Electrospray liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry fingerprinting of Acanthophis (death adder) venoms: taxonomic and toxinological implications

Death adders (genus Acanthophis) are unique among elapid snakes in both morphology and venom composition. Despite this genus being among the most divergent of all elapids, the venom has been historically regarded as relatively quite simple. In this study, liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) analysis has revealed a much greater diversity in venom composition, including the presence of molecules of novel molecular weights that may represent a new class of venom component. Furthermore, significant variation exists between species and populations, which allow for the LC/MS fingerprinting of each species. Mass profiling of Acanthophis venoms clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of this technique which underpins fundamental studies ranging from chemotaxonomy to drug design.     

Identification of soy protein in meat by pyrolysis-high-resolution gas chromatography

Pyrolysis-gas chromatography was applied to the characterization of ground beef and soy protein isolate and its mixtures at the 50, 30 and 10% levels. A cryogenic trap pyrolysis mode was employed and the volatile pyrolysates were analysed by a high-resolution capillary gas chromatograph. Two phenolic derivatives, o-methoxy- and dimethoxyphenol, as well as 2,3-dithiabutane are uniquely observed at a large concentration in the soy pyrolysate. Quantification of these characteristic compounds allow the estimation of the level of soy inclusion in the mixture. This approach effectively denotes soy addition up to the 10% level in comminuted beef.     

Investigations on the location and construction of a low background gamma-spectrometer

The underground radiation conditions in the mining district of Freiberg and in a rock salt environment of the Werra district were investigated. In a salt mine a very low natural activity level can be found. For selection of proper shielding materials a low-level -spectrometer and an optimum sample geometry must be used. The photopeak differences between sample and blank are small in most cases. Considerable differences can be found in the continuous background below 0.7 MeV.     

Synthesis and manganese complexes of pentagonal bipyramidal ligands: N,N′-disubstituted pentaaza macrocycles

Two novel heptadentate ligands, pentaaza macrocycles with two pendant xpyridyl and phenol groups, were prepared and the crystal structure of the manganese(II) complex of N,N′-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-pentaaza macrocycle revealed a pentagonal bipyramidal geometry.     

High-resolution NMR spectroscopy of membrane proteins in aligned bicelles

High-resolution solid-state NMR spectra can be obtained from uniformly (15)N-labeled membrane proteins in magnetically aligned bicelles. Fast uniaxial diffusion about the axis of the bilayer normal results in single-line spectra that contain the orientational information necessary for protein structure determination.     

化学模式识别技术评价中药厚朴质量的研究

本文对不同产地和市售的二十四种厚朴药材及饮片的萃取液进行了高效液相色谱、气相色谱及紫外光谱分析;对所得数据用主成分分析进行分类,概括出不同样品化学成分的异同,认为大叶木兰可做为厚朴的代用品,而在陕西安康购得的样品不应做厚朴使用,后者经生药学鉴定为厚朴伪品凹叶木兰。化学模式识别技术可为寻找药材的代用品、评价中药质量及鉴定伪劣药材提供依据。     

Arylethynylacridines: electrochemiluminescence and photophysical properties

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of six new ethyne-based acridine derivatives (1-6) has been studied. The new acridine derivatives were synthesized by cross-coupling of 9-chloroacridine and corresponding donor-substituted phenylethynes under modified Sonogashira conditions. The donor groups were varied in the order of increasing steric hindrance and donor strength at the donor site. The solution phase photophysical properties and ECL of these compounds were studied comparatively in acetonitrile solvent. The UV-Visible spectra of compounds 1-5 exhibit closely the same maxima. Density functional theory (DFT) has been invoked to analyze and understand the unexpected UV-Visible absorption behavior. Compounds with weak electron donors produce excimer ECL irrespective of steric hindrance at the donor site, while the compound with a stronger donor gives rise to ECL that is blue-shifted with respect to its photoluminescence spectrum. All except one of these compounds also exhibit solid state fluorescence which may be useful for solid state devices such as organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and as laser dyes. The observed properties are discussed with reference to the structure of the compounds synthesized.     

Liquid-phase microextraction of protein-bound drugs under non-equilibrium conditions

Recently, we introduced an inexpensive and disposable hollow fiber-based device for liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) where ionic analytes typically were extracted and preconcentrated from 1-4 mL aqueous samples (such as plasma and urine) through an organic solvent immobilized in the pores of a polypropylene hollow fiber and into a 10-25 microL volume of acceptor phase present inside the lumen of the hollow fiber. Subsequently, the acceptor phase was directly subjected to the final analysis by a chromatographic or electrophoretic method. In the present work, attention was focused on LPME of the basic drugs amphetamine, pethidine, promethazine, methadone and haloperidol characterized by substantial differences in the degree of protein binding. Drug-protein interactions in plasma resulted in reduced recoveries and substantially increased extraction times compared with extraction of the drugs from a pure water matrix. However, by addition of 5-50% methanol to the plasma samples, recoveries were comparable with LPME from water samples and ranged between 75 and 100%. The addition of methanol was found not to speed up the LPME process and extractions from plasma were performed in 45 min to reach equilibrium. Because approximately 55-70% of the final analyte concentrations were achieved within the initial 10 min of the LPME process, validation was accomplished after 10 and 45 min of LPME. In general, the results with 10 and 45 min were almost comparable, with precision data in the range 1.2-11.1% (RSD) and with linearity in the concentration range 20-1000 ng mL(-1) (r = 0.999). In conclusion, excellent LPME results may be achieved in a short time under non-equilibrium conditions with a minor loss of sensitivity. In cases of drug-protein interactions, methanol may be added to ensure a high extraction recovery.     

Reactivity of the 1,2-Diphenytethyl Radical in a Solvent Cage

The 1,2-diphcnylethyl radical and derivatives were generated from photolysis of tran-f-stilbene and its derivatives 1–13 with secondary amines as quenchers. The 1,2-diphenylelhyl radicals that escaped from the solvent cage were trapped by 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane (MNP) and were detected by the HPLCEPR method. The yield of the spin adduct is greater for tertiary amines. The smaller yields of the spin adduct formed from secondary amines are ascribed to greater reactivities of the 1,2-diphenylethyl and dialkylamino radicals within the solvent cage.     

Synthesis, stereochemistry confirmation and biological activity evaluation of a constituent from Isodon excisus

A synthesis and stereochemistry confirmation of a constituent recently isolated from the whole plant Isodon excisus is reported. An enantioselective catalytic boron-mediated reduction of an α-bromoketone was utilized in the key synthetic transformation. The methodology described herein was also used for the synthesis of the natural product's enantiomer and several derivatives. In addition, the compounds were evaluated for inhibitory activity in a caspase induction assay. The natural product was found to be devoid of activity, but several derivatives had moderate inhibitory activity (EC₅₀<1 μM).