Non-invasive spatial visualization system of exhaled ethanol for real-time analysis of ALDH2 related alcohol metabolism

A novel imaging system of ethanol in exhaled breath induced by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2)-related alcohol metabolism has been developed. The system provides an image of ethanol distribution as chemiluminescence (CL) on an enzyme-immobilized support. The spatiotemporal change of CL generated by ethanol in exhaled breath after oral administration of ethanol was detected by employing an electron multiplier CCD (EM-CCD) camera, illustrated and analyzed. Prior to measurement of standard gaseous ethanol and ethanol in exhaled breath, the system was optimized by investigating the enzyme-immobilized supports, concentration of substrate and pH condition of Tris-HCl buffer solution. The ethanol skin patch test, a simple method as an indicator of ALDH2, was performed on healthy volunteers. Breath samples of 5 volunteers with ALDH2 (+) and 5 volunteers with ALDH2 (-) were used for exhaled ethanol analysis. Concentration-time profiles of exhaled ethanol obtained from all volunteers were analyzed over a period of 120 min after oral administration of ethanol (0.4 g per kg body weight) in the form of beer which contains 5% of alcohol. The results obtained from the system showed that the peaks of exhaled ethanol concentrations appeared at 30 min, which was considered as a rapid ethanol absorption phase following first-order kinetics. Exhaled ethanol concentrations of volunteers with ALDH2 (+) were lower than volunteers with ALDH2 (-) and the digestion of ethanol in volunteers with ALDH2 (+) was faster than in volunteers with ALDH2 (-). The eliminations were analyzed to follow zero-order kinetics with a rate constant for each group.     

Separation of three polar compounds from Rheum tanguticum by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography with an ethyl acetate/glacial acetic acid/water system

The separation of polar compounds by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography is still regarded as a challenge. In this study, an efficient strategy for the separation of three polar compounds from Rheum tanguticum has been successfully conducted by using high‐speed countercurrent chromatography. X‐5 macroporous resin chromatography was used for the fast enrichment of the target compounds. Then, the target fraction was directly introduced into high‐speed countercurrent chromatography for separation using ethyl acetate/glacial acetic acid/water (100:1:100, v/v/v) as the solvent system. Consequently, three polar compounds including gallic acid, catechin, and gallic acid 4‐O‐β‐d ‐(6′‐O‐galloyl) glucoside were obtained with purities higher than 98%. The results showed glacial acetic acid could be such an appropriate regulator for the ethyl acetate/water system. This study provides a reference for the separation of polar compounds from natural products by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography.     

Separation of nine compounds from Salvia plebeia R.Br. using two‐step high‐speed counter‐current chromatography with different elution modes

Nine compounds were successfully separated from Salvia plebeia R.Br. using two‐step high‐speed counter‐current chromatography with three elution modes. Elution–extrusion counter‐current chromatography was applied in the first step, while classical counter‐current chromatography and recycling counter‐current chromatography were used in the second step. Three solvent systems, n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/ethanol/water (4:6.5:3:7, v/v), methyl tert‐butyl ether/ethyl acetate/n‐butanol/methanol/water (6:4:1:2:8, v/v) and n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (5:5.5:5:5, v/v) were screened and optimized for the two‐step separation. The separation yielded nine compounds, including caffeic acid ( 1 ), 6‐hydroxyluteuolin‐7‐glucoside ( 2 ), 5,7,3′,4′‐tetrahydroxy‐6‐methoxyflavanone‐7‐glucoside ( 3 ), nepitrin ( 4 ), rosmarinic acid ( 5 ), homoplantaginin ( 6 ), nepetin ( 7 ), hispidulin ( 8 ), and 5,6,7,4′‐tertrahydroxyflavone ( 9 ). To the best of our knowledge, 5,7,3′,4′‐tetrahydroxy‐6‐methoxyflavanone‐7‐glucoside and 5,6,7,4′‐tertrahydroxyflavone have been separated from Salvia plebeia R.Br. for the first time. The purities and structures of these compounds were identified by high‐performance liquid chromatography, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. This study demonstrates that high‐speed counter‐current chromatography is a useful and flexible tool for the separation of components from a complex sample.     

Preferential solvation of indomethacin and naproxen in ethyl acetate + ethanol mixtures according to the IKBI method

The preferential solvation parameters of indomethacin and naproxen in ethyl acetate + ethanol mixtures are derived from their thermodynamic properties by using the inverse Kirkwood–Buff integrals method. It is found that both drugs are sensitive to solvation effects, so the preferential solvation parameter, δx_EA,D, is negative in ethanol-rich and ethyl acetate-rich mixtures but positive in compositions from 0.36 to 0.71 in mole fraction of ethyl acetate. It is conjecturable that in ethanol-rich mixtures, the acidic interaction of ethanol on basic sites of the analgesics plays a relevant role in the solvation. The more solvation by ethyl acetate in mixtures of similar co-solvent compositions could be due to polarity effects. Finally, the slight preference of these compounds for ethanol in ethyl acetate-rich mixtures could be explained as the common participation of basic sites in both solvents and the acidic site of ethanol. Nevertheless, the specific solute–solvent interactions remain unclear.     

Gas chromatographic method for the analysis of allelopathic natural products in rye (Secale cereale L.)

Accurate and reproducible methods for the analysis of plant allelochemicals are a requirement for the study of chemical interactions between plants. This paper describes a method for sample preparation and quantitative analysis of the allelopathic chemical content of rye (Secale cereale L.) using gas chromatography (GC). Sample preparation consists of extraction of freeze-dried rye vegetative tissue with aqueous ethanol followed by partitioning of the allelochemicals into ethyl acetate, evaporation, and derivatization using the trimethylsilylating reagent N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide. GC analysis of the silylated mixture was performed using flame ionization detection. This method permits analysis of all known rye allelopathic agents including 2,4-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one, its corresponding glucoside, 2-benzoxazolinone, beta-hydroxybutyric acid, and beta-phenyllactic acid. Identities of all compounds were confirmed by GC/MS analysis.     

A catalyst-free novel synthesis of diethyl carbonate from ethyl carbamate in supercritical ethanol

Diethyl carbonate has been synthesized via the alcoholysis of ethyl carbamate in supercritical ethanol under catalyst-free conditions.The influences of various parameters such as reaction temperature,reaction time,reaction pressure,ethanol/ethyl molar ratios and reaction loading volume on the yield of DEC were studied systematically.The experimental results indicated that the alcoholysis of ethyl carbamate was greatly improved in supercritical ethanol.The optimal reaction conditions were as follows：a reaction temperature of 573 K,a reaction time of 30 min,a reaction pressure of 13.2 MPa,an ethanol/ethyl carbamate molar ratio of 10 and a reactor loading volume of 285 μL respectively.The optimal yield of DEC was 22.9%.     

A new method for quantifying prenatal exposure to ethanol by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of meconium followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS)

Ethanol is a legal and widely available substance. There are health and social consequences associated with its abuse. One of the most important problems is related to alcohol consumption during pregnancy. In fact, prenatal ethanol exposure can be associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a term used to describe a wide range of potentially lifelong effects that include physical, mental, behavioral, and learning disabilities. Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs), which are non-oxidative metabolites of ethanol, are currently used as biomarkers of direct ethanol consumption in different matrices, including hair, blood, skin surface, and meconium. Analysis of these compounds in meconium reveals exposure to alcohol during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. An important finding for evaluation of gestational ethanol exposure is the fact that FAEEs do not cross the placenta. Because they accumulate in the fetal gut from approximately the 20th week of gestation until birth, this provides a wide window of detection of chronic exposure to alcohol. The sum of the concentrations of all the FAEEs, with a cutoff of 2 nmol g(-1) or 600 ng g(-1) meconium, has been recommended as evidence of maternal alcohol use. We introduce a novel technique to quantify ethyl myristate, ethyl palmitate, ethyl stearate, and their deuterated analogues (as internal standards, IS) in meconium using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Limits of detection and quantification were 50 and 100 ng g(-1) for all analytes except ethyl stearate (LOD 100 ng g(-1) and LOQ 500 ng g(-1)). Calibration curves were linear from the LOQ to 5000 ng g(-1). The validated method was applied to the analysis of 81 meconium samples.     

乙醇直接气相羰基化新催化剂

醇的羰基化合成是极有工业价值的过程 ,也是绿色化学中提倡的原子经济性反应 [1] .甲醇均相羰基化合成醋酸是 Monsanto公司成功开发应用的典范 [2 ] ,而乙醇羰基化合成丙酸或丙酸乙酯的研究尤其重要 .前文对一种性能优良的负载型 Ni系催化剂用于乙醇常压气相羰基化合成丙酸及其酯作了报道 [3,4] ,与均相羰基化相比 ,该反应具有条件温和 ,不使用贵金属铑 ,催化剂与产物不存在分离上的困难等优点 ,但反应体系仍需使用卤化物作促进剂 .由于碘乙烷的存在 ,反应系统设备腐蚀严重 (有 HI生成 ) ,产物分离精制复杂 .目前 ,醇的均相羰基化及多相羰…     

Unexpected Direct Hydride Transfer Mechanism for the Hydrogenation of Ethyl Acetate to Ethanol Catalyzed by SNS Pincer Ruthenium Complexes

The hydrogenation of ethyl acetate to ethanol catalyzed by SNS pincer ruthenium complexes was computationally investigated by using DFT. Different from a previously proposed mechanism with fac‐[(SNS)Ru(PPh₃)(H)₂] ( 5′ ) as the catalyst, an unexpected direct hydride transfer mechanism with a mer‐SNS ruthenium complex as the catalyst, and two cascade catalytic cycles for hydrogenations of ethyl acetate to aldehyde and aldehyde to ethanol, is proposed base on our calculations. The new mechanism features ethanol‐assisted proton transfer for H₂ cleavage, direct hydride transfer from ruthenium to the carbonyl carbon, and C?OEt bond cleavage. Calculation results indicate that the rate‐determining step in the whole catalytic reaction is the transfer of a hydride from ruthenium to the carbonyl carbon of ethyl acetate, with a total free energy barrier of only 26.9 kcal mol^?1, which is consistent with experimental observations and significantly lower than the relative free energy of an intermediate in a previously postulated mechanism with 5′ as the catalyst.     

Antioxidant activity of papaya seed extracts

The antioxidant activities of the ethanol, petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water extract fractions from the seeds of papaya were evaluated in this study. The ethyl acetate fraction showed the strongest DPPH and hydroxyl free radical-scavenging activities, and its activities were stronger than those of ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate, respectively. The n-butanol fraction demonstrated the greatest ABTS? radicals scavenging activity. The ethyl acetate fraction and the n-butanol fraction not only showed higher antioxidant activities than the petroleum ether fraction, water fraction and ethanol fraction, but also showed higher superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide radicals scavenging activities than those of the other extract fractions. The high amount of total phenolics and total flavonoids in the ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions contributed to their antioxidant activities. The ethyl acetate fraction was subjected to column chromatography, to yield two phenolic compounds, p-hydroxybenzoic acid and vanillic acid, which possessed significant antioxidant activities. Therefore, the seeds of papaya and these compounds might be used as natural antioxidants.     

Kinetics of ethanol decay in mouth‐ and nose‐exhaled breath measured on‐line by selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry following varying doses of alcohol

A study has been carried out of the decay of ethanol in mouth‐exhaled and nose‐exhaled breath of two healthy volunteers following the ingestion of various doses of alcohol at different dilutions in water. Concurrent analyses of sequential single breath exhalations from the two volunteers were carried out using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT‐MS, on‐line and in real time continuously over some 200 min following each alcohol dose by simply switching sampling between the two volunteers. Thus, the time interval between breath exhalations was only a few minutes, and this results in well‐defined decay curves. Inspection of the mouth‐exhaled and nose‐exhaled breath data shows that mouth contamination of ethanol diminished to insignificant levels after a few minutes. The detailed results of the analyses of nose‐exhaled breath show that the peak levels and the decay rates of breath ethanol are dependent on the ethanol dose and the volume of ethanol/water mixture ingested. From these data, both the efficiency of the first‐pass metabolism of ethanol and the indications of gastric emptying rates at the various doses and ingested volumes have been obtained for the two volunteers. Additionally and simultaneously, acetaldehyde, acetic acid and acetone were measured in each single breath exhalation. Acetaldehyde, the primary product of ethanol metabolism, is seen to track the breath ethanol. Acetic acid, a possible secondary product of this metabolism, was detected in the exhaled breath, but was shown to largely originate in the oral cavity. Breath acetone was seen to increase over the long period of measurement due to the depletion of nutrients. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regioselective enzymatic acetylation of the aglycone moiety of a secoiridoid glucoside. Two new secoiridoid glucoside acetates

Candida antarctica lipase (CAL) catalyses the regioselective acetylation of the 10-hydroxyl group of 10-hydroxyoleoside dimethyl ester, a secoiridoid glucoside, using THF as a solvent and ethyl acetate or vinyl acetate as acetyl group suppliers. Two acetyl derivatives at 3'- and 6'-sites of the glucosidic ring of 10-acetoxyoleoside dimethylester, not previously described, were obtained by acetylation in the same conditions.     

Modeling gradient elution in countercurrent chromatography: efficient separation of tanshinones from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge

Countercurrent chromatography (CCC) is a support-free liquid-liquid chromatography using centrifugal fields to hold the liquid stationary phase. CCC has been widely applied in the separation of various natural and synthetic components using a variety of biphasic liquid systems. The related hexane or heptane/ethyl acetate/methanol or ethanol/water biphasic liquid systems demonstrated their significance in CCC. Gradient is difficult in CCC since any composition change in one phase induces a composition change of the other phase to maintain phase equilibrium. This work provides a new insight into linear gradient elution in CCC that is feasible with some biphasic liquid systems such as selected compositions of the hexane/ethyl acetate/ethanol/water systems. The equations modeling solute motion inside the CCC column are proposed. Particular compositions of the liquid system, namely the hexane/ethyl acetate/ethanol/water 8:2:E:W compositions with E + W = 10, were studied from W = 1 to 9. They showed moderate changes in the upper organic phase compositions. The model is tested with the separation of tanshinones from the rhizome of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Different linear solvent gradient profiles were experimentally performed between 8:2:5:5 and 8:2:3:7 compositions and the results were evaluated using the proposed model. Five tanshinones including dihydrotanshinone I, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone I, 1,2-dihydrotanshinquinone, and tanshinone IIA have been successfully separated (>95% purities) using a gradient profile optimized by the developed model. The gradient model can be used only with biphasic liquid systems in which one phase shows minimum composition changes when the other phase composition changes notably. This case is not the general case for biphasic liquid systems but can be applied with specific compositions of the quaternary hexane or heptane/ethyl acetate/methanol or ethanol/water most useful CCC liquid systems.     

Novel method for high-performance liquid chromatography of azo derivatives of conjugated and unconjugated bilirubin

A method for the separation and quantitation of ethyl anthranilate or p-iodoaniline azo derivatives of bile pigments was developed using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. A convenient separation was achieved in 15 min, permitting the quantitation of the unconjugated azo-dipyrrole (alpha o) and its glucuronide (delta), xyloside (alpha 2) and glucoside (alpha 3) conjugates. The pathological beta- and gamma-azo pigments, derived from bilirubin glucuronide isomers that occur in cholestatic bile or plasma, are also detected in this system. The results of this method as applied to bile from 25 healthy dogs were in excellent agreement with the values obtained by reversed-phase chromatography of bilirubin and its mono- and dimethyl esters produced from the corresponding conjugates by alkaline methanolysis. This system permits the sensitive and convenient determination of bilirubin and its conjugation pattern in biological fluids.     

Thermal,morphological, and mechanical properties of ethyl vanillin immobilized in polyvinyl alcohol by electrospinning process

In this study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers with ethyl vanillin as an active compound were prepared using electrospinning technique. The final products of electrospinning process were in the form of nanofibers films. PVA/ethyl vanillin nanofibers, having fibers diameters in the range 100–1700 nm, were successfully electrospun from ethanol/water mixture of PVA and ethyl vanillin. The effects of immobilization process on ethyl vanillin thermal properties were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results of DSC showed significant influence of immobilization process on thermal properties of ethyl vanillin. It was noticed that melting point of immobilized ethyl vanillin was lower (~55 °C) compared to free flavor (~77 °C). Our results showed that films based on PVA/ethyl vanillin nanofibers are mechanically stable.     

Kinetics of ethanol dehydrogenation into ethyl acetate

The kinetics of gas-phase dehydrogenation of ethanol into ethyl acetate over a copper-zinc-chromium catalyst has been investigated in a flow reactor at pressures of 10–20 atm and temperatures of 230–290°C. For the process occurring under kinetic control, the rate constants of two reactions and the adsorption constants of five components have been determined using the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. A kinetic model has been developed for the process. This model provides means to design a reactor for dehydrogenation of ethanol into ethyl acetate in different regimes.     

Head-space chromatography in determination of enzymatic activity: microdetermination of the urinary kallikrein as arginine esterases

Many enzymatic reactions yield volatile products either directly or by cascade sequences, so it seems possible that head-space chromatography might be used to determine enzymatic activity. The activity of urinary kallikrein, as arginine esterase, has been determined in this way by using the N(alpha)-acetyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-arginine ethyl ester as substrate and measuring the ethanol yielded on incubation for 10 min at 30 degrees, followed by quenching of the reaction. The method has been applied to aqueous solutions and urine.     

通过形成二酪氨酸酯酒石酸盐法制备D-酪氨酸的新方法

研究了在乙醇溶液中光学活性L-酒石酸拆分DL-酪氨酸乙酯时的特性, 发现溶液中同时存在着酒石酸、酪氨酸乙酯酒石酸氢盐和二酪氨酸乙酯酒石酸盐, 三者之间的平衡关系影响拆分结果, 所得酪氨酸的构型与L-酒石酸和DL-酪氨酸乙酯的投料摩尔比有关. 前者的摩尔数大于后者时为富D-酪氨酸乙酯, 小于后者时为富L-酪氨酸乙酯, 两者相当时则得到DL-酪氨酸乙酯. 进一步的研究探讨了D-酒石酸、L-酒石酸与L-酪氨酸乙酯在不同摩尔比下的成盐特性, 从而解释了酒石酸拆分酪氨酸乙酯过程中的这一特性, 说明由于二L-酪氨酸乙酯酒石酸盐和二D-酪氨酸乙酯酒石酸盐在乙醇中溶解度都很小, 因此通过酒石酸拆分酪氨酸乙酯的方法不能得到高光学纯度的D-酪氨酸. 在此基础上, 通过形成二酪氨酸甲酯酒石酸盐的方法, 在甲醇中成功地用D-酒石酸拆分制备了D-酪氨酸, 光学纯度99% ee.     

On-line monitoring of continuous beer fermentation process using automatic membrane inlet mass spectrometric system

A fully automatic membrane inlet mass spectrometric (MIMS) on-line instrumentation for the analysis of aroma compounds in continuous beer fermentation processes was constructed and tested. The instrumentation includes automatic filtration of the sample stream, flushing of all tubing between samples and pH control. The calibration standards can be measured periodically. The instrumentation has also an extra sample line that can be used for off-line sample collection or it can be connected to another on-line method. Detection limits for ethanol, acetic acid and eight organic beer aroma compounds were from μg l⁻¹ to low mg l⁻¹ levels and the standard deviations were less than 3.4%. The method has a good repeatability and linearity in the measurement range. Response times are shorter than or equal to 3 min for all compounds except for ethyl caproate, which has a response time of 8 min. In beer aroma compound analysis a good agreement between MIMS and static headspace gas chromatographic (HSGC) measurements was found. The effects of different matrix compounds commonly present in the fermentation media on the MIMS response to acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate and ethanol were studied. Addition of yeast did not have any effect on the MIMS response of ethanol or ethyl acetate. Sugars, glucose and xylose, increased the MIMS response of all studied analytes only slightly, whereas salts, ammonium chloride, ammonium nitrate and sodium chloride, increased the MIMS response of all three studied compounds prominently. The system was used for on-line monitoring of continuous beer fermentation with immobilised yeast. The results show that with MIMS it is possible to monitor the changes in the continuous process as well as delays in the two-phase process.     

Separation of sugar derivatives by partition chromatography on anion-exchange resins

The separation of a number of sugar derivatives such as methyl, ethyl, benzyl, hydroxyethyl erners and various glycosides has been studied. An efficient separation of most species was obtained in 94% ethanol using an anion-exchange resin in its sulfate form. The eluate concentration was determined automatically using the orcinol method.