A novel derivatization reagent possessing a bromoquinolinium structure for biological carboxylic acids in HPLC‐ESI‐MS/MS

A novel bromoquinolinium reagent, i.e. 1‐(3‐aminopropyl)‐3‐bromoquinolinium bromide (APBQ), was synthesized for the analysis of carboxylic acids. A simple and practical precolumn derivatization procedure using the APBQ in RP chromatography and MS (HPLC‐MS) has been developed using bile acids and free fatty acids, as the representative carboxylic acids in biological samples. The APBQ efficiently reacted with carboxylic acids at 60°C for 60 min in the presence of N,N‐dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and pyridine as the activation reagents. Because the APBQ possesses a bromine atom in the structure, the identification of a series of carboxylic acids was easily achieved due to the characteristic bromine isotope pattern in the mass spectra. The APBQ also has a quaternary amine structure, thus the positively charged derivatives are predominate for the highly sensitive detection of carboxylic acids. The APBQ was successfully applied to the selective determination of biological carboxylic acids in human plasma. The bile acids (chenodeoxycholic acid and deoxycholic acid) and several saturated (stearic acid and palmitic acid) and unsaturated free fatty acids (oleic acid and linoleic acid) were reasonably determined by HPLC‐MS under the proposed procedure. Based on the results of analyses of human plasma and saliva, the proposed procedure using APBQ seems to be applicable for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of a series of carboxylic acids in biological samples.     

Synthetic Approach to 4a-Methyltetrahydrofluorene-Type Diterpenoids via an Aromatic Oxidation of Phenol Derivatives

An intramolecular aromatic oxidation of a phenolic compound with a hypervalent iodine reagent afforded the coupling product, in which the coupling took place at the para-position of the methoxy goup of the starting material instead of the desired para-position of the isopropenyl group, unfortunately.      

Synthesis and spectral properties of ruthenium(II) complexes based on 2,2′-bipyridines modified by a perylene chromophore

Five new 2,2′-bipyridines functionalized with a perylene or a perylenediimide moiety were synthesized and the corresponding heteroleptic ruthenium(II) complexes ([Ru(bpy)₂(L)](PF₆)₂; bpy = 2,2′-bipyridyl, L = perylene-substituted bpy ligand) were prepared. The UV–vis spectra of the ruthenium(II) complexes showed red-shifted and intense absorption bands derived from the conjugated structure of the new ligands.     

Crystallisation of nematic liquid crystal mixtures

In this paper, we propose a method to accelerate the crystallisation of nematic liquid crystal mixtures based on crystallisation theory. This method is to hold a nematic liquid crystal sample at a temperature suitable for crystal growth after aging it at a temperature suitable for nucleation. After we specified these temperatures of a nematic liquid crystal mixture using differential scanning calorimetry, we demonstrate that the two-temperature aging method is effective for the crystallisation of other nematic liquid crystal mixtures in which the crystal-liquid crystal transition temperature has so far been undetectable.     

Regulation of the Cyanobacterial Circadian Clock by Electrochemically Controlled Extracellular Electron Transfer

There is growing awareness that circadian clocks are closely related to the intracellular redox state across a range of species. As the redox state is determined by the exchange of the redox species, electrochemically controlled extracellular electron transfer (EC‐EET), a process in which intracellular electrons are exchanged with extracellular electrodes, is a promising approach for the external regulation of circadian clocks. Herein, we discuss whether the circadian clock can be regulated by EC‐EET using the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 as a model system. In vivo monitoring of chlorophyll fluorescence revealed that the redox state of the plastoquionone pool could be controlled with EC‐EET by simply changing the electrode potential. As a result, the endogenous circadian clock of S. elongatus cells was successfully entrained through periodically modulated EC‐EET by emulating the natural light/dark cycle, even under constant illumination conditions. This is the first example of regulating the biological clock by electrochemistry.     

Efficient transformation of 7,14-dihydroxy-ent-kaurenes to novel ent-abietanes having cis-fused α-methylene γ-lactones under Mitsunobu reaction conditions and their cytotoxicities

Transformation of plant-origin 7,14-dihydroxy-ent-kaurenes to ent-abietanes having a cis-fused α-methylene γ-lactones was accomplished efficiently under the Mitsunobu reaction conditions. The yields of the desired products were apparently influenced by the steric hindrance at C-1. The cytotoxic activity on P388 murine leukemia cells of the ent-abietanes having cis-fused α-methylene γ-lactones produced were assayed.     

Evaluation of a series of prolylamidepyridines as the chiral derivatization reagents for enantioseparation of carboxylic acids by LC–ESI–MS/MS and the application to human saliva

Mass spectrometry has become a popular analytical tool because of its high sensitivity and specificity. The use of a chiral derivatization reagent for the mass spectrometry (MS) detection seems to be efficient for the enantiomeric separation of racemates. However, the number of chiral reagents for the liquid chromatography (LC)–MS/MS analysis is very limited. According to these observations, we are currently in the process of developing novel labeling reagents for chiral molecules in MS/MS analysis. The derivatization reagent that is effective for enhancing not only the electrospray ionization–MS/MS sensitivity but also the reversed-phase LC resolution of carboxylic acid enantiomers should have a highly proton-affinitive moiety and an asymmetric structure near the reactive functional group. Furthermore, the resulting derivative has to provide a characteristic product ion suitable for the selected reaction monitoring. Based upon these considerations, a series of prolylamidepyridines ((S)-N-pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid N-(pyridine-2-yl)amide (PCP2), (S)-N-pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid N-(pyridine-3-yl)amide, and (S)-N-pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid N-(pyridine-4-yl)amide) was synthesized as ideal labeling reagents for the enantioseparation of chiral carboxylic acids and evaluated in terms of separation efficiency and detection sensitivity by ultra-performance LC (UPLC)–MS/MS. Among the synthesized reagents, PCP2 was the most efficient chiral derivatization reagent for the enantioseparation of carboxylic acid. The Rs values and the detection limits of the derivatives of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which were selected as the representative carboxylic acids, were in the range of 2.52–6.07 and 49–260 amol, respectively. The sensitive detection of biological carboxylic acids (detection limits, 32–520 amol) was also carried out by the proposed method using PCP2 and UPLC–MS/MS. The PCP2 was applied to the determination of carboxylic acids in human saliva. Several biological carboxylic acids, such as lactic acid (LA), 3-hydroxybutylic acid, maric acid, succinic acid, α-ketoglutalic acid, and citric acid, were clearly identified in the saliva of healthy persons and diabetic patients. Furthermore, the ratio of d-LA in diabetic patients was higher than that in normal subjects. Judging from these results, PCP2 seems to be a useful chiral derivatization reagent for the determination not only of chiral, but also achiral, carboxylic acids in real samples.

Reaction of a Dialumene‐Benzene Adduct with Diphenylacetylene: Formation of 3,4‐Dialuminacyclobutene and 5,6‐Dialuminabicyclo[2.1.1]hex‐2‐ene Derivatives

Reaction of a dialumene‐benzene adduct bearing bulky aryl substituents with diphenylacetylene was found to give a novel 5,6‐dialuminabicyclo[2.1.1]hex‐2‐ene derivative in addition to the 3,4‐dialuminacyclobutene derivative, the formal [2+2]cycloadduct of an intermediary dialumene with diphenylacetylene. The molecular structure of the newly obtained 5,6‐dialuminabicyclo[2.1.1]hex‐2‐ene has been elucidated by X‐ray crystallographic analysis.     

Garcinielliptone G from Garcinia subelliptica Induces Apoptosis in Acute Leukemia Cells

Cytotoxicity and apoptosis-inducing properties of compounds isolated from Garcinia subelliptica leaves were investigated. The hexane-soluble portion of MeOH extracts of G. subelliptica leaves that showed cytotoxic activity was separated to yield seven compounds 1–7. Chemical structure analysis using NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry confirmed that compound 1 was canophyllol, and compounds 2–7 were garcinielliptones N, O, J, G, F, and garcinielliptin oxide, respectively. Among them, garcinielliptone G (5) showed growth inhibition by causing apoptosis in THP-1 and Jurkat cells derived from human acute monocytic leukemia and T lymphocyte cells, respectively. Apoptosis induced by garcinielliptone G (5) was demonstrated by the detection of early apoptotic cells with fluorescein-labeled Annexin V and increases in cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP protein levels. However, the addition of caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK did not affect growth arrest or apoptosis induction. These results suggest that garcinielliptone G (5) can induce both caspase-3 activation and caspase-independent apoptosis. Therefore, garcinielliptone G (5) may be a potential candidate for acute leukemia treatment.