Quantitative determination of pravastatin and its metabolite 3α‐hydroxy pravastatin in plasma and urine of pregnant patients by LC‐MS/MS

This report describes the development and validation of a chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantitative determination of pravastatin and its metabolite (3α‐hydroxy pravastatin) in plasma and urine of pregnant patients under treatment with pravastatin, as part of a clinical trial. The method includes a one‐step sample preparation by liquid–liquid extraction. The extraction recovery of the analytes ranged between 93.8 and 99.5% in plasma. The lower limits of quantitation of the analytes in plasma samples were 0.106 ng/mL for pravastatin and 0.105 ng/mL for 3α‐hydroxy pravastatin, while in urine samples they were 19.7 ng/mL for pravastatin and 2.00 ng/mL for 3α‐hydroxy pravastatin. The relative deviation of this method was <10% for intra‐ and interday assays in plasma and urine samples, and the accuracy ranged between 97.2 and 106% in plasma, and between 98.2 and 105% in urine. The method described in this report was successfully utilized for determining the pharmacokinetics of pravastatin in pregnant patients enrolled in a pilot clinical trial for prevention of preeclampsia. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of Freon matrices on the intermediates stabilized in X-ray irradiated 1,7-dioxaspiro[5,5]undecane solutions at 77 K

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New Approach to the Formation of Physically Adsorbed Capillary Coatings Consisting of Hyperbranched Poly(Ethylene Imine) with a Maltose Shell to Enhance the Separation of Catecholamines and Proteins in CE

Core–shell-type polymers based on a hyperbranched (hb) poly(ethylenimine) core and a shell with a variable maltose content were applied as coating materials for fused silica capillaries. A new, simple, fast, and reproducible way of modifying the capillary walls through the physical adsorption of the core–shell-type polymers using a Cu²⁺ support was developed. The coating created by this method was found to be very stable compared to the coating created using a solution of the polymer only. Capillaries modified with the core–shell-type polymers were tested by applying them to the electrophoretic separation of catecholamines and proteins. The modified capillaries showed high efficiencies (up to 800,000 theoretical plates per meter for lysozyme) and separation selectivities. The highest efficiency was achieved using capillaries modified with the polymer containing the lowest content of maltose in the shell and the most accessible positively charged core. Various online concentration techniques were also tested as a means to lower detection limits further, making it possible to analyze proteins in biological fluids (saliva) as well as catecholamines in human urine after SPE using activated alumina.     

Self-condensation of 2-(ethoxalylmethyl)chromones into new derivatives of isotetronic acid

2-(Ethoxalylmethyl)chromones undergo dimerization to dichromonyl derivatives of isotetronic acid in 62–89% yields on refluxing with 2,3-diaminopyridine in ethanol for 1–2 h.     

Structure of Supramers Formed by the Amphiphile Biotin-CMG-DOPE

The synthetic function-spacer-lipid (FSL) amphiphile biotin-CMG-DOPE is widely used for delicate ligation of living cells with biotin residues under physiological conditions. Since this molecule has an “apolar-polar-hydrophobic” gemini structure, the supramolecular organization is expected to differ significantly from the classical micelle. Its organization is investigated with experimental methods and molecular dynamics simulations (MDS). Although the linear length of a single biotin-CMG-DOPE molecule is 9.5 nm, the size of the dominant supramer globule is only 14.6 nm. Investigations found that while the DOPE tails form a hydrophobic core, the polar CMG spacer folds back upon itself and predominantly places the biotin reside inside the globule or planar layer. MDS demonstrates that <10 % of biotin residues on the highly water dispersible globules and only 1 % of biotin residues in layer coatings are in an linear conformation and exposing biotin into the aqueous medium. This explains why in biotin-CMG-DOPE apolar biotin residues both in water dispersible globules and coatings on solid surfaces are still capable of interacting with streptavidin.