New reactions of anticancer-platinum complexes and their intriguing behaviour under various experimental conditions

The anticancer platinum complexes here described react with organic substrates (such as acids, alkenes, alkynes) and catalyze transformations that can occur in biomolecules which contain unsaturated functions. We have analyzed the role of the platinum complexes in the observed reactions and studied the progress of the detected transformations upon variation of the reaction conditions.     

Transesterification over various zeolites under liquid-phase conditions

Transesterification of β-keto esters with a variety of alcohols to the corresponding β-keto esters has been carried out efficiently over aluminosilicates simply by refluxing in toluene under liquid-phase conditions. Aliphatic β-keto esters exhibit the higher reactivity than the aromatic and/or cyclic β-keto esters, whereas other esters such as -keto esters, ,β-unsaturated esters, normal esters, and -halo esters fail to undergo the transesterification. The reaction proceeds smoothly with primary alcohols than the tertiary-, cyclic-, and allylic alcohols. The large-pore zeolites such as Y, mordenite, and β show higher activity than the medium-pore ZSM-5 and the partial removal of framework aluminum from the large-pore zeolites by dealumination increases their activity. The aluminum containing mesoporous MCM-41 shows poor activity. Among the different solvents used toluene leads to the highest activity and the optimum catalyst concentration found was ca. 20 wt.% of the substrate. The activity increases with increasing reaction temperature. The reaction pathway consists of formation of acyl ketene intermediate by the interaction of β-keto esters with Brønsted acid sites of the catalyst, followed by nucleophilic attack of the alcohol at the electrophilic center and successive elimination of the proton to give the product.     

Polymer-solvent complexes and intercalates prepared under various conditions

The relevancy of temperature-composition phase diagrams for the study of polymer-solvent complexes and intercalates is discussed. In particular the use of Tamman's diagrams for determining the stoichiometric composition is evaluated. Examples of the validity of this approach are taken from isotactic or syndiotactic polystyrene compounds. Also, the effect of the path followed for reaching a T, C coordinate is examined. It is shown that cooling hot, homogeneous solutions at composition C or allowing solvent to diffuse in a solid polymer matrix at temperature T yields basically the same thermal behaviour.     

Behaviour of protein-stabilised emulsions under various physiological conditions

Emulsion forms a major part of many processed food formulations. During the past few decades, the physico-chemical properties of oil-in-water emulsions under various food processing conditions have been extensively studied. However, over the recent years, interest has turned to understanding the behaviour of emulsions during consumption, i.e. physiological processing. In general, on ingestion, an emulsion is exposed to a relatively narrow range of physical (e.g. shear and temperature) and biochemical (e.g. dilution, pH, pepsin, pancreatin, mucins and bile salts) environments as it passes through the mouth into the stomach and then the intestines. There is currently limited knowledge of the physico-chemical and structural changes, which an emulsion may undergo when it passes through the physiologically active regime. A better understanding of the gastro-intestinal processing of emulsions would allow manipulation of physico-chemical and interfacial properties to modulate lipid ingestion, improve bioavailability of lipid soluble nutrients and reduce absorption of saturated fats, cholesterol and trans fats.Food emulsions are commonly stabilised by proteins, as they are not only excellent emulsifiers but also provide nutritional benefits to the product. The effects of digestion conditions on interfacial protein structures are complicated because of potential breakdown of these structures by proteolytic enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract. Studies dealing directly with the behaviour of protein-based emulsions under digestion conditions are very limited. This paper provides an overview of the behaviour of oil-in-water emulsions stabilised with globular proteins, namely lactoferrin and β-lactoglobulin. Recent advances in understanding the interactions between interfacial proteins on oil droplets and various physiological materials (e.g. enzymes and bile salts) in in vitro digestion systems are considered. Major emphasis is placed on the recent work carried out in our laboratory at Massey University on the behaviour of milk protein based emulsions (lactoferrin or β-lactoglobulin) during their passage through the gastro-intestinal tract.     

Thermal inactivation of alkali phosphatases under various conditions

The thermal inactivation of alkali phosphatases from bacteria Escherichia coli (ECAP), bovine intestines (bovine IAP), and chicken intestines (chicken IAP) was studied in different buffer solutions and in the solid state. The conclusion was made that these enzymes had maximum stability in the solid state, and, in a carbonate buffer solution, their activity decreased most rapidly. It was found that the bacterial enzyme was more stable than animal phosphatases. It was noted that, for ECAP, four intermediate stages preceded the loss of enzyme activity, and, for bovine and chicken IAPs, three intermediate stages were observed. The activation energy of thermal inactivation of ECAP over the range 25–70°C was determined to be 80 kJ/mol; it corresponded to the dissociation of active dimers into inactive monomers. Higher activation energies (∼200 kJ/mol) observed at the initial stage of thermal inactivation of animal phosphatases resulted from the simultaneous loss of enzyme activity caused by dimer dissociation and denaturation. It was shown that the activation energy of denaturation of monomeric animal alkali phosphatases ranged from 330 to 380 kJ/mol depending on buffer media. It was concluded that the inactivation of solid samples of alkali phosphatases at 95°C was accompanied by an about twofold decrease in the content of β structures in protein molecules. Original Russian Text ? L.F. Atyaksheva, B.N. Tarasevich, E.S. Chukhrai, O.M. Poltorak, 2009, published in Zhurnal Fizicheskoi Khimii, 2009, Vol. 83, No. 2, pp. 391–396.     

Studies on lanthanoid sulphites: Part IV. Thermal decomposition of erbium sulphite trihydrate under various experimental conditions

Thermal behaviour of Er₂(SO₃)₃· 3H₃O has been studied by means of TG, DTG, DTA, DSC and EGA techniques. Experimental conditions were also varied, $\text{viz.}$ sample size, heating rate and the atmosphere.The dehydration starts slowly above 150°C but the release of water is rapid around 250°C. SO₂ gas is evolved slowly and simultaneously with H₂O. The anhydrous sulphite is formed below 300°C after which it decomposes through several reactions accompanied by a release of mainly SO₂, but also a small amount of SO₃ near 650°C. In air, there is a clear plateau in the TG curve between 600 and 800°C; the weight loss involved depends strongly on the sample size and heating rate, however. A plausible explanation for the plateau is the formation of a mixture of Er₂(SO₄)₃, Er₂O(SO₄)₂ and Er₂O₂SO₄. The next plateau around 900 – 1000°C corresponds to Er₂O(SO₄)₂ and Er₂O₂SO₄. In nitrogen atmosphere, the first plateau after the anhydrous sulphite appears later in the weight scale as compared to air. Although the position of the plateau corresponds to the sesquisulphide, it is according to X-ray diffraction results a mixture of Er₂O₂(SO₄) and Er₂O₃. In both air and nitrogen, the final reaction step above 1000°C is the formation of Er₂O₃.     

The catalytic properties of alkaline phosphatases under various conditions

A comparative study was performed to examine the catalytic properties of alkaline phosphatases from bacteria Escherichia coli and bovine and chicken intestines. The activity of enzyme dimers and tetramers was determined. The activity of the dimer was three or four times higher than that of the tetramer. The maximum activity and affinity for 4-nitrophenylphosphate was observed for the bacterial alkaline phosphatase (K _M = 1.7 × 10^?5 M, V _max = 1800 μmol/(min mg of protein) for dimers and V _max = 420 μmol/(min mg of protein) for tetramers). The Michaelis constants were equal for two animal phosphatases in various buffer media (pH 8.5) ((3.5 ± 0.2) × 10^?4 M). Five buffer systems were investigated: tris, carbonate, hepes, borate, and glycine buffers, and the lowest catalytic activity of alkaline phosphatases at equal pH was observed in the borate buffer (for enzyme from bovine intestine, V _max = 80 μmol/(min mg of protein)). Cu²⁺ cations formed a complex with tris-(oxymethyl)-aminomethane (tris-HCl buffer) and inhibited the intestine alkaline phosphatases by a noncompetitive mechanism.     

Synthesis of SnSe in various alkaline media under mild conditions

The synthesis of SnSe was systematically investigated in various alkaline media and at various temperatures with SnCl2.2H2O and selenium as source materials. The basicity of the alkaline media and the reaction temperature are two key factors considered in our process. The synthesis of SnSe in sodium hydroxide solution and aqueous ammonia is limited to a narrow temperature range, while the synthesis in hydrazine hydrate and ethylenediamine proceeds over a wider range. The final products were characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM results showed a variation of crystal morphology of SnSe obtained in different media. Two simple chemical mechanisms for the formation of SnSe are presented.     

Sorption of certain isatins on various sorbents under RP-HPLC conditions

The results from chromatographic analysis of biologically active isatin derivatives on hyper-crosslinked polystyrene (HCLPS) and silica gel modified by octadecyl groups (SilC₁₈) are presented. The constants of distribution of sorbates between a mobile phase and the investigated sorbents (K _x ) and the changes in the standard differential molar Gibbs energies of adsorption $(\Delta _a \bar G^\circ )$ are calculated, along with the chromatographic retention-physicochemical property of sorbate dependences. It is found that the equations describing these dependences have high forecasting ability with respect to the values of retention factors of the investigated sorbates.     

Crystal habit modifications of imatinib mesylate under various precipitation conditions

Abstract  

Crystals of the α-form of imatinib mesylate with various habits (e.g., polyhedral-like and plate-like) were prepared from various organic solvents (e.g., butyl lactate, 4-methyl-2-pentanone, 2-methyl-2-butanol, 2-isopropoxyethanol, propyl ether) by several precipitation methods. The methods provide imatinib mesylate in a non-needle-shaped crystalline α-form. The crystal modification was identified by hot-stage microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD). The analyses by DSC, IR, and XRPD indicate that imatinib mesylate crystals with various habits have the same crystal structure. The plate-like habit has been also observed in the system where the organic solvent acts as a precipitant.     

Heteroaromatic thioether-boronic acid cross-coupling under neutral reaction conditions

[reaction: see text] Pi-deficient heteroaromatic thioethers undergo efficient palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling with boronic acids mediated by copper(I) thiophene-2-carboxylate.     

Establishment of experimental model of bacterial growth under inhibitory conditions

The thermal curves ofB. subtilis andP. atruginosa were determined by using a 2277 Thermal Activity Monitor (Sweden). Under inhibitory conditions, an experimental model of bacterial growth was established. The growth rate constant (μ), deceleration rate constant (β) and optimum temperature (T) of bacterial growth were calculated.

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Zusammenfassung Mittels eines 2277 Thermal Activity Monitor (Schweden) wurden die thermischen Kurven vonB. subtilis undP. atruginosa ermittelt. Unter Inhibitionsbedingungen wurde ein experimentelles Modell bakterielen Wachstums festgestellt. Die Wachstumsgeschwindigkeitskonstante μ, Verlangsamungskonstante α und optimale Temperature (T) für das bakterielle Wachstum wurden bestimmt.

     

Intramolecular nucleophilic cyclization of a carboxylic acid hydrazide under mild acid conditions

Phthaloyl-2′-nitrophenylhydrazide undergoes ring closure involving nucleophilic attack of the hydrazide on the carboxylic acid in dilute aqueous acid solution to form the corresponding N-substituted phthalimide. Structure of the resulting phthalimide was unequivocally confirmed by ¹³C-nmr.     

Isobutane alkylation over solid acid catalysts under supercritical conditions

Solid catalyzed isobutane alkylation has been investigated for decades, but it has not yet been applied in any commercial uses because of the rapid deactivation of the catalyst. Here, the alkylation reaction has been studied under supercritical conditions using metal-promoted and unpromoted sulfated zirconia as catalysts. The catalytic activity at the supercritical condition of 5.0 MPa, 423K was significantly higher than at lower reaction pressure conditions and the deactivation rate was clearly reduced, independent on the catalyst. Iron- and manganese-promoted sulfated zirconia (SFMZ) showed higher activities under all conditions than unpromoted sulfated zirconia (SZ).     

Chemical composition of the essential oils ofZiziphora growing under various ecological conditions

It has been established that, in spite of different ecological conditions of the growth of the endemic speciesZiziphora vychodceviana, Z. pedicellata, andZ. persica, they are characterized by identical biosyntheses of terpenoids and differ by the ratio of the main components of their essential oils. Institute of Chemical Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Kazakhstan, Alma-Ata. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 727–729, November–December, 1994.