Hydration numbers of α-alanine in an aqueous urea solution

Literature data on the apparent molar volumes ϕ of alanine in water and aqueous urea solutions at 298 K are analyzed. It is shown that the slope of the ϕ dependence on the alanine concentration is not dependent on the urea concentration. The standard partial volume of alanine increases linearly with the increase in the urea concentration (wt.%). The structural characteristics of hydrated complexes of alanine (hydration number, molar volume of water inside and outside the hydration sphere, and proper volume of alanine in solution) are given. The hydration number of alanine decreases by a factor of two in passing from water to a saturated (20m) urea solution. The effects of urea additions on the hydration numbers of alanine and glycine are compared.     

The synthesis and applications of α-zirconium phosphate

The synthesis of α-ZrP with a range of crystallinity is of high importance due to the different requirements in various applications.Nanosized crystalline α-ZrP is typically obtained by refluxing amorphous ZrP in concentrated H₃PO₄ solutions.Microcrystalline α-ZrP are obtained by direct precipitation in the presence of either HF or oxalic acid which are used as complexing agents for zirconium.These larger crystals are useful as ion-exchangers in column-type applications as ...     

Protonation constants of α-alanine in electrolyte mixtures at constant ionic strength

The stoichiometric acid-base equilibrium constants for -alanine in tetraethylamonium iodide-potassium nitrate solutions were determined at a constant ionic strength of 1.4 m at 25°C. The results obtained are discussed on the basis of the Friedman and the Pitzer model for electrolyte mixtures.     

Surface electrochemistry of the oxidation reactions of α- and β-alanine at a platinum electrode

The electrochemical oxidation reactions of α- and β-alanine at a Pt electrode were investigated in aqueous solutions at pH 1, 7, and 13 using steady-state current-potential measurements, cyclic voltammetry, and open circuit potential decay. The capacitance behaviour and the high Tafel slopes suggest the production of free radicals at the surface of the electrode accompanied by a second reaction involving loss of CO₂ which is the rate determining step. In the surface electro-oxidation of α-alanine, it appears that the adsorbed intermediate species is either hydrolyzed anodically to acetaldehyde and ammonia, or is oxidized to a carbonium ion which is subsequently hydrolyzed to acetaldehyde and ammonia in solution, analogous to the behaviour observed for glycine [D.G. Marangoni, R.S. Smith and S.G. Roscoe, Can. J. Chem., 67 (1989) 921]. The mechanisms for β-alanine would be similar except carbonium ion formation would probably be accompanied by a hydride transfer to form acetaldehyde. No dimerized products were detected by gas chromatography. These mechanisms differ from the dimerization process typical of the radical reactions associated with the Kolbe mechanism.     

A piezo-resonator as a detector of α- and β-alanine in aqueous solutions

The results of analysis of aqueous solutions of α- and β-alanine using a piezo-resonator are presented. Analytical signals from analytes were found to significantly differ from each other, which is connected with the peculiarities of the piezo-resonator operation in the solution as a viscosimetric rather than a mass-sensitive device.     

The thermodynamics of ionization of α-alanine in methanol + water mixtures and the determination of single ion thermodynamics

In order to understand the effect of solvents on the thermodynamic parameters of amino acids, the thermodynamic dissociation constants, k₁ and K₂, for the reactions

and

(where RH^± = α-alanine) have been determined pH-metrically in methanol + water mixtures. The measurements were carried out in dilute solutions and in the absence of neutral electrolytes to minimize the “salt effect” as far as practicable so that the “medium effects” on the dissociation constants of the α-alanine can be properly understood.The enthalpy values for reactions (1) and (2) (up to 44.14 wt% of methanol) have been determined calorimetrically. It has been observed that the conversion of α-alanine into cations and anions is favourable both from enthalpic and entropic considerations, so that the reverse reactions of (1) and (2) are spontaneous. Attempts have been made to interpret the thermodynamics properties of α-alanine in terms of hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions and other structural changes of the solvent molecules.In order to get a better insight into the nature of specific solute-solvent interactions, we have analysed the results in terms of single ion values using the thermodynamic values from the present work and other relevant data from previous work in our laboratory.     

Preparation of α-alkyl-β-amino acids via β-alanine Ni(II) complex

A new β-amino acrylic acid Ni(II) complex has been developed and used for the synthesis of α-alkyl-β-amino acids via alkylation with alkyl halides under operationally convenient conditions. The pivotal α-alkylated intermediate can be converted into the corresponding α-alkyl-β-amino acids via two steps with a wide range of substituents.     

Chemical transformations of the condensation products of pyridoxal with L-α-alanine and D-α-alanine

The kinetics and mechanism of the reactions of pyridoxal with L- and D-α-alanine were studied. Under comparable conditions, the condensation of L- and D-α-alanines with pyridoxal includes three kinetically different steps. The first fast step is addition of the amino acid to pyridoxal with formation of the corresponding amino alcohol, the second (slower) step is dehydration of the amino alcohol to give Schiff base, and the third (very slow) step is elimination of α-hydrogen atom from the L-α-amino acid fragment or decarboxylation of the D-α-amino acid fragment, followed by isomerization of the Schiff base to quinoid structure whose subsequent hydrolysis yields pyridoxamine and pyruvic acid or acetaldehyde, respectively. A scheme was proposed for chemical transformations of the pyridoxal condensation products with L- and D-α-alanines.     

Anode oxidation of copper in alkali media in the presence of glycine, α-alanine,and asparagine acid

The effect of glycine, α-alanine, and asparagine acid on the kinetics of anode processes occurring for copper in alkali electrolytes is studied. The experiments are performed in a background solution of 1 × 10⁻² M NaOH (pH 12). The concentrations of glycine and α-alanine are varied in the range of 1 × 10⁻⁶-1 × 10⁻¹ M, and the concentration of asparagine acid is varied in the range of 1 × 10⁻⁵-1 × 10⁻³ M. All amino acids used in this work have been found to stimulate anode oxidation of passivated copper, initiating local activation (LA) of the metal. Depending on the nature of amino acids, this effect occurs in various concentration ranges: for glycine and α-alanine, it takes place at c= 5 × 10⁻³-2 × 10⁻² M, while for asparagine acid, at c = 1 × 10⁻⁵−1 × 10⁻³ M. In addition to this general regularity, several individual peculiarities have been revealed: in the systems containing a monobasic amino acid additive, local activation occurs at E = 0.10–0.20 V, while in the presence of a dibasic amino acid, the local activation is observed at two potentials, E _LA¹ = 0.20–0.30 V and = E _LA² = 0.80–0.90 V, separated by the repassivation region.     

Features and applications of reactions of α,β-unsaturated N-acylbenzotriazoles with amino compounds

Promoted by triethylamine, α,β-unsaturated N-acylbenzotriazoles reacted with amino compounds in a variety of ways. Thus, N-cinnamoylbenzotriazoles reacting with aromatic amines afforded novel addition products β-benzotriazolyl amides 3, which might be normally formed from the alternative but unknown 1,4-addition of benzotriazole to N-cinnamoylamides. The type 3 compounds could also result from the reaction between N-crotonoylbenzotriazole and aliphatic amines. However, normal 1,4-addition could occur between α,β-unsaturated aliphatic N-acylbenzotriazoles and aromatic amines, leading to β-amino N-acylbenzotriazoles 4 in good yields. In addition, exclusive 1,2-addition of aliphatic amines to N-cinnamoylbenzotriazoles gave excellent yields of cinnamides 5. Accordingly, three possible routes were proposed to rationalize the formation of compounds 3-5. Finally, with o-phenylenediamine and o-aminothiophenol as the substrates, the 1,4- and 1,2-addition to α,β-unsaturated N-acylbenzotriazoles could take place concurrently and the corresponding heterocycles 1,5-benzodiazepine-2-one and 1,5-benzothiazepine-4-one were constructed, respectively.     

Synthesis of phosphorylated derivatives of furoylglycine and furoyl-β-alanine

Chloromethylfuroyl chlorides react with alkyl glycinates and β-alanates to form the corresponding chloromethylfuroyl amides. The compounds obtained are phosphorylated with triethyl phosphite under the conditions of the Arbuzov reaction to give (diethoxyphosphorylmethylfuroyl amides. Alkaline hydrolysis of these compounds proceeds only at the carboxy group leading to (diethoxyphosphorylmethyl)furoylglycine and furoyl-β-alanine. Selectivity of hydrolysis does not depend on the position of carboxamide and diethoxyphosphorylmethyl groups in the furan ring.     

The hydrocyanation route to β- and γ-amino acids. A synthesis of α-methylene-β-alanine

Hydrocyanation of several phthalimidoalkynes proceeds with good regioselection yielding products which were easily converted into unsaturated and saturated β- and γ-amino acids.     

Development and validation of HPLC method for the determination of α-tocopherol in human erythrocytes for clinical applications

In this work, a simple isocratic reversed-phase HPLC method for determination of alpha-tocopherol in human erythrocytes has been developed and validated. After separation of plasma the erythrocytes were washed three times with 0.9% sodium chloride containing 0.01% butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) as antioxidant and then were diluted 1:1 (v/v) with the same solution. In the liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) procedure, 2500 microL of n-hexane was added to 500 microL of erythrocytes. After 2 min this mixture was deproteinized by addition of cool ethanol (500 microL, 5 min) denatured with 5% methanol containing alpha-tocopherol acetate (20 micromol L(-1)), as internal standard, and then extracted for 5 min by vortex mixing. After centrifugation (10 min, 1600xg) an aliquot (2000 microL) of the clean extract was separated and evaporated under nitrogen. The residue was dissolved in 400 microL methanol and analysed by reversed-phase HPLC on a 4.6 mmx150 mm, 5 microm Pecosphere C18 column; the mobile phase was 100% methanol, flow rate 1.2 mL min(-1). The volume injected was 100 microL and detection was by diode-array detector at a wavelength of 295 nm. The extraction recovery of alpha-tocopherol from human erythrocytes was 100.0+/-2.0%. The detection limit was 0.1 micromol L(-1) and a linear calibration plot was obtained in the concentration range 0.5-20.0 micromol L(-1). Within determination precision was 5.2% RSD (n=10), between determination precision was 6.1% RSD (n=10). The method was applied successfully in a clinical study of patients with acute pancreatitis and for determination of the reference values in the healthy Czech population.     

Chitosan-mediated synthesis of mesoporous α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles and their applications in catalyzing selective oxidation of cyclohexane

This paper reports the chitosan-mediated synthesis of porous hematite nanoparticles with FeCl₃ as the precursor via a hydrothermal approach at 160 °C. A series of porous chitosan/iron oxide hybrid nanoparticles were obtained via changing the ratio of chitosan to FeCl₃, FeCl₃ concentration and pH value of the reaction solution, and producing porous iron oxide nanoparticles after calcination. The as-prepared samples were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared, and N₂ sorption. The particle sizes of these metal oxides were less than 100 nm, and the pore sizes were in the range of 2–16 nm. It was demonstrated that chitosan played a key role in the formation of the porous structures. The resultant α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were used as the support to immobilize Au or Pd nanoparticles, producing Au/α-Fe₂O₃ or Pd/α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. The as-prepared α-Fe₂O₃ nanocatalyst exhibited high selectivity towards cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol for catalyzing cyclohexane oxidation with O₂ at 150°C.     

Kinetics and mechanism of reactions of bis(biguanide)copper(II) ion with glycine and α-alanine in aqueous media

Summary The kinetics of the reaction of [Cu(bigH)₂]²⁺ (bigH = biguanide) with an excess of amino acid (LH), namely glycine or -alanine, in aqueous solution in the 7.6–9.0 pH range at different temperatures (30–40° C) have been followed by stopped-flow spectrophotometry. The ligand replacement process has been found to pass through intermediate formation of a ternary complex, [Cu(bigH)L]⁺ at the slower step, followed by rapid transformation into the binary complex, [CuL₂]. The overall ligand replacement process has a ligand dependent (k ₁) path which is first order with respect to the incoming ligand (L^-), and a ligand independent (k ₀) path. Under pseudo-first order conditions containing excess amino acid, the experimental observations conform to the rate law k _obs = k ₀ + k ₁ K _a[L]_T/([H⁼] + K _a), where [L]_T stands for the total concentration of amino acid and K _a gives the deprotonation constant of LH. The solvent assisted dissociation (i.e. k ₀ path) leads to a copper(II) mono-biguanide complex followed by rapid nucleophilic substitution; the k ₁ path is in agreement with an associative mechanism. The activation parameters (H , S ) for each step have been determined.     

Synthesis of New α-Heterocyclic α-Aminophosphonates

α-heterocyclic α-aminophosphonates were obtained in good yields by N-of several nitrogen heterocycles with α-azido-α-aminophosphonate 1. ¹ Elachqar, A., El Hallaoui, A., Roumestant, M. L. and Viallefont, Ph. 1994. Synthetic Comm, 24: 1279 [CSA][Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]     

Usefulness of cyclodextrin media for the determination of α-cypermethrin by photochemically induced fluorescence: analytical applications to natural waters

The photochemically induced fluorescence (PIF) spectral properties of α-cypermethrin in organic solvents (hexane, dichloromethane, acetonitrile, ethanol) and in cyclodextrin aqueous solutions (β-CD and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-CD, 2-HP-β-CD) were investigated. The photolysis kinetics of α-cypermethrin were evaluated in the various media. The PIF signal was found to be significantly enhanced in the CD media relative to the organic solvents. The stoichiometry and the formation constants of the α-cypermethrin inclusion complexes formed with the CDs were determined. The analytical performances of the PIF method were improved in the presence of HP-β-CD relative to the other media, and a CD-enhanced PIF analytical method was developed. The limits of detection and limits of quantification ranged, respectively, between 6 and 98 ng/mL and between 24 and 343 ng/mL, depending on the medium. Application to the analysis of tap water and Senegal natural water samples collected close to agricultural areas and spiked with α-cypermethrin yielded satisfactory recoveries going from about 77% to 98%. An interference study of foreign species, including pesticides and inorganic ions likely to be present in natural waters, was also carried out. Figure Photolysis reaction of α-cypermethrin in presence of HP-β-CD     

New general synthesis of α-alkoxyketones via α'-alkylation, α-alkylation and α,α'-dialkylation of α-alkoxyketimines

α-Methoxy- and α-ethoxyketones, as important intermediates in organic synthesis and flavor compounds in food chemistry, were synthesized by deprotonation of N-(1-alkoxy-2-propylidene)isopropylamine, prepared by condensation of the corresponding α-alkoxyacetone with isopropylamine, and subsequent reaction of the corresponding 1-azaallylic anions with alkyl halides to afford α'-alkylated, α-alkylated and α,α'-dialkylated ketimines. Hydrolysis of the imino function led to the desired substituted α-alkoxyketones. The ratio of α-, α'-, and α,α'-(di)alkylated compounds depended on the amount of base used and on the nature of the alkylating reagent.