Botrytis cinerea is a ubiquitous necrotrophic filamentous fungal phytopathogen that lacks host specificity and can affect more than 1000 different plant species. In this work, we explored L1 [(E)-2-{[(2-aminopyridin-2-yl)imino]-methyl}-4,6-di-tert-butylphenol], a pyridine Schiff base harboring an intramolecular bond (IHB), regarding their antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea. Moreover, we present a full characterization of the L1 by NMR and powder diffraction, as well as UV–vis, in the presence of previously untested different organic solvents. Complementary time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were performed, and the noncovalent interaction (NCI) index was determined. Moreover, we obtained a scan-rate study on cyclic voltammetry of L1. Finally, we tested the antifungal activity of L1 against two strains of Botrytis cinerea (B05.10, a standard laboratory strain; and A1, a wild type strains isolated from Chilean blueberries). We found that L1 acts as an efficient antifungal agent against Botrytis cinerea at 26 °C, even better than the commercial antifungal agent fenhexamid. Although the antifungal activity was also observed at 4 °C, the effect was less pronounced. These results show the high versatility of this kind of pyridine Schiff bases in biological applications.

Background The Atacama salt flat is located in northern Chile, at 2300 m above sea level, and has a high concentration of lithium, being one of the main extraction sites in the world. The effect of lithium on microorganism communities inhabiting environments with high concentrations of this metal has been scarcely studied. A few works have studied the microorganisms present in lithium-rich salt flats (Uyuni and Hombre Muerto in Bolivia and Argentina, respectively). Nanocrystals formation through biological mineralization has been described as an alternative for microorganisms living in metal-rich environments to cope with metal ions. However, bacterial lithium biomineralization of lithium nanostructures has not been published to date. In the present work, we studied lithium-rich soils of the Atacama salt flat and reported for the first time the biological synthesis of Li nanoparticles. Results  Bacterial communities were evaluated and a high abundance of Cellulomonas, Arcticibacter, Mucilaginibacter, and Pseudomonas were determined. Three lithium resistant strains corresponding to Pseudomonas rodhesiae, Planomicrobium koreense, and Pseudomonas sp. were isolated (MIC > 700 mM). High levels of S2− were detected in the headspace of P. rodhesiae and Pseudomonas sp. cultures exposed to cysteine. Accordingly, biomineralization of lithium sulfide-containing nanomaterials was determined in P. rodhesiae exposed to lithium salts and cysteine. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of ultrathin sections of P. rodhesiae cells biomineralizing lithium revealed the presence of nanometric materials. Lithium sulfide-containing nanomaterials were purified, and their size and shape determined by dynamic light scattering and TEM. Spherical nanoparticles with an average size < 40 nm and a hydrodynamic size ~ 44.62 nm were determined. Conclusions We characterized the bacterial communities inhabiting Li-rich extreme environments and reported for the first time the biomineralization of Li-containing nanomaterials by Li-resistant bacteria. The biosynthesis method described in this report could be used to recover lithium from waste batteries and thus provide a solution to the accumulation of batteries.

The coordination of the ligands with respect to the central atom in the complex bromidotricarbonyl[diphenyl(pyridin-2-yl)phosphane-κ2 N,P]rhenium(I) chloroform disolvate, [ReBr(C17H14NP)(CO)3]·2CHCl3 or [κ2-P,N-{(C6H5)2(C5H5N)P}Re(CO)3Br]·2CHCl3, (I·2CHCl3), is best described as a distorted octahedron with three carbonyls in a facial conformation, a bromide atom, and a biting P,N-diphenylpyridylphosphine ligand. Hirshfeld surface analysis shows that C—Cl...H interactions contribute 26%, the distance of these interactions are between 2.895 and 3.213 Å. The reaction between I and piperidine (C5H11N) at 313 K in dichloromethane leads to the partial decoordination of the pyridylphosphine ligand, whose pyridyl group is replaced by a piperidine molecule, and the complex bromidotricarbonyl[diphenyl(pyridin-2-yl)phosphane-κP](piperidine-κN)rhenium(I), [ReBr(C5H11N)(C17H14NP)(CO)3] or [P-{(C6H5)2(C5H5N)P}(C5H11N)Re(CO)3Br] (II). The molecule has an intramolecular N—H...N hydrogen bond between the non-coordinated pyridyl nitrogen atom and the amine hydrogen atom from piperidine with D...A = 2.992 (9) Å. Thermogravimetry shows that I·2CHCl3 losses 28% of its mass in a narrow range between 318 and 333 K, which is completely consistent with two solvating chloroform molecules very weakly bonded to I. The remaining I is stable at least to 573 K. In contrast, II seems to lose solvent and piperidine (12% of mass) between 427 and 463 K, while the additional 33% loss from this last temperature to 573 K corresponds to the release of 2-pyridylphosphine. The contribution to the scattering from highly disordered solvent molecules in II was removed with the SQUEEZE routine [Spek (2015). Acta Cryst. C71, 9-18] in PLATON. The stated crystal data for M r, μ etc. do not take this solvent into account.

The reaction of [Re I Br(CO)3(THF)]2 with phenanthroline in solution leads to the diimine rhenium(I)tricarbonyl [(phen)Re(CO)3Br] and the dimer [(CO)3(phen)Re(µ-OH)(phen)Re(CO)3] + Br-(1 + Bras as a by-product (∼ 5% yield). This latter bimetallic compound crystallizes as a mixture of three polymorphs, with variable amount of solvent: 1 + Br-•CHCl3 (triclinic and orthorhombic) and 1 + Br-•2(CHCl3) (triclinic). Rietveld analysis showed 38, 54 and 8% of 1 + Br-•CHCl3 (triclinic), 1 + Br-•CHCl3 (orthorhombic) and 1 + Br-•2(CHCl3) (triclinic) respectively. The 1 + cation shows two [Re I (phen)(CO)3] + units connected by means of a central hydroxyl group. Noteworthy, the bridging Re−O−Re angle varies between 130.9(7)° to 140.7(2)° along the polymorphic series. UV-vis spectrum for the 1 + shows a broad absorption band around 390 nm in CH2Cl2 which has been attributed to has MLCT character (Re(dπ)→π*(phen)) as confirmed by DFT. Excitation at 405 nm in solution leads to emission at 595 nm (DCM), 605 nm (DMF) and 625 nm (CH3CN). The emission follows a mono-exponential law of decay and has lifetime of 405.8 ns (DCM). The solid-state polymorphic mixture absorbs around 460 nm. Excitation of the solid at 320 nm leads to emission with a maximum at 575 nm, which follow a bi-exponential law of decay with two components, a short one τ1 of 27.0 ns and longer one τ2 of 178.5 ns. These results suggest that the emitting state does not vary as function of the molecular geometry.

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