Two endemic Cirsium species, C. leucopsis DC. and C. sipyleum O. Schwarz, and C. eriophorum (L.) Scop. growing in Turkey were investigated to establish their secondary metabolites, fatty acid compositions, and antioxidant and anticholinesterase potentials. Spectroscopic methods were used to elucidate the structures of thirteen known compounds (p-hydroxy-benzoic acid, vanillic acid, cisepoxyconiferyl alcohol, syringin, balanophonin, 1′-O-methyl-balanophonin, apigenin, kaempferol-3- O-β-D-glucopyranoside, kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, taraxasterol, taraxasterol acetate, β-sitosterol, β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside). cis-Epoxyconiferyl alcohol and 1′-O-methylbalanophonin were isolated for the first time from Cirsium species. Palmitic acid (47:1%) was found to be the main fatty acid of C. leucopsis, linoleic acid in both C. sipyleum (42:1%) and C. eriophorum (37:8%). Assays of b-carotene bleaching, scavenging of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals, 2,2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium (ABTS) cation radicals, and superoxide anion radicals, as well as cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) were used to determine the antioxidant activities of the extracts and isolated compounds. Vanillic acid, balanophonin, and kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside exhibited strong antioxidant activity. Taraxasterol was a potent inhibitor of acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase activity, respectively.

Three modular types of bis(aminoalcohol)oxalamides (1, 4, and 7) and bis(aminoalcohol)diglycolylamide (8) gelators have been prepared by the reaction of the respective aminoalcohols with oxalyl and digycolyl methylesters as potential low-molecular-weight organogelators. The gelation properties of these amides have been evaluated in various aromatic organic solvents (xylene, toluene, isopropyl benzene, and aromatic ether type organic fluids such as anisole or α -phenylethylmethylether) as well as the long-chain aliphatic alcohols (1-hexanol, 1-octanol, 2-octanol, and aromatic 1-phenylethanol). The compounds with sec-butyl and ethyl side chains produce good gelation properties in both aromatic and other organic fluids. Furthermore, the common oxalamide linker present in the gelators was replaced by an extended diglycolylamide linker (8) and its behaviors were compared with the benzylic oxalamide analog (3). The gelator (8) gives the best results with aromatic fluid and lauric acid ethyl ester.1 H NMR studies reveal the existence of temperaturedependent network assembly/dissolution equilibrium and produce K gel . FTIR was employed to see the effect of hydrogen bonding in the formation of gel network. Thermodynamic parameters regarding gel-to-sol transition were collected with van't Hoff relationships.

Two novel C2-symmetrical chiral tetraamide compounds derived from (S)-isoleucine were synthesised and their enantiomeric recognition abilities towards enantiomers of some amino acid esters and 1-arylethylamins were examined by UV-titration method. These receptor compounds exhibited strong complexation (with Ka up to 5787.23 M-1) and very good enantioselectivity (up to KaS/KaR= 13.98).