Book of Abstracts

Wednesday 22 – Friday 24 May 2019 The University of The West Indies, Trinidad

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Sponsor and Exhibition Details Programme Speaker Abstracts Poster Abstracts Delegate List

Organized by The Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science & Technology St. Augustine Campus, The University of The West Indies, Trinidad

Conference Overview and Scope Chemistry is often considered the Central Science because it permeates every aspect of our lives. Since research is constantly deepening our understanding of Chemistry and leading to new discoveries, the 21st century will continue to see Chemistry as being crucial in finding sustainable solutions to far-reaching challenges, including Energy provision, Environmental protection, Food and water safety and Global healthcare.

Chemical Sciences continue to be fundamental to economic growth and prosperity as seen in many developed countries. Critical areas of breakthroughs where Chemistry has been integral include nanotechnology, involving the development of advanced drug delivery systems for more targeted medical treatment, improving efficiency of solar energy production and enabling lighter, durable advanced smart materials for construction and vehicles. Advanced electronic devices such as smart phones, tablets and computers benefit from materials for ubiquitous use in thinner and more functional touch screens for increased interactivity by users.

Considering global advances in the Chemical sector towards innovation and sustainable economic development the imperative is for the Caribbean region to direct greater focus with appropriate policy framework that supports development of scientific infrastructure, use of advanced tools and methodologies, training a cadre of scientists, technologists and innovators and helping to create an environment that fosters partnerships between private enterprises and academic (research) institutions. The University of the West Indies (UWI), the leading tertiary level institution in the region must be at the forefront of this thrust and has aptly articulated its mission “to advance learning, create knowledge and foster innovation for the positive transformation of the Caribbean and the wider world.” To that end the Department of Chemistry, UWI, St. Augustine Campus has staged the first “Biennial Regional Conference and EXPO on Chemical Science, Technology and Industry”. The theme “Chemistry and Chemical Technology for a Sustainable Development of the Caribbean” underscores its main objective to demonstrate applications of Chemical Sciences as drivers for innovation and technology development. It gathers noted local, regional and international researchers, technologists, chemical/biomedical engineers, technocrats, policy makers and students to discuss the latest research, innovation and applications of the Chemicalrelated Sciences conducted regionally within the global context and sensitize the wider Public on these as enablers of sustainable economic development of the Caribbean.

The programme entails distinguished plenary speakers from the United States and the Caribbean, oral and poster presentations from researchers, graduate and undergraduate students. The scientific scope includes topics on Industrial and Green Chemistry, Sustainable Energy Science/Technology, Drug Discovery, Food Toxicity, Materials Science, the Innovation Process and Chemistry Education. The EXPO will provide a platform for a range of exhibitors of products, technologies, and research with PAGE 1

demonstrations highlighting how chemistry is applied across sectors and in everyday life. It is hoped that the conference and EXPO will fulfil its objective of sensitizing the wider public, local and regional stakeholders of how the Chemical Sciences are critical to technology development and innovation.

Conference Chair Remarks On behalf of the Organising Committee, I warmly welcome you to the first staging of The Biennial Regional Conference and EXPO on Chemical Science, Technology and Industry. We are happy to have several local, regional and international participants to the UWI-STA campus to engage in discussions on a range of topics of regional significance across the fields interfacing with the Chemical Sciences. This conference provides a platform not only for experts to discuss these regionally important scientific developments but highlight how critical research and development can lead to technology applications and innovation as drivers for economic development. We are delighted to mount a public EXPO in concert with the Faculty of Science and Technology Week which provides an opportunity to interface with stakeholders and the wider public about these important applications but also to provide a “marketplace� for local industries to showcase their products and applications derived from the Chemical Sciences. We are thankful to our several partners including sponsors for their support and happy to welcome many of our local, regional and international colleagues including students who be participating by giving talks and presenting posters. We sincerely hope that this regional conference will fulfil its objective of sensitizing the wider public and important local and regional stakeholders of how the Chemical Sciences are critical to technology development and innovation. Further, we wish for all participants a stimulating and enriching experience during this meeting and hope that there are important outcomes derived for all. Thank you once again and hope to see you at the conference!

Sincerely, Richard A. Taylor, PhD Conference Chairperson

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Information for Attendees Meeting Venue     

Teaching and Learning Complex-TLC (see layout) Oral Session: Lecture theatre A1 (LTA1) Poster Session: First floor EXPO: ground and first floors Dining Hall: ground floor

Check-in and Registration   

All participants must check-in at the Arrival and Welcome Desk at the entrance on the ground floor of the TLC venue before proceeding to the Registration Desk.

At the Registration Desk on the first floor (outside LTA1) all participants must confirm their registration, receive a conference package including programme guide and book of abstracts and Name Tag. Name Tags must be worn at all times during the conference.

Oral Sessions     

Plenary lectures will be allocated 40 minutes including time for Q/A. Sessional (invited) lectures will be allocated 30 minutes including time for Q/A. General lectures will be allocated 20 minutes including Q/A. Presenters have the option of using a flash drive or their laptop for their presentations.

Presenters must check prior to their session with the tech support for compatibility with the AV system. Your allotted time will include any time for setup.

A prize will be given to the best student presentation.

Poster Session    

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Poster check-in must be done at the Registration Desk. The presenter must be an author of the poster and registered attendee.

Each poster has been preassigned to a numbered space and will be identified with the number of the paper (e.g. P101) and the presenting author’s name. Poster format must adhere to as seen online.

Posters should be mounted with pushpins, which are available in the Poster Hall (see TLC map).

To facilitate the general exhibit of the EXPO posters should be mounted during the entire period of the conference but the Poster Session is scheduled for Thursday 23rd from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Posters must be removed at the end of the conference on Friday at 4:00 p.m.

During the Poster Session presenters / authors must be present.

Student posters will be judged and prizes given for 1st to 3rd places.

Conference Reception   

Optional to all attendees.

This will be on Friday 24th at 5:00 p.m. at the University Inn and Conference Centre next door the TLC (see map).

Payment must be made online to confirm attendance.

Food Services and Dining  

Attendees are responsible for their own meals.

There will be a designated Dining Hall on the ground floor (see TLC map) with several food vendors for purchase and dining. Other food vendors will be available on the PAGE 3

outside of the TLC in the designated Kiosks. Other dining options are available at the Student Activities Centre on campus (see campus map).

EXPO Exhibit   

There will be a general exhibit of companies and agencies as part of the FST Week.

Programme Guide will list the various exhibitors.

The EXPO is open to the Public.

Other Things to Know       

Recording of presentations is strictly prohibited.

Free parking will be on the UWI campus at the Heartease Carpark across from the TLC venue.

Various taxi services are available in Trinidad; if you need help, you can get from the Arrival and Welcome Desk.

Participants must adhere to use of building protocols of the TLC. Campus services such as ATMs, food courts, etc. are available at the Student Activity Centre on campus (see campus map).

Lost and Found items may be brought to the Arrival and Welcome or Registration Desks. Found items will be lodged with the Security/TLC office at the end of the week.

Free Wifi: STA-TEST (open network)

Invited Speakers            

Dr. Cliff Riley, Scientific Research Council, Jamaica: Science Policy, Research, Development, Innovation Dr. Karthik Ramasamy, Director of Chemistry, UbiQD Inc., US: Nanotechnology/Solar Cells Dr. Eric Dooryhee, XPD Group Leader, NSLS-II, Brookhaven National Lab, US: Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction/Scattering Prof. Carlos Cabrera, University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico: Nanomaterials/Fuel and Solar Cells Dr. Charah T. Watson, Manager, Product R&D, Scientific Research Council, Jamaica: Product Development/Innovation Dr. Marvadeen Singh-Wilmot, Chemistry Lecturer, UWI, Mona, Jamaica: Advanced Functional Materials Dr. Annette Guisseppi-Elie, Associate Director, US Env. Protection Agency, US: Environmental Policy Prof. Muraleedharan Nair, Michigan State University, US: Medicinal Chemistry/Drug Discovery Prof. Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, Texas A&M University, US: Biomedical Engineering /STI Policy Prof. Tara Dasgupta, Professor emeritus, Chemistry, UWI, Mona, Jamaica: Food toxicity/Pesticide Control Ms. Wendy Nelson; Institute of Marine Affairs, Trinidad: Environmental Science Mr. Robb Westby, JEOL USA, US: Advanced Scientific Technology

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BRCE 2019 SPONSORS PLATINUM

GOLD

The UWI St. Augustine campus situated in Trinidad and Tobago is the premiere regional university with focus on research and innovation, fully accredited programmes across seven faculties, and a cosmopolitan campus community which is a true representation of an innovative, internationally competitive, contemporary university deeply rooted in the Caribbean. https://sta.uwi.edu Analogic Solutions provides the highest quality chemical analytical equipment and consumables for laboratories throughout the Caribbean. We also offer a range of support services including training, laboratory design and consultancy services, and equipment end-of-life decommissioning. www.analogicsolutions.com

GOLD Point Lisas Nitrogen Limited (PLNL) is a privately owned company which manufactures Anhydrous Ammonia in Trinidad and Tobago and is the owner of a world class production facility located in Point Lisas, in the central region of Trinidad. http://plnltt.com/

BRONZE

Analytical Technologies provides a range of scientific testing procedures to business in Trinidad and Tobago.

Our skilled scientists work on the cutting edge boundaries of modern science to deliver a growing range of services to companies requiring technical analysis for environmental, microbiological, toxicological and petrochemical industry applications. https://www.atltt.com/

BRONZE Coca-Cola is the most popular soft drink in history, as well as the best-known brand in the world.

TASTE THE FEELING https://www.coca-cola.com.co/en/tt/home

BRONZE

estlÊ is the world's leading nutrition, health and wellness company. Celebrating 100 years of satisfying many consumer needs with nutrient content, variety, pleasure and convenience – which all contribute to achieving a balanced diet and overall well-being. https://www.nestle.tt

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EXPO EXHIBITORS

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TEACHING AND LEARNING COMPLEX LAYOUT

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BRCE 2019 Programme at a Glance Wednesday 22nd May: Teaching & Learning Centre Registration Opening Ceremony Keynote lecture Plenary lecture Sessions: Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Science Environmental/Sustainable Science & Technology

Thursday 23rd day: Teaching & Learning Centre Registration Plenary lecture Sessions: Food Chemistry and Toxicity Materials Science and Technology Applications Posters

Friday 24th May: Teaching & Learning Centre Registration Plenary lecture Sessions: Advanced Experimental Techniques/Industrial Chemistry Industrial Chemistry/Product Development Chemistry Education and Outreach Closing Ceremony

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Organizing Committee Dr. Yomica Powder-George Dr. Simone Walcott Mrs. Roxanne Ali-Hassan Mrs. Charmaine Joseph-Peters Ms. Simone Mejias Dr. Grace-Anne Bent Dr. Rachael Wyse-Mason Dr. Faisal Mohammed Mr. Marlon Tambie Ms. Dahryn Augustine Dr. Leonette Cox Dr. Terry Mohammed Dr. Ann Wilson (Conference Secretary) Dr. Richard Taylor (Conference Chairperson)

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Biennial Regional Conference and EXPO 2019 on Chemical Science, Technology and Industry 22 May 2019 – 24 May 2019, UWI, St. Augustine, Trinidad

Scientific Programme Day 1: Wednesday, 22nd SESSION

Opening Ceremony

Session Chair: Dr. Richard Taylor; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad 8:30 a.m.

Keynote Lecture: Creating a Supportive Framework for Innovations across the Region: Where do we stand?

Cliff Riley; Executive Director, Scientific Research Council, Jamaica

10:00 a.m.

COFFEE BREAK

SESSION

Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Science

Session Chair:

Dr. Ramish Pingal; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

10:30 a.m.

Botanical drug with potential to treat and prevent Alzheimer's disease (Plenary) Muraleedharan G. Nair; Michigan State University, US

11:10 a.m.

Generation of Analogues of Natural Products using Immobilised Fungal Cells Paul B. Reese; University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

11:30 p.m.

Calcium alginate immobilized filamentous fungal cells as catalysts for biotransformation reactions Marc A. Collins, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

11:50 p.m.

Phytochemical Investigations into Euphorbiaceae, Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae of Trinidad and Tobago Simone F. Walcott; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

12:10 p.m.

LUNCH BREAK

SESSION

Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Science

Session Chair: Dr. Nigel Jalsa; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad 1:30 p.m.

*Drug Discovery: From folk remedies to standardized products Charah Watson; Scientific Research Council, Jamaica

02:00 p.m.

Characterisation of bioactive compounds found the Jamaican soft coral Pterogorgia Anceps Coniel Roye; University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

02:20 p.m.

Tuberculosis and Recent Advances in its Drug Development Pooja; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

02:40 p.m.

A Potential Orally Administrable Drug for Type II Diabetes Therapy Varma H. Rambaran; University of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad

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3:10 p.m.

COFFEE BREAK

SESSION

Environmental/Sustainable Science and Technology

Session Chair: Dr. Rachael Wyse-Mason; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad 3:30 p.m.

*Sustainability Concepts – Approaches, Tools, Research Annette Guiseppi-Elie; United States Environment and Protection Agency, US

4:00 p.m.

Improving precision in a low-cost sulphur dioxide monitor Denise M. Beckles; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

4:20 p.m.

*Microwave Assisted Acid Digestion and Inductively Coupled Plasma/Mass Spectrometry-Improved Techniques in the Determination of Trace Metals in Sediments Wendy Nelson; Institute of Marine Affairs, Trinidad

4:50 p.m.

Forensic oil spill investigation utilizing gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in Trinidad and Tobago Darryl R. Banjoo; Institute of Marine Affairs, Trinidad

5:10 p.m.

The use of defined substrate technology in detecting coliform bacteria on bathing beach water quality Sheldon B. Ramoutar; Institute of Marine Affairs, Trinidad

Day 2: Thursday, 23rd

SESSION

Food Chemistry and Toxicity

Session Chair: Dr. Simone Walcott; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad 8:30 a.m.

Toxins In Food – Caribbean Perspective (Plenary) Tara Dasgupta; University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

9:10 a.m.

Monitoring and Quantifying the Levels of Pesticide Residues in Foods Consumed in Trinidad And Tobago Using A Newly Modified Quechers Method Winnette Collimore; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

9:30 a.m.

Detoxification of Ackee (Blighia sapida) Seed Defatted O'Neil C. Falloon; University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

9:50 a.m.

Acrylamide the Food Toxin – Residual Levels in Caribbean Foods and Proposals for Mitigation Grace-Anne Bent; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

10:10 a.m.

COFFEE BREAK

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Flour

SESSION

Materials Science and Technology Applications

Session Chair: Dr. Arvind Kumar; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad 10:30 a.m.

*Materials Chemistry in the Development of Multiplexed Microanalytical Biosensor Systems for Human Health Anthony Guiseppi-Elie; Texas A & M University, US

11:00 a.m.

An In Vitro Medical Device Material Biocompatibility Study Using Primary Cultures of Rat Osteoblast Fiayaz A. Shaama University of the West Indies, Mt Hope Trinidad

11:20 a.m.

*Nanomaterials in Electrochemistry: From Fuel Cells to DNA Sensors Carlos Cabrera, University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico

11:40 a.m.

Low-temperature cybotactic liquid crystal phases of luminescent biphenyl Schiff's base copper(II) complexes Wilson Sue Chee Ming, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

12:00 p.m.

Evaluating Structural Transformation Kinetics of Palladium Biphenyl Salicylaldimines from Variable Temperature Synchrotron X-ray Powder Diffraction Reco Phillips; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

12:20 p.m.

LUNCH BREAK

SESSION

Materials Science and Technology Applications

Session Chair: Dr. Michael Forde; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad 1:30 p.m.

Iron Zeolite Nanosheets for the Selective Oxidation of Methane to Methanol Ashley K. Smith St. Clair; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

1:50 p.m.

*Quantum Dots-Tiny Particles for Big Problems Karthik Ramasamy; UbiQD Inc., US

2:20 p.m.

Undoped and Doped Copper Indium Sulphide Nanostructures and Thin Films: Cost-effective and Environmentally-benign Materials for Advanced Solar Cell Applications Richard A. Taylor; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

2:40 p.m.

*Lanthanide(III) Containing Materials: From Polynuclear Clusters to Coordination Polymers and Metal Organic Frameworks Marvadeen Singh-Wilmot; University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

3:10 p.m.

COFFEE BREAK

4:00 p.m.

POSTER SESSION: Poster Exhibit Hall Day 3: Friday, 24th

SESSION

Advanced Experimental Techniques/Industrial Chemistry

Session Chair: Dr. Richard Taylor; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad 8:30 a.m.

Opportunities for Chemical Sciences using Brookhaven’s Light Source II Capabilities (Plenary) Eric Dooryhee; NSLS-II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, US

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9:10 a.m.

*JEOL: A leader in advanced scientific technology Robb Westby, JEOL USA, US

9:40 a.m.

The Effect of Catalysts Synthesis Methods on Furfural Hydrogenation Nakisha Mark; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

10:00 a.m.

The Ethanolic Content of Papaya (Carica Papaya) Verses Sapodilla (Manilkara Zapota) Via Fermentation Raymond. C. Jagessar; University of Guyana, Guyana

10:20 a.m.

COFFEE BREAK

SESSION

Industrial Chemistry/Product Development

Session Chair: Dr. Ann Wilson; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad 10:50 a.m.

Metal Compounds in Selective Oxidation of Alcohols Arvind Kumar; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

11:10 a.m.

The Fermentation Capacity of the Pulp of Magifera indica, Carica papaya and the Peel of Magnifera indica in the Absence and Presence of Additives Raymond. C. Jagessar; University of Guyana, Guyana

11:30 a.m.

Fuel Properties and Emissions of Methanol-Biodiesel-Coconut Oil Ternary Blends, an Alternative Fuel for Stationary Compression Engines Rachael Wyse-Mason; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

11:50 a.m.

*The Beauty in Chemistry: Tales of Entrepreneurship Charah Watson; Scientific Research Council, Jamaica

12:20 p.m.

LUNCH BREAK

SESSION

Chemistry Education and Outreach

Session Chair: Dr. Marvadeen Singh-Wilmot; University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica 1:30 p.m.

Exploring the Effects of Language Comprehension on Interest in Chemistry Courses and the impact of a curriculum intervention on Academic Performance Clairene R.J. McDavid-Adams; University of the Southern Caribbean, Trinidad

1:50 p.m.

Demonstrating the Impact of Community-Based Participatory Research Approaches from Process to Outcomes Leonette Cox; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

2:10 p.m.

Returns to Field of Study in Trinidad and Tobago Roshnie Doon; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

2:30 p.m.

Chemistry Research – somewhere over the rainbow or the bridge to doing good for everyone Michael Forde; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

2:50 p.m.

END OF CONFERENCE AND CLOSING

3:00 p.m.

FST WEEK Panel Discussion: “Cannabis: Science and the Issues”

*Invited Talk

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BRCE 2019 Invited Speaker Abstracts

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Creating a Supportive Framework for Innovations across the Region: Where do we stand?

Cliff K Riley, Scientific Research Council, Jamaica cliffr@src-jamaica.org The Caribbean is well known for its rich biodiversity, culture and the creativity of its people. The familiar Jamaican idiom “tek hand mek fashion” represents the creativity and dynamic nature of Caribbean nationals who tend to find solutions for most personal challenges. This is also true in the scientific and technology driven areas with some of the most impactful research emanating from regional researchers resulting in numerous transformational innovations such as the cardiothoracic surgery simulator, asmasol and canasol, GMO solo papayas just to name a few. However, despite the tremendous successes from our scientific communities the region still continues to fall behind in the exportation and development of high throughput technologies. In 2015 Jamaica was ranked 96, Guyana 86, Trinidad and Tobago 80 and Barbados 37 on the global Innovation Index, the primary indicator of innovation globally.

This is a clear indication of the degree and depth of innovations emanating from the region. Needless to say, we are at the forefront on the use of new electronic devices, high-tech construction and laboratory equipment which further emphasises the notion that we have become importers and distributors of technology. Jamaica for example is popularly referred to as a “country of samples” with little impact on exports or high throughput technology. This is further emphasised by the share number of patents (regional and international) granted annually compared to the number of solutions/innovations advanced to society. Is there really a culture of innovation across the region? Are we mere creators of scientific knowledge or are we innovators? A sustainable future for the region must include solutions and technologies that emanates from the research of our regional scientists; an environment with a legislative supportive framework to encourage innovation; a society where science in not an abstract field for the so-called brilliant but a critical component of everyday life. A supportive framework to encourage innovations and commercialisation of scalable products must be implemented across the region. Policies must be guided by evidence, future trends and developmental targets and not by gut feelings. A focus on basic vs. applied research is no longer warranted; as a region we must focus on and invest in research for development and regional advancement. This paper places strong emphasis on where we are, what we have achieved and adds to the discussion on our next move as a region.

Biography: Cliff Riley is the Executive Director of the Scientific Research Council, Jamaica. He holds a PhD in Biotechnology (Pharmaceutical), A Master of Arts (Teaching), and a Bachelor of Science (Hons) Degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of the West Indies, Mona. He has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Jamaica National Agency for Certification, (JANAAC) and is currently a Director, Carnegie Foundation for Cancer Research; Trustee, Environmental Health Foundation; Board Member, Diabetes Association of Jamaica; Commissioner, National Commission on Science and Technology; ViceChairman of CARISCIENCE; Vice-Chairman of the Caribbean Climate Innovation Centre, Member, University Council of Jamaica S&T Advisory Committee; Member of the Board of Graduate Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship, UTech, Jamaica; Member of the Board of Graduate Studies and Research, Caribbean Maritime University;, among others. Dr. Riley also served as an Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Graduate Studies and Research at UTech, Jamaica (2008-2015) and Associate Director, Research and Grants at the Northern Caribbean University (2006-2008). He has done extensive research and published numerous scientific papers and books in diabetes management and education, pharmaceutics, nutrition, food technology, and natural products. He is an active member of several professional organizations including the Biochemical Society, UK, Society for Scientific Advancement (SOSA) the Caribbean Academy of Science (CAS) and the University Diabetes Outreach Programme (UDOP). He also plays a key role in the Jamaican cannabis industry where he served as a member of the Cannabis Business Advisory committee to the Minister of Industry and Commerce, currently a member of the Cannabis Science and Health Committee of the CLA and Lead assessor for Cannabis R&D for the CLA, and Ministry representative on the Cabinet Sub-committee for Cannabis.

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Botanical Drug with Potential to Treat and Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease Muraleedharan G. Nair, Bioactive Natural Products and Phytoceuticals Laboratory, Department of Horticulture, 1066 Bogue Street, Room 420, Plant and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. nairm@msu.edu; 517 353 0406.

Millions of people around the world suffer from Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Currently, about 6-7 million Americans are diagnosed with AD and expected to reach 10 million by 2020. The health-care cost to treat and manage AD patients in the USA was about US $ 250 billion in 2016 and expected to reach >$1 trillion by 2050. AD is a neurodegenerative disorder and manifests in the loss of memory and cognitive abilities.

The primary cause of this disease is the oxidative stress on the neuronal cell membrane by beta amyloid protein (Aβ42 or BAP). Secretase enzymes generate BAP in AD patient’s brain by undesired cleavage of APP protein. BAP catalyze the oxidation of water molecules to generate -OH radical and trigger oxidative stress on neuronal cell membrane. The oxidative stress then leads to the destruction of neuronal cells via several pathways including the fibrillation of tau proteins and/or aggregation of BAP. To mitigate AD, Pharma tested many drug candidates. However, all clinical trials resulted in failure so far. These failed drug candidates have been either antibodies to sequester BAP or secretase enzymes that generate BAP. In this context, a significant novel approach to mitigate AD will be to test antioxidants in functional food or in botanical drugs that could neutralize the ability of BAP from generating free radicals. We investigated fruits of Aswagandha (Withania somnifera) for safe antioxidants and bioassay-directed purification afforded withanamides, a novel class of compounds, with potent lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity. We tested these compounds for inhibition of BAP insult on rat PC12 (pheochromocytoma, from rat adrenal medulla, a mixture of neuroblasts and eosinophils. The neuroblasts differentiate to neuronlike cells) cells. Results confirmed that withanamides protected PC12 cells from BAP damage before and/or after exposing the cells to BAP. Subsequent in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated its strong antioxidant activity, lack of cytotoxicity, ability to pass blood brain barrier and ability to chelate to the active motif of BAP. Therefore, a standardized withanamides containing Aswagandha fruit extract is a novel botanical drug candidate to test for its clinical efficacy in treating and preventing AD. Keywords: Aswagandha. W. Somnifera, Withanamides, Alzheimer’s disease, Antioxidants Biography Muraleedharan G. Nair received B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Calicut, Kerala, India and PhD in Natural Products Chemistry from the University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies.

He is a Professor in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University and an accomplished natural products chemist with extensive experience in mechanism-based bioassays and extraction, isolation, purification, structure elucidation and chemical synthesis of natural products from plants and microorganisms. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and Chartered Chemist (CChem), UK; member of the National Academy of Inventors, USA; a Distinguished Faculty of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) and Charter Member of the Farm Lane Society of the CANR Alumni Association at Michigan State University. He served as a Senior Associate to the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University and a Visiting Professor at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Nair was a member of the Academic Governance at Michigan State University for several elected terms. He mentored over 250 national and international researchers, professors, post-doctoral fellows, MS and Ph.D. students and actively promote natural products research internationally. He continues to serve as a peer reviewer of many scientific journals; state, federal and international funding agencies; Editorial and Advisory Board Member of several scientific journals; author or co-author of more than 230 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and 150 published scientific abstracts and inventor/ co-inventor of more than 54 US and 34 international patents. He was the founder and President of Natural Product Technologies, VAMTech LLC., PhytoHealth, LLC and Natural Therapeutics, LLC, USA and V-PET Plc., Kerala, India. He is experienced in all aspects of bioactive natural products and its commercialization in the agricultural, pharmaceutical and nutraceuticals/botanical drug markets. For example, he spearheaded the Michigan tart cherry research and it led to several cherry products in the market with human and animal health benefits. Agricultural products sold in the market under trade names Mycoform® and Myconate® (by PHC, Inc.) are technologies developed in his laboratory at MSU and commercialized by VAMTech. Another product developed in his laboratory is in the market to treat onychomycosis or toe nail fungal disease. Several natural products developed in his laboratory are under evaluation as human health products and licensed by Natural Therapeutics, LLC, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

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“Drug Discovery: From Folk remedies to Standardized Products” Charah T. Watson, Ph.D. Scientific Research Council, Kingston, Jamaica. charahw@src-jamaica.org, dr.watson@kiharacosmetic.com

Folk remedies have always been important to health maintenance with the majority of persons in most cultures around the world relying on traditional medicine for their primary health care needs. In Jamaica over 70% of the population utilize home remedies first before seeking convention medicinal care. These folk remedies, however, are not without their challenges and potential dangerous effects. With the increase in the demand for commercially available natural products as treatment options amongst the general population, there is a great need for the regulation of nutraceutical products dispensed as medicine. Raw material authentication, product standardization, and validated scientific studies are critical to the development of therapeutic products that are safe for public use, as well as to sustain a growing natural health products industry.

Keywords: Natural Health Products; Traditional medicine; Nutraceuticals; Standardization.

Charah T. Watson is a graduate of the University of the West Indies and is a holder of a PhD. in Chemistry specializing in Natural Products. Dr. Watson has authored and co-authored over 20 peer reviewed publications and a joint holder of one (1) US patent and another pending from her pioneering doctoral research. Her work has been widely recognized and have gained her several international and national awards such as International Year of Chemistry Award from the Sao Paulo Advanced School of Natural Products Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Chemistry Award (2011), Third World Academy of Science Young Scientist Award (2011), The Scientific Research Council Young Scientist and Technologist Award (2012), National Innovation Award (Jamaica) (2010) and Young Leader of the Americas Initiative, YLAI Professional Fellow (2017).

Dr. Charah Watson is currently the Manager of the Product Research and Development Division at the Scientific Research Council in Kingston Jamaica. She is also the founder and owner of Kihara Cosmetics, a health and wellness company that develops unique and all-natural products designed to “enhance your beauty naturally”.

Dr. Watson is a proud mother of 2 girls and is also a very active member of the Rotary Club of Liguanea plains. She is committed to the motto “Service above self” and continues to help build her community and country through various initiatives.

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Sustainability Concepts – Approaches, Tools, Research Annette Guiseppi-Elie, PhD, FAIMBE

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development National Exposure Research Laboratory

The concept of sustainability based on human interactions with the natural environment has long been recognized. In the latter part of the 20th century, a more formalized approach to this interaction was seen as needed as the potential for adverse effects on the environment were becoming evident. Concepts of green chemistry, industrial ecology, design for the environment were developed and advocated. During the early part of the 21st Century, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) provided recommendations to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) on a framework for addressing sustainability and advice on tools to implement the framework. Currently, EPA has research within two national programs that strive to continue these gains. The presentation will provide a brief history of the development of sustainability along with current approaches, tools and research advocated at the National Academies and EPA. Keywords: Biography Dr. Annette Guiseppi-Elie is the Associate Director for Exposure Science at EPA’s National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL). In this role, Dr Guiseppi-Elie is responsible for understanding and promoting current and future research in the area of 21st century exposure science. She directs the development and implementation of cutting-edge exposure research to solve complex public and environmental health problems. These include research in areas such as the development of computational solutions that facilitate the use of “big data” (from traditional and non-traditional sources) to better understand factors that lead to exposure, and the development of rapid exposure and dose assessments for chemicals.

Dr. Guiseppi-Elie is a recognized expert in exposure science, specifically in the areas of site and risk assessment, exposure assessment, and environmental fate and transport processes. Prior to joining EPA, Dr. Guiseppi-Elie spent about 25 years with industry providing corporate expertise in health-based and ecological exposure assessments, representing multi-national companies nationally and internationally on key technical groups related to health and ecology issues. She has served on a number of scientific organizations, including currently as co-chair of the Exposure Science in the 21st Century (ES21) Federal Working Group. Dr. Guiseppi-Elie earned her Ph. D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park; her Master’s degree in Pollution and Environmental Control from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester, England; and a second Master’s degree in Entomology from the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering

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Microwave Assisted Acid Digestion and Inductively Coupled Plasma/Mass Spectrometry- Improved Techniques in the Determination of Trace Metals in Sediments.

W. Nelson Institute of Marine Affairs, Hilltop Lane, Chaguaramas; wnorville@ima.gov.tt Trace metals occur naturally in the environment, however, anthropogenic sources and activities such as industrial and agricultural activities, sewage and domestic waste, and urban run-off, can increase the bioavailable metal pool. These metals are toxic above some threshold concentration, persistent in the environment, and can bioaccumulate in aquatic organisms, thus posing a risk to human health. It is therefore necessary that trace metals be monitored in the environment. Sediments are often used in monitoring studies as they are considered reservoirs for trace metals, they provide a time-integrated indication of metal contamination and they contain metal concentrations that are stable over time and generally higher (easier to detect) compared with metals in water and biota.

Preparation of sediment samples for trace metal analysis traditionally involved extraction of non-residual metal by shaking for several hours with mineral acids or weaker extracting agents, or (hot) acid digestion of sediments with mineral acid mixtures over a few hours to obtain the total metal content. Over the years, microwave assisted acid digestion technology evolved and is now a widely accepted form of sample preparation. Microwave digestion offers several advantages over traditional methods including faster digestion times (less than one hour), lower volumes of acid per sample and higher sample throughput.

This high sample throughput reduces the bottleneck at the sample preparation stage in the fastest growing analytical technique for the determination of trace metals in sediments, Inductively Coupled Plasma- Mass Spectrometry (ICP/MS). In this technique, analyte ions produced in a plasma are separated based on their mass to charge ratio and quantified. ICP/MS allows for faster analysis times through the simultaneous analysis of metals over a wide analytical range. Detection limits are lower with ICP/MS compared with more traditional analytical techniques, such as Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, and isotopic information can also be obtained.

Results from an assessment of trace metals in sediments from Trinidad and Tobago using microwave assisted acid digestion and the ICP/MS technique are discussed.

Keywords: Trace metals, sediments, acid extraction, microwave digestion, ICP/MS Biography W. Nelson completed her MSc in Environmental Science at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1998, through a British Gas/Chevening/University of Strathclyde Scholarship. She holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine and is currently pursuing an MBA in General Management at the Heriot-Watt University in Scotland.

Ms. Nelson has been employed as a Research Officer in the Environmental Quality Programme (formerly the Marine Chemistry Department) at the Institute of Marine Affairs for the past 18 years. During this time, she was able to source and introduce new technology and methods for the preparation of environmental samples for trace metals analysis, as well as for the analysis of these samples.

Ms Nelson has successfully designed and implemented research projects on trace metals in the coastal and marine environment over the years. Her research has taken her to the Caroni and Godineau Swamps, and across the length and breadth of Trinidad and Tobago. Her most rewarding field experience was leading a research cruise around Trinidad and Tobago for an assessment of sediment quality in the nearshore coastal environment. In addition to water and sediment quality assessments, Ms. Nelson has conducted research on biota including commercial shellfish, demersal and pelagic fish species, and sponges. She has authored technical reports and has published the results of her research in reputed journals.

Ms Nelson has served on national committees established to address various issues including the development of ambient water quality standards, the development of trade effluent standards and the testing of fish samples internationally for the government. She has delivered presentations on behalf of the IMA at various local, regional and international meetings/ workshops. She was also the country representative at the 15th meeting of the UNICPOLOS at the UN Headquarters in New York in 2014 and most recently at the Blue Economy Caribbean 2018 Event in Miami, Florida.

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Materials Chemistry in the Development of Multiplexed Microanalytical Biosensor Systems for Human Health Anthony Guiseppi-Elie Texas A&M University and Houston Methodist Hospital 1111D Alkek Building, 2121 W. Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA E-mail: guiseppi@tamu.edu A wide range of materials chemistries results in the synthesis of hybrid, multifunctional, bioactive, and electroconductive hydrogels that enable control of the ABIO-BIO interface of indwelling multiplexed analytical microsystems. This paper surveys ongoing research at the Center for Bioelectronics, Biosensors and Biochips (C3B®) that is aimed at: i) A penta-analyte biosensor, the PSM BioChip™, for the monitoring of key biomarkers of physiological stress during trauma-associated hemorrhage. This intramuscularly indwelling microsystem measures lactate, glucose, potassium, oxygen tension and acidosis. The system uses decision tree, artificial neural networks and expert data to fuse sourced analytical data into a single real-time, reportable, actionable score useful in mass triage, trauma resuscitation management and ICU monitoring. ii) A dual-function 24-well Electrical Cell Stimulation and Recording System (ECSRS™) for the concomitant electrification of human inducible pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to guide differentiation while monitoring and modeling trans-membrane electrical impedance as a tool to evaluate cellular behavior. This system applies electric fields of relevant physiological values to cells grown in culture on microporous inserts and does so for long periods with scheduled intermittent measures of electrical impedance spectra. iii) A dual-responsive biosensor system that uses biologically responsive organic electronic circuit elements for the fused monitoring of glucose and lactate levels reported wirelessly via the output of an oscillator circuit. iv) A biosensor-enabled, dual-sensing microfluidic system that recapitulates vascular physiology for the investigation of flow fields, agonists and antagonists on human inducible pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) derived endothelial cells (ECs) from patients with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS). This microfluidic vasculature-on-a-chip system measures nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) as key indicators of vascular response to stress.

Keywords: biosensors, microsystems, hydrogels, multiplexed Biography Dr. Anthony Guiseppi-Elie is Associate Dean for Engineering Innovation in Engineering Medicine (EnMed) at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and Houston Methodist Hospital (HMH). At TAMU he holds the TEES Research Professorship in Engineering, is Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. At Houston Methodist Hospital, he is Full Affiliate Member of the Houston Methodist Research Institute and Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences and Engineering. A former Department Head of Biomedical Engineering at TAMU, he directs the Bioelectronics, Biosensors and Biochips (C3B®) Laboratories. He is Founder, President and Scientific Director of ABTECH Scientific, Inc. and has been associated with three start-up companies. He holds the Sc.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT, the M.Sc. in Corrosion Science and Engineering from UMIST and the B.Sc. (First Class Honors) in Chemistry from UWI. He has spent 15 years in industry before becoming a full Professor of Chemical and Life Science Engineering (1998) and Professor of Emergency Medicine (2000) at Virginia Commonwealth University/ Medical College of Virginia.

Dr. Guiseppi’s research is in engineered bioanalytical microsystems in the service of human health and medicine. He has published over 150 archival scientific papers (6592 citations, h-index = 42), 31 book chapters, holds 8 US and foreign patents, and has given in excess of 200 invited lectures/colloquia. He is Editor-in-Chief of Bioengineering, an Associate Editor of Biomedical Microdevices and member of several editorial boards. Prof. Guiseppi-Elie is a 20152020 Fulbright Specialist Award recipient. He has been a Visiting Distinguished Professor in biomedical engineering at the University of Tucumán, Argentina, in Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering at Wroclaw University, Poland, in Industrial Bioelectronics at l'Ecole des mines d'Alès, France; in Pharmaceutics at the University of Tennessee, an IEEE-EMBS Distinguished Lecturer, and a Distinguished Lecturer in Microsystems at the University of Maryland. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He was the 2017-18 Chair of the AIMBE College of Fellows. He is a graduate of the Academic Leadership Academy at Penn State University and serves on the External Advisory Board of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Florida and the Council for Frontiers of Knowledge (The CFK) (Uganda). At TAMU, Prof. Guiseppi teaches entrepreneurship, biomolecular and cellular engineering, biosensors and bioelectronics, and nanobiotechnology.

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Lanthanide(III) Containing Materials: From Polynuclear Clusters to Coordination Polymers and Metal Organic Frameworks Marvadeen A. Singh-Wilmot, PhD.

Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica. e-mail: marvadeen.singhwilmot@uwimona.edu.jm

Lanthanide(III) containing compounds are the basis of materials for both current and future technologies, from MRI contrast enhancement agents and phosphors to hybrid cars and nuclear reactors. These applications arise from the unique photophysical, catalytic and magnetic properties of lanthanide(III) metals ions which are a direct consequence of their 4fn electronic configuration. However, nothwithstanding their ubiquitous nature and advantageous properties, the unpredictable coordination behaviour of lanthanide(III) metals ions limits a design approach to functional lanthanide(III) containing materials. In order to exploit the full potential that these materials offer, the challenges must be circumvented and novel approaches developed to systematically make predesigned lanthanide(III) containing compounds for targeted applications. Herein we discuss the crystal engineering of lanthanide(III) containing materials with tunable properties by manipulating supramolecular interactions, molecular building blocks, and the lanthanide contraction.

Keywords: Lanthanide(III), Crystal Engineering, Supramolecular Interactions, Molecular Building Blocks, Lanthanide Contraction.

Biography Dr. Marvadeen Singh-Wilmot is lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry at UWI, Mona. Her research makes new materials from lanthanide(III) metals ions for current and future technologies and has resulted in numerous publications in international science journals, co-authorship of a book and her role as member of the reviewing panel for a number of chemistry journals. Dr. Singh-Wilmot is dedicated to the promotion of science as a tool for development and she uses every opportunity to spread her excitement to her students and young people in general. She coordinated “Lab Rats” which exposed children, 3 to 17 years old to science. It built their investigative and analytical skills and promoted creativity and critical thinking as it used science to both enlighten and delight them. This programme has transitioned into the training of teachers which she believes is more sustainable. She served as co-chair of the Young Scientist Ambassador Program (YSAP), an initiative of The Young Scientists from the 2010 Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC), World Economic Forum. This involved Young Scientists from 55 countries representing every section on the Globe and promotes the efforts of Young Scientists to bridge the international scientific gap by facilitating cultural, scientific, intellectual, or educational interactions. She has numerous research and teaching awards including the Principals awards for best publication in the Faculty of Science and Technology, 2014 and 2018. In 2010 she was inducted as the Caribbean’s first Young Affiliate Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and she continues to work as an active member of The Young Affiliate Network of TWAS.

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Quantum Dots-Tiny Particles for Big Problems Karthik Ramasamy UbiQD, Inc, Los Alamos, NM, USA, karthik@ubiqd.com

Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals offer unique opportunities for various applications. Here in UbiQD, we develop and manufacture CuInSSe/ZnS quantum dots with near unity photoluminescence emission across the visible and near-infrared spectral range.

Thanks to our low-cost manufacturing process and non-toxic nature of quantum dots that enable us developing products towards addressing some of the pressing issues of climate change. For example, we develop quantum dots embedded greenhouse films that optimize Sun spectrum for plant growth. Multiple in-house and commercial pilot studies confirm yield improvement and fast crop cycle in tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuces. Another example, we develop quantum dots tinted windows to produce electricity while providing visible light transparency. We have recently reported record efficiency up to 8%, large area luminescent solar concentrating windows at 60% transmittance using our quantum dots. This presentation will outline synthesis and manufacturing of CuInSSe/ZnS quantum dots and their applications in greenhouse, solar windows, medical imaging and security inks Keywords: Quantum Dots, Manufacturing, Solar Windows, Agriculture Films and Security Ink

Biography Karthik Ramasamy received his PhD from the University of Manchester, UK and did postdoc positions at the University of Alabama and at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is currently a Director of Chemistry at UbiQD, Inc. He has authored/co-authored close to 60 papers and written 7 book chapters and spoken at more than 50 international meetings. His main research interests are synthesis and developments of nanocrystals, quantum dots, thin films and single source precursors for energy generation and storage, and spintronics applications.

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Nanomaterials in Electrochemistry From Fuel Cells to DNA Sensors Carlos R. Cabrera Department of Chemistry, NSF-CREST Center for Innovation, Research, and Education in Environmental Nanotechnology (CIRE2N) NSF-PREM Center for Interfacial Electrochemistry of Energy Materials University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus San Juan, Puerto Rico 00931-3346 carlos.cabrera2@upr.edu Nanostructured catalyst/support materials are important for the development of the next generation of energy sources such as Fuel Cells (ethanol, methanol, and ammonia). Electrochemical techniques, for catalyst/support preparation, have been developed in Cabrera’s laboratory for several years. Recently, Cabrera’s group has been involved on an electrochemical synthesis based on a rotating disk slurry electrodeposition (RoDSE) technique for bulk preparation of catalysts/carbon support materials. His group has been interested on carbon catalysts supports such as Vulcan XC-72, carbon nano-onions, and reduced graphene oxide.

In the area of environmental remediation, Cabrera’s group has worked on toxic metal remediation and wastewater purification. With the use of nano zero valent iron (NZVI), Cd2+ remediation has been achieved in aqueous systems. This project has led to a possible application of the Cd-nZVI remediation product for photoelectrochemical applications. In wastewater remediation, Cabrera’s group has used nanotechnology to develop a bioreactor-electrochemical system for the conversion of urea to ammonia to nitrogen in collaboration with Faraday Technology through a NASA-SBIR grant. This has resulted on a possible bioelectrochemical reactor system for NASA’s Life Support Systems.

Another area of current interest has been DNA electrochemical biosensing. Using Au interdigital array electrodes and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, label free DNA sensing has been possible. This includes telomerase activity sensing for a possible point-of-care Cancer detection microchip. This later project has led to collaboration with Roche Diagnostics at Ponce, Puerto Rico and the creation of a Start up company named BIDEA, LLC. Biographical Sketch: Professor Carlos R. Cabrera was born in Puerto Rico and has been a product of the public educational system from the Island. In 1982, Dr. Cabrera obtained his BS in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and, shortly after, Cabrera moved to Cornell University, obtaining his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry under the mentorship of Professor Héctor D. Abruña on June 1987. After a Postdoctoral position with Dr. Allen J. Bard at the University of Texas at Austin, Cabrera moved to his alma mater in January 2, 1989. Dr. Cabrera has been a Professor of Chemistry and Researcher at the Río Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico since then. In academic year 2000-01, Dr. Cabrera was a NASA Administrator Fellow working at Glenn Research Center at Cleveland, Ohio.

Cabrera’s research group is currently developing the following research areas: DNA and telomerase bioelectrochemical sensors, fuel cell catalysts materials, nano zero valent iron (nZVI) for Water and Soil Remediation and microbial fuel cell systems for urine purification and water reclamation. Currently, Cabrera supervise a research group with three postdoctoral fellows, 14 graduate and 6 undergraduate students. Through his career, Cabrera has been mentor to 35 Ph.D.s, most of them females (15). Cabrera has over 180 peer-reviewed publications, two patent applications, seven book chapters, and has edited a book titled “Advanced Nanomaterials for Aerospace Applications”. This later book was an outcome of more than 10 years of research collaboration with NASA Centers through a NASA-MIRO Grant ($1M/year). Cabrera is co-founder of BIDEA LLC, a Start-Up company for the development of Cancer biosensors, a spin-off of Cabrera’s NASA and NSF grants. BIDEA LLC is also a product of Cabrera’s team NSF i-CORPs program participation and currently has an NSF-SBIR Phase I award. http://chemistry.uprrp.edu/index.php?page=carlos-cabrera

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Toxins in Food – Caribbean Perspective Professor Tara Dasgupta Department of Chemistry, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica.

Generally, foods contain toxins as a naturally occurring constituent, which could be potentially harmful to our health. These are called Natural Toxins. There have been reports of food poisoning suspected to have been caused by consumption of vegetables and fruits containing natural toxins. Some natural toxins can be formed in food as defense mechanisms of plants, through their infestation with toxin-producing mould, or through ingestion by animals of toxinproducing microorganism. Natural toxins can cause a variety of adverse health effects ranging from allergic reactions to severe stomach ache and diarrhoea, and even death. As for example, the mamey apple (Mamea americana), a dietary constituent of the Caribbean people for many generations, known for producing discomfort in some persons, especially in the digestive system. Tonka Beans (Dipteryx odorata) which contain high concentration of Coumarin which has a negative effect on liver. Ackee (Blinghia sapida) is extremely popular fruit in the Caribbean. The unripe ackee fruit contains toxin, hypoglycine which can cause serious health hazard. Cassava ( Manihot esculenta) which in its raw or unprocessed form contains cyanogenic toxins. Food poisoning from consumption of fruits and vegetables containing natural toxins, depends on the cooking methods, and the levels of toxin in the plant, which may vary according to the species and geographic environment. The mamey apple, tonka beans, ackee, and cassava are not commonly consumed in the developed world, so further research is needed on the regulatory aspects, especially as more and more of these fruits appear in global markets. Apart from natural toxins, processing of foods can produce Toxins. Acrylamide is found in a number of starch based foods that are fried or baked at above 120 ⁰C. It has now been confirned that the formation of acrylamide occurs via a Maillard reaction. Data on the concentrations of acrylamide in Caribbean Foods will be discussed. Acrylamide was found to be neurotoxin. Furan, low boiling and low molecular weight organic molecule, is a byproduct of high energy and thermal treatment of carbohydrate. Research work on this compound and its concentration in various Caribbean foods will be discussed. Furan is mutagenic and clatogenic causes damage to chromosomes in mice and carcinogenic in both rats and mice. It has recently been categorized as carcinogenic to human. There is another class of Toxin which is known as Environmental Toxin. Most of the environmental toxins are also endocrine disruptors. As for example, methyl mercury, mercury, PAHs, PCBs, PFAS, Phthalate.

BPA are known to disrupt hormonal activities in human bodies. These chemicals interact with our food chain and cause enormous health hazard. These aspects will also be discussed in the presentation.

Biography Professor Tara Dasgupta has been attached to the Department of Chemistry at the UWI Mona for close to 40 years. His renown as a scholar and researcher has qualified him for mention in several biographical reference books such as Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in the Commonwealth, Dictionary of International Biography, International Book of Honour, Men of Achievement and Personalities in the Caribbean.

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Opportunities for Chemical Sciences using Brookhaven’s Light Source II Capabilities Eric Dooryhee Brookhaven National Laboratory 743 Brookhaven Avenue Building 743 Upton, NY 11973-5000 dooryhee@bnl.gov

In a recent past a research group of the Faculty of Science and Technology in Trinidad and Tobago was hosted at Brookhaven National Laboratory (New York State) and engaged into a successful, collaborative work with several scientists of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) in particular.

NSLS-II at Brookhaven (BNL) is one of the newest, most advanced third generation synchrotron radiation facilities in the world. As a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility, NSLS-II enables its growing user community to study materials with nanoscale resolution and exquisite sensitivity by providing world-class capabilities. NSLS-II’s beamlines and experimental stations offer unique, cutting-edge research tools, including highthroughput robot-driven sample processing, coherent x-ray scattering, unprecedented energy resolution, or hard x-ray microscopy with nanometer spatial resolution.

This presentation will focus broadly on the different aspects of Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction & Scattering as advanced tools for chemical-related sciences. The most prominent NSLS-II diffraction & scattering capabilities will be reviewed and use cases will be highlighted that can provide scientists and engineers alike a sense of what state-of-the-art synchrotron methods bring to the field of chemistry and beyond.

Keywords: diffraction – scattering – synchrotron - chemistry Biography Eric Dooryhee has completed his PhD in irradiation physics from the University of ParisOrsay (France) in 1987 and postdoctoral studies at the Synchrotron Radiation Source, Daresbury (UK) in 1989. He then became an Associate Scientist (1990-95) at the Research Center with Ions and Lasers (CNRS, France) and a scientist (1996-2000) at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (France). He was a Senior Scientist (2001-09) at the Neel Institute (CNRS, France), before he got appointed as the Beamline Lead Scientist (2009-19) for the NSLS-II X-ray Powder Diffraction beamline. He is the NSLS-II ‘Diffraction & In Situ Scattering’ Program Manager since 2016. He has published more than 130 papers in reputed journals and has been serving on various panels and committees. He founded the IUCr Commission on ‘Crystallography in Art and Cultural heritage’. He is a co-founder of the ‘Synchrotron Radiation in Art and Archaeology’ (SR2A) series of international conferences. He has mentored and supervised 4 PhD students, 5 post-docs and >35 graduates and undergraduates. His research interest is in-situ and high-resolution structural studies on a variety of materials, including polycrystalline thin films, carbon nanotubes, zeolitic catalysts, organic molecular compounds, organic-inorganic hybrids and ancient materials.

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Advancements in Electron Microscopy and other novel techniques Robert Westby JEOL USA 11 Dearborn Rd, Peabody Massachusetts, USA rwestby@jeol.com

Scientific discoveries abound in an expanding, fast-paced global environment, necessitating realworld immediate solutions. To assist scientific and commercial discoveries, JEOL has become a leader in technologies designed to take you to the next level, featuring designs like the NEO Engine (New Electron Optimization), Alpha Angle Control Lensing, Hybrid Objective Lens, ZeroMAG, Immersion FEG design, 17-meter flight path MassSpec, Ambient MassSpec, Picometer resolution TEM,

Keywords: electron microscope mass spectrometry NMR

Biography Robert Westby: After distinguished international military service with the United States Army, Robb became interested in the microscopy field after a chance viewing of a fly through an electron microscope. His wonder at the discoveries to be made through a microscope has not ceased in his nearly 30-years in the field. Robb has been with JEOL since 2010 as a regional sales manager for their EM products division, and holds a degree in Electron Microscopy. His education is augmented by experiences as a service lab manager specializing in SEM and EDS methods, a reliability engineer with two west coast semiconductor companies, a field service engineer, and applications specialist for a major EDS company. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, creating art in multiple mediums, and maintaining a nearly 100-year-old home.

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NOTES

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BRCE 2019 Speaker Abstracts Session 1: Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Science Symposium Session Chair: Dr. Ramish Pingal; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

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Generation of Analogues of Natural Products using Immobilised Fungal Cells Patrice C. Peart; Avril R.M. Chen; Marc A. Collins; Paul B. Reese Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica Email: paul.reese@uwimona.edu.jm The generation of analogues of bioactive steroid and terpene analogues has been an important component of our research investigations over the years. Although some synthetic transformations have been utilised, most of the analogues have been produced by fungal transformation. Microorganisms possess the ability to selectively functionalise various carbon atoms in substrates. One of the more interesting reactions is that mediated by cytochrome P450 enzymes, which results in the hydroxylation of unactivated sites in organic compounds.

Our more recent studies have focused on the use of encapsulated microorganisms to realize such transformations. It has been observed that fungi retain their catalytic abilities when encased in an inert matrix. Incubations of 5-androstenediol (1) with free and immobilised fungal cells led to the formation of products that had been hydroxylated in positions 5, 6, 7 and 16 of the steroid skeleton. Fermentations with testosterone (2) were more fruitful, yielding analogues where functionalization had occurred at C-1, 2, 6, 7, 11, 14, 15 and 16.

Experiments in which encapsulated cells of two different fungi are mixed and incubated with 1 or 2 or a terpene substrate have led to the generation of libraries of compounds.

Biography Paul Reese completed DPhil studies at the University of Sussex and was then a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Alberta for two years. He joined The University of the West Indies, Mona in 1985, and is currently Professor of Bio-organic Chemistry there.

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Calcium alginate immobilized filamentous fungal cells as catalysts for biotransformation reactions Marc A. Collins and Paul B. Reese Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica Email: marc.collins@mymona.uwi.edu Macerated fragments of filamentous fungi, encapsulated in a calcium alginate matrix, can be used to effect hydroxylation reactions on steroidal substrates. Here the technique is being extended to the compound 13(S)-hydroxystemodan-2-one, (stemodinone) (1), which is derived from the cytotoxic and mildly antiviral diterpenoid 2α,13(S)-dihydroxystemodane (stemodin) (2), isolated from the Jamaican plant Stemodia maritima. In this work a comparison of the free cell versus the immobilized cell (bead) fermentation of six fungi was carried out to examine the nature and yields of the products across both techniques during the transformation of stemodinone (1). When Rhizopus stolonifer, Mucor circinelloides, Mucor plumbeus and Actinomucor elegans were incubated with 1 6β,13(S)-dihydroxystemodan-2-one (3) was the only product. Similarly, 7β,13(S)-dihydroxystemodan-2-one (4) and 13(S),18-dihydroxystemodan-2one (5) were generated from fermentations of 1 with Calonectria decora and Beauveria bassiana, respectively.

Additionally, experiments using mixed beads, made from two different fungi, yielded some unexpected and interesting results. Furthermore, a new and novel stemodane analogue, 13(S),18dihydroxystemodan-2-one (6), was generated. The results highlight the potential of the mixed bead system as a powerful technique for the formation of stemodane diterpenoid analogues.

17

OH

OH

11

H

13

H

O

20

H

1

HO

15

H

9

R4

H 5

3

H

R3 7

19

18

2

R1

R2

1. R1 = R2 = R3 = R4 = H 3. R1 = R2 = H, R3 = bOH, R4 = H 4. R1 = R2 = R3 = H, R4 = bOH 5. R1 = H, R2 = OH, R3 = R4 = H 6. R1 = OH, R2 = R3 = R4 = H

Keywords: Fermentation, Biotransformation, Filamentous Fungi, Diterpenoid, Immobilization, Calcium alginate, Stemodane Marc Collins Marc hails from the Western end of Jamaica, having been born in the parish of Hanover. A series of fortunate events allowed him to attend The University of the West Indies, as he was selected as one of fourteen scholarship winners awarded by the NCB Foundation to complete his undergraduate programme. Based on his grades, he was offered the opportunity by Professor Paul Reese to work as a summer project student for two consecutive years as an undergraduate. This early exposure to research subsequently led him to pursue a graduate degree. He is now in the penultimate year of his PhD programme, where he is investigating Natural Product isolation, through the epigenetic modification of two marine-derived fungi.

He has presented at the 2015 Pacifichem Conference in Hawaii, and also at a number of stagings of the Mona Symposium: Natural Products & Medicinal Chemistry at UWI, Mona. Today, he will share with us work from the early part of his project, which looked at biotransformation reactions using calcium alginate immobilized filamentous fungal cells.

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Title: Phytochemical Investigations into Euphorbiaceae, Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae of Trinidad and Tobago Simone F. Walcott1; A. R. Maxwell2; B. Svobodova3 1,2 The University of the West Indies, c/o The Chemistry Department, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad, West Indies; 3

Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Vavreckova 275, 762 72 Zlin, Czech Republic Email: 1simone.walcott@sta.uwi.edu

Some of the more prominent members of three important plant families (Euphorbiaceae, Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae) were investigated for their secondary metabolites. The latex of C.gossypifolius along with the leaves and stems of Trinidadian Croton species, Croton gossypifolius and C. hircinus, were investigated for their secondary metabolites. A novel cyclic nonapeptide, Crotogossamide, was isolated from the latex of C. gossypifolius along with the flavonoids, quercitrin, myricitrin and afzelin and the amino acid derivative tyramine. Brineshrimp bioassay-guided fractionation of the crude extract of the leaves of Croton gossypifolius led to the isolation of the known vomifoliol, dehydrovomifoliol and hypoleucolide methyl ester, as well as pinoresinol and kaempferol as minor components. Three novel clerodane diterpenes, Crotohircin A-C were isolated from the leaves of C. hircinus along with the flavonoids artemetin and kaempferol. Additionally, the plant parts of Solanum stramoniifolium and Momordica charantia were tested for biological activity and the phenolic compounds were characterized.

The structures of the compounds were elucidated using a combination of the following methods: IR and UV-vis spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and NMR spectroscopy utilizing 1H, 13

C, COSY, 13C-1H HMQC, 13C-1H HMBC, NOESY and DEPT experiments while HPLC analysis

was used to profile the phenolic compounds.

Keywords: cyclic peptide, nonapeptide, crotogossamide, Croton species, Euphorbiaceae, , Biography Simone F. Walcott has a PhD in organic chemistry (natural product research) from the University of the West Indies. During the course of her studies and research, four plant extracts from Monimiaceae and Euphorbiaceae were examined resulting in the isolation of some seventeen (17) compounds of which four (4) were novel. Her natural product work has since continued with Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae (collaboration with researchers in the Czech Republic). She has published in several reputed journals, presented at conferences locally, regionally and internationally and is currently serving as the Chief Technician of the Chemistry Department, UWI, St. Augustine. Her interest in natural products has continued and she has since turned her attention to the natural SPF activity present in various plant oils.

She also successfully manages her very own online page manufacturing various skin and haircare products using natural ingredients.

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BRCE 2019 Speaker Abstracts Session:

Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Science Symposium

Session Chair: Dr. Simone Walcott; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

PAGE 32

CHARACTERISATION OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS FOUND JAMAICAN SOFT CORAL PTEROGORGIA ANCEPS 1

IN THE

Coniel Roye 1; Winklet Gallimore 1; JeAnn E. Watson 2 ; Rupika Delgoda2 Department of Chemistry, University of the West Indies, Jamaica, roye.coniel@yahoo.com winklet.gallimore@uwimona.edu.jm 2

The Natural Products Institute, University of the West Indies, Jamaica, nnnjeann.murray02@uwimona.edu.jm;nthejani.delgoda@uwimona.edu.jm Fourteen butenolides were isolated from the Jamaican soft coral Pterogorgia anceps, four of which were novel. The animal was collected by SCUBA from the Port Royal area, dried and extracted with dichloromethane and acetone. The isolated compounds include 2(5H)-furanone, 3-icosane-5methyl(5R) [1], (2R,3S,4S)-4-[4-(5-hydroxy-5-methyl-2-oxo-2,5-dihydrofuran-3-yl)dodecly]-2methyl-5-oxooxolan-3-yl acetate [2], 5S,3′R,4′S,5′S-ancepsenolide diacetate [3] and 5S,3′S,4′S,5′Rancepsenolide diacetate [4] on the basis of NMR, IR and mass spectroscopic analysis. Compound 3, along with other isolates, were found to be active against several cancer cell lines. In fact, compound 3 was found to be twice as potent as the positive control bicalutamide against prostate cancer and worthy of further evaluation.

O O

O 7

2

O

O

3

5

2

26

2'

7 18

16

O

4

4

OH

6

O 6'

O

6

2

1

O

O O

O 7

18

O

2' 3'

8 4

O

6

OH O

2''' 1'''

4' 1''

O

OH

O

O

8

O

O O

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6'

2''

4

3

Biography C. Roye has completed his BSc (Hons) and is currently a chemistry PhD candidate at the University of the West Indies Mona. He is a Senior Scientific Officer at the chemistry department at the University of the West Indies Mona.

W. Gallimore completed her PhD in Natural Products Chemistry at the University of the West Indies Mona in 1997 and pursued postdoctoral studies in Marine Natural Products Chemistry at the University of Hawaii at Manoa under the supervision of the late Professor Paul Scheuer. She is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus and has published over 20 papers in the field.

J. Watson has completed her MPhil and BSc (Hons) at the University of the West Indies. She is currently the Senior Scientific Officer at the Natural Products Institute, at the University of the West Indies.

R. Delgoda completed her D. Phil degree in Pharmacology at Oxford University and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Leicester, UK. She is a Professor of Biochemical Pharmacology & Pharmacognosy and is also the Director of the Natural Products Institute at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. She has published over 40 peer reviewed publications, including 3 books and serves as a reviewer for multiple international journals.

PAGE 33

Tuberculosis and Recent Advances in its Drug Development Pooja; Gurdial Singh The University of the West Indies, pujaawasthi@yahoo.co.in

Tuberculosis (TB) still remains a leading infectious disease worldwide. One-third of the world’s population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and hence the world is at the risk of developing active tuberculosis. The increasing emergence of drug resistant TB threatens disease control. The current treatment of drug resistant tuberculosis is lengthy, complex and connected with several harmful side effects and poor outcomes. This highlights the need to urgently develop new and effective drugs for the treatment of TB. New drugs should target the persistent, active and resistant bacteria. With recent advances in the molecular biology of MTB, drug discovery for tuberculosis has been resurged in the recent years, generating compounds with varying potential to act as ‘lead’ and then can progress to ‘hit. Present paper discusses tuberculosis in detail, its worldwide burden, traditional treatment and new potential antituberculosis drug candidates that have entered into the clinical trial while other classes like benzothiazinone and benzothiazoles which are in the pipeline to enter the preclinical stage.

Keywords: Tuberculosis, Drug resistant tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Biography of presenter: Mrs. Pooja has done B.Sc. with chemistry (1997), B.Ed. (1998), M.Sc. in Chemistry (2000) and M.Ed. (2001), all from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India. She has successfully defended (21st Feb. 2019) her Ph.D. thesis on “Synthesis and evaluation of N-substituted aminobenzothiazoles as anti-tubercular agents” from the University of the West Indies. She has seven years teaching experience of engineering chemistry at undergraduate level. Her area of interest includes organic chemistry and synthesis of drugs for treatment of tuberculosis.

PAGE 34

Title: A Potential Orally Administrable Drug for Type II Diabetes Therapy

Varma H. Rambaran1, Saumya S.M.2, Sonu K.P.3, Muthusamy Eswaramoorthy3 Biomedical Engineering Unit, The University of Trinidad and Tobago, O’Meara Campus, Trinidad and Tobago 2 Department of Zoology, Bangalore University, Bangalore-560056, India 3 Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore-560064, India 1

A complexation reaction between Vanadyl Sulfate and the tridentate ligand, 2,6-pyridine diacetic acid, furnished the novel drug Complex I. Loading and release studies on Complex I from hydrogel layered MCM-41 nanoparticles were then done; results revealed a selective and sustained release of the guest complex at pH 7.4 vs pH 2 in both fixed and increasing pH environments. Using streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rodents, the said complex was subsequently screened for possible antidiabetic activity via an in-vivo dose-response study. Adult male Wistar rats, Rattus norvegicus (2 – 3 months old, 170 ± 20 g) were procured and acclimated according to standard protocol (25 ± 2 °C, 12-h dark–light cycle) and provided water as well as standard rodent pellet diet ad libitum. Animals were then divided as follows: Group I comprised control (non-diabetic) animals, while the animals of Group II were made diabetic by a single dose intraperitoneal injection of STZ (50mg/kgbw); after 7 days, rats having diabetes (>180mg/dl) were selected for the further studies. For the dose-response experiments, the subjects of Group II were divided into two sets, Groups A and B, where Complex I was administered intraperitoneally and orally at differential doses respectively. Using the Accuchek© blood glucose monitoring kit, blood glucose levels were monitored daily and by the end of the study, convincingly revealed the antidiabetic activity of Complex I, by its effectiveness in attenuating their hyperglycaemic state.

Keywords: 2,6-pyridine diacteic acid, vanadyl sulfate,, hyperglycaemia.

Biography Dr. Varma H. Rambaran graduated with his Doctoral degree in Chemistry, from the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus (UWI), in 2005. He served as a Teaching Assistant in the Chemistry Department for one year and then took up the position of Assistant Professor, at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) in 2007. In 2011, he was awarded a short term Fulbright Fellowship, where he started work, under the mentorship of Professor Alvin A. Holder. There, at the University of Southern Mississippi, he started work on the pharmaceutical applications of metal complexes to diabetes and cancer therapies. Inspired by the work done with Professor Holder, Dr. Rambaran started looking at a family of novel complexes with potential insulin mimetic properties. In 2015, he was awarded a SMART fellowship by the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, to pursue his idea at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). The results from his endeavours, at JNCASR, gave UTT the opportunity to file for its first PCT application, “Vanadium Insulin-Mimetics, Methods of Preparation and Methods of Treatment of Diabetes” on June 1st 2018.

PAGE 35

BRCE 2019 Speaker Abstracts Session:

Environmental /Sustainable Science and Technology Symposium

Session Chair: Dr. Rachael Wyse-Mason; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

PAGE 36

Improving precision in a low-cost sulphur dioxide monitor A. Denise M. Beckles1; B. Tiffany Koylass2 Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad.

Denise.Beckles@sta.uwi.edu

1

2

Affiliation, Address and E-mail

Throughout the Caribbean, there exists a pressing need to monitor contaminants emitted into our air, because the level of pollutants in our ambient air can have a significant impact on human health. One way to do this monitoring for lower cost is to use of citizen science: scientific measurements done by persons without specialised training. This approach was used to monitor sulphur dioxide levels at the Sulphur Springs Volcanic Park in St. Lucia. Low cost monitors were deployed by the staff at the Park. (University of the West Indies 2014) While the samples were collected by the Park staff, the analysis by base titration was conducted by a Chemistry teacher at a nearby high school. The data indicated poor precision and repeatability at the start of the project; (Joseph, et al. 2019) suggesting that during the learning period, data quality may have been compromised.

This study determined whether conductivity measurements could reasonably be used to monitor changes in sulphuric acid in the collection media. The low-cost monitor was used to collect samples of atmospheric sulphur dioxide, and the amount of sulphur dioxide present was evaluated via base titration as well as change in conductivity. The results showed a positive correlation between the conductivity change and level of sulphur dioxide measured using titration. Measuring conductivity to determine the production of sulphuric acid in the collection media would be easier for the non-expert, suggesting that this approach could result in better precision and data quality.

References Joseph, E.P, V.B. Jackson, L. Cox, D.M. Beckles, and S Edwards. 2019. "A citizen science approach for monitoring volcanic emissions and promoting volcanic hazard awareness at Sulphur Springs, Saint Lucia in the Lesser Antilles arc." Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 369: 50-63.

University of the West Indies. 2014. "New volcanic emissions monitoring network." UWI Campus News.

Biography A. Dr. Denise M. Beckles obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Harvard University (1994), and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering at Rice University (2000). In 2001, Dr. Beckles joined the Department of Chemistry at the UWI, St. Augustine, where she teaches courses in Environmental and Analytical Chemistry. Dr. Beckles’ research interests are in the area of environmental quality. This includes transforming waste vegetable oil into greener biofuel, measurement of emerging water contaminants, measurement of air and water in volcanic regions, bacterial remediation of hydrocarbon pollution, and the development of inexpensive air monitoring devices for use in high schools.

PAGE 37

Forensic oil spill investigation utilizing gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in Trinidad and Tobago.

Darryl R. Banjoo Environmental Quality Programme, Institute of Marine Affairs, Hill Top Lane, Chaguaramas, P.O. Box 3160, Carenage Post Office Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, dbanjoo@ima.gov.tt.

Trinidad and Tobago is prone to oil spills arising from oil production and exploration, transport, natural oil-seeps, accidental spills and refining operations. These oil spills result in damage to marine life and the environment. Subsequent clean-up operations are frequently imposed on the Government when liability cannot be traced to the responsible party. Section 3.7 of Trinidad and Tobago’s National Oil Spill Contingency Plan requires the IMA to maintain an oil fingerprinting database for centralized national archiving purposes. Since 2000, the IMA has acquired over 300 oil fingerprint samples to aid in the identification of the responsible party.

Chemical fingerprinting provides source identification that can then be linked to the polluter.

Fingerprinting by GC-MS compared to traditional techniques (nickel/vanadium ratios, infrared, ultraviolet and fluorescence spectroscopy) gives a better representation of the true oil composition.

Specific target petroleum hydrocarbons can be identified which included

aliphatics (C10–C32), Polycylclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their alkylated homologs, isoprenoids and steranes compounds.

C18/phytane,

carbon

preference

Diagnostic ratios of analytes such as C17/pristine,

index

(CPI),

alkylated/

non-alkylated

PAHs,

C2-

dibenzothiophene/C2-phenanthrene were used to distinguish various types of hydrocarbons.

Case studies involving spills of fuel oils and crude oils are used to illustrate the application of GC-MS for identifying the source of oil spills.

Key Words: Oil fingerprinting, oil spill, polycylclic aromatic hydrocarbons Biography Dr. Banjoo has completed his PhD at the age of 28 years from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine and has over 22 year experience in environmental chemistry. Dr Banjoo is a Senior Research Officer in the Environmental Quality Programme of the Institute of Marine Affairs and has published papers in reputed journals. His area of work includes Environmental Monitoring and Assessment of the Marine Environment with a focus on water, sediment and biota quality. He has presented both locally and regionally on environmental issues affecting countries of the Wider Caribbean Region.

PAGE 38

The use of defined substrate technology in detecting coliform bacteria on bathing beach water quality

Sheldon B. Ramoutar Environmental Quality Programme, Institute of Marine Affairs, Hill Top Lane, Chaguaramas, P.O. Box 3160, Carenage Post Office Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, sramoutar@ima.gov.tt.

Faecal contamination of recreational waters is a major public health concern and therefore continuous assessment of water quality is essential. Historically, indicator bacteria organisms were measured using either membrane filtration (MF) or multiple tube fermentation (MTF) but disadvantages include lengthy incubation times and difficulties in interpreting results. New methodologies developed allow easier interpretation of results in a shorter time period. One such method is Defined Substrate Technology (DST) which detects the presence of enzymes in the bacteria and the QuantiTray system which offers simplicity in calculating the most probable number. Three bacterial indicators; faecal coliform, Escherichia coli and enterococci were tested using Colilert-18, Colilert and Enterolert (QuantiTray

TM

) test kits respectively at two popular

bathing locations, Maracas Beach and Chaguaramas Peninsula. One hundred and ten samples were analysed and the data was separated into three water groups based on the level of bacterial water pollution; low (Gp 1), medium (Gp 2) and high (Gp 3). The DST method gave similar results to the MF method with slight variations among the type of bacteria indicator and water group. The recovery of enterococci was 10.3%, 7.6% and 14.3% different from the MF method for group 1, 2 and 3 respectively. E.coli was 9.3%, 8.8% and 12.6% and F. Coliform was 16.7%, 18.9% and 26.1% respectively. Statistical analyses indicated a strong correlation, and no significant difference in recovery rate between the two methods. DST is therefore a suitable alternative method for monitoring water quality with Enterolert and Colilert kits recommended due to their greater accuracy in tropical marine waters.

Keywords: E.coli; Coliform; enterolert; enterococci; colilert; DST Biography Mr. Ramoutar completed his MPhil at the age of 29 years from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. He has over 10 year experience in microbiology and is currently a Research Officer in the Environmental Quality Programme at the Institute of Marine Affairs. His area of work includes Environmental Monitoring and Assessment of the Marine Environment with a focus on water quality and molecular biology. He has presented both locally and regionally on environmental issues.

PAGE 39

NOTES

PAGE 40

BRCE 2019 Speaker Abstracts Session:

Food Chemistry and Toxicity Symposium

Session Chair: Dr. Nigel Jalsa; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

PAGE 41

Monitoring and Quantifying the Levels of Pesticide Residues in Foods Consumed in Trinidad and Tobago Using a Newly Modified Quechers Method.

A. Winnette Collimore 1; B. Dr Grace-Anne Bent 1 1 ayanacollimore@gmail.com 2

grace-anne.bent@sta.uwi.edu

A newly modified QuEChERS method was developed and validated for the multiclass, multiresidue determination of organochlorine (OCP) and organophosphate (OPP) pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables and fatty foo. The method involved a solvent extraction with acetonitrile followed by a partitioning step with magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) and sodium chloride (NaCl). The final step involved a dispersive solid phase extraction clean-up prior to GC-analysis. Various combinations of sorbents were tested in the clean-up step in the four types of matrices. These combinations included: PSA and MgSO4 (PM), Florisil and MgSO4 (FM), Florisil, PSA and MgSO4 (PMF), PSA, MgSO4, charcoal (PMC), Florisil, MgSO4 and charcoal (FMC), Florisil, MgSO4, and C18 (FMC18) and PSA, MgSO4 and C18 (PMC18). The Florisil and MgSO4 (FM) tube was selected for the analysis of OCPs and OPPs in fruits and vegetables (no fats) with recovery values ranging from 78% to 120% (RSD ≤20%). The Florisil, MgSO4 and C18 tube (FMC18) was selected for the analysis of OCPs and OPPs in foods with high fat content.

The recovery values ranged from 76% to 118% (RSD ≤ 20%).

The newly modified QuEChERS method was tested on samples obtained from the Central Division of Trinidad and Tobago for the presence of OPP and OCP residues. Pesticide residues were detected in 90% of the samples analysed with values above the MRLs stipulated by the Codex Alimentarius and the European Union.

Biography A. Winnette Collimore is a PhD student at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus. Her research work focuses on monitoring pesticide residue levels in various foods and the development of affordable and rapid pesticide detection methods. Winnette earned a BSc in Chemistry with minors in Analytical Chemistry and Biology from the University of the West Indies. She is an aspiring educator as she feels passionate about imparting knowledge to people and helping them to use the knowledge as building blocks for creating new ideas.

B. Grace-Anne Bent is a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Her research interests include: food safety and security, investigating the chemistry of food and food-related toxins. She published: 1 book, 5 journal articles, newspaper and online articles. She is the main author of a research article which copped the Principal’s Research Day Awards for Best Research Publication (UWI, Mona, 2016) and a member of the research team at the St. Augustine Campus who received the awards: Most Impactful Research Project and Best Research Team – Encouraging Multidisciplinary Research (UWI-NGC Awards, 2016).

PAGE 42

Detoxification of Ackee (Blighia sapida) Seed Defatted Flour O’Neil C. Falloon 1; Saheeda Mujaffar 2; and Donna A. Minott 3 1,2 Food Science and Technology Unit, Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies 3 Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies E-mail: Oneil.Falloon@my.uwi.edu; ofalloon@hotmail.com; Saheeda.Mujaffar@sta.uwi.edu; donna.minott@uwimona.edu.jm

Ackee seeds contain hypoglycin toxins, and are a major waste from the ackee canning industry.

This study seeks to develop an optimum alcoholic extraction method to reduce the concentration of hypoglycin in ackee seed defatted flour. The polar alcoholic solutions would dissolve the hypoglycin toxins out of the defatted flour, resulting in final hypoglycin concentrations less than 150 ppm (regulatory limit). Ackee seeds were collected from a processor, and were de-hulled, dried, milled, and defatted using petroleum spirit. Hypoglycin toxins were removed from the defatted flour by solvent extraction using aqueous ethanol (60% and 80% v/v) and methanol (60% and 80% v/v). Hypoglycin quantifications were done using reverse-phase HPLC. The extent of protein denaturation was determined by conducting protein solubility studies.

The concentrations of hypoglycin A (HGA) and hypoglycin B (HGB) in the whole flour were 2904 ± 369 ppm and 4324 ± 363 ppm respectively. Defatting did not significantly reduce HGA concentration (2735 ± 233 ppm), but HGB concentration significantly (p < 0.05) decreased to 1059 ± 50 ppm. When the defatted flour was treated separately with 60% ethanol, 80% ethanol, 60% methanol and 80% methanol, HGA concentrations (ppm) were reduced to 64.64 ± 10.66, 137.71 ± 13.19, 52.99 ± 1.11, and 102.43 ± 14.90 respectively; HGB concentrations (ppm) were 35.56 ± 6.64, 102.61 ± 5.13, 28.12 ± 6.64, and 55.67 ± 16.54 respectively. For all treated flours, HGA concentration was within regulatory limit. Protein solubility was highest for the 80% ethanoltreated flour, suggesting least protein denaturation.

All alcoholic treatments resulted in successful detoxification of ackee seed defatted flour. The 80% ethanol treatment was optimal since protein denaturation was lowest.

Keywords: Ackee seed; defatted ackee seed flour; detoxification; hypoglycin; ackee protein solubility.

Presenting Author’s Biography: O’Neil Falloon is currently a PhD candidate in Food Science and Technology in the Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. His current research interests include the isolation and properties of starch and protein from ackee seeds.

PAGE 43

Acrylamide The Food Toxin – Residual Levels in Caribbean Foods and Proposals for Mitigation.

Grace-Anne Bent grace-anne.bent@sta.uwi.edu Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago.

Acrylamide (AA), a known neurotoxin and potential human carcinogen has sparked immense scientific debate due to its recent discovery in foods processed at temperatures above 100 oC. Its formation in foods is due to the Maillard reaction primarily between the amino acid asparagine and reducing sugars namely glucose and fructose. Data published on commercial and home-made Caribbean foods revealed the presence of AA at levels ranging from <4 µg/kg – 4280 µg/kg. It was observed that AA was predominantly found in heat-treated carbohydrate-rich foods. AA cannot be eliminated from the diet but its exposure in foods can be minimized. Current research proposes the mitigation of AA via reaction with thiols and other sulphur-containing compounds.

Biography Grace-Anne Bent is a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Her research interests include: food safety and security, investigating the chemistry of food and food-related toxins. Publications include: 1 book, 6 journal articles, newspaper and online articles. She is the main author of a research article that received the Principal’s Research Day Awards for Best Research Publication (UWI, Mona, 2016) and a member of the research team at the St. Augustine Campus who received the awards: Most Impactful Research Project and Best Research Team – Encouraging Multidisciplinary Research (UWI-NGC Awards, 2016).

PAGE 44

NOTES

PAGE 45

BRCE 2019 Speaker Abstracts Session:

Materials Science and Technology Applications Symposium

Session Chair: Dr. Avind Kumar; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

PAGE 46

An In Vitro Medical Device Material Biocompatibility Study Using Primary Cultures of Rat Osteoblast Fiayaz A. Shaama e-mail: Fiayaz.shaama@sta.uwi.edu and Fiayaz.shaama@gmail.com.

Faculty of Medical Sciences and Faculty of Science and Technology. University of the West Indies Trinidad and Tobago. W.I. On an average almost 92 percent of drugs that entered clinical trials following animal testing fail to be approved. Many drugs are withdrawn or relabelled due to severe or lethal adverse effects not detected during animal tests. The hypothesis tested here was to determine if polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) method could be used as a tool for testing medical devices. For this primary cultures of rat osteoblast were used. They were cultivated in artificial media and grown in the presence of hybrid materials and those used to manufacture medical device. These include: polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), titanium (Ti), cobalt-chromium (CoCr), heat treated pinus wood, suture material, Vicryl®, bio-activated rattan wood and orthopaedic bone cement (Cemex®). Cell viability was monitored using alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity as well as the production of calcium (Ca2+) and phosphate (PO43-). The media was subjected to one dimensional (PAGE) as well as isoelectric focusing (IEF) and second dimension protein separation. The various spots were then subjected to enzyme digestion and molecular weight determination using MALDI Tandem mass spectrum analysis and Mascot, Matrix Science® online search to identify the protein. The ALP activity was found to be significantly different for all test materials including the interaction of time and material (p<.05). Qualitative one dimensional PAGE revealed initial general consistency of the protein bands for all test materials. The IEF and second dimension PAGE found an additional spot for Ti at pKI 5-6 at day 7. This protein was identified as IQUB_RAT IQ, a ubiquitin-like domain, molecular weight 2.6 kDa. The method used here is suitable for mapping all the protein produced by the cells. If human stem cells or clones are used it can be used as a more relevant in vitro model for testing biocompatibility for medical devices.

Keywords: Rat osteoblast; bioactive wood; implants; medical devices; ALP, medical devices, biocompatibility.

Biography: Presenter: Fiayaz Shaama B.Sc in Analytical Chemistry in 1981 (UWI), M.Phil in Chemistry 1989 (UWI), D.D.S in 1991 (Howard University, USA), M.Sc. in 1997 (King’s Collage London), PhD in Chemistry 2019 (UWI). Currently lecturer in the School of Dentistry Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI).

PAGE 47

Low-temperature cybotactic liquid crystal phases of luminescent biphenyl Schiff’s base copper(II) complexes 1

Wilson Sue Chee Ming; 1Richard A. Taylor; 2Sebastian Henke,

1

Department of Chemistry, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. wilson_scm@yahoo.com; richard.taylor@sta.uwi.edu 2

Fakultät für Chemie und Chemische Biologie, Technische Universität Dortmund, Germany.

Metallomesogens of salicylaldimine metal complexes are of great interest because of their physico-chemical properties. However, prospects for their applications have been limited because of high transition temperatures and narrow phase stability range. A homologous series of novel even chain (n = 6–18) bis[5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-N-nalkylsalicylaldiminato]copper(II) complexes, CuCn were synthesized, characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The thermotropic phase properties were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry, polarized light microscopy and variable temperature powder X-ray diffraction. The short chain length homologues, CuC6-10 exhibit low temperature monotropic cybotactic nematic, cybotactic smectic A and C liquid crystal phases, which may be induced primarily by partial paralleldisplaced π···π and misaligned edge-to-face CH···π or edge-to-edge CH···HC (for CuC6) interactions between severely twisted biphenyl rings. In contrast, longer chain homologues, CuC12-18 have more favourable better-aligned parallel-displaced π···π stacking between slightly twisted biphenyl rings and increased CH···HC interactions between alkyl chains which stabilise molecular packing and hinder mesomorphism. The photophysical properties of the complexes were investigated in the mesophase and exhibit weak, blue-green emission compared to weak, yellow-green emission in the solid attributed mainly to π*–π transitions of the C=N chromophore.

Keywords: Metallomesogens; salicylaldimine; copper complxes; thermotropic phase properties Biography Wilson has recently completed his PhD in Chemistry at the University of the West Indies.

PAGE 48

Evaluating Structural Transformation Kinetics of Palladium(II)/Nickel (II) Biphenyl Salicylaldimines from Variable Temperature Synchrotron X-ray Powder Diffraction a. Reco Phillips1; b. Richard A. Taylor1 1 The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus Email: reco.phillips@my.uwi.edu; Richard.Taylor@sta.uwi.edu Salicylaldimine metallomesogens are of great interest in current scientific thrust to establish necessary structure – property relationships for a more targeted design and synthesis of superior liquid crystal candidates for optoelectronic applications. Advancement in this regard has been met with the challenge of molecules exhibiting high phase transition temperatures and narrow mesophase ranges thus requiring more detailed study and elucidation of the lattice structures.

The phase transition profiles of promesogenic molecules have often been reported in literature without full elucidation of the structure of mesophase/s leading to limited knowledge of the origin of the structural, kinetic and thermodynamic factors governing them. To establish structure – property relationship of homologous series (C4 – C18, even chain) of new bis[5-(4methoxyphenyl)-N-malkylsalicylaldiminato]nickel(II) and palladium(II) complexes, a comparative investigation of the thermophysical evolution of structure is undertaken via Polarised Optical Microscopy (POM), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), VariableTemperature Synchrotron X-ray Powder Diffraction (VT-XPD) and Wide Angle X-ray Scattering (VT-WAXS) to assess alkyl chain dependence on structural and phase variability. Unlike their liquid crystalline Cu(II) analogues, the phase properties of Ni(II) and Pd(II) biphenyl salicylaldimines are not only thermodynamically dependent but show strong kinetic influence observed in the extent of supercooling of the series, in addition to their isothermal crystallization kinetics. This highlights the impact/importance of dynamic steric peripheral designs such as alkyl chain appendages on the biphenyl salicylaldimine tecton and presents a plausible perspective for probing structure-driven phase properties.

Biography a. Reco Phillips completed a BSc. Chemistry degree at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies. After working for a year, he joined Dr. Richard Taylor’s research group where he is currently studying the physico-chemical properties of nickel(II) and palladium(II) Biphenyl Salicylaldimine Schiff bases. b. Richard A. Taylor holds a PhD in Chemistry and a BSc in Pure and Applied Chemistry from The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus, Jamaica. He has been twice visiting scholar at the Schools of Chemistry and of Materials, University of Manchester, UK, working with Professor Paul O'Brien FRS and visiting scientist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, US. He is currently Lecturer in Materials Chemistry at The UWI, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad. There, through a small research group of PhD students he has focused his research on optoelectronic materials including, novel metal-organic liquid crystals, chalcogenide semiconductor thin films and nanomaterials (quantum dots) and luminescent metal-organic frameworks.

PAGE 49

BRCE 2019 Speaker Abstracts Session:

Materials Science and Technology Applications Symposium

Session Chair: Dr. Michael Forde; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

PAGE 50

Iron Zeolite Nanosheets for the Selective Oxidation of Methane to Methanol Ashley K Smith St. Clair The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad ashley.smithstclair@my.uwi.edu The green functionalization of light alkane C-H bonds under mild conditions is considered the “Holy Grail” of catalysis due to the high abundance of natural gas and the range of uses/ applications of its compounds. The oxidation of unreactive C-H bonds in methane with high atom economy and utilizing molecular oxygen as the oxidant, to selectively yield alcohols as opposed to being fully oxidized to carbon dioxide, is a high value transformation. The selective oxidation employing the use of ZSM-5 molecular sieves gives rise to the desired product, methanol, at temperatures as low as 50oC using hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant. This occurs however at low methanol selectivity in conjunction with other products methyl hydroperoxide, hydrated formaldehyde, formic acid and carbon dioxide. The consumption of an oxidant commercially unfeasible for industrial processes also poses a significant challenge. Several attempts have been made to prepare a range of catalysts to achieve high selectivity and conversion in a closed catalytic cycle, however this remains an elusive goal.

Studies on this system have shown a silica to alumina ratio of 50 to be responsible for higher methanol selectivity, contrary to previous studies reporting a ratio of 30, and as such bottom up synthesis methods have been used to create ZSM-5 nano-sheets utilizing this ratio in conjunction with long chain quaternary ammonium structure directing agents resulting in advantageous mesopores for greater diffusion and tunability. Aqueous phase reactions and SDA synthesis were monitored using 1H-NMR (600MHz) with zeolite characterization done by XRD. Keywords: Methane oxidation, ZSM-5 catalyst, nano-sheets, methanol selectivity.

Biography: Ashley Smith St. Clair has completed her bachelor’s degree majoring in chemistry with minors in biology and material chemistry at the age of 21 years from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus and is currently pursuing an MPhil in the area of aqueous phase methane oxidation utilizing ZSM-5 under green conditions.

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Undoped and Doped Copper Indium Sulphide Nanostructures and Thin Films: Cost-effective and Environmentally-benign Materials for Advanced Solar Cell Applications *Richard A. Taylor, PhD and Shanna-Kay Spencer Department of Chemistry, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago.

Email: *Richard.taylor@sta.uwi.edu; shanna-kay.spencer@my.sta.uwi In response to finding alternative and renewable energy sources for sustainable advancement of societies, the field of photovoltaics (PVs) has been rapidly expanding since its emergence in the 1950s starting with fabrication of silicon-based solar cells (Si-SCs). This is partly to overcome the foremost challenge of reducing the high cost/watt of delivered solar electricity. Accordingly, in order to overcome current efficiencies for on-the-market Si-SCs of 26â&#x20AC;&#x201C;28 %, the field has developed to find effective alternatives. One basis of low efficiencies in conventional Si-SCs is that solar energy is lost as heat. Therefore, novel materials or structures with properties that match the spectral distribution of the solar spectrum are required and the promising chalcogenide quantum dot (QD) and thin film based cells are at the forefront.

This talk explores ternary chalcogenide materials for photovoltaic materials with specific focus on undoped and doped copper indium sulphide (CIS) QDs and thin films. The primary objective of the research is to effectively improve optoelectronic and electrical properties of CIS by controlling structure, morphology and composition with dopant incorporation as a deliberate strategy. We successfully employed hot-injection colloidal chemistry to synthesize QDs using a unique combination of precursors and capping agents over a range of temperatures. These QDs show quasi-spherical morphology with fairly narrow size distribution (5.6 Âą 1 nm) exhibiting predominantly chalcopyrite structure. However, Ag-doped CIS QDs display phase transition from chalcopyrite to wurtzite with increasing Ag dopants and corresponding changes in photophysical (absorption and luminescent) properties. We also demonstrate utility of aerosolassisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) to prepare pure (non-stoichiometric) and Ni/Mn-doped CIS thin films and how the method allowed for effective control of structure, composition, morphology and optical properties. These facile and effective means to deliberately tune optoeletcronic properties of CIS are promising and demonstrate the prospects of chalcogenide materials as candidates for solar cells that can be easily processed using inexpensive substrates such as flexible plastics, glass or metal sheets for wide-scale and costeffective applications such as efficient, smart solar windows a range of electronic devices.

Keywords: Solar photovoltaic, quantum dots, thin films, chalcogenides, copper indium sulphide.

Biography

Richard A. Taylor holds a PhD in Chemistry and a BSc in Pure and Applied Chemistry from The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus, Jamaica. He has been twice visiting scholar at the Schools of Chemistry and of Materials, University of Manchester, UK, working with Professor Paul O'Brien FRS and visiting scientist at the National Synchrotron Light Source-II and Centre for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, US. He is currently Lecturer in Materials Chemistry at The UWI, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad. There, through a small research group of PhD students he has focused his research on optoelectronic materials including, novel metal-organic liquid crystals, chalcogenide semiconductor thin films and nanomaterials (quantum dots) and luminescent metalorganic frameworks.

Shanna-Kay Spencer holds a BSc degree in Pure and Applied Chemistry from The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus, Jamaica. She is currently a PhD candidate in Chemistry at the UWI, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad under supervision of Dr. Richard A. Taylor. She has been twice visiting scientist at the Schools of Chemistry and of Materials, University of Manchester, UK, working with Professor Paul O'Brien FRS.

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BRCE 2019 Speaker Abstracts Session:

Advanced Experimental techniques/ Inductrial Chemistry Symposium

Session Chair: Dr. Richard Taylor; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

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The Effect of Catalysts Synthesis Methods on Furfural Hydrogenation Nakisha Mark and Michael Forde The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Department of Chemistry nakishamark@gmail.com The valorisation of biomass compounds to chemicals is very important and great emphasis is placed on parameters such as nature of the solvent, reaction temperature and system pressure to optimize for high conversion. Often the conditions used to valorize biomass compounds, such as furfural, are not aligned with sustainability principles due to employing high hydrogen pressures (above 50bars), organic solvents or auxiliary agents.1 A parameter that is not explored in depth is nature of the catalyst as it pertains to their preparation methods, since commonly less intricate methods are used to prepare the catalysts. Herein, the less intricate synthesis methods namely solgel and incipient wetness impregnation will be compared to delicate methods such as chemical vapor impregnation and solvothermal. Four bimetallic 1%Ru-1%Fe@TiO2 catalysts were prepared by the aforementioned methods, and their performance on furfural hydrogenation under mild conditions i.e. 130â&#x201E;&#x192;, water and 30bars H2 was examined. It was observed that the difference in preparation affected the product selectivity. At iso-conversion of 100% the chemical vapor impregnation catalyst was most selective as it produced only tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol with 70% selectivity in the liquid phase. The solgel and incipient wetness catalysts produced a variety of products in the liquid and gas phases, some of which are a result of the unwanted decarbonylation reaction. The results show that furfural can be hydrogenated to useful products using environmentally friendly conditions when emphasis is placed on the catalyst synthesis.

Keywords: Biomass, Catalyst, Furfural, Hydrogenation 1.

Weingarten, R., Design of Solid Acid Catalysts for Aqueous Phase Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Liquid Fuels and Fuel Precursors. In American Institute of Chemical Engineers 2012; Vol. 7.

Nakisha Mark is a Chemistry graduate of The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. She completed her first degree in Biology and Chemistry and has since continued in the field of research. During her undergraduate degree program, she gained an interest in catalysis and the utilisation of wastes. She has continued her research experience in various fields such as biomedical waste management and agriculture. Nakisha has worked as a Research Assistant on an agriculturally based project entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Improving the Nutrition and Health of CARICOM Populationsâ&#x20AC;?; it is during her tenure at this project the idea of creating a linkage between the energy and agriculture sectors in the Caribbean region became more important to her. She believes this could be achieved through catalysis, whereby, novel materials can be developed to utilise lignocellulosic biomass from agricultural waste to sustainably produce chemicals and fuels. With this idea in mind, she has since initiated an MPhil. Chemistry at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine where her research aims to sustainably convert biomass derived compounds to fuel and fuel precursors. She hopes that ultimately her research can be a game changer for the agriculture and energy sectors of the Caribbean region.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;THE ETHANOLIC CONTENT OF PAPAYA (Carica papaya) VERSES SAPODILLA (Manilkara zapota) VIA FERMENTATIONâ&#x20AC;?

Raymond. C. Jagessar1*; Maurissa Collins2 1Department

of Chemistry, Turkeyen Campus, University of Guyana, South America

2Department

of Biology, Turkeyen Campus, University of Guyana, South America

With a view to decrease dependence on fossil fuels as a result of increasing oil prices, increasing world population and increasing global warming, there is an urgent need to continue the use of Renewable energy sources such as Bio-ethanol. Bio-ethanol is a cleaner burning fuel than fossil fuel and has low atmospheric photochemical reactivity. Bio-ethanol is usually produced via fermentation of sugar rich substrates. However, the yield is low. The highest reported in the literature being 23%. Thus, it has been our objectives to produce Bio-ethanol in a yield greater than 23%. The fermentation of sapodilla (Manilkara zapota) and papaya (Carica papaya) was successfully achieved after 72 hours of fermentation of the sugar rich matrix in the presence of citric acid for 72 hours. This was followed by distillation of the fermented matrix after filtration.

The mean ethanol content of sapodilla (14.91, v,v) was found to be significantly higher than that of papaya (1.964, v/v). In both cases, the final brix was zero, as indicated by the Refractometer reading, indicating that fermentation has proceeded to completion within the 72 hrs. Also, there was a further decrease in the specific gravity of the fruit. The acidity of the fermenting matrix was found to increase as fermentation proceeded. Compared to the reference compound, glucose, the mean ethanol content of both fruits was lowered. Our research shows that the sapodilla can be used as an attractive fruit substrate for the production of Bio-Ethanol and hence its cultivation should be encouraged as a boost to the Agro Sector of the country and also, a source for the blending with gasoline to produce gas alcohol.

Keywords: Fermentation, sapodilla, papaya, mean ethanol content, specific gravity and Agro Sector

PAGE 56

BRCE 2019 Speaker Abstracts Session:

Inductrial Chemistry / Product Development Symposium

Session Chair: Dr. Ann Wilson; University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

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Metal Compounds in Selective Oxidation of Alcohols Arvind Kumar1, Ram A. Lal2, Kenton H. Whitmire3 1

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of The West Indies, St. Augustine. Email: Arvind.Kumar@sta.uwi.edu 2

Department of Chemistry, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong 793022, India.

Email: Ralal@rediffmail.com 3

Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA. Email: whitmir@rice.edu

Carbonyls has strong potential for further transformation into valuable products.

Therefore, they are industrially important compounds for pharmaceuticals and perfumeries. As the alcohols are easily achievable from renewable resources, the oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds is one of the most important transformations in organic synthesis. It is imperative to mention that metals play a significant and critical role in the oxidation of alcohols in a complexed form. The oxidation of alcohols by a recoverable catalyst is ideal. It is also important to avoid over oxidation of also alcohols to carboxylic acids. This presentation looks at some metals complexed with different organic moieties and its function as a catalyst in the transformation of alcohols. This presentation also discusses briefly on the water oxidation on hydrogen production as a clean energy source.

Keywords: Metals, complexes, alcohols, carbonyls, water, oxidation, energy, hydrogen, renewable Biography of the presenter: Dr. Arvind Kumar is currently a Senior Lecturer, Inorganic Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Dr. Kumar studied at the various universities in India. Before joining St Augustine Campus, he worked as Robert A Welch postdoctoral fellow at Rice University, Houston, TX, USA and Academia Sinica Fellow at Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. His research interests are in the area of developing metalbased compounds and materials for harvesting solar energy, conversion of CO2 to useful organic molecule and biomasses to energy efficient molecules as well as biomedical uses. Currently, his research also exploring the new heterocyclic molecules for anticancer drug. He has published over 60 international journal articles and has over 1000 citations.

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The Fermentation Capacity of the Pulp of Magifera indica, Carica papaya and the Peel of Magnifera indica in the Absence and Presence of Additives.

R.C. Jagessar*1; T. Meusa2 1

Department of Chemistry, University of Guyana 2

Department of Biology, University of Guyana

With a view to decrease dependence on fossil fuels as a result of increasing oil prices, increasing world population and increasing global warming, there is an urgent need to continue the use of Renewable energy sources such as Bio-ethanol. Bio-ethanol is a cleaner burning fuel than fossil fuel and has low atmospheric photochemical reactivity.

Bio-ethanol is usually produced via fermentation of sugar rich substrates. However, the yield is low. The highest reported in the literature being 23%. Thus, it has been our objectives/hypothesis to produce Bio-ethanol in a yield greater than 23%. Experiments were carried out in triplicates in the presence and absence of additives (potassium phosphate) at specific concentration and conditions to study the effects on the yield of ethylalcohol. Fermentation was successfully achieved after 72 hours of fermentation of the sugar rich matrix in the presence of the biological catalyst, Sacchaomyces cervisiae and the requisite Ph of 4-5, using citric acid. This was followed by distillation of the fermented filtrate matrix after filtration. In all cases, the final brix was zero, as indicated by the Refractometer reading, indicating that fermentation has proceeded to completion within the 72 hrs. Also, there was a further decrease in the specific gravity of the fruit.

The acidity of the fermenting matrix was found to increase as fermentation proceeded.

It was found that Magnifera indica (mango) in the presence of additives produced the highest mean yield of ethanol of 25.16%, w/v. Magnifera indica (mango) without additives produced the second highest with an average of 20.56%, w/v, while Carica papaya (papaya) without additives having the third highest average yield of 7.537%, w/v, and Carica papaya (papaya) with the additives present, having the least average ethanol content of 6.69%, w/v. The peel of Magnifera indica (mango) in the absence of additives produced an average ethanol content of 1.33% w/v, and the reference (glucose), without additives produced an average ethanol content of 11.3%, w/v. Our research shows that the above fruits can be attractive substrates for the production of Bio-Ethanol and hence its cultivation should be encouraged as a boost to the Agro Sector of the country and also, a source for the blending with gasoline to produce gas alcohol.

Keywords: Carica papaya, Magnifera indica, fermentation, Sacchaomy cescervisiae, additives

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Fuel Properties and Emissions of Methanol-Biodiesel-Coconut Oil Ternary Blends, an Alternative Fuel for Stationary Compression Engines A. Renique Murray1; B. Rachael Wyse-Mason2 Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of the West Indies, St Augustine and Renique.Murray@sta.uwi.edu 2 Department of Chemistry, University of the West Indies, St Augustine and Rachael.Wyse@sta.uwi.edu

1

Biofuels are considered by many as having a key role in the energy architecture of the future as they are renewable, environmentally friendly, diverse in nature with procurable raw materials.

Notwithstanding these benefits, the various categories of biofuels including bio-alcohols, biodiesel and vegetable oils rarely meet all of the fuel criteria that ensures functionality. To fulfil fuel requirements, particularly a high level of renewability, a ternary blend of methanol, coconut oil based biodiesel and vegetable oil was investigated as a potential fuel source for the compression ignition engine. Three emulsions were developed inclusive of a M10 blend (10% methanol, 15% biodiesel, 75% vegetable oil by volume), M20 blend (20% methanol, 25% biodiesel, 55% vegetable oil) and a M30 blend (30% methanol, 35% biodiesel, 35% vegetable oil).

Fuel properties were determined experimentally by an external laboratory or calculated using the homogenous blend theory. The emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, smoke and volatile organic compounds of the three blends and conventional petroleum diesel were measured using a single cylinder compression ignition test engine.

In comparison to diesel, it was found that the M20 and M30 blends had the most similar fuel properties. The emulsions generally showed similar emission characteristics to diesel, except for NO emissions, which were notably lower. The M10 demonstrated the most favourable emission characteristics of the blends and produced lower emissions than petroleum diesel except for smoke. In light of this, the ternary blend can serve as a potential fuel alternative for stationary diesel compression engines.

Key words: biofuel, ternary blend, fuel properties, emission characteristics

Biography B. Rachael Wyse-Mason has completed her PhD six years ago at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus. She is an Instructor at the Department of Chemistry at the aforementioned University. She has served as an environmental consultant and has published papers in reputed journals.

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BRCE 2019 Speaker Abstracts Session:

Chemistry Education and Outreach Symposium

Session Chair: Dr. Marvadeen Singh-Wilmot; University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

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Exploring the Effects of Language Comprehension on Interest in Chemistry Courses and the impact of a curriculum intervention on Academic Performance.

Clairene R.J. McDavid-Adams1; Lesley C. Lewis-Alleyne2 1 Postgraduate Student, U.W.I; 2Assistant Professor, USC

clairene.adams@gmail.com, lewisalleynel@usc.edu.tt Chemistry is often considered difficult to learn (Johnstone, 1999). However, it is considered the ‘central science’ therefore making it an important component of many areas of study (Wilbert 2015). This being the case students often have to come to terms with comprehension of abstract subject matter. Refining teaching and student learning in chemistry classrooms is a significant goal that is constantly researched in Chemistry Education. Numerous studies of chemistry teaching have been carried out on different parameters, with the ultimate goal of enhancing learning and retention of chemistry. Most University Lecturers if asked, would acknowledge that an important student characteristic associated with student success is attitude, motivation and genuine interest. We hope to explore the effect of some metacognitive mental activities on chemical reading activities geared toward familiarizing students with chemistry jargon and connections to areas of interest. The established chemistry triplet has suggested the challenges for students to move between the macroscopic, sub-microscopic and symbolic levels involved in chemistry learning. The study would seek to determine if there are correlations in chemistry academic performance and interests based on language ability and reading comprehension. It is suspected that students may have poor reading and comprehension skills as evidenced by their lack interaction in class lectures and poor, or non-responses to reading comprehension test questions and discussions.

The study hopes to unpack any psychological correlates of students in their reading comprehension skills for chemistry by the use of a reading intervention strategy. This study will use open-ended questionnaires and data collection instruments such as CCI and MCRI to obtain information on students’ perceptions of the reading intervention. These perceptions will be ratified via diagnostic analysis of pre and post assessments. The scope of the work will lend to the discussion on how to develop pedagogical strategies that will engage students to meet the challenge of chemistry language comprehension and linguistic demands in a globally diverse environment.

Key Words: Reading comprehension, metacognition, enhance learning, intervention Biography Clairene R.J. McDavid-Adams holds a Master’s of Science Degree from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine with graduate research in Food Science and Technology awarded in May 2004, and successfully completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Andrews University at the affiliated extension campus University of the Southern Caribbean (Formerly Caribbean Union College) in Maracas Valley, Trinidad in 1999. Mrs. McDavid-Adams is currently pursuing post graduate studies in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine with research in the area of Chemistry Education. Mrs. McDavid-Adams is a poised, and competent professional with over fourteen years of experience as an Instructor in the science classroom. She has extensive experience in course development and blended and hybrid learning. She has served on numerous committees within her institution with a commitment to optimizing student and institution success.

Lesley Lewis-Alleyne completed her PhD in 2009 at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus, and pursued postdoctoral studies from 2012-2014 at Jacobs University Bremen in Germany under a DAAD Scholarship. Dr Alleyne is currently serving as Assistant Professor at the University of the Southern Caribbean. She has published several papers on synthetic chemistry in reputed journals and has had extensive experience delivering lectures in chemistry locally, as well as in the US and Germany for over 10 years. Dr Alleyne is committed to improving chemistry education through encouraging early research, increasing interdisciplinary scholarly activities, and improving instructional methods.

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Demonstrating the Impact of Community-Based Participatory Research Approaches from Process to Outcomes L. Cox1; E.P. Joseph2; I. Jagassar3; D.M. Beckles1 1. Department of Chemistry. The University of the West Indies. St Augustine.

2. Seismic Research Centre. The University of the West Indies. St Augustine.

3. St Augustine Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The University of the West Indies. St Augustine.

Leonette.cox@sta.uwi.edu; pjoseph@uwiseismic.com; Indira.Jagassar@sta.uwi.edu; Denise.Beckles@sta.uwi.edu Community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches hold value in academia as a means to keep the university accountable to its mission toward inclusive sustainable development. However, CBPR requires considerable time and resource commitments from both researchers and participants. How to engage in “meaningful” interactions with the community when project outcomes are difficult to evaluate is a challenge. This work reflects on CBPR projects implemented by The University of the West Indies St Augustine campus through researcher and participant perspectives assimilated from semi-structured interviews, community meetings, questionnaires and project reports. Each of these projects have an environmental management focus integrating higher education engagement with community interaction. Commonalities of approaches in the project activities demonstrate that a framework, which builds on community assets and deliberately links activities to outcomes at project inception increases chances of project “success”. This process-based framework allows evaluation throughout all stages of project development to capture the project’s impact more completely. Key lessons from these experiences reinforces that community-university engagement has the advantage of maintaining working relationships across project boundaries and that the university should be easily recognisable as an integral long term player in community development.

Keywords: Community-based participatory research; community-university partnerships; process-based evaluation Biography L. Cox leads the research, outreach, consulting and analytical services activities (ROCAS) for the Department of Chemistry at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine. She interfaces with clients and assembles teams for problem-solving research and revenue generating activities including grant writing. She is responsible for Atomic Force Microscopy and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry operations in the laboratory. She is an Environmental Chemist and her training involves trace metal analysis and organometallic speciation in water-rock interactions. Dr Cox is also a certified project manager and laboratory quality assessor in training. She is most passionate about engaging communities in science.

E.P. Joseph is a Caribbean volcanologist working at the Seismic Research Centre, where she is responsible for the geothermal monitoring program. Her works involves the collection and analysis of volcanic gases and geothermal waters in the islands of the Lesser Antilles and its application to monitoring changes in volcanic activity. She also provides support in monitoring efforts at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO). Her other research interests include study of the behaviour of the magmatic component in the volcanic gases; the hazards and impact of persistently degassing volcanoes and the use of low-cost technology for the monitoring of volcanic emissions.

I. Jagassar is a Business Development Manager at the St Augustine Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, St. Augustine Campus (STACIE formerly ORDKT) who brings a business and national lens to research pursuits. She joined The UWI family in 2007 and brought to the institution, 16 years of prior experience gained from internationally funded projects and programmes (EU, IADB, OAS) in support of government led agriculture sector reform and investment programmes; economic restructuring support; and industrial and business development.

Mrs. Jagassar shares the space among change agents in moving the needle of higher education management to impact economic development.

D.M. Beckles obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Harvard University (1994), and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering at Rice University (2000). In 2001, Dr. Beckles joined the Department of Chemistry at the UWI, St. Augustine, where she teaches courses in Environmental and Analytical Chemistry. Dr. Beckles’ research interests are in the area of environmental quality. This includes transforming waste vegetable oil into greener biofuel, measurement of emerging water contaminants, measurement of air and water in volcanic regions, bacterial remediation of hydrocarbon pollution, and the development of inexpensive air monitoring devices for use in high schools.

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Returns to Field of Study in Trinidad and Tobago Roshnie Doon The Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) The University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago roshnie.doon@my.uwi.edu Abstract This study examines the influence that a workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; field of study has on his earning capacity. Using individual personsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; data from the Continuous Sample Survey of the Population (CSSP), for the period 1991-2015, the returns of private and public sector workers is estimated in two cohorts, i.e., 1991-2003 and 2004-2015 by employing the Quantile Regression technique. In doing so, this study finds that both the average returns to schooling and the returns to the field of study, for a majority of fields have worsened in 2004-2015. Workers employed in low and high income jobs for the majority of fields such as science, engineering and architecture, benefitted from better returns in 2004-2015, when compared to the business field. Workers employed in middle income jobs, in the majority of fields suffered a decline in returns in 2004-2015. This is likely due to the changes in the skill set of workers, industry demand, digitalization of the labour market, and the intensification of Skilled Biased Technical Change (SBTC) and Job Polarization.

Keywords Human Capital, Schooling, Field of Study, Quantile Regression, SBTC, Job Polarization.

Biography Ms. Roshnie Doon is currently a final year PhD. candidate in Economic Development Policy at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine. She holds a BSc. in Economics and Management Studies (with honors), and a Msc. in Economics. She is former recipient of the UWI Post Graduate Scholarship and Mannic Bissoon Memorial Scholarship. She is a member of both the Caribbean Academy of Science Trinidad and Tobago Chapter, and the Mixed Methods International Research Association Caribbean Chapter. She have undertaken previous research in the areas of International Trade, Trade Unionization and Militancy, Unemployment, Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as techniques of transparency and accountability used in Extractive industries. Her main research interests are currently focused on the areas of Applied Econometrics, Data Analytics, Labour and Developmental Economics, with special concentration on the area of Education.

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Chemistry Research â&#x20AC;&#x201C; somewhere over the rainbow or the bridge to doing good for everyone Michael Forde The University of the West Indies St Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago, Michael.forde@sta.uwi.edu

Often research in the physical sciences happens in a space which is not focussed on tangible outputs which impact people and communities in reasonable time. Anchoring research projects in real world needs is a sure approach to winning on all fronts and is especially import where real world people actually fund academic research and want value for money. This talk will show an idea for increasing sustainability in a local community has influenced the design of potential chemistry based projects to meet the challenges on the ground. We will explore how these potential projects in materials chemistry and engineers build both fundamental and applied chemistry knowledge while opening new avenues for non-traditional approaches to PhD research and unique opportunities for research funders. The overall approach will show how focussed chemistry research can be a bridge doing good for everyone.

Biography Michael Forde completed his PhD at Cardiff University in Heterogeneous Catalysis and also held a Post-Doctoral Research Associate post there following his PhD studies. His first tertiary level degree was from the University of Edinburgh in a sandwich Masters of Chemistry with Industrial Experience program where he worked on hair colour chemistry at Procter and Gamble in the United Kingdom. He has published more than 25 papers in top tiered international journals. He currently teaches final year courses in applied chemistry and supervises three MPhil/PhD students in green catalysis.

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Chemistry and its Position in Health – an Education for the acquisitive secondary school Students Chukwuedozie F. N wachukwu * 1 ; Adeline A. 1

2

Nigeria Police Academy, Department of Biochemistry and Forensic Science, Faculty of Science, P. M B 3474, Wudil, Kano State, Nigeria .

Departm ent of Chem istry, Chemistry unit, Model Secondary School Maitama Abuja Abstract

Chemistry is an admirable intellectual discipline, perhaps most important of all, it holds the key that can unlock the gate to fundamental knowledge of the hidden state of health. Chemistry has many relations to human life. This is a precious and vital ways to serve humanity in the years to come. Back in the olden days, in the time of the alchemists, chemistry was called “the handmaid of medicine;” to-day this relationship is not weaker, but rather much stronger. That a close relationship between chemistry and medicine exists is not new. Our bodies are wholly built up of chemical substances, and all the manifold functions of the living organism depend, at least in part, upon chemical reactions. Chemical processes enable us to digest our food, keep us warm, and supply us with muscular energy. It is probable that even the impressions of our senses, and the thoughts of our brains, as well as the mode of conveying these through the nerves, a function of chemical reactions. In short, the human body is a wonderfully intricate chemical machine and its health and illness, life and death are essentially connected with the coordination of a variety of complex chemical changes. As chemical understanding has increased, the gap between the simpler phenomena of the chemical laboratory and the more complicated changes underlying organic life has become smaller and smaller. The aim of the present article is to briefly explain ways in which modern chemistry are able to help the theory and practice of medicine. Chemistry of use to medicine in at least three quite different waysanalytical chemistry, structural chemistry, physical chemistry. Each of these three kinds of chemistry can greatly aid the science and art of medicine and no philosopher is needed to proclaim its effectiveness. In conclusion, though it is impossible to predict how far we shall be enabled by means of our limited minds to penetrate into the mysteries of a universe immeasurably vast and wonderful, we may nevertheless comfort ourselves with the thought that each step gained brings new blessing to humanity and new inspiration to greater endeavour.

This dynamic chemistry of the future does not stop here, however.

Key words: Chemistry, health, education, kinds of ch emistry, future chemistry.

Biography Chukwuedozie F. Nwachukwu has completed his Ph. D at the age of 38 years from University of Nigeria Nsukka. He is currently a lecturer, researcher and the liaison officer in charge Tertiary Education Trust Fund for Nigeria Police Academy, a link that attracts grant from government. He has published more than 15 papers in reputable journals and has been served as editorial board member and reviewer of reputable Journals. He has presented papers in many conferences with privileged to chair sections. He has research group working under him, equally the founder ‘Voice recognition group’.

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BRCE 2019 Poster Abstracts

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P001: The Potential use of Methionine as a Food Additive in the Elimination of Acrylamide Dahryn A. Augustine; Grace-Anne Bent; The Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago Dahryn.Augustine@sta.uwi.edu , Grace-Anne.Bent@sta.uwi.edu

ABSTRACT Acrylamide (ACR), a known food toxin and probable carcinogen, is found in carbohydrate-rich foods processed at temperatures ≥ 100ºC. In light of acrylamide’s high levels in foods and toxic effects, investigations are being conducted on the role of sulphur-containing compounds in ACR mitigation. These compounds are known to eliminate ACR levels via Michael-type additions and prevention of the Maillard reaction. Studies are being conducted on methionine due to its anti-browning and cellular detoxifying properties, and favourable effects on food taste and texture. Preliminary work has shown that a reaction occurs between methionine and ACR, forming a methionine-ACR adduct. Differential Scanning Calorimetry, and High Performance Liquid Chromatography techniques are being conducted to confirm a methionine-ACR reaction mechanism.

Kewords: Acrylamide, Sulphur-containing compounds, Methionine Biography A. Dahryn A. Augustine is currently conducting her M.Phil. studies at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus. Her research areas of interest involve: food chemistry, food security, food toxicology, and nutrition. She is currently focused on sulphur-containing nutrients/ additives and their effects on counteracting the risks associated with exposure to food toxins. She published 1 article highlighting the Caribbean’s perspective on the application of sulphur-containing compounds in the elimination of food toxin, acrylamide. Through her research, she aims to increase food safety knowledge, and improve food security in the Caribbean region.

B. Grace-Anne Bent Grace-Anne Bent is a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Her research interests include: food safety and security, investigating the chemistry of food and food-related toxins. She published: 1 book, 6 journal articles, newspaper and online articles. She is the main author of a research article which copped the Principal’s Research Day Awards for Best Research Publication (UWI, Mona, 2016) and a member of the research team at the St. Augustine Campus who received the awards: Most Impactful Research Project and Best Research Team – Encouraging Multidisciplinary Research (UWI-NGC Awards, 2016).

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P002: Copper Antimony Sulphide Thin Films for Low Cost Photovoltaics a. Kimberly Weston1; b. Richard A. Taylor1, PhD 1

The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus

Email: kimberly.weston@my.uwi.edu; Richard.Taylor@sta.uwi.edu

Optoelectronic materials are extensively studied for photovoltaic (PV) applications as problems related to the exorbitant processing costs, toxicity of materials and inherently low conversion efficiencies arise. Semiconductor metal chalcogenides in the form of nanoparticles and thin films have paved a way to solve such issues due to the remarkable properties associated with them. Copper antimony sulphide (CAS) thin films are a prospect for PV applications because in addition to the elementsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; abundance, low toxicity and simple inexpensive processing protocols, bulk CAS has a high absorption coefficient of 105 cm-1 and a band gap between 0.5 and 2.0 eV, matching well with the solar spectrum and excellent photostability. Interestingly, there are sparse reports of tuning the optoelectronic properties with metal dopants for the CAS material and few reports have been written for the synthesis of CAS thin films via the aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (AA-CVD) method. Thin films of CAS microstructures of various morphologies and stoichiometries were dependent on AA-CVD parameters of deposition temperature and time. Optical properties indicate that assynthesized CAS thin films have an indirect band gap of 2.8 to 3.3 eV. Optimizing AA-CVD protocols to effectively control the materials properties are currently being undertaken, and if achieved, will provide possible enhancement of photoconductivity and furthermore, PV efficiency of thin films.

Biography

a. Kimberly Weston completed a BSc. Chemistry and Biology degree at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Immediately after completing her undergraduate, she joined the Dr. Richard Taylor research group and is currently in her 2nd year of study investigating the optimization of ternary chalcogenide semiconductor materials for potential applications in photovoltaics. b. Richard A. Taylor holds a PhD in Chemistry and a BSc in Pure and Applied Chemistry from the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus, Jamaica. He has been a twice visiting scholar at the Schools of Chemistry and of Materials, University of Manchester, UK, working with Professor Paul O'Brien FRS and visiting scientist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, US. He is currently Lecturer in Materials Chemistry at the UWI, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad. There, through a small research group of PhD students he has focused his research on optoelectronic materials including, novel metalorganic liquid crystals, chalcogenide semiconductor thin films and nanomaterials (quantum dots) and luminescent metal-organic frameworks.

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P003: Isolation and Synthetic Modifications of Hypoglycin A (HGA) from Blighia sapida Access to Novel Cyclopropyl Amino Acids Thalia B. Singh1; Mohindra Seepersaud2 1

thalia.singh@my.uwi.edu 2

mohindra.seepersaud@sta.uwi.edu

Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago Due to the versatility of non-natural amino acids, particularly those bearing an olefinic moiety, the possibilities for its use as essential building blocks in synthetic applications are numerous. 1 There has been a growing need or commercial demand for these unnatural amino acids (1-4) in recent decades to be used as important tools for modern drug discovery and research.2 Blighia sapida, a member of the Sapindaceae3 family and more commonly known as ackee, is a fruit that can be easily accessed at the UWI, St. Augustine Campus that has been found to produce an exotic amino acid called Hypoglycin A (HGA) (5). Much like its related chiral homologues (1-4), HGA (5) has a chiral αcenter and with the added benefit of having additional chirality at its γ-center; a feature of which can be employed in peptidomimetics targeting Protein-Protein Interactions (PPI’s). I report herein novel approaches for the purification and isolation of this unnatural amino acid (5). I also report my preliminary work on modifications and goals for HGA (5) as a tool molecule for the synthesis of peptidomimetic libraries.

1

2

3

α-dienyl α-H

α-vinylic

α-allylic

4 α-propargylic

5 HGA

Keywords: unnatural amino acids; blighia sapida; hypoglycin A; chiral; novel; drug discovery; peptidomimetics.

References 1. Berkheij, M. PhD Thesis. 2008.

2. Stevenazzi, A.; Marchini, M.; Sandrone, G.; Vergani, B.; Lattanzio, M. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 2014, 24(23), 5349-5356.

3. RM Ekué, M.; Sinsin, B.; Eyog-Matig, O.; Finkeldey, R. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 2010, 6:12.

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P004: Isolation and Synthetic Modification of Kaurenoic Acid Ruth Seepersad; Mohindra Seepersaud Department of Chemistry, The School for Graduate Studies and Research, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago (ruth.seepersad@my.uwi.edu) Traditional and herbal medicine has long been known to be attractive sources of potential novel drugs, pharmaceutical research and medicinal value. Of particular interest is the Annonaceae family. This large family of plants has reported characteristic features such as antitumor, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities.1 Despite this, it seems to be one of the least chemically and pharmacologically known families. Reported isolates present in these plants include, terpenes, acetogenins, peptides, and alkaloids.2 In our preliminary work, we identified a diterpene, kaurenoic acid (KA) (Fig. 1), which has demonstrated activity against oncology and antiviral disease targets.3 This diterpene was obtained in abundance and serves as a novel tool molecule for exploratory

Fig. 1 (Kaurenoic Acid)

Fig. 2 (KA–Peptide Conjugated as Potential New HIV-1 Fusion Inhibitors)

chemistry. Our plans include diversification at the two functional groups, exploratory ring opening reactions as well as synthesis of peptide tethers for drug delivery (Fig. 2).4 Herein, we report on the extraction and isolation to obtain this compound as well as our preliminary synthetic modifications.

Keywords: kaurenoic acid; Annonaceae; diterpene; antiviral; novel; diversification; peptide tethers References: 1) Biba, V. S.; Amily, A.; Sangeetha, S.; Remani, P. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2014, 3 (3), 1595–1604.

2) Hien, N. T. T.; Nhiem, N. X.; Yen, D. T. H.; Hang, D. T. T.; Tai, B. H.; Quang, T. H.; Anh, H. L. T.; Kiem, P. V.; Minh, C. V.; Kim, E.-J.; Kim, S. H.; Kang, H. K.; Kim, Y. H. Pharmaceutical Biology 2015, 53 (11), 1602–1607.

3) Macri, J. A.; Silva, S. S. D.; Miranda, M. M.; Kawakami, N. Y.; Hayashida, T. H.; Madeira, T. B.; Nixdorf, S. L.; Junior, V. R. A.; Ambrósio, S. R.; Jr, W. A. V.; Cecchini, R.; Conchon-Costa, I.; Arakawa, N. S.; Pavanelli, W. R. American Journal of Immunology 2014, 10 (4), 183–188.

4) Wang, C.; Lu, L.; Na, H.; Li, X.; Wang, Q.; Jiang, X.; Xu, X.; Yu, F.; Zhang, T.; Li, J.; Zhang, Z.; Zheng, B.; Liang, G.; Cai, L.; Jiang, S.; Liu, K. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2014, 57 (17), 7342– 7354.

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P005: Green Corrosion Inhibition at Mild Steel Surfaces in Acidic Medium by Theobroma Cacao Shell Extract Annacia K. Jeffers1 and Ann M. Wilson2 Department of Chemistry, The University of The West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies; 1 Email: annacia.jeffers@my.uwi.edu 2 Email: ann.wilson@sta.uwi.edu The environmental consequences of corrosion on metals are enormous and costly. Research into solutions to curb the exorbitant spending due to this form of corrosion has resulted in the environmental accumulation of many hazardous chemicals being used. Thus, green corrosion inhibitors, plant-based substances such as leaf and root extracts, are sought after as the ecofriendly, cheaper alternative. The inner fruit of Theobroma cacao is harvested in abundance throughout the Caribbean region from its hard outer pod-like shell and the shell is generally left in the field to decompose. This makes it a favourable candidate for providing a possible green inhibitor. The effectiveness of the methanol extract of Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) Shells to inhibit corrosion of mild steel in an acidic medium was studied. Mild steel coupons were cleaned and immersed for 85 days in 2.0 M H2SO4 solution containing increasing v/v% concentrations of Cocoa Pod methanol extract (TCS). Gravimetric and electrochemical analyses were conducted on the coupons every 7 days until the 28th day then every 28 days thereafter until the 85th day. Corrosion rates and inhibition efficiency values indicate that the best inhibition was obtained at the highest concentration of extract used.

Keywords: Green corrosion inhibition, Theobroma cacoa, cocoa shell, acidic corrosion, mild steel

Annacia K. Jeffers is a postgraduate student pursuing her Master of Philosophy degree in the Department of Chemistry with focus on electrochemistry and corrosion analysis.

PAGE 73

P006: Transition-Metal Directed Self-Assembly of Metallacyclic Complexes Derived from Schiff bases Shobha A. Dhanpata* and Arvind Kumarb a

Department of Chemistry, The University of The West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.

E-mail: shobha88dhanpat@gmail.com

Self-assembly of neutral Rhenium(I)-based supramolecules is of immense significance because of their rich luminescent properties.1-3 An intriguing class of linkers used in the design of these metallacycles is the Schiff bases which consist of an imine group. Schiff bases have been studied extensively because of their interesting chemical and physical properties and their broad range of biological activities.4,5 To date, there are no reported rhenium metallacyles which incorporate Schiff bases and N and O donor ligands such as pyridyls and alkoxides within their architectures. In this study, novel rhenium metallacycles were prepared inclusive of four rhenium diimine (SD1- 4) and four rhenium Schiff base (SD5- 8) supramolecules via a solvothermal method of synthesis using a mixed solvent system at an elevated temperature which led to good quality single crystals. They were characterized using 1H and 13C, 2D NMR (COSY, HSQC and HMBC), Infrared (IR) and Mass spectroscopies. X-ray single crystal data confirm the formation of the rhenium supramolecular complexes bearing an octahedral geometry about the rhenium atom. The photophysical properties were studied using UV-Vis and Fluorescence spectroscopies. The fluorescence data showed that these compounds exhibit enhancement and quenching as well as red and blue shifts about 445 - 525 nm when titrated against a range of hazardous ions such as aluminium and lead with detection limits of concentrations as low as 10-7 mol dm-3. Thermal analyses were performed using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) techniques which show that these metallacycles are quite stable at very high temperatures, above 355 oC. These novel rhenium Schiff base macrocyclic compounds therefore demonstrate promising potential as probes against a range of toxic ions.

Keywords: Self-assembly; supramolecule; solvothermal; probe

References: 1

Soumya, K. R.; Arumugam, R; Shankar, B; Sathiyendiran, M. Inorg. Chem. 2018, 57, 10718â&#x2C6;&#x2019;10725

2

Manimaran, B.; Thanasekaran, P.; Rajendran, T.; Lin, R.; Chang, I.; Lee, G.-H.; Peng, S.; Rajagopal, S.; Lu, K. Inorg. Chem., 2002, 41, 5323.

3

Thanasekaran, P.; Wu, J.-Y.; Manimaran, B.; Rajendran, T.; Chang, I-Jy.; Rajagopal, S.; Lee, G.-H.; Peng, S.-M.; Lu, K.-L. J. Phys. Chem. A., 2007, 111, 10953.

4

Dhar, D. N.; Taploo, C. L. Curr. Org. Chem., 2009 13(2) 124.

5

Zoubi, W. A. International Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2013, 3, 73.

Shobha Dhanpat holds a BSc in Chemistry and Management and is currently pursuing a PhD in Chemistry at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus. Her research involves the design, synthesis and study of cavity-containing self-assembled metallacycles for ion-sensing applications. She anticipates the incorporation of her metallacycles into portable, hand-held devices that can be useful in environmental monitoring.

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P007: The Study of Corrosion Inhibition at Mild Steel surfaces in Alkaline Media using Theobroma Cocoa Pod Husk Extracts.

Tiffanique, James1; Annacia, Jeffers1; Ann, Wilson1 1 University of the West Indies, St. Augustine., tiffaniquej@hotmail.com

Corrosion is currently one of the main issues plaguing many industries and private residences.

It is of major concern in areas of economics, along with health and safety. Advancements in areas such as electroplating, galvanizing and inhibitors have proven successful in reducing corrosion rates. Green corrosion inhibitors are considered to be a cheap and eco-friendly means of decreasing corrosion rates. In this study, the inhibition efficiency of Aqueous Hot and Cold Theobroma Cocoa Pod Extracts on mild steel in a 2M NaOH solution have been investigated using techniques such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiodynamic polarization and gravimetric analysis. The results obtained from the Nyquist and Tafel plots indicated corrosion inhibition for mild steel over a 14-day period using Cold Extracts. Further EIS and potentiodynamic polarization analysis showed that the Cold Extracts acted as better corrosion inhibitors in comparison to the Hot Extracts.

Biography Tiffanique James has reached the final year of her BSc Chemistry (Special) degree at the age of 23 years from The University of The West Indies, St Augustine.

PAGE 75

P008: Extraction and Purification of Annonacin from Annona Muricata and its use in Prodrugs for Tumor Targeting Savita Seecharana; Baldwin Mootooa; Mohindra Seepersauda Patricia Gonzalez b; Amanda Ramdular b; David Mootoob a

Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago b

Hunter College, City University of New York, N.Y., United States email: savita.seecharan@gmail.com

Approximately 50% of cancer patients use at least one complementary and alternative (CAM) therapies for their treatment.1 The naturally occurring Annonaceae family has been used for hundreds of years for their cytotoxic, antitumoral, insecticidal and immunosuppressive activities.2 Annonaceous acetogenins (AGE) isolated from the Annonaceae family exhibit potent cytotoxity against a wide range of tumors. These have emerged as attractive candidates for anticancer drug development for multidrug resistant cancers.3 Although tetrahydrofuran AGEs exhibit high selectivity for certain tumors, they are generally too cytotoxic for clinical application. This study involves isolation of multigram quantities of a mono tetrahydrofuran acetogenin (THF-AGE), annonacin, from Annona muricata (Soursop) and also to develop a new molecular platform for targeting compounds to cancer cells. Our strategy involves utilizing pendant hydroxyls (Figure 1) as a handle for a prodrug strategy to specifically deliver to cancer cells using tumor specific vectors 2-[3-(1,3-dicarboxypropyl)ureido]pentanedioic acid (DUPA) or 3-O-carbamoyl-mannose.4,5 Our conjugate approach is conducted in parallel with another acetogenin, 4-deoxyannomontacin. The abundance of these anti-tumor compounds from natural sources expedites conjugation to produce novel prodrugs, potentially mitigating against the toxicity of the THF-AGEs. Results of these efforts will be presented.

Figure 1: Structure of Annonacin keywords: Annona muricata; annonaceae; acetogenins; tetrahydrofuran; antitumor References: 1. Richardson M. A.; Sanders T.; Palmer J. L.; Greisinger A.; Singletary S. E. J. Clin. Oncol. 2000, 13, 250514.

2. Wang, F.; Kawamura, A. Mootoo, D. R. Bioorganic. Med. Chem. 2008, 16, 8413-18.

3. (a) Zhang, H.; Seepersaud, M.; Dookeran-Seepersaud, S.; Mootoo, D. R. J. Org. Chem. 1998, 63, 20492052. (b) Bachan S.; Tony K. A.; Kawamura A.; Montenegro D.; Joshi A.; Garg H.; Mootoo D. R. Bioorganic Med. Chem. 2013, 21, 6554-64.

4. Huttunen, K. M.; Rautio, J. Curr. Top. Med. Chem. 2011 11, 2265-87.

5. Kularatne, S. A.; Venkatesh, C.; Santhapuram, H.-K. R.; Wang, K.; Vaitilingam, B.; Henne, W. A.; Low, P. S. J. Med. Chem. 2010, 53, 7767-77.

PAGE 76

P009: Investigations into an Intramolecular Proton Transfer and Solvent Dependent Acid-Base Equilibria in 2,6- Pyridine Diacetic Acid

Shivani Boodram,1 Soumyabrata Roy, 2 Nadia Singh, 3 Richard A. Fairman, 3 Sebastian C. Peter2 and Varma H. Rambaran*1 varma.rambaran@utt.edu.tt 1

Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Trinidad and Tobago, Lots 74-98 O’Meara Industrial Estate, Arima, Trinidad and Tobago.

2

New Chemistry Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore 3

Department of Chemistry, The University of The West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

This study presents the first physical evidence of an intramolecular proton transfer (IPT) and solvent dependent acid-base equilibria in 2,6-pyridine diacetic acid (PDA), as contributing factors to a solid state reversible structural transformation and a spontaneous double decarboxylation. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) exhibited several reversible phase transitions, with the most pronounced change occurring at 168 K. A reversible structural transformation, from the monoclinic system at 298 K (C2/c) to the triclinic one (P 1 ), was confirmed via temperature dependent X-ray diffraction studies. In comparison, 6-methoxycarbonylmethyl-pyridin-2-yl-acetic acid (the methyl ester derivative of PDA) showed no change in crystal structure with temperature, thus confirming proton lability. Re-protonation of the carboxyl groups in water were found to be pH influenced, revealing absorbance shifts from 210 to 200 nm. 1H NMR spectroscopy revealed a solution phase irreversible conversion of PDA to the intermediary, 2-methyl-6-pyridineacetic acid and finally to 2,6-dimethylpyridine via sequential decarboxylations. The ΔS‡ for each decarboxylation were 39.53 ± 3.87 and 23.56 ± 2.84 JK-1mol-1 respectively. Finally, an investigation into the rate of exchange of the α-carbon protons in D2O allowed for the determination of the rate constants (k), which were calculated to be 1.02 ± 0.12 x 10-3 sec-1 and 6.13 ± 0.12 x 10-4 sec-1 with a double exponential fit.

PAGE 77

P010: The Synthesis and Optimization of a Macrocyclic Organometallic Complex with Potential Insulin Mimetic Properties Ruth A. Chacon and Varma H. Rambaran* University of Trinidad and Tobago *

The University of Trinidad and Tobago, Lots 74-98 O’Meara Industrial Estate, Arima, Trinidad and Tobago Phone: (868)770-5708; Email:varma.rambaran@utt.edu.tt

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a disease that has ongoing deleterious impacts on society’s health. The prevalence of this disease in the Caribbean is estimated to be 9% of the adult population and in Trinidad and Tobago it is linked to a mortality rate of 13.8%.

Approved treatments for DM include specialized diets, exercise and a regime of insulindependent drugs. In the case of Type 2 diabetes, there is the peculiar condition of insulin resistance, which decreases the efficiency of the presently approved and available pharmaceutical drugs. To address this predicament, there has been a drive towards the development of insulin-mimetic treatments. The activities of these insulin mimetic drugs are based on the chemistry of transition metals, which is linked to their interference of the insulin transduction pathway. Vanadium and its associated complexes have a successful history as hypoglycaemic agents since the early 19th century, with dipicolinate acid being a readily used ligand. Additionally, pyridine diacetic acid (PDA) and dipicolinic acid have similar applications, with PDA deemed as the better ligand. Noting the benefits of macrocycles, a cyclization of PDA was done to form a novel ligand to be used as a potential organometallic drug in insulin mimesis. As promising as the idea of insulin mimesis may seem, there are associated problems with this approach. Transition metals such as vanadium are feared to cause gastrointestinal problems, such as diarrhoea and ulcerated stomachs. Further to this, after absorption, it is feared that the released metal ion may become “rogue” and participate in unfavourable speciation and mutagenic side reactions. Recent studies by Rambaran et al. have confirmed the in vivo insulin mimetic activity and relatively low cytotoxicity of a novel vanadyl complex. The results from this study aims to revive the research interest in insulin mimesis and lead to the development of board-certified therapeutic drugs.

The present project focuses on the development of a macrocyclic ligand, which can house the vanadium ion, and be a likely insulin mimetic drug. Synthesis and subsequent biological evaluations of this complex will confirm its relative efficacy in attenuating blood glucose levels in diabetic subjects, as well as give indications of possible cytotoxic events in organs of interest.

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P011:

Analysis of Physicochemical Properties and Determination of Heavy Metal Contamination in Honey Samples throughout Trinidad and Tobago Riaz K. Hosein1; Dr. Terry Mohammed 2; Dr. Faisal Mohammed3

1

riaz.100@hotmail.com; 2terry.mohammed@sta.uwi.edu; faisal.mohammed@sta.uwi.edu

The versatility of honey makes it one of the most popular food items in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market.

Characterizing it will diversify and expand Trinidadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s agricultural sector; breaking international boundaries and improving the existing apiary business by removing trade barriers for produced honey. A preliminary study of heavy metals was done on samples of honey from different regions in Trinidad to determine baseline values for the nutritional content and safety consumption.

This was complimented with the investigation of several physicochemical parameters and all compared against Recommended Daily Intake (RDI). Essentially, methods followed collaborative tests done by the International Honey Commission and use of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The quantities of the minerals obtained did not exceed RDI except for Cd (0.0008- 0.02 mg/100g) which exceeded the RDI (0 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 0.0041 mg/day) for some samples. This can lead to kidney dysfunctions as well as increase the risks of diabetes. Also, the water content of the local samples was high (17.9-20%), which causes less shelf life of honey. A more systematic study will be implemented including samples from specific regions throughout Trinidad and Tobago as no baseline values with respect to quality, physical and chemical characteristics have been established. This research will provide a temporal study for honey quality to be investigated over a 2-year period with the addition of several more parameters and compared against Codex Alimentarius Commission Standards.

Biography Riaz Hosein is a current Master of Philosophy Analytical Chemistry at the University of the West Indies with a passion for Environmental and Industrial development.

Dr. Terry Mohammed has completed his PhD (2000) at the University of the West Indies and is employed as a Lecturer for Analytical and Industrial Chemistry, at said establishment. Having spent almost 20 years in Industry, his research is geared at promoting industrial development in the region through Technology and Innovation while providing safe work conditions and protecting the environment. To date, he has published more than 5 papers in reputed journals.

Dr. Faisal Mohammed is a recent Ph.D. graduate (2016) and is currently employed as a Laboratory Technician and Part-Time Lecturer (OESH Programme) in the Department of Chemistry at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. To date, he has over 10 publications in peer-reviewed journals focusing primarily on heavy metal and hydrocarbon contamination and the associated health risk assessments.

PAGE 79

P012: The Synthesis and Optimization of a Geminal Organometallic complex with Potential Insulin Mimetic Properties Gabriella A. Ryan1, Ruth A. Chacon2, Dr Varma H. Rambaran* Biomedical Engineering Unit, The University of Trinidad and Tobago, O’Meara Campus, Trinidad and Tobago Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a disease which continues to have an ongoing deleterious impact on the society’s health. In 2017, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) projected a world population of 425 million adults that were diagnosed with the disease and by the year 2045 this number is estimated to rise to 700 million. In the Caribbean the prevalence of this disease is estimated to be 9% of the adult population and in Trinidad & Tobago has a mortality rate of 13.8%. Approved treatments for DM include: exercise, diet and a regime of insulin dependent drugs. For Type 2 diabetes there is a prominent condition of insulin resistance, which makes the presently approved pharmaceutical drugs less efficient. To improve the current situation there has been enhancements towards insulin mimetics treatments. They are based on the chemistry of transition metals linked to their influence on the insulin transduction pathway. Vanadium and other complexes have shown great success as blood sugar regulating agents since the 19th century. There are associated issues with use of these insulin mimetics; vanadium and other transition metals can cause gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhoea and ulcerated stomachs. Also, after absorption the released metal ion may become “rogue” and result in unfavourable speciation and mutagenic side reactions. Studies recently conducted by Rambaran et al confirmed the in vivo insulin mimetic activity and relatively low cytotoxicity of a novel vanadyl complex. This study results aim to revive research interest insulin mimesis and lead to approved FDA developed drugs. The current project focuses on a geminal vanadiumbased insulin mimetic complex, I. The synthesis and subsequent biological evaluations of this complex will confirm the efficacy in attenuating blood glucose levels in diabetic subjects, as well as give indications of possible cytotoxic events in organs of interest.

PAGE 80

P013: Monitoring of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) levels in the ambient air and bus occupants’ exposure while commuting in Paramaribo, Suriname.

Jelissa L. Doornkamp1, Nykieta James1, Grace-Anne Bent2, Sumeet Ori1 1

Department of Chemistry, Anton de Kom University of Suriname

2

Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago.

Paramaribo, Suriname, jelissadrnkmp@hotmail.com

Among the air pollutants, are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) particularly benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX), an extensive subject of interest for scientists due to their adverse effects on all compartments of the environment. In Suriname, studies of BTEX are currently unavailable, therefore the first attempt is being made to quantify BTEX in the ambient air of Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname and to determine the bus occupants’ exposure. Health risk analysis was also employed on the bus drivers to evaluate if the exposure levels to BTEX pose a potential health threat due to their carcinogenicities.

BTEX was quantified in sequences of 8 hours by the passive sampling technique, using personal air monitors with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. Dichloromethane was used to elute the compounds from the charcoal filter, followed by analysis at 95% accuracy level. Common validation characteristics that were executed were: accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), working range, and linearity. The LOD for BTE and m, p-Xylene was found to be lower than 5.0 µg/L and 5.0 µg/L for o-Xylene. Furthermore, the quantified concentrations of BTEX will be compared against the standards established by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in order to determine to what extent, if any, they surpass the limits for acceptable exposure.

Keywords: BTEX, GC/MS, exposure, air, Suriname Biography A. Jelissa Doornkamp is currently a final year chemistry student at the Anton de Kom University, Suriname pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. In 2016 she assisted with a project of the UNDP and 2017 held her first poster presentation at the science fair of the Anton de Kom University. In September 2019, she will enroll in the MPhil program at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Her research will focus on the monitoring and quantification of pyrethrins in fruits and vegetables cultivated in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname.

B. Nykieta James is a part-time lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, Anton de Kom University, Suriname. Her research interest includes environmental pollutants and pesticide residue analysis. She also, works full-time in the petrochemical industry where she oversees the control systems necessary to ensure that information generated are in accordance with business needs and in conformance with the Quality Management System.

C. Grace-Anne Bent is a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Her research interests include: food and environmental safety and security, the chemistry of food and foodrelated toxins. She published: 1 book, 5 journal articles, newspaper and online articles. She is the main author of a research article which copped the Principal’s Research Day Awards for Best Research Publication (UWI, Mona, 2016) and a member of the research team at the St. Augustine Campus who received the awards: Most Impactful Research Project and Best Research Team – Encouraging Multidisciplinary Research (UWI-NGC Awards, 2016).

D. Sumeet Ori is a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, Anton de Kom University of Suriname. He has completed his master’s degree in Molecular Sciences from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research included the synthesis of a novel water-soluble scaffold molecule for peptide cyclization, based upon two orthogonal ligation reactions: CLIPS technology and CLICK chemistry. As a result of the ban of many commercial plastic products in an increasing number of countries around the world (including Suriname in the future), his research interest is on the synthesis of biodegradable plastics using starch from various natural sources as its main ingredient

PAGE 81

P014: The Evaluation of Metals in Commonly Used Hair Dyes and Hair Bleaching Powders in Trinidad and Tobago A. Devika J. Maharaj1; B. Tsymia Greene2; C. Dr. Terry Mohammed3 1 devika.maharaj@outlook.com; 2tsymia.greene@my.uwi.edu; 3terry.mohammed@sta.uwi.edu

Metals are found in abundance in the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crust, thus their presence are unavoidable in common natural materials. Metals are found in various cosmetics and can enter the human body via inhalation, skin or oral absorption. Prolonged use of products containing high levels of metals may impact the environment and pose health risks to humans due to

bioaccumulation of the metals. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the levels of heavy metals in nine hair bleaching powders and eleven hair dyes. The samples were digested and analysed for heavy metals (cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni) and mercury (Hg)) using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The range of concentrations in hair bleaching powders is 4.20 - 48.26, 0.24 - 0.57, 2.71 - 11.21, 3.93 - 25.09 and 0.54 - 0.74 mg/kg for Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Hg respectively. The concentration ranges in hair dyes are 11.78 - 30.97, 12.92 - 26.73 and 48.47 - 60.53 mg/kg for Pb, Cr, and Ni respectively. Eight samples out of nine hair bleaching powders and all eleven hair dye samples exceeded the 10 mg/kg Pb regulatory limit set by the FDA while all samples were within the Cd (3 mg/kg) and Hg (1 mg/kg) limit set by the FDA. There are no set regulatory limits for Ni and Cr. Trinidad and Tobago lack regulatory limits for metals in cosmetics and it is not required by the law to present ingredients of final products, therefore, it is crucial to develop appropriate regulations to govern the composition and usage of cosmetics.

Biography Dr. Terry Mohammed completed his PhD in the year 2000 at the University of the West Indies and is currently employed as a Lecturer for Analytical and Industrial Chemistry, at said establishment. Having spent almost 20 years in the industry, his research is geared at promoting industrial development in the region through technology and innovation while providing safe work conditions and protecting the environment. To date, he has more than 5 publications in different areas of research.

PAGE 82

P015: Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of Homemade Sunscreens, Vegetable Butters and Plant Based Oils.

N. John1; S. Walcott2 The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, 1

Nigel.John@sta.uwi.edu; 2Simone.Quintyne-Walcott@sta.uwi.edu

The use of natural products in the treatment of disease has been an important component of medicinal therapy for centuries. Indeed, for many centuries drugs were entirely of natural origin and composed of herbs, animal products and inorganic materials. Depending on the mode of preparation, these drugs could have been applied topically (suspended in a base) or taken internally. The interest in natural products continues to grow as people are now not only concerned with avoiding synthetic compounds in medicines but are also seeking more natural foods. Additionally, there is a growing interest in natural skin-care formulations. In this study, the sun protection factor (SPF) of homemade sunscreens, vegetable butters (cocoa, almond, mango, orange and shea) and plant based oils (alma, paprika, saffron and wheat germ) were investigated. Ultraviolet (UV) absorbance of homemade sunscreens, vegetable butters, and plant base oils were measured using a UV-VIS spectrophotometer, operating at wavelengths of 312 nm and 330 nm respectively. The ultraviolet screening ability of the sunscreens, butters and oils were also investigated using a UV checker. The results indicated that screening of

homemade sunscreens increased as the zinc oxide concentration increased, with 30 % mass zinc oxide providing an estimated SPF of 12. Among the vegetable butters tested, mango provided the most overall protection with an estimated SPF of 1.94. In addition, among the plant based oils products, wheat germ offered the most overall protection with an estimated SPF of 0.6.

Keywords: Sun protection factor, sunscreen, natural products.

Biography N. John completed his PhD in 2013 from The University of the West Indies, St Augustine. His areas of research are in polymer cracking, thermodynamics, kinetics, physical chemistry, and green chemistry. He has several publications in the area of green chemistry. He is currently an Instructor in the Chemistry Department of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.

S. Walcott has a PhD in organic (natural products) chemistry from The University of the West Indies. She has published in several reputed journals and presented at various conferences. Her interest in natural products continues with her collaborating with researchers in the Czech Republic and also turning her attention to natural SPF activity.

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P016: Contamination status, source identification and health risk assessment of heavy metals in road dust from an Industrial Estate in Trinidad, West Indies Crystal Pragg; Faisal K. Mohammed Department of Chemistry, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, crystalpragg@yahoo.com Road dust within an industrial estate could potentially contain toxic heavy metals as a result of various anthropogenic sources. This study investigated road dust from various locations throughout the Point Lisas Industrial Estate in Trinidad, West Indies. The average concentrations for Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were 3.44, 37.7, 58.2, 771, 35.6, 68.5 and 343 g/g, respectively. Different methods (Geoaccumulation index, pollution index, integrated pollution index, enrichment factor and ecological risk assessment) of assessing heavy metal contamination in road dust indicated negligible to moderate degrees of pollution, in which the associated potential ecological risk was considered low. Multivariate statistical analyses indicated that the accumulation of heavy metals in the road dust of the Estate were influenced mainly by vehicular and industrial processes. The health risks due to exposure to heavy metals in road dust were assessed based on the US EPAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Health Risk Assessment Model for both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects. The health risk assessment indicated that the ingestion pathway was the main exposure route to heavy metals from road dust, however HI values suggested no potential health risks to both children and adults. The cancer risks for Cd, Cr and Ni were less than 10-6 and the resulting exposure was therefore considered low.

Keywords: Contamination assessment, heavy metals, industrial estate, road dust, health risk Biography C. Pragg is recent graduate of the OESH M.Sc. Programme (2018) from The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine and is currently employed at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) as a Plant Process Operator. Her recent accomplishments include 2 publications in peer-reviewed journals based on her final year OESH project.

Dr. Faisal K. Mohammed is a recent Ph.D. graduate (2016) and is currently employed as a Laboratory Technician and Part-Time Lecturer (OESH Programme) in the Department of Chemistry at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. To date, he has over 10 publications in peer-reviewed journals focusing primarily on heavy metal and hydrocarbon contamination and the associated health risk assessments.

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P017: Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Even Chain Length Photoluminescent Bis[5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-N-nalkyl salicylaldiminato]Zn(II) Complexes

a. Luke A. Benjamin1; b. Richard A. Taylor1, PhD The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus Email: luke.benjamin@my.uwi.edu; Richard.Taylor@sta.uwi.edu 1

This study strategically evaluates an even chain length homologous series of salicylaldimine complexes, bis[5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-N-nalkylsalicylaldiminato]Zn(II) (ZnC6-18) with potential liquid crystalline and light-emitting properties. In these complexes tetrahedral Zn(II) ions are coordinated to bidentate ligands resulting in densely packed structures as elucidated using single crystal X-ray diffraction. Additional structural characterization involved Fouriertransform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermal phase transition properties were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and variable-temperature polarized light microscopy (VT-PLM) and photophysical properties assessed by ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Results from DSC thermograms supplemented by PLM microscopic phase texture images confirmed that the phase transition profile involved multiple crystal – crystal phase transitions. Additionally, the non-liquid crystalline compounds also produced intense concentration dependent blue-green emissions in the range 480 – 490 nm in chloroform and also in the solid state, attributed to π* – n transitions of the imine (C=N) functional group. Overall, the luminescent properties of the compounds point to their potential as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Additionally, the structure – property correlations have been insightful in the continuous pursuit of designing and expanding the availability of photoluminescent Zn(II) salicylaldimine metallomesogens.

Keywords: Zn(II) salicylaldimine metallomesogens, crystal – crystal phase transitions, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

Biography a. Luke A. Benjamin has completed his Chemistry Special BSc from the University of the West Indies St Augustine. He is currently a first-year postgraduate student under the supervision of Dr. Richard A. Taylor where he conducts research involving the structure-property relationship of novel biphenyl salicylaldimine Schiff base metallomesogen compounds as potential multifunctional candidates for technological applications. b. Richard A. Taylor holds a PhD in Chemistry and a BSc in Pure and Applied Chemistry from the University of the West Indies Mona campus, Jamaica. He has been a twice visiting scholar at the Schools of Chemistry and of Materials, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, working with Professor Paul O’ Brien FRS and visiting scientist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, United States. He is currently Lecturer in Materials Chemistry at the UWI, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad. There, through a small research group of PhD students he has focused his research on optoelectronic materials including, novel metal-organic liquid crystals, chalcogenide semiconductor thin films and nanomaterials (quantum dots) and luminescent metal-organic frameworks.

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P018: HMBC: An Alternative NMR Technique to Measure the 1J1H-13C Values at the

Anomeric Position in Carbohydrates.

Ramlogan, Vinayak1; Tang Kai, Marisha2; Singh, Nadia3 The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Trinidad, 1 viniramlogan@hotmail.com; 2 Marisha.Tang-Kai@sta.uwi.edu; 3 Nadia.Singh@sta.uwi.edu

The applicability of Heteronuclear Multiple Bond Correlation (HMBC) to determine the 1J1H-13C values at the anomeric positions in carbohydrates was evaluated in this preliminary study. There is a high demand for NMR analysis by chemistry postgraduates at the UWI, St. Augustine.

Students conducting carbohydrate research routinely require the determination of the 1J1H-13C values at the anomeric positions to elucidate the conformation of the saccharide component/s in their compounds. The high demand for this type of analysis, especially when sample quantities are limited, highlights the need for a technique which has higher sensitivity, requires less time yet gives the resolution required to get this information whilst simultaneously optimizing usage of NMR spectrometer resources. The gradient-HMBC pulse program (hmbcgpndlp) was utilized with simple changes to the acquisition parameters to optimize observation of the short range instead of long range 1H-13C coupling. 1J1H-13C values at the anomeric positions of four known monosaccharides and two unknown samples were measured using data from both the modified HMBC and traditional gated decoupling 13C techniques. The results were processed and analysed using the program TOPSPIN and both methods were compared and assessed. Overall, the modified HMBC employed in this trial meets the minimum resolution requirements for the accurate determination of the 1J1H-13C values in carbohydrate structural analysis and it has shown significant advantages over the traditional technique which makes it a promising alternative in this and other applications.

Keywords: NMR, HMBC, 1J1H-13C, anomeric position, carbohydrates.

Biography N. Singh completed her PhD at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad in the area of Physical Chemistry/Spectroscopy under the expert supervision of Dr D. Stephenson. She is currently the Development Engineer III (NMR) in the Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Technology, U.W.I., St.Augustine.

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P019: The Evaluation of Synthesis Methods for Exclusive Formation of Arabinopyranose and Glucofuranose Kristen T. Oxley; Nigel K. Jalsa The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine kristenoxley4@gmail.com The exclusive synthesis of a particular cyclic configuration, either a furanose or a pyranose ring, is of the utmost importance in carbohydrate synthesis and biological evaluation. The different ring sizes have distinctive relative energies and mechanistic behaviors,1,2 however their separation presents serious experimental difficulty, especially for large-scale production.

Unprotected hemiacetals can undergo reversible ring opening reactions in solution to produce an equilibria mixture of anomers and ring sizes based on thermodynamic stability.1,2 Glycosylation, resulting from the replacement of anomeric hydroxyl hydrogen with an R group,1 prevents the reversible hemiacetal ring opening. This method has been used to lock glucose and arabinose into their more unstable ring sizes exclusively; which are present in compounds that have shown significant bioactivity.

Figure 1: Mutarotation of D-Glucose Keywords: Mutarotation, Glycosylation, Solvent effects, References: 1.

Kuszmann, J. Introduction to Carbohydrates. In The Organic Chemistry of Sugars;Levy, D.E; FĂźgedi, P., Eds.; Taylor and Francis Group LLC: Boca Raton, FL, 2006; pp 34-45.

2. MiljkoviÄ&#x2021;, M. Carbohydrates: Synthesis, Mechanisms, and Stereoelectronic Effects.

Springer: New York, USA, 2009; pp 33-52 Biography: Kristen Oxley has completed her completed BSc. In Chemistry and Biology and is currently pursuing her M.Phil from The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine.

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P020: Designing Thiazole Heterocyclic Derivatives for Anticancer Activity using Multicomponent Synthesis Kameisha A.E. Richards, A. Kumar The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies kameisha.richards@my.uwi.edu, Arvind.Kumar@sta.uwi.edu

Cancer is a general term that covers an excess of diverse malignancies. These pathogenic conditions are uncontrolled cellular proliferation and growth, tumor cell migration, invasion, and spreading to other organs and tissues. The main types of cancer targeting men are prostate, lung and colorectal while in women are breast, lung, and colorectal which are influenced by many factors such as age, diet and genetics. In order to treat cancer, more than one approach is often needed, and the treatment is mostly reliant on the kind of cancerous cell and the stage it has reached in the patient. Amongst the most general and largely employed treatment plans offered now are chemotherapy, surgery, photodynamic therapy and radiotherapy. However, a drug that can be used to treat prostate, breast and lung cancer is called Taxol and to treat colorectal cancer a drug called Irinotecan can be used. There are also other selective drugs that can be used to treat these types of cancer. In recent years, heterocyclic compounds have caught strong attention because of their biological and pharmacological properties. These heterocyclic compounds are mainly of nitrogen and sulfur and have versatile outlines for drugs design. It is important to develop an efficient and environment friendly methodologies for production of such drugs. Among several synthetic approaches the multicomponent one pot methodologies have great potential in achieving such objective. This method reduces the steps and provides a simple way to design complex heterocycles which are difficult to prepare.

Keywords: Cancer, heterocyclic compounds, prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, Biography Kameisha A.E. Richard graduated with her Degree at the age of 23 from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine where she is also currently pursuing her MPhil Chemistry

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P021: THE SYNTHESIS AND CLASSIFICATION OF FUNCTIONALIZED SURFACTANTS FOR ION TRANSPORT Cly-Donna V. Bramble UWI St. Augustine, clybramble@gmail.com The transport of molecules across the lipid bilayer of cell membranes is attracting great attention as of late. In recent years, macrocycles have significantly been expanded with respect to chemical diversity. Advances in synthetic methodology and bioinformatics have supported this expansion. As a result, these compounds have been successfully tested on most biological target classes. Studies using macrocycles in drug discovery has advantages such as they have the ability to lock out alternative conformations that may lead to side effects of the drug made or poor bioavailability. Additionally, macro cyclization lowers overall polarity, enhanced cellular penetration and increased bioavailability.

The basis of this project is to synthesize a surfactant-like macrocycle that would be able to transport ions across lipid bilayer membranes and show biological activity. As characteristic of a surfactant, the projected compound will contain both nonpolar and polar ends, that is, two hydrocarbon tails and two polar head groups. Literature methods will be used in the synthesis. NMR and IR analyses allows for step by step study of the compounds. Additionally, Langmuir Blodgett technique and Atomic Force Microscopy will be employed to characterize the compound.

Keywords: macrocycles, surfactant, lipid bilayer, ion transportation.

Biography C. Bramble has completed her Undergrad at the age of 24 years from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus (UWI, STA). She is currently undergoing an MPhil in Research in Chemistry at the UWI, STA. Her study focuses on the synthesis of a surfactant-like compound that is hypothesized to be able to carry out ion transportation.

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P022: Biomonitoring of Heavy Metals in Trinidad Using Lichens Natesha John1; Faisal Mohammed2; Ramish Pingal3 1 The University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad, natesha.john@my.uwi.edu 2 The University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad, faisal.mohammed@sta.uwi.edu 3 The University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad, ramish.pingal@sta.uwi.edu Lichens are interesting organisms representing a symbiotic relationship between an algae and fungi. Lichens are well known bioindicators of environmental pollution. 1Research on lichens in Trinidad and Tobago has been limited except for a recent taxonomic study conducted nine years ago. We embarked on a study of the organism as a means of monitoring heavy metal pollution in Trinidad. Since heavy metals have applications in many of the industrial activities on the island the redistribution and concentration of heavy metals in the aquatic, edaphic and air environments is a cause of major environmental concern. Numerous adverse health effects2 have been associated with the accumulation of heavy metals in the human body. Thus constant monitoring of the levels of heavy metals in the environment is critical. In this study we investigated eight heavy metals in twelve lichen and soil samples collected from four specific areas in Trinidad selected on the basis of land use: industrial, residential, agricultural and commercial. Lichen and soil samples were dried, and 1.0-0.5 g of each dried sample was digested with nitric acid, filtered and then quantitatively made up to 50 mL with deionized water for analysis using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Samples were analysed for the following heavy metals: Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb. Heavy metals were found in all samples with Fe showing the highest concentration overall followed by Mn. The highest total heavy metal concentration in lichen and soil samples was found from one of the commercial sites investigated.

Keywords: Lichens; heavy metals; bioindicators Biography Natesha John will be completing her B.Sc. in Chemistry with minors in Analytical and Industrial Chemistry in 2019 from The University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad. After completion of the program, Natesha aspires to work in the field of environmental consultancy or process development before focusing on a higher degree. In addition, she looks forward to pursuing a M.Phil. in Environmental Chemistry, with a particular research interest in Air Quality Monitoring and Occupational Safety and Health. She also enjoys cooking, baking and hiking in her free time.

Faisal Mohammed is a recent Ph.D. graduate (2016) and is currently employed as a Laboratory Technician and Part-Time Lecturer (OESH Programme) in the Department of Chemistry at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. To date, he has over 10 publications in peer-reviewed journals focusing primarily on heavy metal and hydrocarbon contamination and the associated health risk assessments.

Ramish Pingal completed his Ph.D. in 2000 from The University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad and subsequently served as the natural products chemist at the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development for three years. He currently holds the position of lab manager in the Department of Chemistry.

References: 1. Conti, M.E.; Cecchetti, G. Environmental Pollution, 2001, 114, 471-492.

2. Jaishankar, M.; Tseten, T.; Anbalagan, N.; Mathew, B. B.; Beeregowda, K. N. Interdiscip Toxicol. 2014, 7(2), 60â&#x20AC;&#x201C;72.

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P023: Developing Green and Efficient Multicomponent Reaction Methodology to Synthesise Heterocycles and Their Antiproliferative Activities Shamir Ali The University of the West Indies Shamir.ali@my.uwi.edu

Heterocyclic compounds such as Îą-tocopherol and Îł-tocopherol, a Vitamin E analogs of bicyclic structure with stereo specific side chain, has shown strong promise against various cancer A549 (Lung), HBL-100(breast), HeLa (Cervix), Sw1573 (lung, T-47D (breast) and WiDr (colon) tumour cells.2 According to Ingold and co-workers that nature of the R1, R2 and R3 augments the antiproliferative effect on a range of cancer cells.2 Multicomponent reactions (MCR) has shown great potential in the green, rapid synthesis of complex structures as heterocyclic. These MCR, one-pot synthetic methods offer the acquisition of greater complexity within molecules of indole, diazole, triazole, thiophenes, pyridine, etc. under mild reaction conditions, good yield, green solvents and high atomic economy.1,2,8 These compounds make up half of all commercially available drugs especially those whose sales are above 1 Billion USD per annum1.

Biography Shamir Ali has completed his Undergraduate degree in Chemistry at the age of 23 years from the University of the West Indies. He is currently an M.phil candidate at the University of the West Indies. His research focuses on the design of heterocycles using Multicomponent reactions for the application towards antitumor and antibacterial pharmacophore.

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Delegate List Name Ms. Shelinie Albert Mr. Shamir Ali Ms. Alixandria Ali Mrs. Roxanne Ali-Hassan Ms. Shalinie Arjune Ms. Aliyah Asgarali Ms. Dahryn Augustine Dr. Darryl Banjoo Mr. Gervonne Barran Mr. Luke Benjamin Dr. Grace-Anne Bent Ms. Serana Bhagwandeen Ms. Shannon Bonald Ms. Shivani Boodram Ms. Cly-Donna Bramble Ms. Chelsea Briggs Mr. Christopher Browne Ms. Sarika Chandoo Mr. Marc Collins Mrs. Bayambika Cornelly Dr. Leonette Cox Ms. Jankie Dabideen Ms. Safiyyah Dan Ms. Kimaya Deonarine Ms. Shobha Dhanpat Ms. Roshnie Doon Ms. Jelissa Doornkamp Mr. Yasim Edoo Ms. Simone Edwards

Organization University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus Institute of Marine Affairs University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus UNIVERSITE OF CEPROM University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus Anton de Kom University, Suriname University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus

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Country Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Jamaica Democratic Republic of the Congo Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago

Name Ms. Kairel Edwards Mr. O'Neil Falloon Mr. Avalon Ferrera Ms. Jacinth Frederick Ms. Amanda Gangerbissoon Ms. Natalie Ganpat Ms. Kiara Garcia Ms. Amrutha Ginkala Dr. Annette Guiseppi-Elie Prof. Anthony Guiseppi-Elie Ms. Shantelle Henry Ms. Donna Hitlal Mr. Riaz Hosein Prof. Raymond Jagessar Ms. Aarti Jagroo Dr. Nigel Jalsa Ms. Tiffanique James Ms. Annacia Jeffers Dr. Nigel John Ms. Amna John Ms. Faatimah Kamalodeen Ms. Nguizani Kiangonza

Organization University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus US Environmental Protection Agency/ National Exposure Research Lab Texas A&M University University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of Guyana University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus UNIVERSITE OF CEPROM

Dr. Lesley Lewis-Alleyne

University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the Southern Caribbean

Ms. Nguizani Luamona

UNIVERSITE OF CEPROM

Ms. Nguizani Luanza

UNIVERSITE OF CEPROM

Ms. Kerina Kistow Dr. Arvind Kumar

Ms. Devika Maharaj Mr. Shastri Maharaj Ms. Stephanie Maharaj

University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus

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Country Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago United States United States Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Guyana Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Democratic Republic of the Congo Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago

Name Mr. Ari Maharajh Ms. Nakisha Mark Ms. Farrah Mathura Mr. Joshua Mathura Mrs. Clairene McDavidAdams Dr. Faisal Mohammed Ms. Jasiel Mohammed Ms. Aniqah Mohammed Mr. Ahmad Mohammed Mr. Jรณash Mohammed Prof. Muraleedharan Nair Prof. Dyer Narinesingh Mrs. Wendy Nelson Ms. Nguizani Ntimansieme Ms. Kristen Oxley Mr. Sean Persaud Ms. Jiwani Peters Mr. Reco Phillips Dr. Ramish Pingal Ms. Anaadi Pooran Ms. Vaidika Pooran Dr. Yomica Powder-George Ms. Crystal Pragg Dr. Karthik Ramasamy Ms. Sharda Ramberan Ms. Sian Ramdass Ms. Chrystal Ramdawar Ms. Diana Ramgeewan Mr. Sheldon Ramoutar Ms. Leanna Rampersad Ms. Padminee Ramsaroop

Organization University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus Michigan State University University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus Institute of Marine Affairs UNIVERSITE OF CEPROM University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus UbiQD, Inc University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus Institute of Marine Affairs University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus

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Country Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago United States Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Democratic Republic of the Congo Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago United States Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago

Name Prof. Paul Reese Ms. Kameisha Richards Ms. Kameisha Richards Mr. Coniel Roye Ms. Analee Sampath Ms. Jahrika Samuel Ms. Melisa Santana Ms. Ruth Seepersad Dr. Fiayaz Shaama Mr. Hemant Siegulam Ms. Allana Sieunarine Mr. Surenjanath Singh Ms. Thalia Singh Ms. Keisha Sirju Ms. Ashley Smith St. Clair Mr. Charran Sookram Ms. Crystal-Gale Stowe Mr. Marlon Tambie Ms. Marisha Tang Kai Dr. Richard Taylor Ms. Latiyah Timothy Dr. Simone Walcott Ms. Kimberly Weston Ms. Kalisa Williams Dr. Ann Wilson Ms. Ashley Wright

Organization The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies Mona Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus

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Country Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago Antigua and Barbuda Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago

NOTES

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