Enrichment of neonicotinoid insecticides from lemon juice sample with magnetic three‐dimensional graphene as the adsorbent followed by determination with high‐performance liquid chromatography

A novel 3D‐graphene (3D‐G) magnetic nanomaterial was prepared and used as an adsorbent for the extraction of four neonicotinoid insecticides (acetamiprid, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam) from lemon juice sample. Then, HPLC with UV detection was applied for the determination of the neonicotinoid insecticides desorbed from the 3D‐G magnetic nanomaterial. The main experimental parameters that affect the extraction efficiencies such as the amount of 3D‐G magnetic nanomaterial, sample solution pH, extraction time, salting‐out effect, and desorption conditions were studied and optimized. As a result, the linear concentration range of the method was from 0.3 to 100.0 ng/mL for thiacloprid, from 0.5 to 100.0 ng/mL for imidacloprid and acetamiprid, and from 1.0 to 100.0 ng/mL for thiamethoxam, with correlation coefficients of 0.9965–0.9985, respectively. The LODs of the method based on an S/N of 3 were between 0.08 and 0.2 ng/mL. The enrichment factors obtained were between 67 and 427, and the RSDs (n = 6) were in the range from 4.6 to 7.1%, and the recoveries of the method fell in the range of 88.75 to 111.60%.     

Simultaneous determination of trifloxystrobin and trifloxystrobin acid residue in rice and soil by a modified quick,easy, cheap,effective, rugged,and safe method using ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

A sensitive analytical method for the simultaneous determination of trifloxystrobin and its metabolite trifloxystrobin acid in rice including straw, bran, brown rice and soil was developed by using ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The fungicide trifloxystrobin and its metabolite trifloxystrobin acid were extracted using acetonitrile with 1% formic acid v/v and subsequently cleaned up by primary secondary amine, octadecylsilane or graphitized carbon black prior to ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The determination of two target compounds was achieved in less than 3 min using an electrospray ionization source in positive mode. The limits of detection were below 0.22 μg/kg and the limits of quantification did not exceed 0.74 μg/kg in all matrices, which were much lower than the maximum residue levels established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The overall average recoveries in four matrix at three levels (0.1, 1.0 and 5.0 mg/kg) ranged from 74.2 to 107.4% with a relative standard deviations of less than 7.8% (n = 5) for both analytes. The method was demonstrated to be convenient and reliable for the routine monitoring of trifloxystrobin and its metabolite. The developed method was validated and applied for the analysis of degradation study samples.     

Investigation of chondroitin sulfate D and chondroitin sulfate E as novel chiral selectors in capillary electrophoresis

Various chiral selectors have been utilized successfully in capillary electrophoresis (CE); however, the number of polysaccharides used as chiral selectors is still small and the mechanism of enantiorecognition has not been fully elucidated. Chondroitin sulfate D (CSD) and chondroitin sulfate E (CSE), belonging to the group of glycosaminoglycans, are linear, sulfated polysaccharides with large mass. In this paper, they were investigated for the first time for their potential as chiral selectors by CE. The effect of buffer composition and pH, chiral selector concentration, and applied voltage were systematically examined and optimized. A variety of drug enantiomers were resolved in the buffer pH range of 2.8–3.4 using 20 mM Tris/H₃PO₄ buffer with 5.0 % CSD or CSE and 20 kV applied voltage. A central composite design was used to validate the optimized separation parameters and satisfactory uniformity was obtained. As observed, CSE allowed satisfactory separation of the enantiomers of amlodipine, laudanosine, nefopam, sulconazole, and tryptophan methyl ester, as well as partial resolution of citalopram, duloxetine, and propranolol under the optimized conditions. CSD allowed partial or nearly baseline separation of amlodipine, laudanosine, nefopam, and sulconazole. The results indicated that CSE has a better enantiorecognition capability than CSD toward the tested drugs.

Molecularly imprinted spin column extraction coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography for the selective and simple determination of trace nitrophenols in water samples

In this study, we developed a simple and selective spin column extraction technology utilizing hydrophilic molecularly imprinted polymers as the sorbents for extracting nitrophenol pollutants in water samples (the East Lake, the Yangtze River, and wastewater). The whole procedure was achieved by centrifugation of the spin column, and multiple samples were simultaneously processed with a low volume of solvent and without evaporation. Under the optimized condition, recoveries of nitrophenol compounds on the spin column packed with hydrophilic molecularly imprinted polymers ranged from 87.3 to 92.9% and an excellent purification effect was obtained. Compared with activated carbon, multi‐walled carbon nanotubes, LC‐C₁₈ sorbents, hydrophilic molecularly imprinted polymers exhibited a highly selective recognition ability for nitrophenol compounds and satisfactory sample extraction efficiency. Subsequently, the spin column extraction coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography was established, which was found to be linear in the range of 2–1000 ng/mL for 2,4‐dinitropehnol and 2‐nitrophenol, and 6–1000 ng/mL for 4‐nitrophenol with correlation coefficients greater than 0.998. The detection limits ranged from 0.3–0.5 ng/mL. It is shown that the proposed method can be used for the determination of trace nitrophenol pollutants in complex samples, which is not only beneficial for water quality analysis but also for environmental risk assessment.     

Comprehensive and simultaneous coverage of lipid and polar metabolites for endogenous cellular metabolomics using HILIC-TOF-MS

The comprehensive metabolomic analyses using eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells are an effective way to identify biomarkers or biochemical pathways which can then be used to characterize disease states, differences between cell lines or inducers of cellular stress responses. One of the most commonly used extraction methods for comprehensive metabolomics is the Bligh and Dyer method (BD) which separates the metabolome into polar and nonpolar fractions. These fractions are then typically analysed separately using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and reversed-phase (RP) liquid chromatography (LC), respectively. However, this method has low sample throughput and can also be biased to either polar or nonpolar metabolites. Here, we introduce a MeOH/EtOH/H₂O extraction paired with HILIC-time-of-flight (TOF)-mass spectrometry (MS) for comprehensive and simultaneous detection of both polar and nonpolar metabolites that is compatible for a wide array of cellular species cultured in different growth media. This method has been shown to be capable of separating polar metabolites by a HILIC mechanism and classes of lipids by an adsorption-like mechanism. Furthermore, this method is scalable and offers a substantial increase in sample throughput compared to BD with comparable extraction efficiency. This method was able to cover 92.2 % of the detectable metabolome of Gram-negative bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti, as compared to 91.6 % of the metabolome by a combination of BD polar (59.4 %) and BD nonpolar (53.9 %) fractions. This single-extraction HILIC approach was successfully used to characterize the endometabolism of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria as well as mammalian macrophages.

纤维状TiO2／Bi2O3光催化剂的制备及其光催化性能

研究了SrCo0．7Fe0．2Mo0．103-δ（SCFM）材料的相组成、微观结构、热膨胀系数、氧渗透性能和化学稳定性,其结果和文献中的SrCo0．8Fe0.2O3-δ（SCF）做了对比．通过EDTA-citric混合方法成功获得了纯相SCFM材料．SCFM材料在500-1050℃显示出比SCF材料更低的热膨胀系数（24×10^-6-29×10^-6／K）,表明其具有一种更稳定的结构,尽管由于Mo掺杂造成其透氧率比SCF材料低,但是SCFM的透氧率仍然维持在一个较高水平．证实SCF中的Mo掺杂能够阻止晶格中的有序-无序转变,提高了其在CO2下的化学稳定性．     

Bimetallic amine-bridged bis(phenolate) lanthanide aryloxides and alkoxides: synthesis,characterization, and application in the ring-opening polymerization of rac-lactide and rac-β-butyrolactone

A series of neutral bimetallic lanthanide aryloxides p-C6H4[OLnL(THF)n]2 [Ln = Y(1), Yb(2), Sm(3)(n = 1) and La(4)(n = 2), L = Me2NCH2CH2N{CH2-(2-O–C6H2–tBu2-3,5)}2] and alkoxides p-C6H4CH2[OLnL(THF)]2 [Ln = Y(5), Yb(6)] supported by an amine-bridged bis(phenolate) ligand have been synthesized through one-pot reactions of Ln(C5H5)3(THF), LH2 with p-benzenediol and 1,4-benzenedimethanol, respectively. All complexes have been fully characterized by elemental analyses, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, and IR and multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy(in the cases of 1, 4 and 5). Study of their catalytic behavior revealed that, in general, all complexes are efficient initiators for the polymerization of rac-lactide(LA) and rac-β-butyrolactone(BBL), except for 3 and 4 in the case of BBL. The influence imposed by lanthanides of different ionic radii and initiating groups of different structures on the activity, controllability, and stereoselectivity of polymerization were systematically studied and compared. Highly heterotactic PLA(Pr up to 0.99) and syndiotactic PHB(Pr ≈ 0.81) with high molecular weight and narrow polydispersity formed and were automatically capped with hydroxyl functionality at both ends.     

Computer simulation studies on the interactions between nanoparticles and cell membrane

In recent times,nanoparticles(NPs)have received intense attention not only due to their potential applications as a candidate for drug delivery,but also because of their undesirable effects on human health.Although extensive experimental studies have been carried out in literature in order to understand the interaction between NPs and a plasma membrane,much less is known about the molecular details of the interaction mechanisms and pathways.As complimentary tools,coarse grained molecular dynamics(CGMD)and dissipative particle dynamics(DPD)simulations have been extensively used on the interaction mechanism and evolution pathway.In the present review we summarize computer simulation studies on the NP-membrane interaction,which developed over the last few years,and particularly evaluate the results from the DPD technique.Those studies undoubtedly deepen our understanding of the NP-membrane interaction mechanisms and provide a design guideline for new NPs.     

Chemical composition and in vitro evaluation of the cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of supercritical carbon dioxide extracts of pitaya (dragon fruit) peel

Background

Hylocereus polyrhizus and Hylocereus undatus are two varieties of the commonly called pitaya fruits, and pitaya fruits have gained popularity in many countries all over the world. However, studies on chemical composition and the nutritional quality of pitaya flesh peel are limited.

Results

Extracts of pitaya (H. polyrhizus and H. undatus) peel were extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis. Their cytotoxic and antioxidant activities were investigated. The main components of H. polyrhizus extract were β-amyrin (15.87%), α-amyrin (13.90%), octacosane (12.2%), γ-sitosterol (9.35%), octadecane (6.27%), 1-tetracosanol (5.19%), stigmast-4-en-3-one (4.65%), and campesterol (4.16%), whereas H. undatus were β-amyrin (23.39%), γ-sitosterol (19.32%), and octadecane (9.25%), heptacosane (5.52%), campesterol (5.27%), nonacosane (5.02%), and trichloroacetic acid, hexadecyl ester (5.21%). Both of the two extracts possessed good cytotoxic activities against PC3, Bcap-37, and MGC-803 cells (IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.61 to 0.73 mg/mL), and the activities of their main components were also studied. Furthermore, these extracts also presented some radical scavenging activities, with IC₅₀ values of 0.83 and 0.91 mg/mL, respectively.

Conclusion

This paper provides evidence for studying the chemical composition of supercritical carbon dioxide extracts of pitaya peel and their biological activity.