Determination of As by instrumental neutron activation analysis in sectioned hair samples for forensic purposes: chronic or acute poisoning?

Autopsy of 29-year old woman suspicious of committing suicide by the ingestion of As₂O₃ yielded contradictory findings. All pathological findings as well as clinical symptoms suggested acute poisoning, while a highly elevated As level of 26.4 μg g⁻¹ in her hair collected at the autopsy, which was determined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicated chronic poisoning. To elucidate this discrepancy, instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) with proven accuracy was performed of another set of sectioned hair samples. Levels of As found by INAA in the range of 0.16–0.26 μg g⁻¹ excluded chronic poisoning, because the person died after approximately 14 h after the As₂O₃ ingestion. Two reasons for the discordant As results obtained by ICP-MS and INAA are considered: (1) accidental, non-removed contamination of hair on the As₂O₃ ingestion; (2) erroneous performance of ICP-MS.     

“IR-Spectroscopy” — computer-program for the interpretation of infrared spectra

A computer-program "IR-Spectroscopy" for the interpretation of infrared spectra of organic compounds is described. It contains the following basic items for preprocessing and execution of the computer based interpretation process: handling of the rule-base CorTab, routines for automatic rule generation and interpretation modules on the basis of the programming languages PROLOG and C.     

Determination and identification of synthetic cannabinoids and their metabolites in different matrices by modern analytical techniques – a review

Synthetic cannabinoids have gained popularity due to their easy accessibility and psychoactive effects. Furthermore, they cannot be detected in urine by routine drug monitoring. The wide range of active ingredients in analyzed matrices hinders the development of a standard analytical method for their determination. Moreover, their possible side effects are not well known which increases the danger.     

A fast and inexpensive procedure for the isolation of synthetic cannabinoids from ‘Spice’ products using a flash chromatography system

In the age of the Internet, the variety of drugs offered online is constantly increasing, and new drugs emerge every month. One group of drugs showing such an enormous increase is that of synthetic cannabinoids. Since their first identification in ‘herbal mixtures’, new structural modifications continue to appear on the market. In order to keep up with this process, toxicological screening methods need to be up to date. This can become extremely difficult if no reference material is available. In this article, a fast and effective way to extract and purify synthetic cannabinoids from ‘herbal mixtures’ is presented. This method opens a new opportunity for a timely reaction by obtaining reference material straight out of the ‘herbal mixtures’ ordered via the Internet. Isolation was carried out on a flash chromatography system with gradient elution on a C18 column using methanol and 0.55 % formic acid as mobile phases. The obtained purity of all compounds exceeded 99 %. In addition to the isolation of single compounds, the method proved to be suitable for the separation of various synthetic cannabinoids in one mixture, including the diastereomers cis- and trans-CP-47,497-C8. This approach for obtaining pure standards of new drugs proved to be effective, inexpensive and much quicker than waiting for the substances to be commercially available as reference material.

Effect of Gut Microbiota-Derived Metabolites on Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: Enemy or Friend?

The human gut is inhabited by hundreds of billions of commensal microbiota that collectively produce thousands of small molecules and metabolites with local and systemic effects on the physiology of the host. Much evidence from preclinical to clinical studies has gradually confirmed that the gut microbiota can regulate anti-tumor immunity and affect the efficacy of cancer immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) therapy. In particular, one of the main modes of gut microbiota regulating anti-tumor immunity is through metabolites, which are small molecules that can be transported in the body and act on local and systemic anti-tumor immune responses to promote ICIs immunotherapy efficacy. We discuss the functions of microbial metabolites in humans, focusing on the effects and mechanisms of microbial metabolites on immunotherapy, and analyze their potential applications as immune adjuvants and therapeutic targets to regulate immunity and enhance ICIs. In summary, this review provides the basis for the rational design of microbiota and microbial metabolite-based strategies of enhancing ICIs.     

Radiation luminescence of polymers—Emission behavior of aromatic compounds incorporated in synthetic rubbers

For a deep understanding of a radiation protection mechanism of some aromatic compounds on synthetic polymers, their optical emission behavior under electron irradiation was studied. The fluorescence light was led out of an irradiation room through a wave guide and detected by a photomultiplier so that less noisy spectrum was obtained. Acenaphthene or acenaphthylene was added to the synthetic rubbers such as ethylene propylene diene terpolymer, styrene butadiene rubber and cis-1,4-polybutadiene. The intensities of optical emission induced by electron beams changed from polymer to polymer, while those by ultraviolet lights were independent of the kind of polymers. The dependence of emission intensity on polymers under electron irradiation was estimated to show the fact that the radiation excited energy transfers occur from the polymer matrix to the additives and that an efficiency of the energy transfer is dependent on kinds of polymers.     

An efficient synthetic method for allyl-epoxides via allylation of α-haloketones or esters with allylmagnesium bromide

A simple, efficient, and non-metal-catalyzed synthetic method for allyl-epoxides and diallyl-epoxides by allylation of α-haloketones and esters with allylmagnesium bromide in mild conditions is reported in this article. It inherited some advantages of the organomagnesium reagents such as availability, operational simplicity and low toxicity.     

Pressurized-liquid extraction for determination of illicit drugs in hair by LC–MS–MS

An LC–MS–MS-based procedure for determination in hair of 14 different drugs of abuse belonging to the classes cocaine, amphetamine-like compounds, opiates, and hallucinogens has been developed. A pressurized-liquid extraction procedure was used and proved useful for quantitative recovery of all the analytes tested. This procedure, in conjunction with a simple decontamination step, performed to avoid false-positive samples, enabled the detection of all the analytes with LOQ ranging from 1.8 to 16 pg mg^?1 and accuracy varying from 85 to 111 %. The procedure was validated in accordance with the SOFT/AAFS guidelines and seems to be suitable for routine determination of the drugs tested in hair.     

Monte Carlo simulation of the kinetics of the helix—coil transition in a synthetic DNA

Values of the rate at which an alternating copolymeric nucleic acid melts after a temperature jump have been obtained with a Monte Carlo simulation. Using a Glauber—Ising scheme to model the dynamics, the helix—random coil transition shows a pure “monodispersive” relaxation in accord with previous analytical and experimental predictions.     

Application of a simple and sensitive GC–MS method for determination of morphine in the hair of opium abusers

Thirty hair samples were collected from male opioid abusers for whom the presence of morphine in their urine samples was confirmed by thin layer chromatography (TLC). The hair samples were decontaminated by washing with isopropanol, deionized water, and isopropanol, dried at room temperature, and cut into small pieces. Samples of the latter (30 mg ) were digested by incubation in a mixture of methanol–trifluoroacetic acid (9:1) for 18 h at 45 °C and sonicated to improve the extraction process. The methanolic phase was evaporated to dryness under a stream of nitrogen at 50 °C. The sample was derivatized by addition of N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) and 1% trimethyliodosilane (TMIS) at 70 °C for 20 min, with sonication. Derivatized samples (1 L) were injected into a gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer (GC–MS) system fitted with a capillary column; the Finnigan MS was operated in SIM mode. Naltrexone was used as internal standard (IS). The masses of the ions selected for morphine and naltrexone were 429 and 557, respectively. The limit of quantitation was set at 0.03 ng mg^–1 hair. By using the above procedure we detected morphine in all the samples examined, in the concentration range 0.26–10.31 ng mg^–1 hair.     

Electron counting and bonding analysis in triruthenium clusters containing sulfoximido ligands: true or false electron-deficient systems?

Triruthenium clusters containing a methylphenylsulfoximido cap or bridge, Ru₃(CO)₉(μ₂-H)[μ₃-NS(O)MePh] (1), Ru₃(CO)₁₀(μ₂-H)[μ₃-NS(O)MePh] (2), Ru₃(CO)₈(μ₃-η²-CPhCHBu)[μ₃-NS(O)MePh] (3), Ru₃(CO)₉(μ₃-η²-PhCCCCHPh)[μ₂-NS(O)MePh] (4), and Ru₃(CO)₇(μ₂-CO)(μ₃-η²-PhCCCCHPh)[μ₃-NS(O)MePh] (5) have been examined by EHT and DFT calculations in order to analyze the bonding present in the clusters and to establish the electron counting. They clearly show that a μ₃-sulfoximido group is not a 3e⁻ ligand as one may be led to think at first sight, but rather acts as a three-orbital/5e⁻ system, i.e. should be considered as isolobal to an N---R⁻ ligand. Because of some delocalization of its π-type orbitals on the sulfur and oxygen atoms, it is expected to bind slightly less strongly to metal atoms than classical imido ligands. Once in a μ₂ coordination mode, the sulfoximido ligand retains a lone pair on its pyramidalized N atom and becomes a two-orbital/3e⁻ ligand. It follows that clusters 1, 2, 4 and 5 are electron-precise, whereas cluster 3 is electron deficient with respect to the 18e⁻ rule but obeys the polyhedral skeletal electron pair electron-counting rules. Consistently, all the calculated clusters exhibit large HOMO–LUMO gaps and no trace of electron deficiency can be found in their electronic structures.     

A liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method based on class characteristic fragmentation pathways to detect the class of indole-derivative synthetic cannabinoids in biological samples

This article describes a liquid chromatographic/tandem mass spectrometric method, based on the use of precursor ion scan as the acquisition mode, specifically developed to detect indole-derived cannabinoids (phenylacetylindoles, naphthoylindoles and benzoylindoles) in biological fluids (saliva, urine and blood). The method is designed to recognize one or more common “structural markers”, corresponding to mass spectral fragments originating from the specific portion of the molecular structure that is common to the aminoalkylindole analogues and that is fundamental for their pharmacological classification. As such, the method is also suitable for detecting unknown substances, provided they contain the targeted portion of the molecular structure.