Comparison of fast field-cycling magnetic resonance imaging methods and future perspectives

ABSTRACT

Fast field-cycling (FFC) nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry is a well-established method to determine the relaxation rates as a function of magnetic field strength. This so-called nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion gives insight into the underlying molecular dynamics of a wide range of complex systems and has gained interest especially in the characterisation of biological tissues and diseases. The combination of FFC techniques with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers a high potential for new types of image contrast more specific to pathological molecular dynamics. This article reviews the progress in FFC-MRI over the last decade and gives an overview of the hardware systems currently in operation. We discuss limitations and error correction strategies specific to FFC-MRI such as field stability and homogeneity, signal-to-noise ratio, eddy currents and acquisition time. We also report potential applications with impact in biology and medicine. Finally, we discuss the challenges and future applications in transferring the underlying molecular dynamics into novel types of image contrast by exploiting the dispersive properties of biological tissue or MRI contrast agents.     

BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF PHTHALOCYANINES-X. SYNTHESES AND ANALYSES OF SULFONATED PHTHALOCYANINES

Abstract— Synthetic methods to obtain selectively sulfonated metallo phthalocyanines are compared. Both condensation and direct sulfonation procedures lead to mixtures of mono- to tetrasulfonated products which are resolved by reverse phase liquid chromatography in buffered aqueous-methanol. The proportion of sulfonated derivatives is examined as a function of the starting reagents in the case of the condensation method, and as a function of the temperature and reaction time in the case of the direct sulfonation procedure. The number of sulfonate groups per phthalocyanine molecule is determined by oxidative degradation of the phthalocyanine ring followed by quantitative chromatographic analysis of the sulfophthalamide and phthalamide fragments.     

Enzymatic synthesis of neopentylpolyol esters in organic media

Utilization of lipases for synthesis of esters of hydrophilic polyols has been investigated. The choice of a suitable solvent is crucial in this type of reaction. An interesting case is fatty acid esters from neopentylpolyols, such as trimethylolpropane, which are of great interest as high temperature lubricants. Enzymatic synthesis of trimethylolpropane tricaprylate was studied as an alternative to chemical manufacturing. Triester production occurred only if the water produced by esterification was continuously removed from the medium. In these condition, kinetics of appearance and transformation of mono-, di- and triesters were determined in order to define optimal conditions.     

Substituent effects in mass spectrometry—II. The effect of substituents on the dissociation of para and meta disubstituted benzenes

The effect of substituents on the activation energy for primary dissociation processes in the molecular ions of mono- and para and meta di-substituted benzenes has been examined. Where the daughter ion retains the substituent group, variation of the energy of activation derives from a combination of the effects of substituents on the ionisation potential of the molecular ion and the appearance potential of the daughter ion. An equation relating the energy of activation for the fragmentation of the molecular ion of a mono-substituted benzene to that of related para and meta di-substituted benzenes is presented.     

A novel synthetic route to 2-alkylpropane-1,3-sultones and its application to the synthesis of 2-alkyl derivatives of tramiprosate

A practical synthetic route to various 2-alkylpropane-1,3-sultones, the key intermediates for the preparation of 2-substituted homotaurines as analogs of tramiprosate, was developed.     

Dendrophanes: Water-soluble dendritic receptors as models for buried recognition sites in globular proteins

Water-soluble dendritic cyclophanes (dendrophanes) of first ( 1 , 4 ), second ( 2 5 ), and third generation ( 3 6 ) with poly(ether amide) branching and 12, 36, and 108 terminal carboxylate groups, respectively, were prepared by divergent synthesis, and their molecular recognition properties in aqueous solutions were investigated. Dendrophanes 1 – 3 incorporate as the initiator core a tetraoxa[6.1.6.1]paracyclophane 7 with a suitably sized cavity for inclusion complexation of benzene or naphthalene derivatives. The initiator core in 4 – 6 is the [6.1.6.1]cyclo-phane 8 shaped by two naphthyl(phenyl) methane units with a cavity suitable for steroid incorporation. The syntheses of 1 – 6 involved sequential peptide coupling to monomer 9 , followed by ester hydrolysis (Schemes 1 and 4), Purification by gel-permeation chromatography (GPC; Fig. 3) and full spectral characterization were accomplished at the stage of the intermediate poly(methyl carboxylates) 10 – 12 and 23 – 25 , respectively. The third-generation 108-ester 25 was also independently prepared by a semi-convergent synthetic strategy, starting from 4 (Scheme 5). All dendrophanes with terminal ester groups were obtained in pure form according to the ¹³C-NMR spectral criterion (Figs, 1 and 5). The MALDI-TOF mass spectra of the third-generation derivative 25 (mol. wt. 19328 D) displayed the molecular ion as base peak, accompanied by a series of ions [M – n(1041 ± 7)]⁺, tentatively assigned as characteristic fragment ions of the poly(ether amide) cascade. A similar fragmentation pattern was also observed in the spectra of other higher-generation poly(ether amide) dendrimers. Attempts to prepare monodisperse fourth-generation dendrophanes by divergent synthesis failed. ¹H-NMR and fluorescence binding titrations in basic aqueous buffer solutions showed that dendrophanes 1 – 3 complexed benzene and naphthalene derivatives, whereas 4 – 6 bound the steroid testosterone. Complexation occurred exclusively at the cavity-binding site of the central cyclophane core rather than in fluctuating voids in the dendritic branches, and the association strength was similar to that of the complexes formed by the initiator cores 7 and 8 , respectively (Tables 1 and 3). Fluorescence titrations with 6-(p-toluidino)naphthalene-2-sulfonate as fluorescent probe in aqueous buffer showed that the micropolarity at the cyclophane core in dendrophanes 1 - 3 becomes increasingly reduced with increasing size and density of the dendritic superstructure; the polarity at the core of the third-generation compound 3 is similar to that of EtOH (Table 2). Host-guest exchange kinetics were remarkably fast and, except for receptor 3 , the stabilities of all dendrophane complexes could be evaluated by ¹H-NMR titrations. The rapid complexation-decomplexation kinetics are explained by the specific attachment of the dendritic wedges to large, nanometer-sized cyclophane initiator cores, which generates apertures in the surrounding dendritic superstructure.     

Some theoretical aspects on morphology development in seeded composite latexes. I. Batch conditions below monomer saturation

In seeded emulsion polymerization, during the second stage, new interfaces appear and the surface area changes. A thermodynamic equilibrium approach is presented which predicts particle morphology of a whole range of non-spherical particles upon polymer conversion. Simulation takes into account swelling ratio, molar volumes and interfacial tension. As the particle geometry is complex, a new mathematical procedure is detailed.The computed data are useful to discuss either the stability or the instability of the particles morphology. These results must be compared with actual experimental structures.Abreviations and symbols G Gibbs' free energy - reduced Gibbs' free energy - _i interfacial tension - ₁₂ interfacial tension between polymer 1 and polymer 2 - _1w interfacial tension between polymer 1 and water - _2w interfacial tension between polymer 2 and water - r ₁ polymer 1 swollen by monomer 2 sphere radius - r ₂ polymer 2 swollen by monomer 2 sphere radius - r _i interfacial radius - h ₁ sphere 1 distance to minimal section - h ₂ sphere 2 distance to minimal section - h _i interfacial sphere distance to minimal section - sign ofh _i, positive when the interface sphere is on the side of the sphere 2, negative when the interface sphere is on the side of the sphere 1 - A ₁₂ surface between polymer 1 and polymer 2 - A _1w surface between polymer 1 and water - A _1w ⁰ surface between polymer 1 and water before polymerization - A _2w surface between polymer 2 and water - v ₁ volume of the polymer 1 swollen by monomer 2 - v _i volume of the polymer 1 swollen by monomer 2 before polymerization - v ₂ volume of the polymer 2 swollen by monomer 2 - V _p1 polymer 1 molar volume - V _p2 polymer 2 molar volume - V _m2 monomer 2 molar volume - n _p2 polymer 2 number of mole - n _p1 polymer 1 number of moles - n _m21 monomer 2 number of mole in the swollen polymer 1 - n _m22 monomer 2 number of mole in the swollen polymer 2 - n _m2 monomer 2 total number of mole - n _m2 monomer 2 number of mole before polymerization - TGn ₁ polymer 1 swelling rate - TGn ₂ polymer 2 swelling rate - TGn _i maximum number of mole of monomer 2 in polymeri by mole of polymeri - x polymer 2 conversion rate - K, p, q mathematical variables - D, r, a mathematical variables     

Kinetic applications of thermal analysis

A study was undertaken to compare two computational methods of estimating kinetic parameters from thermoanalytical experiments. Examples illustrating the relationship between reaction complexity and validity of isothermalvs. non-isothermal kinetic analyses will be presented. Thermal decomposition of several compounds was studied both by isothermal and dynamic thermogravimetry (TG). For the isothermal runs, reaction order and activation energy were estimated using established methods. For the dynamic runs, the statistical method of nonlinear least squares was used to estimate all three kinetic parameters of the nth order decomposition reaction and their individual 95% confidence intervals. Both methods assumed Arrhenius temperature dependence.

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Zusammenfassung Es wurde eine Untersuchung zum Vergleich von zwei Methoden zur Berechnung von kinetischen Parametern aus Ergebnissen thermoanalytischer Experimente unternommen. Beispiele werden angegeben, die die Beziehung zwischen isothermer und nichtisothermer kinetischer Analyse in Bezug auf Komplexizität der Reaktion und Gültigkeit illustrieren. Die thermische Zersetzung verschiedener Verbindungen wurde mittels isothermer und dynamischer Thermogravimetrie (TG) untersucht. Aus den isothermen Versuchsergebnissen wurden die Reaktionsordnung und Aktivierungsenergie nach den üblichen Methoden bestimmt. Aus den dynamischen Versuchsdaten wurden alle drei kinetischen Parameter der Reaktion n-ter Ordnung und deren individuelle 95%-Konfidenzintervalle nach der Methode der kleinsten Fehlerquadrate ermittelt. Beide Methoden setzen eine Temperaturabhängigkeit entsprechend der Arrhenius-Gleichung voraus.

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Presented at the 13th North American Thermal Analysis Society Conference, Philadelphia, PA 23–26 September 1984.     

Synthesis of trans-(3S)-amino-(4R)-alkyl- and -(4S)-aryl-piperidines via ring-closing metathesis reaction

[reaction: see text] trans-(3S)-Amino piperidines bearing various alkyl and aryl substituents at the C-4 position were synthesized via a ring-closing metathesis reaction. The absolute stereochemistry was controlled using a protected D-serine as a starting material. Stereoselective hydrogenation of allylamines provided trans-(3S)-amino-(4R)-alkyl- and -(4S)-aryl-piperidines. This procedure presents the first method for the asymmetric synthesis of 4-substituted 3-amino piperidines.