Solvent-reagent effect in chemical detection of energetic materials type contaminants

Present study extended the list of solvent and reagents appropriate to use for the colorimetric detection and semi quantitative analysis of various energetic compounds. The new reagents used in this study include DMSO as solvent/reagent, and tetramethylammonium hydroxide and tetrabutylammonium hydroxide for the generation of a basic medium. The advantages of these reagents vs. older procedures are discussed in this paper. Also, a standardized procedure for the analysis of several classes of energetic compounds has been developed, allowing an excellent practical application of the recommended method. The influence of different solvents on the changes in the UV/VIS spectra were evaluated and an attempt to interpret the resulting absorption UV spectra based on quantum-chemical calculations has been done. The article is published in the original.     

Spatial geometric arrangements of disulfide-crosslinked loops in nonplanar proteins

The method presented earlier [T. Kikuchi, G. Némethy, and H.A. Scheraga, (1986) J. Comput. Chem. 7 , 67] for the classification of patterns of the three-dimensional folding of a covalently crosslinked polypeptide chain has been extended to nonplanar proteins. The procedure described earlier was applicable only to proteins termed planar, i.e., with a connexity of the crosslinks (e.g., disulfide bonds) that can be represented in a planar diagram. The procedure described in the present work is applicable to any (planar or nonplanar) pattern of crosslinking. The classification is based on a systematic and objective method of enumeration of spatial geometric arrangements of loops (SGAL) using no information other than the location of the disulfide bonds in the amino acid sequence. Various SGAL classes correspond to the presence of different ways of mutual penetration of loops, called thrustings and entanglements. Information on SGAL classes can be of use in structural predictions of folding patterns of proteins.     

YUP: A Molecular Simulation Program for Coarse-Grained and Multi-Scaled Models

Coarse-grained models can be very different from all-atom models and are highly varied. Each class of model is assembled very differently and some models need customized versions of the standard molecular mechanics methods. The most flexible way to meet these diverse needs is to provide access to internal data structures and a programming language to manipulate these structures. We have created YUP, a general-purpose program for coarse-grained and multi-scaled models. YUP extends the Python programming language by adding new data types. We have then used the extended language to implement three classes of coarse-grained models. The coarse-grained RNA model type is an unusual non-linear polymer and the assembly was easily handled with a simple program. The molecular dynamics algorithm had to be extended for a coarse-grained DNA model so that it could detect a failure that is invisible to a standard implementation. A third model type took advantage of access to the force field to simulate the packing of DNA in viral capsid. We find that objects are easy to modify, extend and redeploy. Thus, new classes of coarse-grained models can be implemented easily.     

A new force field model for the simulation of transport properties of imidazolium-based ionic liquids

A new, non-polarizable force field model (FFM) for imidazolium-based, room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate and 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate, has been developed. Modifying the FFM originally designed by Liu et al. (J. Phys. Chem. B, 2004, 108, 12978-12989), the electrostatic charges on interacting sites are refined according to partial charges calculated by explicit-ion density functional theory. The refined FFM reproduces experimental heats of vaporization, diffusion coefficients, ionic conductivities, and shear viscosities of RTILs, which is a significant improvement over the original model (Zh. Liu, Sh. Huang and W. Wang, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2004, 108, 12978-12989). The advantages of the proposed procedure include clarity, simplicity, and flexibility. Expanding the functionality of our FFM conveniently only requires modification of the electrostatic charges. Our FFM can be extended to other classes of RTILs as well as condensed matter systems in which the ionic interaction requires an account of polarization effects.     

Ab initio program for treatment of related molecules. II. Integral transformation in extended systems

An integral transformation procedure is reported as a part of an ab initio program (named SYCETY) developed recently for spatially extended molecules. It is shown that all advantages of the program SYCETY can be kept. The procedure is especially suitable to transform the integrals to a localized basis set. By using the MBPT with localized basis the most important part of the correlation can be calculated even for large (spatially extended) systems.     

Coulometry applied to gas-phase chromatograpy

It has been found that coulometry is an excellent procedure for identification and quantitative determination of the components of an organic mixture, separated by vapor-phase chromatography. A millicoulometer is described which can be used either for manual or automatic titration. The eluted components are absorbed in a suitable solution where they are continuously titrated by an electrolytically generated reagent. Photometric, amperometric and potentiometric end-points may be used for the titration of compounds with an active functional group such as volatile acids, bases, mercaptans and aldehydes. The procedure can be extended to all organic vapors by burning them at the end of the column and converting them into carbon dioxide which can be coulometrically titrated.     

A linear learning machine program for a microcomputer

The linear learning machine (LLM) has become an established procedure in chemical pattern recognition. It examines whether two classes of objects, represented as points in a multidimensional space with the variables as coordinates, can be separated by means of a linear hyperplane. The position of the hyperplane is determine by an iterative procedure, using feedback corrections. In most applications, the computations are done on minicomputers. In this communication, a “micro-LLM” is described, i.e., a linear learning machine implemented on a microcomputer.     

Efficient catalysis of Ullmann-type arylation reactions by a novel trinuclear copper(I) complex with a chelating tricarbene ligand

A novel trinuclear copper(I) complex with a chelating tricarbene ligand is shown to be an efficient catalyst for the arylation of different classes of compounds containing N-H or O-H functions. Different kinds of azole rings (pyrazole, imidazole, 1,2,4-triazole) can be arylated with comparable efficiencies at relatively mild temperatures (100 °C). The catalyst activates aryl iodides, bromides and even chlorides for the reaction. An unusually strong influence of the nature of the aryl substituent on the reaction yield is observed. The synthetic protocol can be extended to other substrate classes, such as phenols and amides, although the catalytic efficiency with amides is significantly reduced.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic method for determination of ciprofloxacin in biological fluids

A simple and precise high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure has been developed for the determination in biological fluids of ciprofloxacin, a new, with extended antibacterial spectrum, quinoline carboxylic acid. The work-up procedure involves a chemical extraction step followed by isocratic chromatography on a reversed-phase analytical column, with ultraviolet detection. The detection limit for blood levels is 10 ng/ml. The calibration curve is linear from this detection limit to 10 microgram/ml. The statistical analysis of the correlation made between this assay and an agar diffusion procedure during a pharmacokinetic study suggests the existence of one or more active metabolites which could be mainly excreted in the bile.     

Prediction of aqueous solubility of drugs and pesticides with COSMO-RS

The COSMO-RS method, originally developed for the prediction of liquid-liquid and liquid-vapor equilibrium constants based on quantum chemical calculations, has been extended to solid compounds by addition of a heuristic expression for the Gibbs free energy of fusion. By this addition, COSMO-RS is now capable of a priori prediction of aqueous solubilities of a wide range of typical neutral drug and pesticide compounds. Only three parameters in the heuristic expression have been fitted on a data set of 150 drug-like compounds. On these data an rms deviation of 0.66 log-units was achieved. Later, the model was tested on a set of 107 pesticides, which have been critically selected based on two experimental data sources and by a crosscheck with an independent HQSAR model. On this data set an rms of 0.61 log-units was achieved, without any adjustments to the structurally extremely diverse pesticides. This result verifies the ability of this extended COSMO-RS to predict aqueous solubilities of drugs and pesticides of almost arbitrary structural classes. The new method is COSMO-RSol.     

Conformational analysis—CXIX : Charge distribution in the molecular mechanics method

The method originally proposed by Smith and Eyring for calculating dipole moments of molecules by taking into account the effect of induction and the polarizability of bonds has been extended from an adjacent-bond to an all-bond procedure.The method is applied to some simple mono- and dihalogen compounds. Total dipole moments are reasonably well calculated. The dipole moments of 1,2-diaxial dihalides are correctly calculated for the first time.     

Data processing in on-line laser mass spectrometry of inorganic, organic, or biological airborne particles

A general solution for data processing of large numbers of micrometer- or submicrometer-particle mass spectra in aerosol analysis is described. The method is based on immediate evaluation of bipolar laser desorption ionization mass spectra acquired in an on-line (impact-free) time-of-flight instrument. The goal of the procedure is a characterization of the particle population under investigation in terms of chemical composition of particle classes, particle distributions, size distributions, and time courses, rather than an investigation of each individual particle. After automatic peak analysis of each newly acquired bipolar mass spectrum, the mass spectral information is statistically evaluated by a fuzzy clustering algorithm, providing for an immediate attribution of the particle to predefined particle classes. The particle distributions over these classes can be monitored as a function of time and particle size range. Definition of the particle classes as used for on-line evaluation is performed in an earlier step, either by manual approach, or by selection from a particle class database, or, as in most cases, by fuzzy clustering of a set of particle mass spectra from the population (the aerosol) under investigation. Definition of the particle classes is depending only on the distinguishability of the spectra patterns of different particles. It is not necessary for the clustering approach to fully “understand” the mass spectra. The range of possible applications of the method is therefore very broad. Particles dominated by inorganic components, as typically observed in aerosol chemistry for example, can be investigated the same way as organic particles (e.g., from smoke or automobile exhaust) or even biological particles such as bacteria, yeast, or pollen. The data processing method has been successfully applied in several fields of stationary applications and will be employed in mobile instruments for large scale field studies in atmospheric chemistry, engine combustion research, and the characterization of house dust.     

翻转课堂在仪器分析教学中的应用

针对当前仪器分析课程普遍存在理论知识抽象、枯燥、难以理解,学生学习难度较大、学习积极性不高的问题,提出将翻转课堂的教学模式应用于仪器分析教学中。该教学模式通过学生课前预习、课中完成知识吸收与内化、课后教师布置练习作业或者拓展性学习任务,线上与线下学生与教师交流互动的方式,提高了学生学习该课程的兴趣,培养了学生自主学习、独立思考及创新的能力。同时,该教学模式适用于多民族学生的共同学习。     

Intramolecular oxidative diamination and aminohydroxylation of olefins under metal-free conditions

A metal-free procedure that is simple to operate and convenient to handle was developed for the facile intramolecular oxidative diamination of olefins using an iodobenzene diacetate oxidant and a halide additive to furnish bisindolines at room temperature. The present reaction is featured by mild conditions, a broad substrate scope, and excellent functional group tolerance. The same protocol was successfully extended to the aminohydroxylation.     

Models for the binding of amiodarone to the thyroid hormone receptor

Summary The antiarrhythmic drug amiodarone has recently been characterized as the first known thyroid hormone antagonist. Its mode of interaction with the thyroid hormone receptor is therefore of interest. A computational analysis of the conformational flexibility of amiodarone using molecular mechanics and the semiempirical molecular orbital method AM1 has been performed. The molecular mechanics studies show that the low-energy conformations of the benzoylbenzofuran portion of amiodarone can be grouped into 4 distinct classes, while the diethylaminoethoxy side chain is extremely flexible. Conformers representative of the 4 low-energy classes were fitted to an extended thyroid hormone receptor model. Four independent modes in which amiodarone could bind to the thyroid hormone receptor site were evaluated.     

Original normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of monoacylglycerol classes from extra virgin olive oil triacylglycerols for their stereospecific analysis

An innovative procedure to separate the 3 isomeric sn-monoacylglycerols (MAG) classes (sn-1-, sn-2-, sn-3-MAG) is described. MAGs, obtained by chemical deacylation of triacylglycerols (TAGs), have been derivatized with (S)-(+)-1-(1-naphtyl)ethyl-isocyanate, and the resulting urethane derivatives have been separated by normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. This procedure allows resolution as diasteroisomers of the 2 enantiomeric classes (sn-1-MAG and sn-3-MAG), without the need of a chiral column, and to separate also the isomeric sn-2-MAG class; moreover, by introducing a chromophoric moiety, this reagent makes possible the ultraviolet detection of the analyte molecules. This procedure has been used to obtain the stereospecific analysis of the TAG fraction of extra virgin olive oil samples. The use of a nondestructive detector permitted the collection of the individual urethane classes; the fatty acid composition of each was determined by high-resolution gas chromatography, obtaining directly from the data the fatty acid distribution within each sn- position of TAGs. To validate this new method, the results have been compared with those obtained by 2 other procedures for TAG stereospecific analysis, and the obtained results were satisfactory since the proposed method gave data very similar to the other procedures.     

New isomerization operations for fullerene graphs

The problem of topological isomerization operations for fullerenes is considered. Two basic classes of isomerization transformations admissible for fullerene graphs are proposed: rotation and mirror reflection of a chosen part of fullerene graph. Pyracylene and generalized Stone-Wales rearrangements are only the specific cases of extended isomerization operations for the fullerene graphs.