A multi-analytical study of degradation of lignin in archaeological waterlogged wood

Historical or archaeological wooden objects are generally better conserved in wet environments than in other contexts. Nevertheless, anaerobic erosion bacteria can slowly degrade waterlogged wood, causing a loss of cellulose and hemicellulose and leading to the formation of water-filled cavities. During this process, lignin can also be altered. The result is a porous and fragile structure, poor in polysaccharides and mainly composed of residual lignin, which can easily collapse during drying and needs specific consolidation treatments. For this reason, the chemical characterization of archaeological lignin is of primary importance in the diagnosis and conservation of waterlogged wood artifacts. Current knowledge of the lignin degradation processes in historical and archaeological wood is extremely inadequate. In this study lignin extracted from archaeological waterlogged wood was examined using both Py-GC/MS, NMR spectroscopy and GPC analysis. The samples were collected from the Site of the Ancient Ships of San Rossore (Pisa, Italy), where since 1998 31 shipwrecks, dating from 2nd century BC to 5th century AD, have been discovered. The results, integrated by GPC analysis, highlight the depolymerization of lignin with cleavage of ether bonds, leading to an higher amount of free phenol units in the lignin from archaeological waterlogged wood, compared to sound lignin from reference wood of the same species.     

Analytical pyrolysis vs. classical wet chemical analysis to assess the decay of archaeological waterlogged wood

The macromolecular complexity of wood limits the possibility of obtaining complete chemical information on its alteration in archaeological objects. This paper compares the results obtained in the characterisation of the components of archaeological wood by a classical wet chemical method and by an instrumental method based on pyrolysis in presence of hexamethyldisilazane coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, Py(HMDS)–GC/MS. We compare the results obtained with the two methods quantitatively. This enables us to evaluate the efficiency of Py(HMDS)–GC/MS in assessing the chemical composition and the state of conservation of degraded wood. The material analysed consisted of reference sound wood and waterlogged wood from the ?ó?te historical site, located on a small island on Lake Zarańskie in Poland. The samples are from the remains of settlements dating to a period between the 9th and the 12th centuries AD.     

Analysis of lignin from archaeological waterlogged wood by direct exposure mass spectrometry (DE-MS) and PCA evaluation of mass spectral data

The chemical characterisation of waterlogged archaeological wood is of fundamental importance to understand the degradation processes undergone by wooden objects and consequently to develop suitable consolidation and conservation procedures. Lignin extracted from archaeological waterlogged wood samples was characterized using direct exposure electron ionisation mass spectrometry (DE-MS). DE-MS achieves a mass spectral fingerprint of the sample in a few minutes, avoiding any chemical pre-treatment and requiring only few micrograms of material.Mass spectral data were put in relation to the chemical composition of lignin and evaluated by means of principal component analysis (PCA). The preliminary results, presented in this study, demonstrate the feasibility and the potential of DE-MS as a reproducible and rapid screening method for archaeological waterlogged wood samples.     

Characterisation of archaeological waterlogged wood by pyrolytic and mass spectrometric techniques

Two techniques based on analytical pyrolysis and mass spectrometry, direct exposure-MS (DE-MS) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), were used to characterise waterlogged archaeological wood and to study degradation patterns of wood in aqueous environments. The two techniques were applied to samples from the excavation of the Site of the Ancient Ships of Pisa San Rossore in Pisa (Italy), and data were compared to those relative to native sound wood of the same species (pine, elm, beech). Both the methods result valuable in the analysis of ancient wood artefacts, avoiding the long wet-chemical procedures that are commonly used in wood analysis, and allowing us to use a minimal sample size. DE-MS achieves a global mass spectral fingerprint of lignin and polysaccharides pyrolysis compounds in few minutes, and the results have been interpreted with the support of principal component analysis (PCA) of mass spectra. Py-GC/MS permits detailed molecular analysis of pyrolysis compounds and highlights some chemical modifications of lignin in archaeological samples, as demethylation of both guaiacyl and syringyl lignin units. Both the techniques demonstrate consistent loss of polysaccharides in archaeological wood.     

Snapshots of lignin oxidation and depolymerization in archaeological wood: an EGA‐MS study

Evolved gas analysis‐mass spectrometry (EGA‐MS) was used for the first time to study archaeological wood, in order to investigate its chemical degradation. The archaeological wood was from an oak pile from a stilt house found in the Neolithic ‘La Marmotta’ village (Lake Bracciano, Rome, Italy). The sampling was performed from the external to the internal part of the pile, following the annual growth rings in groups of five. In addition, sound oak wood and isolated wood components (holocellulose and cellulose) were also analyzed, and the results were used to highlight differences because of degradation. Our study demonstrated that EGA‐MS provides information on the thermo‐chemistry of archaeological wood along with in‐depth compositional data thanks to the use of MS. Our investigations not only highlighted wood degradation in terms of differences between carbohydrates and lignin content, but also showed that lignin oxidation and depolymerization took place in the archaeological wood. Mass spectral data revealed differences among the archaeological samples from the internal to the external part of the pile. An increase in the formation of wood pyrolysis products bearing a carbonyl group at the benzylic position and a decrease in the amount of lignin dimers were observed. These were related to oxidation and depolymerization reactions, respectively. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization of waterlogged wood by NMR and GPC techniques

Anaerobic erosion bacteria can slowly degrade waterlogged wood, causing a loss of cellulose and hemicellulose. During this process, lignin can also be altered. For this reason, the chemical characterization of waterlogged archaeological wood is crucial for both the elucidation of the degradation processes and also the development of consolidation and conservation procedures.The complex structure of wood makes it practically impossible to dissolve wood in its native form in conventional molecular solvents. Ionic liquids can provide a homogeneous reaction medium for wood-based lignocellulosic materials. Highly substituted lignocellulosic esters and phosphite esters can be obtained under mild conditions by reacting pulverized wood dissolved in ionic liquid with either acyl chlorides or dioxaphospholanes in the presence of pyridine. As a result, the functionalized wood develops an enhanced solubility in molecular solvents, allowing for a complete characterization by means of spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques.In this study, archaeological woods and reference sound woods of the same taxa (Quercus and Arbutus unedo), along with the corresponding extracted lignin, were fully characterized by means of phosphorus NMR spectroscopy, two dimensional NMR spectroscopy and GPC analysis. The samples were collected from the Site of the Ancient Ships of San Rossore (Pisa, Italy), where many shipwrecks dating from 2nd century BC to 5th century AD have been discovered.The results highlighted a deeper and faster depolymerization of the polysaccharide matrix against a limited degradation of the lignin fraction. The use of innovative solvent system as the ionic liquid [amim]Cl enables to highlight chemical and morphologic changes in wood composition avoiding further degradation.     

A comparative CP/MAS 13C-NMR study of cellulose structure in spruce wood and kraft pulp

CP/MAS ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy in combination with spectral fitting was used to study the supermolecular structure of the cellulose fibril in spruce wood and spruce kraft pulp. During pulping, structures contributing to inaccessible surfaces in the wood cellulose are converted to the cellulose I allomorph, that is, the degree of order is increased. This increase is also accompanied by a conversion of cellulose I to cellulose I. Cellulose from wood composed of different cell types, that is, compression wood, juvenile wood, earlywood, latewood and normal wood exhibited a similar supermolecular structure. Assignments were made for signals from hemicellulose which contribute significantly to the spectral C-4 region (80–86 ppm) in kraft pulp spectra but substantially less to the corresponding region in wood spectra.     

Production of phenol compounds by alkaline treatment of technical hydrolysis lignin and wood biomass

Aqueous alkaline depolymerization of technical hydrolysis lignin (THL) was carried out with a 5% NaOH solution at a temperature of 180°C for 6 hours, the ratio between the biomass and depolymerizing agent being 1:8. The poplar wood sawdust was treated under the same conditions for 2 hours, where anthraquinone was added as a catalyst (0.5 wt %). The poplar wood bark was treated for 4 hours, without anthraquinone. Compounds contained in the aqueous phase were extracted three times by means of toluene for a ratio between the organic and aqueous phases equal to 1:5, 1:5 and 1:5. The compounds 2-methoxyphenol, 2,6-dimethoxyphenol, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)ethanone, 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde, etc., were identified through GC-MS analysis in obtained extracts. Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 144–146, March–April, 2008.     

Chemical characterization of ozonated lignin solutions from corn (Zea mays) stalk and poplar (Populus deltoides) wood by capillary gas chromatography

Corn (Zea mays) stalk and poplar (Populus deltoides) wood lignin was converted into monomeric aromatic compounds and short chain aliphatic carboxylic acids. The main reaction products were separated and identified using capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry on an HP-5 column. The compounds were considered as positively identified when their mass spectra and GC retention times agreed with those of authentic standard samples. The quantitative estimation of the identified reaction products was accomplished on an OV-101 capillary column by gas chromatography-FID using the internal standard method. Among the aromatic compounds, aldehydes (p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, vanillin, and syringaldehyde), acids (p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic, and syringic), and one phenol (hydroquinone) were determined. In addition, the aliphatic carboxylic acids: glycolic, oxalic, malonic, glyoxylic, butanedioic, glyceric, and malic acid were identified. All the calibration curves of the quantified compounds approximated to a straight line. For both corn stalk and poplar wood lignins, the major components were the aromatic aldehydes (71 and 64% of the characterized fraction, respectively), followed by the aliphatic carboxylic acids (20 and 21% of the characterized fraction, respectively).     

Functionalization of PAMAM dendrimers with nitronyl nitroxide radicals as models for the outer‐sphere relaxation in dentritic potential MRI contrast agents

PAMAM dendrimers functionalized with nitronyl nitroxide radicals were characterized. Quantitative determination of substitution with radicals was performed using EPR and electrochemical methods. The study of the ¹H NMR relaxation of the surrounding water showed how the outer‐sphere contribution to the relaxivity may be limited by the presence of the dendrimer core. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and characterization of an MRI Gd‐based probe designed to target the translocator protein

DPA‐713 is the lead compound of a recently reported pyrazolo[1,5‐a]pyrimidineacetamide series, targeting the translocator protein (TSPO 18 kDa), and as such, this structure, as well as closely related derivatives, have been already successfully used as positron emission tomography radioligands. On the basis of the pharmacological core of this ligands series, a new magnetic resonance imaging probe, coded DPA‐C₆‐(Gd)DOTAMA was designed and successfully synthesized in six steps and 13% overall yield from DPA‐713. The Gd‐DOTA monoamide cage (DOTA = 1,4,7,10‐tetraazacyclododecane‐1,4,7,10‐tetraacetic acid) represents the magnetic resonance imaging reporter, which is spaced from the phenylpyrazolo[1,5‐a]pyrimidineacetamide moiety (DPA‐713 motif) by a six carbon‐atom chain. DPA‐C₆‐(Gd)DOTAMA relaxometric characterization showed the typical behavior of a small‐sized molecule (relaxivity value: 6.02 mM^?1 s^?1 at 20 MHz). The good hydrophilicity of the metal chelate makes DPA‐C₆‐(Gd)DOTAMA soluble in water, affecting thus its biodistribution with respect to the parent lipophilic DPA‐713 molecule. For this reason, it was deemed of interest to load the probe to a large carrier in order to increase its residence lifetime in blood. Whereas DPA‐C₆‐(Gd)DOTAMA binds to serum albumin with a low affinity constant, it can be entrapped into liposomes (both in the membrane and in the inner aqueous cavity). The stability of the supramolecular adduct formed by the Gd‐complex and liposomes was assessed by a competition test with albumin. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-resolution NMR spectra of n-alkanes penetrating into carbon fibers and of protons in carbon fibers

We present a simple NMR method for microscopically exploring the local environment in carbon fibers. The method utilizes n-alkanes as probe molecules, where the n-alkanes penetrate carbon fibers of interest. The high-resolution (1)H NMR spectra for a mixture of a carbon fiber and n-alkanes acquired by this method show a shift of the resonance line, which is due to the local structure of the fiber. The utility of this method is discussed on the basis of the (1)H NMR spectra obtained. In addition, the (1)H distribution and the local motion in the structure of the carbon fiber are revealed in view of the (1)H NMR spectra.     

Comparison of Five Conductivity Tensor Models and Image Reconstruction Methods Using MRI

Imaging of the electrical conductivity distribution inside the human body has been investigated for numerous clinical applications. The conductivity tensors of biological tissue have been obtained from water diffusion tensors by applying several models, which may not cover the entire phenomenon. Recently, a new conductivity tensor imaging (CTI) method was developed through a combination of B1 mapping, and multi-b diffusion weighted imaging. In this study, we compared the most recent CTI method with the four existing models of conductivity tensors reconstruction. Two conductivity phantoms were designed to evaluate the accuracy of the models. Applied to five human brains, the conductivity tensors using the four existing models and CTI were imaged and compared with the values from the literature. The conductivity image of the phantoms by the CTI method showed relative errors between 1.10% and 5.26%. The images by the four models using DTI could not measure the effects of different ion concentrations subsequently due to prior information of the mean conductivity values. The conductivity tensor images obtained from five human brains through the CTI method were comparable to previously reported literature values. The images by the four methods using DTI were highly correlated with the diffusion tensor images, showing a coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.65 to 1.00. However, the images by the CTI method were less correlated with the diffusion tensor images and exhibited an averaged R2 value of 0.51. The CTI method could handle the effects of different ion concentrations as well as mobilities and extracellular volume fractions by collecting and processing additional B1 map data. It is necessary to select an application-specific model taking into account the pros and cons of each model. Future studies are essential to confirm the usefulness of these conductivity tensor imaging methods in clinical applications, such as tumor characterization, EEG source imaging, and treatment planning for electrical stimulation.     

T1-T2双模式磁共振造影剂的设计及应用

核磁共振成像作为一种无侵入的早期诊断方式早已在临床上得到了非常广泛的应用,其成像方式分为弛豫加权和扩散加权,其中弛豫加权又分为T₁加权成像和T₂加权成像。为了增强MR图像对比度,可通过引入造影剂,根据其增强类型可以分为阳性的T₁造影剂和阴性的T₂造影剂。虽然两种造影剂各有其优点,但是也存在着一些不足,因此一种全新的T₁-T₂双模态造影剂应运而生。T₁-T₂双模态造影剂的优势就在于可以利用同一台仪器,实现MRI成像在时间和空间上的精确匹配。本文系统地总结了T₁-T₂双模态造影剂的设计思路和其化学合成方法,并对其生物医学应用作了介绍。     

On the effect of heat on the chemical composition and dimensions of thermally-modified wood

Heat-induced weight loss (WL) and chemical and dimensional changes of small specimens of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) wood were examined after thermal modification in the 190-245 °C temperature range. Treated specimens exhibited reductions in their oven-dry weight in line with the severity of the treatment, with the effect of increasing the temperature of exposure being greater than extending the period of treatment. Wood polysaccharides were found to be distinctly more labile than the lignin constituent; the latter increased possibly as a result of repolymerisation reactions trapping some degradation products in the process. Specimens shrank in the transversal plane in a tangential to radial ratio of 2:1 regardless of the treatment regime, while their length increased marginally for WL < 10-12%. It is proposed that the thermal modification leaves the cell wall material in a permanent strained state.     

High-resolution NMR spectroscopic trends and assignment rules of metal-free, metallated and substituted corroles

Major advances over the last few years have facilitated the synthesis of a large variety of meso-only substituted corroles that display interesting catalytic, therapeutic and photophysical properties. This work is the first to study extensively the NMR spectral characteristics of both metallated and non-metallated triarylcorroles in various organic solvents and provide guidelines for easy and reliable assignments of 1D 1H spectra from trends of J coupling constants and chemical shifts. An excellent correlation is found between C=C bond lengths derived from 3J(H,H) values and experimental lengths determined by x-ray crystallography of the same molecules. The nuclear Overhauser effect provides a robust 1D 1H NMR tool for determining the selectivity of electrophilic substitutions. Variable-temperature NMR and isotopic labelling reveal a single preferred tautomerization state and unsymmetric ring orientations at -70 degrees C. The beta-pyrrole protons demonstrate long-range heteronuclear couplings with the coordination core (15N) and with the ortho-19F nuclei of the meso-carbon aryl rings. In sum, application of multinuclear magnetic resonance to corroles and their metal complexes, through the compilation of chemical shifts and J couplings and the recognition of trends therein, provides basic information essential to reliable spectral assignments. Additionally, the conclusions drawn about the structures of corroles and the electron densities at various positions of the corrole macrocycle resulting from the application of high-resolution NMR techniques are of importance to an in-depth understanding of the molecular interactions and processes of this relatively new and rapidly expanding class of compounds.     

Synthesis and in vitro Evaluation of Manganese（Ⅱ）-porphyrin Modified with Chitosan Oligosaccharides as Potential MRI Contrast Agents

Mn-TCPP-CSn（n=6,1 1,20） as a type of potential magnetic resonance imaging（MRI） contrast agents were synthesized via manganese（Ⅱ） meso-tetra（4-carboxyphenyl） porphyrin（Mn-TCPP） modified with chitosan oligosaccharides（CSn）.Experimental data of infared（IR）,UV-Vis,MS,inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer（ICP-AES） and size exclusion chromatography evidenced the formation of Mn-TCPP-CSn-The stability results show that Mn-TCPP-CSn in aqueous solution was stable enough to prevent Mn（Ⅱ） ions from leaking.The magnetic properties in vitro indicate that Mn-TCPP-CS20 possesses higher longitudinal relaxivity（r1=10.38 L·mmol^-1·s^-1） in aqueous solution than unmodified porphyrin Mn-TCPPNa4[manganese（Ⅱ） meso-tetra（4-carboxyphenyl） porphyrin,tetrasodium salt]（r1=5.10 L·mmol^-1·s^-1） and the commercial contrast agent Gd-DTPA（r1=4.05 L·mmol^-1·s^-1）.The preliminary T1-weighted flash image studies in vitro show that the contrast and the imaging signal of Mn-TCPP-CSn were superior to those of Mn-TCPPNa4 and Gd-DTPA under the same conditions.The 3-（4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl）-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide（MTT） assay shows that Mn-TCPP-CSn has a good biocompatibility.In addition,the thermodynamical parameters（ΔH〈0,ΔS〈0,ΔG〈0） of Mn-TCPP-CSn bound to bovine serum albumin（BSA） show that Mn-TCPP-CSn could bind to BSA spontaneously,where the binding complex was stabilized mainly by van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonds.These results suggest that Mn-TCPP-CSn have the advantage of becoming a potential MRI contrast agent.     

1H‐NMR relaxometric studies of interaction between apoptosis specific MRI paramagnetic contrast agents and micellar models of apoptotic cells

¹H‐NMR was previously used to analyze the interaction between peptides (E3 and R826) selected by phage display to target apoptotic cells and phospholipidic models of these cells. In order to avoid the use of apoptotic cells and to obtain a fast evaluation of the efficiency of the potential MRI contrast agents obtained by grafting these peptides and their scramble analogs on a paramagnetic gadolinium complex, their proton relaxometric behavior was investigated in the presence of micelles mimicking healthy and apoptotic cells. Their preferential interaction with 1,2‐dipalmitoyl‐sn‐glycero‐3‐phospho‐l ‐serine micelles mimicking apoptotic cells as compared with 1,2‐dipalmitoyl‐sn‐glycero‐3‐phosphocholine micelles modeling healthy cells was shown by nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion profiles and the enhancement of the transverse proton relaxation rates at 60 MHz. The association constant values confirm the stronger interaction of the selected conjugated peptides (K_a Gd‐PMN‐E3(gadolinium 2,2′,2′′,2′′′‐[((4‐carboxy)pyridine‐2,6‐diyl)bis(methylenenitrilo)]‐tetrakis acetate) grafted with E3 peptide): 2.43 10⁴ m ^?1; K_a Gd‐DTPA‐R826(gadolinium ((1‐p‐isothiocyanatobenzyl)‐diethylenetriaminepentaacetate) grafted with R826 peptide): 2.91 10⁴ m ^?1) as compared with their conjugated scrambles (K_a Gd‐PMN‐E3sc(gadolinium 2,2′,2′′,2′′′‐[((4‐carboxy)pyridine‐2,6‐diyl)bis(methylenenitrilo)]‐tetrakis acetate) grafted with E3 scramble peptide): 0.18 10⁴ m ^?1; K_a Gd‐DTPA‐R826sc(gadolinium ((1‐p‐isothiocyanatobenzyl)‐diethylenetriaminepentaacetate) grafted with R826 scramble peptide): 0.32 10⁴ m ^?1) even if the conjugation of E3 and R826 seems to decrease their interaction. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New insights into the use of hydroxypropyl cellulose for drug solubility enhancement: An analytical study of sub-molecular interactions with fenofibrate in solid state and aqueous solutions

Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) is a solubility enhancer used for poorly soluble drugs, nano-suspensions and amorphous solid dispersions (ASD). However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. ASDs of a poorly soluble drug, fenofibrate (FEN), were analyzed using liquid nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and solid state NMR (ss-NMR). Liquid NMR revealed interactions between the pyranose ring of the HPC molecule and the diphenylketone from FEN. The water accessibility of the CH₃ groups in HPC and FEN is very low, they form a hydrophobic zone in aqueous solution that may sustain the drug nucleation. Moreover, ss-NMR measurements confirmed very low drug crystallinity for HPC-FEN ASDs. Cross-polarization and direct polarization ¹³C spectra, ¹³C-CPMAS and ¹³C-PARIS, distinguished the most rigid and flexible portions in concordance with the ss-NMR proton T₁ and T_1r relaxation results. Although HPC side chains (hydroxypropoxy) are the most flexible portions, their flexibility is moderate and high rigidity is the predominant. The ss-NMR proton relaxation indicates a rather homogeneous distribution of the components (HPC and FEN) in the solid mixtures. The versatile NMR methodology proposed can be used to study other polymer-drug systems and it may contribute to understand relevant functional aspects such as the rate of drug-delivery and their stability.