13C-NMR studies on the cevanine alkaloids : the application of 13C-NMR spectrum for structure elucidation of new alkaloids,baimonidine and isoverticine

The ¹³C-NMR spectra of seven cavanine alkaloids isolated from Veratrum and Fritillaria plants were measured and their signals were assigned, and these results were applicated for structure elucidation of two new cevanine alkaloids, baimonidine and isoverticine, isolated from mature Fritillaria verticillata.     

Spatial arrangement of metal nanoparticles supported by porous polymer substrates studied by transmission electron microtomography

Fine metal particles (nanoparticles) stabilized on porous (polymeric) substrates can be considered as a model system of a high-performance catalyst. In the present study, the substrate was made using the periodic microphase-separated structure of a block copolymer as the template, and the Pd nanoparticles were formed inside the porous material by reduction of the Pd2+ ions with 1-propanol as the reductant. The three-dimensional morphology of such a polymer-Pd hybrid material was studied by transmission electron microtomography. The characteristic structural parameters of the hybrid, e.g., the penetration of the Pd nanoparticles into the polymer substrate, number density of the Pd nanoparticles, and size distribution of the Pd nanoparticles, were measured for the first time.     

The influence of polytypic structures on the M011-->M101 solid-solid phase transition of n-C36H74: an application of the oblique infrared transmission method

The molecular displacements on the M011-->M101 phase transition of n-hexatriacontane (n-C36H74) have been investigated with an IR microscope designed for the oblique infrared transmission method. It has been clarified that two polytypic structures of the M011 modification, single-layered structure (Mon) and double-layered one (Orth II), both transform to the M101 modification of single-layered structure with their respective mechanisms. On the M011(Mon)-->M101 transition, the inclination direction of molecular axis is changed by 90 degrees through an intermediate state in which the molecular chain is set perpendicular to the basal plane of the single crystal. On the other hand, a polymorphic-polytypic composite structural change on the M011(Orth II)-->M101 transition is accomplished through two kinds of molecular displacements occurring alternately along the stacking direction of molecular layers.     

A study of the alumina-silica gel adsorbent for the removal of silicic acid from geothermal water: increase in adsorption capacity of the adsorbent due to formation of amorphous aluminosilicate by adsorption of silicic acid

Two kinds of adsorbents (Si adsorbent and Al adsorbent) for the removal of silicic acid from geothermal water to retard the formation of silica scales were prepared using silicic acid contained in geothermal water. The Si adsorbent was prepared by evaporating geothermal water, and the Al adsorbent was prepared by evaporating geothermal water after the addition of aluminum chloride. The specific surface area of the Si adsorbent was small and it's adsorption capacity of silicic acid was low. Although the specific surface area of the Al adsorbent was also small, it was significantly increased by the adsorption of silicic acid and it's adsorption capacity was high. Based on the change in the local structure of aluminum ion by the adsorption of silicic acid, the Al adsorbent was considered to be silica particles covered with crystalline aluminum hydroxide. Moreover, it was concluded that the increase in the specific surface area of the Al adsorbent and the decrease in the zeta potential were due to the formation of an amorphous aluminosilicate with a large surface area and a negative charge (one 4-coordinated Al) by the reaction between aluminum ions and silicic acids.     

Rapid colorimetric determination of manganese in waters containing iron : A modification of the formaldoxime method

A rapid photometric method with formaldoxime is described for the determination of small amounts of manganese in waters containing iron. The iron formaldoxime formed is decomposed by addition of EDTA and hydroxylamine after development of the manganese-formaldoxime color. Beer's law holds up to 3 mg Mn/1. Up to 25 mg iron(II) or (III) per 1 can be tolerated.     

Monitoring of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine in urine by high-performance liquid chromatography after pre-column derivatization with glyoxal reagents

A new, simple and sensitive pre-column fluorescence derivatization high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of the oxidative DNA stress marker, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine, was developed. Solid-phase extraction using an Oasis HLB cartridge avoided troublesome sample preparation steps, interference from charged species and frequent and essential electrode maintenance in electrochemical procedures. 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine and other guanine compounds were selectively derivatized with glyoxal reagents (phenylglyoxal, 3,4-methylenedioxyglyoxal, 2-naphtylglyoxal and 6-methoxynaphthylglyoxal) at 40-60 degrees C. Derivatization with 6-methoxynaphthylglyoxal at 40 degrees C for 30 min gave the strongest fluorescence product. The fluorescence derivatives from reaction with 6-methoxynaphthylglyoxal were separated on a Capcell Pak C18 SG 120A column (4.6 mm i.d. x 150 mm, 5 microm) with acetonitrile-5 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.0; 3:7, v/v) as mobile phase. The detection wavelength of the fluorescence derivative of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine was lambda(ex) 400 nm and lambda(em) 510 nm. The detection limit of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine was 1 ng/mL using 50 mL of urine. The calibration graphs were linear up to 30 microg/mL for 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine. The relative standard deviation of 20 ng/mL of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine was 7.0%. The proposed method was compared with the enzymatic ELISA 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine analysis method (8-OH-dG Check, JaICA, Shizuoka, Japan). The correlation coefficient was 0.79 (n = 20) and y = 0.85x + 5.34. The proposed method was applied to the monitoring of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine in urine from male heavy smokers.     

ESR Study of a Nitroxide Radical in Sol-Gel Glasses

A spin probe TEMPOL (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxy) was dissolved in a tetraethyl orthosilicate sol-gel reaction system and measured by electron spin resonance spectroscopy at 295 K. The nitrogen hyperfine coupling constant was from 1.64–1.66 mT in the sol-gel solutions. The values were sensitive to the ethanol-to-water ratio of the solutions. The hyperfine coupling constant in the xerogels was 1.70 mT, which was almost the same as that in water, indicating that the probe molecules were trapped in silica pores with water adsorbed on the silica surfaces. The motion of TEMPOL in the xerogels was considerably slower than in the sol-gel solutions. The local viscosity estimated was from 70–90 cP. The ESR spectra of TEMPOL were altered during the sol-gel process, indicating that adsorbed water on the silicas surfaces has an important role for trapping organic molecules in sol-gel glasses.     

Improvement of the Derjaguin-Broekhoff-de Boer theory for the capillary condensation/evaporation of nitrogen in spherical cavities and its application for the pore size analysis of silicas with ordered cagelike mesopores

In a previous work, we proposed an improvement of the Derjaguin-Broekhoff-de Boer (DBdB) theory for capillary condensation/evaporation in open-ended cylindrical mesopores. In this paper, we report a further extension of this approach to the capillary condensation/evaporation of nitrogen in siliceous spherical cavities. The main idea of this improvement is to employ the Gibbs-Tolman-Koenig-Buff equation to predict the variation of the surface tension in spherical mesopores. In addition, the statistical film thickness (the so-called t-curve), which is evaluated accurately on the basis of adsorption isotherms measured for MCM-41 materials, is used instead of the originally proposed t-curve to take into account the excess chemical potential due to the surface forces. It is shown that the aforementioned modifications of the original DBdB theory that was refined by Ravikovitch and Neimark have significant implications for the pore size analysis of cagelike mesoporous silicas. To verify the proposed improvement of the DBdB pore size analysis (IDBdB), two series of FDU-1 samples, which are well-defined cagelike mesoporous materials (composed of siliceous spherical cavities interconnected by short necks), were used for the evaluation of the pore size distributions (PSDs). The correlation between the spinodal condensation point in the spherical pores predicted by the nonlocal density functional theory (NDFT) developed by Ravikovitch and Neimark and that predicted by the IDBdB theory is very good in the whole range of mesopores. This feature is mirrored to the realistic PSD characterized by the bimodal structure of pores computed from the IDBdB theory. As in the case of open-ended cylindrical pores, the improvement of the classical DBdB theory preserves its simplicity and simultaneously ensures a significant improvement of the pore size analysis, which is confirmed by the independent estimation of the average pore size by the NDFT and the powder X-ray diffraction method.     

Synthesis of the new chiral tridentate ligand bis(pyrid-2-ylethyl) menthylphosphine and its use in the palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylations

We describe the synthesis of a new asymmetric P,N,N′-tridentate ligand (bis(pyrid-2-ylethyl) menthylphosphine, BPEMP), containing two pyridyl rings and (1S,2R,5S)-menthylphosphino group. The ligand is obtained in five steps from natural abundant l-menthol. The coordination behavior of the ligand toward cationic (allylic)Pd(II) moiety and its first application in palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation are presented. Crystallographic and spectroscopic analyses reveal that [(η³-allylic)Pd(BPEMP)]⁺ complex forms only one isomer in the solid state as well as in solution.     

Sensitive analysis of aconitine, hypaconitine, mesaconitine and jesaconitine in human body fluids and Aconitum tubers by LC/ESI-TOF-MS

The Aconitum species (Ranunculaceae) are widely distributed in northern Asia and North America. Their roots are popularly used in herbal medicines in China and Japan. Many cases of accidental, suicidal and homicidal intoxication with this plant have been reported; some of these were fatal because the toxicity of Aconitum is very high. It is thus important to detect and quantify Aconitum alkaloids in body fluids, with high sensitivity. We have developed a simple and sensitive method for measuring four kinds of Aconitum alkaloids (aconitine, hypaconitine, jesaconitine and mesaconitine) by LC/electrospray (ESI)-time-of-flight (TOF)-MS. For all of them, only molecular ions were observed at an orifice voltage of 75 V; at 135 V, base peaks corresponding to [M - 60 + H]+ ions were observed. These four compounds and methyllycaconitine (internal standard) in human plasma samples were purified by solid-phase extraction. The four extracted compounds were completely separated in mass chromatograms; the calibration curves showed good linearity in the range 10-300 ng/ml, and the detection limits were estimated to be 0.2-0.5 ng/ml. Using our method, we also determined the amounts of these compounds in tuber samples. The present method is applicable in clinical and forensic toxicology.