RUDN University chemist created substances that stimulate plant growth

Compounds with a ferrocenylalkyl moiety in the molecules are valuable for their biological activity. Derivatives of ferrocene stimulate plant growth, and can also act as antidotes for herbicides, which is important for the environment. Until now, ferrocenyl alkylation (i.e. the reaction of insertion of organic groups into ferrocenyl fragment) was carried out only in acidic medium, usually using quaternary ammonium salts. However, this method is not used widely because of limited scope of compounds which could be synthesized this way.
RUDN University chemist Alexandr Smol’yakov in collaboration with colleagues from INEOS RAS, MIREA, All‐Russian Research Institute of Phytopathology and Kurchatov Institute proved that it is possible to synthesize plant growth regulators by the insertion of heterocyclic azole fragments into ferrocene. For the first time, chemists performed a one‐pot α-ferrocenyl alkylation using acid-sensitive substrates (e.g., imidazole derivatives) in a neutral medium.
The chemists succeeded to synthesize numerous compounds: including nitrogen- or sulphur-containing 2-benzyl-1-(1-ferrocenylethyl)benzimidazole, N-(1-ferrocenylethyl)benzothiazole-2-thion, and N-(α-ferrocenylethyl)benzothiazole-2-thion. They were applied for pre-sowing treatment of corn seeds at dozes of 0.5 g, 1 g, and 10 g per 1 ton of seeds. Each compound, in an amount of 10 mg, was dissolved in either 10 ml of distilled water or 75% ethanol. 15 g of corn seeds were placed in a flask with the solution and shaken manually until the moisture was completely absorbed, and then transferred to Petri dishes, which were kept open for three days.
The treated corn seeds were then held for 7 more days at a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. After that, the lengths of the sprouts and roots of these seeds were compared with those in the group of seeds that were germinated with distilled water, and another group that was exposed to herbicidal solution.
It turned out that the corn seeds treated with the compounds obtained during the research, produced sprouts with sizes 37-67% longer than those that did not undergo the treatment.
The obtained ferrocene derivatives of biomolecules are characterised by stability and low toxicity. Therefore, they can be widely used in agriculture. In particular, the compounds are effective as protection against a widely used herbicide from Zinger. The chemists have developed a technique for the creation of an environmentally friendly, low-toxic, and inexpensive preparation that increases crop productivity.
The article was published in the journal Applied Organometallic Chemistry.
Biologists from RUDN University working together with their colleagues from the Institute of Molecular Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Flax studied the genes that determine the fatty acid composition in flaxseed oil and identified polymorphisms in six of them. The team also found out what gene variations could extend the shelf life of flaxseed oil. This data can be used to improve the genetic selection of new flax breeds. The results were published in the BMC Plant Biology journal.
RUDN physician Anna Borisova, in collaboration with colleagues from Italy, used effective searches and classified 123 articles on this research topic. A literature review was conducted by searching databases of medical and biological publications: PubMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine, and Embase (Elsevier), a biomedical database.
About Tree Talkers and soil structures, proper environmental management for sustainable urban development — in an interview with Elvira Davletyarov, Director of the Agrarian and Technological Institute of RUDN University.
Biologists from RUDN University working together with their colleagues from the Institute of Molecular Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Flax studied the genes that determine the fatty acid composition in flaxseed oil and identified polymorphisms in six of them. The team also found out what gene variations could extend the shelf life of flaxseed oil. This data can be used to improve the genetic selection of new flax breeds. The results were published in the BMC Plant Biology journal.
RUDN physician Anna Borisova, in collaboration with colleagues from Italy, used effective searches and classified 123 articles on this research topic. A literature review was conducted by searching databases of medical and biological publications: PubMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine, and Embase (Elsevier), a biomedical database.
About Tree Talkers and soil structures, proper environmental management for sustainable urban development — in an interview with Elvira Davletyarov, Director of the Agrarian and Technological Institute of RUDN University.