Evaluation of Physical, Thermal and Spectroscopic Properties of Biofield Treated p-Hydroxyacetophenone

What is it about?

P-Hydroxyacetophenone (pHAP) is an aromatic ketone derivative that is mainly used in the manufacturing of various pharmaceuticals, flavours, fragrances, etc. In the present study, the impact of Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy treatment was analysed on various properties of pHAP viz. crystallite size, surface area, melting temperature, thermal decomposition, and spectral properties. The pHAP sample was divided into two parts; one was kept as control sample while another part was named as treated sample. The treated sample was given the biofield energy treatment and various parameters were analysed as compared to the control sample by X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area analyser, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The XRD studies showed the decrease in crystallite size of the treated sample (61.25 nm) as compared to the control (84.18 nm); however the intensity of peaks in diffractogram was increased in treated sample. Besides, the surface area of treated sample was decreased by 41.17% as compared to the control. The TGA analysis revealed that onset temperature as well as Tmax (maximum thermal decomposition temperature) was increased in the treated sample. However, the latent heat of fusion (ΔH) was decreased from 124.56 J/g (control) to 103.24 J/g in the treated sample. The treated and control samples were also evaluated by UV-Vis and FT-IR spectroscopy and did not show any significant alteration in spectra of treated sample as compared to the respective control. Hence, the overall results suggest that there was an impact of biofield energy treatment on the physical and thermal properties of pHAP sample.

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Why is it important?

Acetophenones are the aromatic ketones that are mainly used as precursors for resins and fragrances [1]. Their occurrence was found in several natural products like apple, banana, cauliflower, etc. [2]. They were also used in medicine as hypnotics and anticonvulsants in 19th-20th centuries [3]. Hydroxyacetophenones are obtained by direct C-acylation of phenol with acetic acid and used in manufacturing of pharmaceutical products [4]. P-Hydroxyacetophenone (pHAP) is an aromatic ketone (Figure 1) having wide commercial applications. It is also known as piceol that is a phenolic compound and can be obtained naturally from mycorrhizal roots of Norway spruces (Picea abies) [5,6]. It is used in the production of rubbers, plastics, agricultural chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. It acts as a precursor for the synthesis of p-hydroxyacetanilide and paracetamol (analgesic drug) [7]. It is also used as a ketone component in the manufacturing of 1-aryl-3-phenethylamino-1-propanone hydrochloride that is a potent cytotoxic agent [8]. Moreover, they are also used in manufacturing of cosmetics, flavours, and fragrances [9]. Overall, the importance of p-HAP in industries is as the precursor and intermediate compounds. The physicochemical properties like particle size, surface area, and thermal properties of intermediate compounds play a crucial role in chemical and pharmaceutical industries [10,11]. Hence, authors were attempting an alternative strategy i.e., biofield energy treatment and analysed its impact on the physicochemical properties of pHAP. Biofield energy treatment is a type of energy healing which comes under the branch of alternative medicine [12]. These energy therapies are also recommended by National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) [13]. Biofield is the name given to the electromagnetic field that permeates and surrounds the living organisms. It is the scientific term for the biologically produced ultra-fine electromagnetic energy field that can function for regulation and communication within the organism [14]. The features of this electromagnetic field are related to the physiological and mental state of the person and research has found that this field might deplete in unhealthy conditions [15]. Hence, the health of living organisms can be influenced by balancing this energy from the environment through natural exchange process [16]. Thus, the human has the ability to harness the energy from the environment or universe and can transmit it to any living or non-living object(s) around the Globe. The objects always receive the energy and responding to the useful way. This process is known as biofield energy treatment. Mr. Trivedi is well known to possess a unique biofield energy treatment (The Trivedi Effect®) that has been reported for altering the growth and yield properties of plants in the agriculture field [17-19]. The effect of biofield treatment was also reported in biotechnology field [20,21] and microbiology research [22-24]. Besides that, the impact of biofield treatment was also reported on physical, thermal and spectral properties of various metals and organic compounds [25-27]. Hence, the current study was designed to evaluate the impact of biofield energy treatment on physical, thermal and spectroscopic properties of pHAP.

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