Pesticide Industry Research Articles

Process modeling and optimization of continuous chiral resolution by integration of membrane and crystallization technologies

Chiral resolution will increase its importance in the pharmaceutical, pesticide, and food industries since future chiral products will be structurally more complex while their quality will need to meet stringent demands to accomplish with health, crop, and environmental purposes. Currently, obtaining enantiopure crystals from racemic compound-forming systems (90–95% of chiral compounds) remains a challenge. The combination of membrane ultrafiltration and crystallization in a continuous process is a potential solution to this problem. This work aims to optimize this continuous chiral resolution process using process modeling. First, a model for the membrane ultrafiltration step assumes a one-site competition in which the chiral selector binds preferentially to one of the enantiomers. The amino acids phenylalanine, alanine, and valine in aqueous media along with the chiral selector BSA are the model systems studied. Then, three process performance parameters (purity, recovery, and a combination of the previous two) are assessed to optimize the conditions for the continuous membrane-based step. Recoveries up to 70% are achieved while fulfilling purity levels beyond eutectic point compositions, a requirement for the enantiopure crystallization. Additionally, the properties of an ideal process chiral selector are explored. Finally, the crystallization step (with recoveries up to 65%) is coupled to evaluate the maximum recovery of the overall process. Simulations show that the membrane-crystallization process performance is governed by a trade-off between purity and recovery. We predict that an ideal BSA-similar chiral selector should bear an unprotonated binding site for a wide pH range and a difference between enantiomer complexation constants of at least 2–3 pK units to improve the process performance.

The Study of Micromorphological and Essential oil Analysis of Nepeta binaloudensis and Nepeta cataria (Lamiaceae)

Introduction The Nepeta is one of the largest genus of Nepetoide subfamily, in the Lamiaceae family with about 79 species in Iran. Most of the species are perennial rarely annual with different vegetative forms, leaves covered with trichome. Glandular trichomes are widely distributed all over the aerial part of Nepeta species, and their largely to its great importance and their structures can vary widely among plants species. Some species contain monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, cyclopentanoid iridoids derivatives and nepetalactones which they are used in folk medicine as, diaphoretic, diuretic, antitussive, febrifuge agent. In the present work, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the nutlet micromorphology and also micromorphology and distribution of the glandular trichomes of Nepeta binaludensis “an Iranian endemic species” and Nepeta cataria in order to improve the knowledge of the species and to evaluate the usefulness of this feature for phytochemical and systematic purpose. The chemical composition of its essential oil was also analyzed. This paper provides a detailed description of trichome morphology and nutlet in Nepeta binaludensis andNepeta catariaspecies growing in Iran, by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and evaluates the systematic significance of such characteristics. Materials and Methods The research was conducted in research garden of Agricultural Faculty of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad during 2017. Seeds of two Nepeta species were provided by Institute of Plant Sciences in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. The seeds were cultivation in greenhouse and the seedling (10 cm long) were transplanted in the field. During the summer aerial parts of the plants were harvested at flowering stage, dried in shade, and (30 g) were hydro distilled for 3 h using Clevenger apparatus. For SEM study, leaves were fixed with 3% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.2 for 30 min at 4 °C. After washing in water the material was dehydrated through an ethanol gradient and critical point dried. Specimens were mounted onto SEM stubs using double-sided adhesive tape and coated with palladium. For nutlets observation, seed were directly mounted onto aluminum stubs using double-sided adhesive tape and coated with palladium and photographed. Result Based on the obtained data, the surface leaves of both species (N. binaludensis and N.cataria) was observed forglandular and non-glandular trichomes distribution. (The glandular trichomes of the peltate types). Trichome density and size was variable as 7-21mm2 leaf surface (63-77 µm) in N. binaludensis and as 20-30 mm2 leaf surface (47-67 µm) in N.cataria. In both species only one types of glandular trichome was identified. Peltate trichomes comprise of a basal cell situated in the leaf epiderm with a four-celled secretory head. Nutlets of Nepeta were blackish-brown or brown in color. One type surface ornamentation, can be distinguished: smooth-type. The nutlet ornamental pattern was smooth type with finely granulated in N. binaludensis and reticulate pattern in N.cataria species. Water-distilled essential oil of the aerial parts of two speciescultivated in field, were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. In essential oil of N.binaludensis and N. cataria, 51 and 26 components were identified, respectively. The main components of the essential oil of N. binaludensis were 1.8-cineole (14.8%), β-Pinene (10.4%) and p-Cymene (9.8%). Main compounds of the essential oil of N. cataria were 4a-a, 7-a, 7a-b-Nepetalactone (72/76%) and 4a-a, 7-a,7a-a-Nepetalactone (17.86%). Depending on the composition of key compound identified in essential oils, Nepeta species have been divided in two groups. Conclusions Depending on the composition of main compound identified in the essential oils, Nepeta species have been divided in two groups. On the basis of our research N. binaludensis belong to 1.8-cineole chemotype and of N.cataria belong to the nepetalactone chemotype. The leaves of N. binaludensis, N.cataria have be glandular and non-glandular trichomes. One types of glandular trichomes are identified: Peltate trichomes.Trichomes are distributed at the surface of leaves, having various functions and are extremely variable in the plants, plant organs location, density, form, therefore their morphology and structure could be of taxonomical importance in plant. Glandular trichomes contain or secrete substances which are widely used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic as well as in pesticide industry. The variation in the structure, morphology, density, secretion and function is noticed among these trichomes distributed on different plant organs. Nutlet surface can be useful as a taxonomic characteres.

Degradation of desphenyl chloridazon in a novel synergetic electrocatalytic system with Ni–Sb–SnO2/Ti anode and PEDOT/PSS-CNTs modified air diffusion cathode

This study explored the depth treatment of desphenly chloridazon (DPC) wastewater by a novel synergetic dual-electrodes electrocatalytic (SDEs) system which consisted of Ni–Sb–SnO2/Ti anode (NSSTA) and PEDOT/PSS-CNTs modified activated carbon air diffusion cathode (PP-CNTs AC ADC). NSSTA exhibited an enhanced capability to produce reactive oxygen species (·OH and O3), its O3 production increased to 6.54 mg/L. PP-CNTs AC ADC was observed to have improved activity of catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with 648.23 mg/L H2O2 generated. Owing to the synergetic effect of O3 and H2O2, additional ·OH was obtained in SDEs system through the electro-peroxone reaction. Compared with the single-electrode electrocatalytic (SE) systems, the SDEs system showed superior pesticide degradation performance, higher mineralization current efficiency (MCE) and lower energy consumption (EC). In the SDEs system, the optimal 91.7% of DPC removal efficiency and 90.7% of DPC mineralization efficiency were obtained within 150 min by electrocatalytic oxidation of 17.5 ppm and 25 ppm pesticide wastewater at the current density of 11.94 mA/cm2, respectively. The treated water showed reduced acute toxicity than that of the raw wastewater, which suggested that the SDEs system is a promising technology for depth treatment of the pesticide industry effluent with simultaneous decontamination and detoxification realized.

Response from the authors of the article “Critical review of the role of personal protective Equipment (PPE) in the prevention of risks related to agricultural pesticide use” to the letter to the editor from the European crop protection association (ECPA) Occupational and bystander exposure expert group (OBEEG)

In March 2020, Safety Science published the article “Critical review of the role of PPE in the prevention of risks related to agricultural pesticide use” by an international group of researchers working for public research organisations. An expert group from an association representing the interests of the agricultural pesticide industry at European level (the European Crop Protection Association -ECPA-) then published a letter challenging the relevance of the discussion and the conclusions of this article. The authors of the review have decided to use their right to reply.

Application of PAT-Based Feedback Control Approaches in Pharmaceutical Crystallization

Crystallization is one of the important unit operations for the separation and purification of solid products in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and pesticide industries, especially for realizing high-end, high-value solid products. The precise control of the solution crystallization process determines the polymorph, crystal shape, size, and size distribution of the crystal product, which is of great significance to improve product quality and production efficiency. In order to develop the crystallization process in a scientific method that is based on process parameters and data, process analysis technology (PAT) has become an important enabling platform. In this paper, we review the development of PAT in the field of crystallization in recent years. Based on the current research status of drug crystallization process control, the monitoring methods and control strategies of feedback control in the crystallization process were systematically summarized. The focus is on the application of model-free feedback control strategies based on the solution and solid information collected by various online monitoring equipment in product engineering, including improving particle size distribution, achieving polymorphic control, and improving purity. In this paper, the challenges of feedback control strategy in the crystallization process are also discussed, and the development trend of the feedback control strategy has been prospected.

Comparative selectivity of nano and commercial formulations of pirimicarb on a target pest, Brevicoryne brassicae, and its predator Chrysoperla carnea.

Nanotechnology is a new field in the pesticide industry. Nanopesticides represent an emerging technological tool that offers a range of benefits including increased efficacy, durability, and reduction in the amounts of used active ingredients. However, due to the lack of studies on the toxicity and the sublethal effects on pests and natural enemies, the extent of action and fate of these nanopesticdes is still not fully understood limitting thus their wide use. In this study, we encapsulated the pirimicarb insecticide using nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) and investigated the toxicity and sublethal effects (LC25) of the resulting nanocapsules against the cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and its natural enemy the green lacewings Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae). Nanoencapsulation of pirimicarb enhanced 12.6-fold its toxicity to cabbage aphids compared to its commercial formulation. Furthermore, analysis of the age-stage, two-sex life table showed that negative effects on the B. brassicae aphid population growth were observed on F0 and F1 generations when aphids of parental (F0) generation were exposed to subelethal dose (LC25) of both formulations of pirimicarb. However, negative effects from sublethal exposure to the commercial and nanoformulated pirimicarb resulted in significant reduction on the net reproductive rate, intrinsic rate of natural increase, and finite rate of increase of the green lacewings C. carnea. Our findings indicate that the approaches and assumptions used to assess the risks of conventional insecticides may not apply for nanopesticides. Further research is still needed to better understand the environmental impact of these compounds.

Traditional Uses, Chemical Profile and Biological Activities of Piper hispidum Sw.: a Review

Piper hispidum Sw. (Piperaceae) (syn. Piper hispidinervum) is a medicinal shrub distributed in Central and South America, widely used as an astringent, diuretic, stimulant for unblocking the liver and stopping hemorrhages. The plant has great interest among researchers due to the production of essential oil and important raw material for the chemical industry, which has a high demand for cosmetic, insecticide, and pesticide industries. In this review, traditional uses, phytochemicals, and biological activities of P. hispidum are comprehensively and systematically summarized through searching scientific databases, including Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science. Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of amides, benzoic acids, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, butenolides, phenol, and essential oils; hence it has several activities, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, α-amylase, insecticidal, schistosomicidal, leishmanial, larvicidal, antiplasmodial, cytotoxicity, estrogenic and serotonergic properties. This review is expected to draw the attention of medical professionals and the general public towards P. hispidum as well as to open the door for detailed research in the future.

Structural Insights into a Novel Esterase from the East Pacific Rise and Its Improved Thermostability by a Semirational Design.

Lipolytic enzymes are essential biocatalysts in food processing as well as pharmaceutical and pesticide industries, catalyzing the cleavage of ester bonds in a variety of acyl chain substrates. Here, we report the crystal structure of an esterase from the deep-sea hydrothermal vent of the East Pacific Rise (EprEst). The X-ray structure of EprEst in complex with the ligand, acetate, has been determined at 2.03 Å resolution. The structure reveals a unique spatial arrangement and orientation of the helix cap domain and α/β hydrolase domain, which form a substrate pocket with preference for short-chain acyl groups. Molecular docking analysis further demonstrated that the active site pocket could accommodate p-nitrophenyl (pNP) carboxyl ligands of varying lengths (≤6 C atoms), with pNP-butyrate ester predicted to have the highest binding affinity. Additionally, the semirational design was conducted to improve the thermostability of EprEst by enzyme engineering based on the established structure and multiple sequence alignment. A mutation, K114P, introduced in the hinge region of the esterase, which displayed increased thermostability and enzyme activity. Collectively, the structural and functional data obtained herein could be used as basis for further protein engineering to ultimately expand the scope of industrial applications of marine-derived lipolytic enzymes.

Phthalimide conjugation turns the AIE-active tetraphenylethylene unit non-emissive: its use in turn-on sensing of hydrazine in solution and the solid- and vapour-phase.

Hydrazine is a vital precursor used in several pharmaceuticals and pesticide industries and upon exposure can cause severe health hazards. Herein, a new AIEgen, tetraphenylethylene phthalimide (TPE-PMI), is synthesized in a one-step solvent-free mechanochemical approach exploiting the simple condensation between TPE-NH2 and phthalic anhydride and used for the selective and sensitive detection of hydrazine. TPE-PMI with an AIE-active TPE-moiety is non-emissive in the solid phase by design. Hydrazine performs the cleavage of TPE-PMI in a typical “Gabriel synthesis” pathway to release AIE-active TPE-NH2 in an aqueous solution to emit blue fluorescence. A gradual rise in fluorescence intensity at 462 nm was due to the increasing hydrazine concentration and TPE-PMI showed a linear relationship with hydrazine in the concentration range from 0.2 to 3 μM. The selectivity study confirmed that the probe is inert to amines, amino acids, metal anions, anions and even common oxidants and reductants. The detection limit is 6.4 ppb which is lower than the US Environmental Protection Agency standard (10 ppb). The practical utilities of TPE-PMI were successfully demonstrated through quantitative detection of hydrazine vapour on solid platforms like paper strips and TLC plates. Furthermore, on-site detection of hydrazine in the solid phase was demonstrated by spiking the soil samples with measured quantities of hydrazine and quantitation through image analysis. This cost-effective sensing tool was successfully utilized in in vitro detection of hydrazine in live HeLa cells.

Separation of Anisole and Valuable Byproducts from Liquid Reaction Mixtures by Solvent Extraction and Multicomponent Distillation

Anisole (methoxybenzene) is a widely used organic intermediate that can be synthesized via vapor-phase alkylation of phenol by methanol in the presence of a commercial NaX zeolite as a catalyst (SiO2:Al2O3 ratio of 2.6:3). The indigenously synthesized anisole is then separated from the multicomponent liquid reaction mixture, consisting of o-cresol, p-cresol and p-xylen, along with unreacted methanol and phenol. The separated anisole has substantial demand for applications in the chemical, pharmaceutical, plastics and pesticides industries. Separation of individual components from the reaction mixture requires identification of techniques that could be scaled up. Distillation is one of the most dependable techniques for the separation of multicomponent liquid mixtures. The novelty of the present study is the synthesis and separation of anisole along with individual components of methanol, phenol and o-cresol from its reaction mixture using a single distillation column under atmospheric and vacuum conditions, respectively. Through this process, the purity of the resulting methanol, anisole and phenol were found to be 99.99, 99.80 and 98.29% by simple distillation, whereas 91.0% pure o-cresol was separated by vacuum distillation due to its high boiling point. The experimental results were used to calculate the material, individual component and energy balances, whereas the PRO/II™ process simulation was performed to scale-up the process. On the other hand, anisole recovery from a synthetic multicomponent liquid mixture was also successfully conducted using solvent extraction. The overall observations found the integration of solvent extraction with distillation to be an effective, economical and dependable solution for the isolation of anisole and other important by-products.

Study on International Marketing and Investment Strategy-Taking ABC Company as an Example

There are a large number of pesticide export enterprises in China, but they are generally small in operation scale, low in industrial concentration, lacking of independent innovation and non-standard in industry development, and export marketing is mainly carried out by means of price war and vicious competition. Under the general trend of domestic pesticide industry integration and the fierce competition in the international pesticide market, these enterprises are facing great pressure of survival. This study selects representative ABC Company as the research object, and conducts the analysis of domestic and foreign marketing environment from four aspects of product, distribution, price and promotion respectively through quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. Through the analysis of its marketing environment, put forward specific marketing strategies, On the basis of determining the strategic direction, the target market and entry mode of ABC Company are further analyzed. It also concludes that the company should flexibly choose the market entry mode, make full efforts to build the enterprise brand and influence, and gradually climb to the top of the value chain. It is expected to find a set of marketing strategies for the company to adapt to the current situation, and try to bring some reference value to enterprises in the industry with the same confusion.

Intramuscular cobinamide as an antidote to methyl mercaptan poisoning

Background Methyl mercaptan occurs naturally in the environment and is found in a variety of occupational settings, including the oil, paper, plastics, and pesticides industries. It is a toxic gas and deaths from methyl mercaptan exposure have occurred. The Department of Homeland Security considers it a high threat chemical agent that could be used by terrorists. Unfortunately, no specific treatment exists for methyl mercaptan poisoning. Methods We conducted a randomized trial in 12 swine comparing no treatment to intramuscular injection of the vitamin B12 analog cobinamide (2.0 mL, 12.5 mg/kg) following acute inhalation of methyl mercaptan gas. Physiological and laboratory parameters were similar in the control and cobinamide-treated groups at baseline and at the time of treatment. Results All six cobinamide-treated animals survived, whereas only one of six control animals lived (17% survival) (p = 0.0043). The cobinamide-treated animals returned to a normal breathing pattern by 3.8 ± 1.1 min after treatment (mean ± SD), while all but one animal in the control group had intermittent gasping, never regaining a normal breathing pattern. Blood pressure and arterial oxygen saturation returned to baseline values within 15 minutes of cobinamide-treatment. Plasma lactate concentration increased progressively until death (10.93 ± 6.02 mmol [mean ± SD]) in control animals, and decreased toward baseline (3.79 ± 2.93 mmol [mean ± SD]) by the end of the experiment in cobinamide-treated animals. Conclusion We conclude that intramuscular administration of cobinamide improves survival and clinical outcomes in a large animal model of acute, high dose methyl mercaptan poisoning.

Degradation of tricyclazole from aqueous solution and real wastewater by electron-beam irradiation

In this study, electron-beam (EB) irradiation was employed for the degradation of tricyclazole (TC) in an aqueous solution and real pesticide industry wastewater (RPW). Acute toxicity tests revealed that TC exhibits low toxicity against Daphnia magna, with LC50 values of 52.81 mg/L, 32.68 mg/L, 24.35 mg/L and 14.56 mg/L for TC at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 96 h, respectively. In contrast, RPW exhibited high toxicity against D. magna, with LC50 values of 0.194%, 0.157%, 0.141% and 0.136% at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 96 h, respectively. Results revealed that the high-efficiency removal of TC in an aqueous solution and RPW are achieved by employing EB. Approximately 96.5% of TC in the solution was decomposed under the optimum conditions of an absorbed dose of 3.5 kGy, a pH of 7.0, and an initial TC concentration of 4 mg/L and a H2O2concentration of 4 mM with an operating cost of ∼0.92 $/m3, while 99.2% TC and 82.8% TOC from real wastewater was eliminated at an absorbed dose of 4 kGy, and a H2O2 concentration of 5 mM, with an operating cost of 1.13 $/m3. The degradation of EB apparently followed first-order kinetics, with an R2 of ∼0.998. In real wastewater, the central composite design was employed to optimize the absorbed dose and H2O2 concentration and predict the TC and TOC removal efficiencies. Good regression coefficients (RTC2 = 0.775 and RTOC2= 0.783) of the model revealed fitted correlation between observed and predicted values. In addition, the major degradation pathways of TC were suggested by density functional theory and natural bond orbital calculations.

Toxicological and ecotoxocological characteristics of pesticides important for their sustainable use

Modern concept of reducing the risk of pesticide use is based on the concept of sustainable use of pesticides. The concept of sustainable use of pesticides presents the range of professional rules, acts, skills of the pesticides use with the aim to promote the plant protection with decreased usage of pesticides, providing, whenever it is possible, advantage to non-chemical methods of plant protection. The most important part of sustainable pesticide usage is integrated plant protection. Integrated plant protection implies the application and integration of all available methods of plant protection which prevent the development of population of the harmful organisms above the level of harmfulness, considering that the usage of means for plant protection is at the level which is economically and ecologically justified. Risks for the human health and the environment is decreased or at least reduced to the minimum by the concept of pesticide application according to the integrated plant protection. Pesticides have certain potential to cause damage effect if people and the other organisms are exposed at the certain conditions and amount. Modern toxicology is directed to determine the safe dose, meaning the dose without the harmful effect as well as finding out the way of safe pesticide use. Considering the modern toxicology, two important terms are hazard and risk. Hazard is the intrinsic characteristic of the chemicals to cause the harmful effect at the defined conditions of the exposition. Risk is probability of manifestation of the harmful effect at the certain conditions of the exposition. The harmful effects of pesticides on humans mostly depend on the pesticides’ own toxicity but on the human’s exposure as well. The exposure of people to pesticides can appear at the working place. Farmers can be exposed to pesticides during the work in the open field and protected space, while the significant exposure can appear with workers in the pesticide industry as well as with workers who deal with jobs of deratization and disinsection and with workers in pesticides wholesale and retail. Estimation of the exposure of the agricultural workers is complex. Professional users are mostly exposed but the exposure is episodic. The particular problem is estimation of the exposure of the field workers and their householders as well. Therefore, while estimating the people’s exposure to pesticides in theresidential buildings, the remains of the pesticides in water, food, dust and air in and around the house is considered. Increased amounts of the pesticides in the house dust are related to exposure which depends on the distance between houses and the pesticide-treated fields, exposure in the house due to the fact that one or two householder work in the agriculture and larger use of pesticides in the residential buildings for treating different insects in the house or yard. Pesticides, besides their negative effects on people’s health, can have harmful effect on the environment, meaning that they can contaminate surface and underground water, soil and air, and to have toxic effects onto non-target organisms. There is a large number of documented papers where is proved that use of pesticides has great consequences onto the population of autochthonous wild animals. Integrated plant protection and sustainable use of pesticides cannot be only a declarative determinant. A wide range of steps have to be undertaken to enable their use in practice. Future imposes huge professional challenges related to the use of pesticides. The need to fulfill the different, sometimes even opposite demands is often imposed. On one side it is demanded to provide pesticides efficiency in protection from the harmful organisms and on the other side sustainable use and decreasing the risk for people and environment. Development of the new pesticides with the new ways of action and improved safety profiles and application of the alternative systems of plant production which will be less dependent on the pesticides could reduce the exposure to pesticides and side effects on people. The use of appropriate and well maintained equipment for pesticide use, while taking all protection measures at all stages of pesticides handling, can reduce the exposure to pesticides. Implementing the concept of sustainable use of pesticides is difficult, but for now it is the only promising way to ensure the protection of people, the environment and the production of healthy food.

Analysis on the Innovation and Countermeasures of the Management Mode of Pesticide Industry

Pesticide industry is closely related to crop industry. With the stricter supervision of crops by the state, the people have higher requirements on the quality of crops. The development of pesticide industry is also facing comprehensive and profound reform. This paper discusses the problems existing in the business model of pesticide industry and the innovation and countermeasures of business model of pesticide industry, hoping to promote the healthy development of pesticide industry in China by analyzing the innovation and countermeasures of business model of pesticide industry.

Recent Advances in Ultrasound-Assisted Synthesis of Nano-Emulsions and their Industrial Applications.

Colloidal systems are used in various industrial and medical applications. Nanoparticles have good physio-chemical properties that enhance the performance of the system. Nano-emulsions can be synthesized by ultrasonication. Ultrasonication is the simplest method as compared to other available methods. The purpose of this article is to review the recent advances in ultrasound- assisted nano-emulsion synthesis and challenges regarding the safety of the nano-emulsion. Application of the nano-emulsions in the various industrial and medical processes like drug delivery process, food industry, pesticide industry and cosmetics industry is also reviewed. Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of nano-emulsions is a simple method as compared to other synthesis methods of the nano-emulsions. Nano-emulsions have potential applications in the cosmetic, drug delivery, pesticides and industry. Fabrication of the nano-emulsions is different for each application and product. Physiochemical properties should be strictly monitored in the nano-emulsions as they influence the efficiency of the nano-emulsions greatly. Ostwald ripening is the main phenomenon for the nano-emulsions mechanism.

Pesticide legislation, national and international policies to maintain sustainable crop production through insect pollinator intervention

Chemical control of pests is a common practice in agriculture. There are enormous pesticides of both chemical and biological nature used around the globe to minimize crop losses. Agriculture in developing countries suffers most because of high incidence of various pests. In India, estimated annual production losses were in millions. Although chemical pesticides are well known for their effectiveness, their impact on soil and environment, and presence of residue in food products are matters of concern. In addition to this there exists poor appropriate and alternative framework to the use of pesticides besides having full-fledged pesticide legislation. It is important to understand the crucial issues like what are the agriculture crop production issues of using pesticides, and alternative frameworks that could help to solve the problem? Lastly, there are certain gaps in data on pesticide production and use, structure of pesticide industry, regulations for registration, quality assessment, efficient spraying applicators and adverse impacts on the insect pollinator communities. Regarding declining of insect pollinators, a case study will be discussed in this article; however the detailed literature on the ecosystem and health dimensions of pesticide use in Indian agriculture is found to be scarce.

Carbon-Supported Cobalt Nanoparticles as Catalysts for the Selective Hydrogenation of Nitroarenes to Arylamines and Pharmaceuticals

Chemoselective hydrogenation of nitroarenes under industrially viable conditions is one of the attractive reaction for chemical, pharma, and pesticide industries. Herein, we report a reusable, stable, and renewable carbon-supported cobalt nanocatalyst (Co/MA-800) for the chemoselective reduction of structurally diverse nitroarenes with molecular hydrogen. The Co/MA-800 nanocatalyst was prepared via simple and straightforward carbonization of macroalgae and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, H2-temperature programmed reduction, N2 adsorption–desorption, and Raman spectroscopy. The cobalt content in Co/MA-800 is determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy analysis. Furthermore, we show the hydrogenation of four marketed nitro pharmaceuticals that were selectively transformed to the respective primary anilines in excellent yields. We also demonstrate the synthesis of two industrially relevant key pharma intermediates on the ∼1 g scale, which are further employed in the preparation of drug compounds such as Linezolid and Tizanidine. The Co/MA-800 nanocatalyst was also active for the reductive amination of bezaldehyde and nitroarenes to achieve imines in good yields. In addition, the Co/MA-800 nanocatalyst is recycled 5 times without significant drop in catalytic activity.

Construction of amperometric biosensor modified with conducting polymer/carbon dots for the analysis of catechol

AbstractPhenolic compounds used in food industries and pesticide industry, are environmentally toxic and pollute the rivers and ground water. For that reason, detection of phenolic compounds such as catechol by using simple, efficient and cost‐effective devices have been becoming increasingly popular. In this study, a suitable and a novel matrix was composed using a novel conjugated polymer, namely poly[1‐(5‐(4,8‐bis(5‐(2‐ethylhexyl)thiophen‐2‐yl)benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b']dithiophen‐2‐yl)furan‐2‐yl)‐5‐(2‐ethylhexyl)‐3‐(furan‐2‐yl)‐4H thieno[3,4‐c]pyrrole‐4,6(5H)‐dione] (PFTBDT) and carbon dots (CDs) to detect catechol. PFTBDT and CDs were synthesized and the optoelectronic properties of PFTBDT were investigated via electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical studies. Laccase enzyme was immobilized onto the constructed film matrix on the graphite electrode. The proposed biosensor was found to have a low detection limit (1.23 μM) and a high sensitivity (737.44 μA/mM.cm−2) with a linear range of 1.25–175 μM. Finally, the applicability of the proposed enzymatic biosensor was evaluated in a tap water sample and a satisfactory recovery (96–104%) was obtained for catechol determination.

Ultrasensitive polysiloxane-based fluorescent probes for selectively detecting of 4-nitrophenol and their application in paper sensors

4-nitrophenol (4-NP) is widely used in dyes, pesticide and pharmaceutical industries. The water-solubility of 4-NP makes it be a dangerous toxic pollutant. To detect 4-NP effectively, triphenylamine was introduced into the polysiloxane through Heck reaction with a carbon-carbon double bond as the bridge. In this work, two kinds of polysiloxane-based fluorescent probes (BpaD and BpaP) to detect 4-NP were designed and synthesized for the first time. Due to the electron-rich triphenylamine side-chain and the flexible and bendy polysiloxane main-chain, the fluorescent probes bearing a unique structure with triphenylamine as the fluorophore. The electron transfer from triphenylamine groups to 4-NP, leading to the fluorescence quenching. The obtained fluorescent probes exhibited high efficiency and high selectivity to 4-NP detection. Moreover, the high-efficiency fluorescent materials were coated on the filter paper to fabricate paper sensors, which provide a simple, portable, and visual method to 4-NP with high efficiency. This work also represented a new approach for the design of fluorescent probes for detecting NACs.