Do proficiency tests always verify laboratories’ performance? The case of FAPAS PT 0270

In this paper, the case of FAPAS PT 0270 “Doramectin and Oxfendazole in Sheep Liver” is discussed. During evaluation of the data received from participants (determination of total, oxidised oxfendazole residue and calculation of the sum of oxfendazole and oxfendazole sulfone residues), significant differences were observed between the results obtained by use of two analytical approaches. This phenomenon can be explained by the route of oxfendazole metabolism, which results in the presence of fenbendazole in the sample. This was not predicted by the provider; consequently, not all the necessary tests on the material were conducted. Due to the high uncertainty of the z-scores in this test, the results of the PT cannot be used for purposes of evaluation, and the benefits of participation in PT 0270 are questionable.     

Calculations of substituent and solvent effects on the kinetic isotope effects of Menshutkin reactions

Nitrogen, deuterium, halogen, and carbon kinetic isotope effects have been modeled for the Menshutkin reaction between methyl halides and substituted N,N-dimethylaniline at the HF/6-31G(d) level of theory augmented by the C-PCM continuum solvent model for several solvents. Systematic changes in geometries of the transition states and Gibbs free energies of activation have been found with phenyl ring substituents, solvent, and the leaving group. Kinetic isotope effects also change systematically; however, these changes are predicted to be small, inside the usual precision of the experimental measurements. On the contrary, no correlation has been found between the kinetic isotope effects and the Hammett constants for para substituents. Thus opposite to previous assumptions, our results indicate that kinetic isotope effects on the Menshutkin reaction cannot be used to predict the position of the transition state on the reaction coordinate.     

Mass spectra of 2-thioacylaminothiazoles, 2-thioacylaminobenzothiazoles and their ‘fixed structure’ amino and imino tautomeric forms

The fragmentation patterns of the thioacyl derivatives of 2-aminothiazole and 2-aminobenzothiazole and of their ‘fixed structure’ imino and amino tautomeric forms give evidence of the predominance of the imino tautomer in the molecular ions of the trifluorothioacetyl compounds. On the other hand, the M⁺˙ ions of the thioacetyl and thiobenzoyl derivatives are mainly the amino tautomers. A rearrangement with elimination of RCN and formation of the 2-thiazolothione (2-benzothiazolothione) ion is characteristic for ail the compounds investigated. Additional evidence for the interpretation of the main fragmentation paths is provided by the mass spectra of the N-trideuteromethyl and N-deuterated derivatives, high-resolution mass spectrometry being used to determine the elemental composition of some selected peaks.     

Phlogophites intercalated with Al2O3 pillars and modified with transition metals as catalysts of the DeNOx process

Natural phlogophite, pre-treated with acids and intercalated with alumina pillars, was used as catalytic support. Transition metals (Fe, Cu) were deposited on the surface of the modified clay materials by an ion-exchange method. The obtained samples were characterized with respect to structure (XRD), texture (BET), composition (EPMA) and chemical nature of the deposited transition metals species (UV-vis-DRS). The phlogophite based materials have been found to be active and selective catalysts of the DeNOx process. The Fe-containing samples were catalytically active at lower temperatures than the clays modified with copper. A competitive ammonia oxidation by oxygen decreased the effectiveness of the DeNOx process in the high temperature range.     

Polyurethane anionomers synthesised with aromatic, aliphatic or cycloaliphatic diisocyanates, polyoxyethylene glycol and 2,2-bis-(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid. Part II. Supermolecular structure. Thermal properties

Small angle X-ray scattering and differential scanning calorimetry methods were employed to characterise the internal order of structural phases present in polyurethane coatings obtained as a result of water evaporation from anionomer dispersions. Those anionomers were produced in the reaction of aromatic, cycloaliphatic and aliphatic diisocyanates with polyoxyethylene glycol, 2,2-bis-(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid and 1,6-hexamethylenediamine. The decisive effects were found from ionic and polar structures within the rigid urethane and urea segments on the ordered arrangement degree of the supermolecular structures in the obtained anionomers. That becomes apparent in differential scanning calorimetry thermograms and contributes to improved thermal stability of the produced polyurethane coatings.     

Simultaneous determination of 11 drugs belonging to four different groups in human urine samples by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method

A new, accurate, sensitive and fast reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) as an analytical method for the quantitative determination of 11 drugs in human urine was worked out, optimized and validated. The objects of analysis were imipenem (IMP), paracetamol (PAR), dipyrone (DPR), vancomycin (VCM), amikacin (AMK), fluconazole (FZ), cefazolin (CFZ), prednisolone (PRE), dexamethasone (DEX), furosemide (FUR) and ketoprofen (KET) belonging to four different groups (antibiotics, analgesic, demulcent and diuretic). For HPLC analysis, diode array (DAD) and fluorescence (FL) detectors were used. The separation of analyzed compounds was conducted by means of a LiChroCART^® Purospher^® C₁₈e (125 mm × 3 mm, particle size 5 μm) analytical column with LiChroCART^® LiChrospher^® C₁₈ (4 mm × 4 mm, particle size 5 μm) pre-column with gradient elution. Analyzed drugs were determined within 20 min. The mobile phase was comprised of various proportions of methanol, acetonitrile and 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid in water. AMK was separated and determined from human urine using ortho-phthaldialdehyde-3-mercaptopropionic acid (OPA-3-MPA) as a fluorescent reagent by RP-HPLC-FL. The following retention times for drugs IMP, PAR, DPR, VCM, AMK, FZ, CFZ, PRE, DEX, FUR and KET in human urine were found: 4.01 min, 4.86 min, 6.71 min, 8.14 min, 9.46 min, 10.01 min, 10.90 min, 13.34 min, 14.06 min, 16.03 min and 18.98 min, respectively. Excellent linearity was obtained for compounds in the range of concentration: 0.35-42 μg ml⁻¹, 0.5-45 μg ml⁻¹, 4.5-38 μg ml⁻¹, 0.25-25 μg ml⁻¹, 0.5-35 μg ml⁻¹, 0.25-22 μg ml⁻¹, 0.03-52 μg ml⁻¹, 0.15-25 μg ml⁻¹, 0.25-28 μg ml⁻¹, 0.05-18 μg ml⁻¹ and 0.15-35 μg ml⁻¹ for IMP, PAR, DPR, VCM, AMK, FZ, CFZ, PRE, DEX, FUR and KET, respectively. The limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) for analyzed drugs were calculated in all cases and recovery studies were also performed. Ten human urine samples obtained from patients treated in hospital have been tested. In analyzed samples, one or more drugs from the 11 examined drugs were detected. The concentrations of examined drugs in urine samples ranged between: 1.5-12 μg ml⁻¹ of PAR, 5.2-11.5 μg ml⁻¹ of DPR, 0.13-9.5 μg ml⁻¹ of CFZ and 0.1-8 μg ml⁻¹ of FUR. This method can be successfully applied to routine determination of all these drugs in human urine samples.     

Iron(0) and ruthenium(0) complexes with tridentate phosphonite ligands and their potential for ketene formation from methyl iodide, CO and a base

An efficient route to the novel tridentate phosphine ligands RP[CH₂CH₂CH₂P(OR′)₂]₂ (I: R = Ph; R′ = i-Pr; II: R = Cy; R′ = i-Pr; III: R = Ph; R′ = Me and IV: R = Cy; R′ = Me) has been developed. The corresponding ruthenium and iron dicarbonyl complexes M(triphos)(CO)₂ (1: M = Ru; triphos = I; 2: M = Ru; triphos = II; 3: M = Ru; triphos = III; 4: M = Ru; triphos = IV; 5: M = Fe; triphos = I; 6: M = Fe; triphos = II; 7: M = Fe; triphos = III and 8: M = Fe; triphos = IV) have been prepared and fully characterized. The structures of 1, 3 and 5 have been established by X-ray diffraction studies. The oxidative addition of MeI to 1-8 produces a mixture of the corresponding isomeric octahedral cationic complexes mer,trans-(13a-20a) and mer,cis-[M(Me)(triphos)(CO)₂]I (13b-20b) (M = Ru, Fe; triphos = I-IV). The structures of 13a and 20a (as the tetraphenylborate salt (21)) have been verified by X-ray diffraction studies. The oxidative addition of other alkyl iodides (EtI, i-PrI and n-PrI) to 1-8 did not afford the corresponding alkyl metal complexes and rather the cationic octahedral iodo complexes mer,cis-[M(I)(triphos)(CO)₂]I (22-29) (M = Ru, Fe; triphos = I-IV) were produced. Complexes 22-29 could also be obtained by the addition of a stoichiometric amount of I₂ to 1-8. The structure of 22 has been verified by an X-ray diffraction study. Reaction of 13a/b-20a/b with CO afforded the acetyl complexes mer,trans-[M(COMe)(triphos)(CO)₂]I, 30-37, respectively (M = Ru, Fe; triphos = I-IV). The ruthenium acetyl complexes 30-33 reacted slowly with 2-tert-butylimino-2-diethylamino-1,3-dimethylperhydro-1,3,2-diazaphosphorine (BEMP) even in boiling acetonitrile. Under the same conditions, the deprotonation reactions of the iron acetyl complexes 34-37 were completed within 24-40 h to afford the corresponding zero valent complexes 5-8. It was not possible to observe the intermediate ketene complexes. Tracing of the released ketene was attempted by deprotonation studies on the labelled species mer,trans-[Fe(COCD₃)(triphos)(CO)₂]I (38) and mer,trans-[Fe(¹³COMe)(triphos)(CO)₂]I (39).     

A pentanuclear bimetallic complex of manganese(II) and aluminium(III) ions: tetra‐μ2‐iodido‐iodidobis(μ3‐2‐methoxyethanolato)bis(μ2‐2‐methoxyethanolato)dimethyl(tetrahydrofuran‐κO)aluminium(III)tetramanganese(II)

The molecule of the title compound, [Mn₄Al(CH₃)₂(C₃H₇O₂)₄I₅(C₄H₈O)], contains one Al^III and four Mn^II ions. Two Mn atoms are five‐coordinate in the form of a trigonal bipyramid or a square pyramid. The two other Mn atoms are six‐coordinate with an octahedral geometry. The fourcoordinate Al atom is linked to the manganese core by μ‐O_alkoxo bridges, forming an almost planar five‐membered ring.     

On Raman optical activity sign-switching between the ground and excited states leading to an unusual resonance ROA induced chirality

Raman optical activity (ROA) spectra recorded for a chiral naphthalene diimide derivative (nBu-NDI–BINAM) dissolved in a series of solvents exhibit strong solute to solvent induced chirality with: (1) dominating bands of solvents, (2) nBu-NDI–BINAM resonance ROA (RROA) bands which are barely visible, (3) monosignate RROA Solvent spectra with an unexpected sign concordant with that of the ECD band of the resonant electronic state, (4) bisignate RROA bands for a few solvents, and (5) superposition of non-resonant and resonant ROA bands of the chiral solvents. The unusual ROA enhancement was explained in terms of resonance energy transfer with resonant Raman emission. The surprising RROA sign-switching was found to be due to specific conformational equilibria where one solute conformer dominates in the ground and the other in the first excited singlet state, and, the signs of the related ECD bands of these two conformers are opposite.

Unusual solute to solvent induced chirality in ROA comes from specific conformer equilibria in the ground and the excited states.