Hydrophobic terminal group of surfactant initiating micellization as revealed by 1H NMR spectroscopy

The critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of four with three kinds of conventional surfactants, namely, two cationic surfactants [hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and tetradecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (TTAB)], one anionic surfactant [sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)], and a nonionic surfactant [Triton X-100 (TX-100)], were determined by variation of ¹H chemical shifts with surfactant concentrations. Results show that the CAC values of protons at different positions of the same molecule are different, and those of the terminal methyl protons are the lowest, respectively, which suggests that the terminal groups of the alkyl chains aggregates first during micellization. Measurement of the transverse relaxation time (T₂) of different protons in SDS also show that the terminal methyl protons start to decrease with the increase in concentration first, which supports the above mentioned tendency.     

Anti-tumor effects of combined doxorubicin and siRNA for pulmonary delivery

Direct administration of drugs and genes to the lungs by pulmonary delivery offers a potential effective therapy for lung cancers.In this study,combined doxorubicin(DOX)and Bcl2 siRNA was employed for cancer therapy using polyethylenimine(PEI)as the carrier of Bcl2 siRNA.Most of the DOX and siRNA possessed high cellular uptake efficiency in B16F10 cells,which was proved by FCM and CLSM analysis. Real-time PCR showed that PEI/Bcl2 siRNA exhibited high gene silencing efficiency with 70% Bcl2 mRNA being knocked down.The combination of DOX and siRNA could enhance the cell proliferation inhibition and the cell apoptosis against B16F10 cells compared to free DOX or PEI/Bcl2 siRNA.Furthermore,the biodistribution of DOX and siRNA via pulmonary administration was studied in mice with B16F10 metastatic lung cancer.The results showed that most of the DOX and siRNA were accumulated in lungs and lasted at least for 3 days,which suggested that combined DOX and siRNA by pulmonary administration may have high anti-tumor effects for metastatic lung cancer treatment in vivo.     

Solvent effect in polymer analysis by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Solvent effect is one of the important factors in sample preparation which may affect matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectra of synthetic polymers. MALDI imaging, a useful imaging tool for discovering biomarkers in tissues, is applied here for better comprehension of solvent effect in polymer analysis by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Nylon-6 was chosen as a model polymer for the study of solvent effect. Its MALDI mass spectra in different solvents were performed. MALDI imaging analysis was performed for studying the incorporation of analytes into matrix crystals in different solvent combinations. Specifically, the colocalization of matrix and analyte was obtained through Pearson’s correlation (PC) coefficient analysis of their MALDI images. The results demonstrated that satisfactory spectra were obtained in higher PC value conditions. PC decreased along with an increase in the ratio of poor solvent, which suggested that we should minimize the poor solvent ratio to obtain better MALDI spectra.     

Biosynthesis of Gold Nanoparticles by Flavonoids from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lilium casa blanca</Emphasis>

Biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) by flavonoids from Lilium casa blanca has been developed. Several parameters such as pH, reaction temperature, reaction time and concentration of flavonoids were explored to control the formation of the GNPs. The synthesized GNPs were characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Stability and catalytic activity of the synthesized GNPs were also discussed. The results showed that the synthesized GNPs were in spherical, about 2.6 nm, with a face centered cubic structure. Synthesized GNPs showed good catalytic activity in the reduction of p-nitrophenol (p-NP) to p-aminphenol (p-AP). This method for synthesis of GNPs is simple, economic, nontoxic and efficient.     

A New Trinuclear Zn(II) Complex {[Zn(μ-ONN)(μ<Subscript>2</Subscript>-O)(μ-OO)]<Subscript>2</Subscript>Zn}: Synthesis,Characterization, Thermal Decomposition and Antibacterial Activity

New centrosymmetric trinuclear zinc(II) complex {[Zn(μ-ONN)(μ₂-O)(μ-OO)]₂Zn} has been synthesized by the reaction of a potentially ONN tridentate Schiff base ligand, and N,N-dimethylethylendiamin, with Zn(OAc)₂·2H₂O in methanol, in the refluxed conditions and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and UV–Vis spectroscopy. Single crystal X-ray structure analysis reveals a trinuclear complex {[Zn(μ-ONN)(μ₂-O)(μ-OO)]₂Zn} with zinc(II) ions connected by three different bridges, (μ-ONN) of the Schiff base ligand, μ₂-O and μ-OO of the acetate. The complex is centrosymmetric, with one of the Zn atoms located at the inversion center. While the central Zn(II) ion is six-coordinated, the coordination number of the other Zn(II) ions is five. Finally, the {[Zn(μ-ONN)(μ₂-O)(μ-OO)]₂Zn} complex was thermally decomposed in air at 700 °C resulted in ZnO nano crystalites with the average size of 42 nm. The antibacterial activity of ligand and its zinc(II) complex were tested against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The ligand showed higher activity than its zinc(II) complex.     

Advanced solvent signal suppression for the acquisition of 1D and 2D NMR spectra of Scotch Whisky

A simple and robust solvent suppression technique that enables acquisition of high‐quality 1D ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of alcoholic beverages on cryoprobe instruments was developed and applied to acquire NMR spectra of Scotch Whisky. The method uses 3 channels to suppress signals of water and ethanol, including those of ¹³C satellites of ethanol. It is executed in automation allowing high throughput investigations of alcoholic beverages. On the basis of the well‐established 1D nuclear Overhauser spectroscopy (NOESY) solvent suppression technique, this method suppresses the solvent at the beginning of the pulse sequence, producing pure phase signals minimally affected by the relaxation. The developed solvent suppression procedure was integrated into several homocorrelated and heterocorrelated 2D NMR experiments, including 2D correlation spectroscopy (COSY), 2D total correlation spectroscopy (TOCSY), 2D band‐selective TOCSY, 2D J‐resolved spectroscopy, 2D ¹H, ¹³C heteronuclear single‐quantum correlation spectroscopy (HSQC), 2D ¹H, ¹³C HSQC‐TOCSY, and 2D ¹H, ¹³C heteronuclear multiple‐bond correlation spectroscopy (HMBC). A 1D chemical‐shift‐selective TOCSY experiments was also modified. The wealth of information obtained by these experiments will assist in NMR structure elucidation of Scotch Whisky congeners and generally the composition of alcoholic beverages at the molecular level.     

Synthesis of five-coordinate manganese(I) carbonyl complex [(CO)<Subscript>3</Subscript>Mn (-S,-Se-C<Subscript>6</Subscript>H<Subscript>3</Subscript>-4-Me)]<Superscript>−</Superscript>: influences of non-innocent ligand to the structure,reactivity and electrochemical property

Oxidative addition of Br₂ to [Mn(CO)₅]^? leads to the formation of [(CO)₄MnBr], followed by the ligand exchange of bromide to [S,Se-C₆H₃-4-Me] ₂ ^2? to form complex (CO)₃Mn (µ-? ⁴-SC₆H₃-4-(CH₃)Se-SeC₆H₃-4-(CH₃)S)Mn(CO)₃ (1). A new five-coordinate complex [(CO)₃Mn(-S,-Se-C₆H₃-4-CH₃)]^? (2) can be synthesized through two different routes: (a) oxidative addition of diselenide [HS,Se-C₆H₃-4-Me]₂ to the [Mn(CO)₅]^? followed by deprotonation and ligand dissociation to generate complex 2; (b) reduction of diselenide bonds of complex 1 by [BH₄]^? to produce 2. Drop-wise addition of HBF₄·OEt₂ at 0 °C results in the formation of complex 1. The X-ray analysis shows that complex 2 has relative short Mn–Se and Mn–S bond distances compare to the published structures of cis-[(CO)₄Mn(EPh)₂]^? (E = S and Se; Liaw et al. in J. Chin. Chem. Soc. 43:427–431, 1996; Liaw et al. in Inorg. Chem. 35:2530, 1996). Interestingly, exposure of the coordinated unsaturated complex 2 under CO_(g) atmosphere resulted in complex cis-[(CO)₄Mn(-S,-Se-C₆H₃-4-Me)]^? (3) being formed. After purging the solution of complex 3 with N₂, it was reconverted completely back to complex 2; this observation was characterized by FTIR. The cyclic voltammetry scan of complex 2 shows a quasi-reversible redox couple with E _1/2 = ?1.94 V and I _pa/I _pc = 0.68. Ligand [HS, Se-C₆H₃-4-CH₃]₂ and complexes 1 and 2 are all characterized by IR, UV–Vis, NMR, EA and X-ray single crystal diffraction.     

Uncertainty evaluation for the determination of the dissolved fraction of sulpiride content in tablets

Accreditation and Quality Assurance - The aim of this work was to establish a mathematical model to identify the main source of measurement uncertainty, quantify each uncertainty component, and...     

Study of structural parameters on the adsorption selectivity of a molecularly imprinted polymer

This work was focused on the influence of match degree of structure parameters i.e. molecular size, volume and polarity (denoted as R_d, V_d and P_d) between imprinted cavities in Qu-MIP and Xn on the adsorption selectivity. The results presented that the influence of R_d on the adsorption selectivity was the largest and the most regular, while the influence of P_d was the smallest and the most irregular. Besides, the influence degree of V_d was decreased in general with the increase of R_d. However, as R_d was in the threshold of [0.99, 1.02], V_d would rise to the major influence factor. Furthermore, utilizing data obtained from experiment, the influence authority of R_d, V_d and P_d on the adsorption selectivity was calculated theoretically through multiple linear regression and principal component analysis of IBM SPSS Statistics 20, and results showed the authority order was R_d, V_d and P_d at any circumstance despite the value was different, which was in accordance with the result we directly inducted from the experiment.     

UPLC fingerprint analysis and identification of flavonoids in Scutellaria indica by UFLC-triple-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

The aim of this study was to raise the quality control level of Scutellaria indica. A quick and stable ultra performance liquid chromatography method was established for the fingerprint analysis of S. indica. A total of 32 common peaks were marked with 10 batches S. indica detected in 30?min using similarity evaluation system for chromatographic fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine (2004A version). Besides, a high-resolution mass spectrometer was used to identify flavonoids in S. indica. A total of 27 flavonoids in S. indica were identified. And a series of fragmentation regularities were obtained, which could be used for the identification of other flavonoids. Therefore, the established liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometer method could be successfully utilized for the quality control of S. indica.