A novel crown ether generation containing different heteroaromatic cations: synthesis, characterization, solid-phase (13)C NMR, X-ray crystal structure, and selective amino acid recognition

The synthesis and structural characterization of a novel generation of crown ethers, 3, 5 and 6 containing pyrilium, thiopyrilium, and pyridinium subunits, respectively, are reported. The crown ether unit is potentially capable of forming host-guest complexes with inorganic and organic cations, while the heteroaromatic cationic unit is suitable to bind with anions. A variety of physicochemical methods including electrospray mass spectrometry, UV-vis spectroscopy, solution and solid-phase NMR, and X-ray crystallography were applied for structural characterization of the new crown ether derivatives. The (1)H and (13)C NMR studies indicate rapid rotation of the B9C3 unit about the C-C bond that connects the two units to each other. Single crystals for 3, 4, and 5 were successfully obtained, and their X-ray crystal structures were resolved. The perchlorate anion in 3 (orthorhombic, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1)) and 5 (orthorhombic, space group P2(1)) is far from O(+) and close to S(+). The solid-phase structure of 3 and 5 show small deviation from planarity for the four aromatic rings, whereas two of the aromatic rings in 4 are out of heteroaromatic ring. Spectrophotometric studies in methanol solution revealed that the ligand 3 can be successfully applied to selective amino acid recognition.     

Sub-micro level monitoring of beryllium ions with a novel beryllium sensor based on 2,6-diphenyl-4-benzo-9-crown-3-pyridine

The 2,6-diphenyl-4-benzo-9-crown-3-pyridine (DPCP) was used as an excellent ionophore in construction of a coated graphite poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)-based membrane sensor. The best performance was obtained with a membrane composition of 30% poly(vinyl chloride), 60% o-nitrophenyloctyl ether (NPOE), 5% 2,6-diphenyl-4-benzo-9-crown-3-pyridine and 5% sodium tetraphenyl borate (TBP). This sensor shows very good selectivity and sensitivity towards beryllium ion over a wide variety of cations, including alkali, alkaline earth, transition and heavy metal ions. The sensor revealed a great enhancement in selectivity coefficients and sensitivity for beryllium, in comparison with the previously reported beryllium electrodes. The electrode exhibits a Nernstian behavior (with slope of 29.6 mV per decade) over a very wide concentration range (1.0×10⁻⁷ to 1.0×10⁻¹) with a detection limit of 4.0×10⁻⁸ M (360 pg ml⁻¹). It shows relatively fast response time, in whole concentration range (<10 s), and can be used for at least 12 weeks in the pH range of 4.5-8.0. The proposed sensor was successfully used to determination of beryllium in mineral ore.     

A cosolvency model to predict solubility of drugs at several temperatures from a limited number of solubility measurements

A cosolvency model to predict the solubility of drugs at several temperatures was derived from the excess free energy model of Williams and Amidon. The solubility of oxolinic acid, an antibacterial drug, was measured in aqueous (water+ethanol) and non-aqueous (ethanol+ethyl acetate) mixtures at several temperatures (20, 30, 35, 40 degrees C). Oxolinic acid displays a solubility maximum in each solvent mixture at solubility parameter values of 32 and 22 MPa(1/2). The temperature and heat of fusion were determined from differential scanning calorimetry. The solvent mixtures do not produce any solid phase change during the solubility experiments. The experimental results and those from the literature were employed to examine the accuracy and prediction capability of the proposed model. An equation was obtained to represent the drug solubility changes with cosolvent concentration and temperature. The model was also tested using a small number of experimental solubilities at 20 and 40 degrees C showing reasonably accurate predictions. This is important in pharmaceutics because it save experiments that are often expensive and time consuming.     

Application of sequential aqueous steam treatments to the fractionation of softwood

The FIRST (Feedstock Impregnation and Rapid Steam Treatment) approach was used in this study to isolate extractives, hemicellulose, lignin, fibers, and cellulosic fines of softwood. With hydrolysis and fermentation of the hemicellulose and cellulosic fines fractions, this approach produces four co-products: extractives, cellulose, lignin, and ethanol. The first unit operation uses aqueous/alcohol to remove and recover the extractive rich fraction. The second unit operation uses steam treatment to destructure the matrix and solubilize a large fraction of the hemicelluloses. The third unit operation uses alkaline delignification to dissolve a lignin fraction. The fourth unit operation uses the refining process to separate fibers from cellulosic fines. The fibers are bleached. The yields of lignin and bleached cellulose were about 20.0 kg and 38.3 kg out of 100 kg initial dry pine, respectively. The recovered hemicelluloses were 23.3 kg (containing 16.1 kg hexoses and 5.0 kg pentoses) and the cellulose fines derived hexoses amounted to 3.4 kg out of 100 kg initial dry pine. When the two liquors containing the hemicellulose sugars and the cellulose fines-derived hexoses were fermented for ethanol production, an ethanol yield of 6.8 kg was obtained.     

A Membrane Sensor for Selective Determination of Bisacodyl in Tablets

A novel PVC membrane sensor for bisacodyl based on bisacodyl‐phosphotungstate ion pair complex was prepared. The influence of membrane composition (i.e. percent of PVC, plasticizer, and ion‐pair complex), pH of test solution and foreign cations on the electrode performance were investigated. The optimized membrane demonstrates Nernstian response (60.3 ± 2.1 mV per decade) for bisacodyl cations over a wide linear range from 8.0 × 10^?5 to 5.0 × 10^?3 M at 25 °C. The potentiometric response is independent from the pH of the solution in the pH range of 1.5–3.5. The proposed sensor has the advantages of easy preparation, good selectivity, fast response time, and small interferences from hydrogen ions. It was successfully used for determination of bisacodyl in tablets, and the results obtained with the electrode were in good agreement with the official chromatographic method.     

Comparison of different algorithms to calculate electrophoretic mobility of analytes as a function of binary solvent composition

Ten different mathematical models representing the electrophoretic mobility of analytes in capillary electrophoresis in mixed solvents of different composition have been compared using 32 experimental data sets. The solvents are binary mixtures of water-methanol, water-ethanol and methanol-ethanol, respectively. Mean percentage deviation (MPD), overall MPD (OMPD) and individual percentage deviation (IPD) have been considered as comparison criteria. The results showed that a reorganized solution model, namely the combined nearly ideal binary solvent/Redlich-Kister equation, is the most accurate model among other similar models concerning both correlation ability and prediction capability.     

Solubility prediction of anthracene in mixed solvents using a minimum number of experimental data

Numerical methods to predict the solubility of anthracene in mixed solvents have been proposed. A minimum number of 3 solubility data points in sub-binary solvents has been employed to calculate the solvent-solute interaction terms of a well established colsolvency model, i.e. the combined nearly ideal binary solvent/Redlich-Kister model. The calculated interaction terms were used to predict the solubility in binary and ternary solvent systems. The predicted solubilities have been compared with experimental solubility data and the absolute percentage mean deviation (APMD) has been computed as a criterion of prediction capability. The overall APMD for 25 anthracene data sets in binary solvents is 0.40%. In order to provide a predictive method, which is based fully on theoretical calculations, the quantitative relationships between sub-binary interaction terms and physicochemical properties of the solvents have been presented. The overall APMD value for 41 binary data sets is 9.19%. The estimated binary interaction terms using a minimum number of data points and the quantitative relationships have then been used to predict anthracene solubility data in 30 ternary solvent systems. The produced APMD values are 3.72 and 15.79%, respectively. To provide an accurate correlation for solubility in ternary solvent systems, an extension to the combined nearly ideal multicomponenet solvent/Redlich-Kister (CNIMS/R-K) model was proposed and the corresponding overall AMPD is 0.38%.     

Neat synthesis of octahydroxanthene-1,8-diones,catalyzed by silicotungstic acid as an efficient reusable inorganic catalyst

In this article, the first use of silicotungstic acid (H₄SiW₁₂O₄₀) as a catalyst for the synthesis of octahydroxanthene-1,8-diones by the reaction of 5,5-dimethylcyclohexane-1,3-dione (dimedone) with various aldehydes under thermal solvent-free conditions is described. The obtained results showed that the catalyst has a high catalytic activity, and the desired products were obtained in high yields. Moreover, the catalyst was found to be reusable, and a considerable catalytic activity still could be achieved after the fifth run. Easy work-up and avoidance of using harmful organic solvents are the other advantages of this simple procedure.     

Synthesis of pyrido[3′,2′:4,5]thieno[2,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyrimidin-5(4H)-one derivatives

Some new pyrido[3′,2′:4,5]thieno[2,3-e]-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a] pyrimidin-5(4H)-ones were prepared through heterocyclization of ethyl 3-aminothieno[2,3-b]pyridine-2-carboxylate with phenyl or ethyl isothiocyanate followed by nucleophilic displacement with hydrazine, and finally cyclocondensation with orthoesters. Correspondence: Abolghasem Davoodnia, Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad Branch, Mashhad 91735-413, Iran.     

Synthesis of pyrazolo[4,3-<Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis>][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-<Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis>]pyrimidines

Starting from 1,5-dihydro-4H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-ones, a synthesis pathway to the tricyclic pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-c]pyrimidines is described. Reaction of 1,5-dihydro-4H-pyrazolo[3,4-d] pyrimidin-4-ones with phosphoryl chloride afforded the corresponding 4-chloro-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines. Treatment of these compounds with hydrazine hydrate at reflux temperature gave the hydrazino derivatives, which were subsequently cyclized to the titled compounds on heating with orthoesters in ethanol. Correspondence: Abolghasem Davoodnia, Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad Branch, Mashhad 91735-413, Iran.