino acid deaminase suitable for producing the pure enantiomers of several natural and synthetic amino acids or the corresponding keto acids, compounds of biotechnological or pharmaceutical relevance.magnified image

In silico target prediction for elucidating the mode of action of herbicides including prospective validation

The rapid emergence of pesticide resistance has given rise to a demand for herbicides with new mode of action (MoA). In the agrochemical sector, with the availability of experimental high throughput screening (HTS) data, it is now possible to utilize in silico target prediction methods in the early discovery phase to suggest the MoA of a compound via data mining of bioactivity data. While having been established in the pharmaceutical context, in the agrochemical area this approach poses rather different challenges, as we have found in this work, partially due to different chemistry, but even more so due to different (usually smaller) amounts of data, and different ways of conducting HTS. With the aim to apply computational methods for facilitating herbicide target identification, 48,000 bioactivity data against 16 herbicide targets were processed to train Laplacian modified Naïve Bayesian (NB) classification models. The herbicide target prediction model (“HerbiMod”) is an ensemble of 16 binary classification models which are evaluated by internal, external and prospective validation sets. In addition to the experimental inactives, 10,000 random agrochemical inactives were included in the training process, which showed to improve the overall balanced accuracy of our models up to 40%. For all the models, performance in terms of balanced accuracy of≥80% was achieved in five-fold cross validation. Ranking target predictions was addressed by means of z-scores which improved predictivity over using raw scores alone. An external testset of 247 compounds from ChEMBL and a prospective testset of 394 compounds from BASF SE tested against five well studied herbicide targets (ACC, ALS, HPPD, PDS and PROTOX) were used for further validation. Only 4% of the compounds in the external testset lied in the applicability domain and extrapolation (and correct prediction) was hence impossible, which on one hand was surprising, and on the other hand illustrated the utilization of using applicability domains in the first place. However, performance better than 60% in balanced accuracy was achieved on the prospective testset, where all the compounds fell within the applicability domain, and which hence underlines the possibility of using target prediction also in the area of agrochemicals.

Emerging bio-waste technologies for landfill biotechnology efficiency and development of useful operational utilities for public and community health protection

This chapter highlights the theme modelling for bio, agro and pharma applications. It opens up by providing an example from the agro-chemical sector and highlighting the modelling of the performance of a microcapsule for controlled release. It focuses on the development and solution of a mathematical model of microcapsule-based controlled release of active ingredients. The purpose of the model is to study the behavior of the microcapsule for controlled release of active ingredients. The model can be used to evaluate the performance of the product (microcapsule) with respect to different design parameters, such as diameter and thickness of the microcapsule, polymer used, and solvent used. The second example deals with a bio-process, that is, a bio-fermentation process for the conversion of glucose to ethanol. This model is able to monitor the performance of the fermentor with respect to a number of key operational variables. The last three examples come from the pharma sector. They deal with the operational steps in the production of drug tablets. The model of a milling process is given, then a model for a granulation process, and finally a model for a tablet-pressing operation. In all three cases, the models are developed with the objective to support process-product monitoring through application of process analytical technology .

The Laurencia Paradox: An Endless Source of Chemodiversity.

Nature, the most prolific source of biological and chemical diversity, has provided mankind with treatments for health problems since ancient times and continues to be the most promising reservoir of bioactive chemicals for the development of modern drugs. In addition to the terrestrial organisms that still remain a promising source of new bioactive metabolites, the marine environment, covering approximately 70% of the Earth's surface and containing a largely unexplored biodiversity, offers an enormous resource for the discovery of novel compounds. According to the MarinLit database, more than 27,000 metabolites from marine macro- and microorganisms have been isolated to date providing material and key structures for the development of new products in the pharmaceutical, food, cosmeceutical, chemical, and agrochemical sectors. Algae, which thrive in the euphotic zone, were among the first marine organisms that were investigated as sources of food, nutritional supplements, soil fertilizers, and bioactive metabolites.Red algae of the genus Laurencia are accepted unanimously as one of the richest sources of new secondary metabolites. Their cosmopolitan distribution, along with the chemical variation influenced to a significant degree by environmental and genetic factors, have resulted in an endless parade of metabolites, often featuring multiple halogenation sites.The present contribution, covering the literature until August 2015, offers a comprehensive view of the chemical wealth and the taxonomic problems currently impeding chemical and biological investigations of the genus Laurencia. Since mollusks feeding on Laurencia are, in many cases, bioaccumulating, and utilize algal metabolites as chemical weaponry against natural enemies, metabolites of postulated dietary origin of sea hares that feed on Laurencia species are also included in the present review. Altogether, 1047 secondary metabolites, often featuring new carbocyclic skeletons, have been included.The chapter addresses: (1) the "Laurencia complex", the botanical description and the growth and population dynamics of the genus, as well as its chemical diversity and ecological relations; (2) the secondary metabolites, which are organized according to their chemical structures and are classified into sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenes, acetogenins, indoles, aromatic compounds, steroids, and miscellaneous compounds, as well as their sources of isolation which are depicted in tabulated form, and (3) the biological activity organized according to the biological target and the ecological functions of Laurencia metabolites.

Biotechnology as an alternative for carbon disulfide treatment in air pollution control

Biotechnology has emerged as an affordable, effective, and eco-friendly alternative to treat carbon disulfide (CS2) containing waste gases. Carbon disulfide is a chemical of widespread use both in the past and in the present. Its industry demand has dramatically changed over the last two decades and is expected to grow in future in step with those industries involving fibre, mining, rubber products, and the agro-chemical sector. This compound, classified as a hazardous air pollutant about 20 years ago, has been re-appraised, as increasingly restrictive pollution standards are expected to be introduced. An array of physical–chemical technologies for treating CS2 containing air are already in use, but they have a series of drawbacks, such as high energy consumption (incineration, thermal oxidation), the immobilization of the contaminant solely from one phase to another (adsorption), and the generation of secondary by-products that require additional treatment (hydrolysis). Thus, technological research on affordable processing alternatives is of considerable interest for related industries using or producing CS2. The biological technologies whose efficiency is based on the activity of microorganisms to biodegrade air pollutants overcome many of the disadvantages of conventional techniques and are especially useful for the removal of relatively low concentrations of pollutants. In this paper, the main properties, sources, and uses of CS2 are summarized, and alternative biotreatments for CS2 are reviewed. Several applications of the technical and economical feasibility of biofilters and biotrickling filters are shown, although their widespread industrial application still requires further research.