Determination of glyoxylic acid in urine by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection, using a novel derivatization procedure based on the Petasis reaction

The Petasis reaction is the multi-component reaction of a carbonyl compound, amine, and arylboronic acid to form an α-amino acid or a β-aminoalcohol. In this work, as the first analytical application of the Petasis reaction, a high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with fluorescence detection was developed for determination of glyoxylic acid. The glyoxylic acid was derivatized with 1-pyreneboronic acid, as fluorescent arylboronic acid, in the presence of N-methylbutylamine, as amine, to give a fluorescent α-amino acid. HPLC separation of the fluorescent derivative was performed within 30 min on an octyl column eluted with a gradient prepared from acetonitrile and 50 mmol L(-1) acetate buffer (pH 4.0). The detection limit (S/N=3) for glyoxylic acid was 5.0 nmol L(-1) (20 fmol/injection). The method can be used to determine the concentration of glyoxylic acid in human urine without interference from biological components.     

Solvent and ligand partition reaction pathways in nickel-mediated carboxylation of methylenecyclopropanes

Methylenecyclopropanes are carboxylated with gaseous carbon dioxide in the presence of a stoichiometric amount of a nickel complex; the reaction pathways are significantly influenced by the reaction solvent and the amine ligand.     

Effective detection of peptides containing cysteine sulfonic acid using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization and laser desorption/ionization on porous silicon mass spectrometry

Cysteine sulfonic acid-containing peptides, being typical acidic peptides, exhibit low response in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry. In this study, matrix conditions and the effect of diammonium hydrogencitrate (DAHC) as additive were investigated for ionization of cysteine sulfonic acid-containing peptides in MALDI. A matrix-free ionization method, desorption/ionization on porous silicon (DIOS), was also utilized to evaluate the effect of DAHC. When equimolar three-component mixtures of peptides carrying free cysteine, cysteine sulfonic acid, and carbamidomethyl cysteine were measured by MALDI using a common matrix, alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA), no signal corresponding to cysteine sulfonic acid-containing peptide could be observed in the mass spectrum. However, by addition of DAHC to CHCA, the peaks of cysteine sulfonic acid-containing peptides were successfully observed, as well as when using 2,4,6-trihydroxyacetophenone (THAP) and 2,6-dihydroxyacetophenone with DAHC. In the DIOS mass spectra of these analytes, the use of DAHC also enhanced the peak intensity of the cysteine sulfonic acid-containing peptides. On the basis of studies with these model peptides, tryptic digests of oxidized peroxiredoxin 6 were examined as a complex peptide mixture by MALDI and DIOS. In MALDI, the peaks of cysteine sulfonic acid-containing peptides were observed when using THAP/DAHC as the matrix, but this was not so with CHCA. In DIOS, the signal from cysteine sulfonic acid-containing peptides was suppressed; however, the use of DAHC significantly enhanced the signal intensity with an increase in the number of observed peptides and increased signal-to-noise ratio in the DIOS spectra. The results show that DAHC in the matrix or on the DIOS chip decreases discrimination and suppression effects in addition to suppressing alkali-adduct ions, which leads to a beneficial effect on protonation of peptides containing cysteine sulfonic acid.     

Allylcyanation of alkynes: regio- and stereoselective access to functionalized di- or trisubstituted acrylonitriles

Allyl cyanides are found to add across alkynes in the presence of a nickel catalyst prepared from Ni(cod)2 and P(4-CF3-C6H4)3 in situ to give variously functionalized di- or trisubstituted acrylonitriles in highly stereoselective manners possibly via a pi-allylnickel species as an intermediate. alpha-Siloxyallyl cyanides also react at the gamma-position of a cyano group with both internal and terminal alkynes having various functional groups to give silyl enol ethers, which give the corresponding aldehydes or ketones upon hydrolysis.     

Synthesis of trifluoro- or difluoromethylated olefins by regio- and stereocontrolled S(N)2' reactions of gem-difluorinated vinyloxiranes

This paper presents a highly stereoselective synthesis of trifluoro- or difluoromethylated olefins via an S(N)2' type fluorination or reductions of gem-difluorinated vinyloxiranes. Their fluorination with HF-Py furnished trifluoromethylated allylic alcohols with exclusive E selectivity. On the other hand, their reduction with DIBAL-H afforded difluoromethylated E-allylic alcohols predominantly, whereas the corresponding Z isomers were formed exclusively by treatment with BH3.THF.     

Resolving vibrational wave-packet dynamics of D2(+) using multicolor probe pulses

We demonstrate the generation and real-time observation of the vibrational wave packet of D(2)(+) by using a sub-10-fs extreme UV high-harmonic pump pulse and a three-color probe laser pulse whose wavelength ranges from near-IR to vacuum UV. This multicolor pump-probe scheme can provide us with a powerful experimental tool for investigating a variety of wave packets evolving with a time scale of ~20 fs.     

Analysis of vertical coupling between a 2D photonic crystal cavity and a hydrogenated-amorphous-silicon-wire waveguide

We present an efficient means of light extraction from two-dimensional photonic crystal (2D PC) cavities with SiO₂ cladding. We propose a vertically coupled system consisting of a 2D PC cavity and a hydrogenated-amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H)-wire waveguide, which we theoretically investigate using the 3D finite-difference time-domain method. Light can be extracted with an efficiency of greater than 95% to both output ports of the a-Si:H-wire waveguide or extracted with an efficiency of greater than 90% to a single output port of the a-Si:H-wire waveguide with a reflector.