An Amperometric Immunosensor for IgG Based on Conducting Polymer and Carbon Nanotube‐Linked Hydrazine Label

An amperometric immunosensor for IgG was developed by covalently immobilizing anti‐IgG on multiwall carbon nanotube‐embedded conducting polymer, poly‐5,2′ : 5′′,2′′‐terthiophene‐3′‐carboxylic acid (MWCNT/pTTCA). The MWCNT/pTTCA modified electrode was characterized by SEM, EIS, and XPS. A hydrazine‐labeled secondary antibody‐MWCNT conjugate (Hyd‐MWCNT‐Ab₂) was applied for detection. Hydrazine was used as a catalyst for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide, which was monitored at ?0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The calibration plots showed a linear range of 0.1–10 ng/mL with a detection limit of 0.084±0.004 ng/mL. The proposed immunosensor was evaluated for clinical applications in a rabbit serum sample.     

Synthesis and characterization of polyethylene‐g‐polystyrene as the compatibilizer for polypropylene/ Polystyrene blends

Polyethylene‐g‐polystyrene (PE‐g‐PS) was synthesized as a compatibilizer for polypropylene/polystyrene­(PP/PS) blends by the living radical polymerization of styrene with polyethylene‐co‐glycidylmethacrylate (PE‐co‐GMA). The compatibilizer effect of PE‐g‐PS on the morphology and thermal properties of PP/PS blends was investigated. The crystalline temperature of PP in PP/PS blends decreased with increasing PE‐g‐PS contents. Morphologies of PP/PE‐g‐PS/PS blends showed much better dispersion of each domain for higher PE‐g‐PS contents. The molecular weight of PS segment in PP/PE‐g‐PS/PS blend was increased by addition of styrene monomer during the post melt blending process where post living radical polymerization reaction proceeded. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Direct immersion solid‐phase microextraction with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry for the determination of specific biomarkers of human sweat in melted snow

To provide a reliable tool for investigating diffusion processes of the specific components of the human odor 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylhexanoic acid and 3‐methyl‐3‐sulfanylhexan‐1‐ol through the snowpack, we developed and optimized an analytical method based on direct immersion solid‐phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Direct immersion solid‐phase microextraction was performed using polyacrylate fibers placed in aqueous solutions containing 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylhexanoic acid and 3‐methyl‐3‐sulfanylhexan‐1‐ol. After optimization, absorption times of 120 min provided a good balance to shorten the analysis time and to obtain suitable amounts of extractable analytes. The extraction efficiency was improved by increasing the ionic strength of the solution. Although the absolute extraction efficiency ranged between 10 and 12% for 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylhexanoic acid and 2–3% for 3‐methyl‐3‐sulfanylhexan‐1‐ol, this method was suitable for analyzing 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylhexanoic acid and 3‐methyl‐3‐sulfanylhexan‐1‐ol concentrations of at least 0.04 and 0.20 ng/mL, respectively. The precision of the direct immersion solid‐phase microextraction method ranged between 8 and 16%. The variability within a batch of six fibers was 10–18%. The accuracy of the method provided values of 88–95 and 86–101% for 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylhexanoic acid and 3‐methyl‐3‐sulfanylhexan‐1‐ol, respectively. The limit of detection (and quantification) was 0.01 ng/mL (0.04 ng/mL) for 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylhexanoic acid and 0.06 ng/mL (0.20 ng/mL) for 3‐methyl‐3‐sulfanylhexan‐1‐ol. The signal versus concentration was linear for both compounds (r² = 0.973–0.979). The stability of these two compounds showed that 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylhexanoic acid was more stable in water than 3‐methyl‐3‐sulfanylhexan‐1‐ol. We applied the method to environmental samples in correspondence with an olfactory target buried previously.     

Separation of six xanthones from Swertia franchetiana by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography

In our present study, two groups of xanthones isomers (1‐hydroxy‐3,5,8‐trimethoxyxanthone and 1‐hydroxy‐3,7,8‐trimethoxyxanthone; 1,8‐dihydroxy‐3,7‐dimethoxyxanthone and 1,8‐dihydroxy‐3,5‐dimethanolxanthone) and other two xanthones (3‐methoxy‐1,5,8‐trihydroxyxanthone and 3,5‐dimethoxy‐1‐hydroxyxanthone) were separated from Swertia franchetiana . First, a solvent system composed of petroleum ether/methanol/water (2:1:0.6, v/v) was developed for the liquid–liquid extraction of these xanthones from the crude extract. Then, an efficient method was established for the one‐step separation of these six xanthones by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography using n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/ethanol/water (HEMEW; 6:4:4:2:4, v/v) as the solvent system. The results showed that liquid–liquid extraction could be well developed for efficient enrichment of target compounds. Additionally, high‐speed countercurrent chromatography could be a powerful technology for separation xanthones isomers. It was found ethanol could be a good methanol substitute when the HEMEW system could not provide good separation factors.     

Cellulose tris‐(3,5‐dimethylphenylcarbamate)‐based chiral stationary phase for the enantioseparation of drugs in supercritical fluid chromatography: comparison with HPLC

A cellulose tris‐(3,5‐dimethylphenylcarbamate)‐based chiral stationary phase was studied as a tool for the enantioselective separation of 21 selected analytes with different pharmaceutical and physicochemical properties. The enantioseparations were performed using supercritical fluid chromatography. The effect of the mobile phase composition was studied. Four different additives (diethylamine, triethylamine, isopropylamine, and trifluoroacetic acid) and isopropylamine combined with trifluoroacetic acid were tested and their influence on enantioseparation was compared. The influence of two different mobile phase co‐solvents (methanol and propan‐2‐ol) combined with all the additives was also evaluated. The best mobile phase compositions for the separation of the majority of enantiomers were CO₂/methanol/isopropylamine 80:20:0.1 v/v/v or CO₂/propan‐2‐ol/isopropylamine/trifluoroacetic acid 80:20:0.05:0.05 v/v/v/v. The best results were obtained from the group of basic β‐blockers. A high‐performance liquid chromatography separation system composed of the same stationary phase and mobile phase of similar properties prepared as a mixture of hexane/propan‐2‐ol/additive 80:20:0.1 v/v/v was considered for comparison. Supercritical fluid chromatography was found to yield better results, i.e. better enantioresolution for shorter analysis times than high‐performance liquid chromatography. However, examples of enantiomers better resolved under the optimized conditions in high‐performance liquid chromatography were also found.     

Validation of a liquid chromatography‐triple quadrupole mass spectrometric method for the determination of 5‐nitro‐5′‐hydroxy‐indirubin‐3′‐oxime (AGM‐130) in human plasma and its application to microdose clinical trial

A liquid chromatography–triple quadrupole mass spectrometric (LC‐MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the determination of 5‐nitro‐5′‐hydroxy‐indirubin‐3′‐oxime (AGM‐130) in human plasma to support a microdose clinical trial. The method consisted of a liquid–liquid extraction for sample preparation and LC‐MS/MS analysis in the positive ion mode using TurboIonSpray^TM for analysis. d₃‐AGM‐130 was used as the internal standard. A linear regression (weighted 1/concentration) was used to fit calibration curves over the concentration range of 10–2000 pg/mL for AGM‐130. There were no endogenous interference components in the blank human plasma tested. The accuracy at the lower limit of quantitation was 96.6% with a precision (coefficient of variation, CV) of 4.4%. For quality control samples at 30, 160 and 1600 pg/mL, the between run CV was ≤5.0 %. Between‐run accuracy ranged from 98.1 to 101.0%. AGM‐130 was stable in 50% acetonitrile for 168 h at 4°C and 6 h at room temperature. AGM‐130 was also stable in human plasma at room temperature for 6 h and through three freeze–thaw cycles. The variability of selected samples for the incurred sample reanalysis was ≤12.7% when compared with the original sample concentrations. This validated LC‐MS/MS method for determination of AGM‐130 was used to support a phase 0 microdose clinical trial. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dehydrogenation of poly(1,3‐cyclohexadiene)–polystyrene binary block copolymers

The dehydrogenation of poly(1,3‐cyclohexadiene)–polystyrene binary block copolymers obtained by anionic copolymerization with alkyllithium/amine systems was investigated for the first time. The dehydrogenation of the poly(1,3‐cyclohexadiene) block, which was composed of 1,2‐cyclohexadiene (1,2‐CHD) and 1,4‐cyclohexadiene (1,4‐CHD) units, was strongly affected by the polymer chain structure. The existence of 1,2‐CHD units prevented the dehydrogenation of the poly(1,3‐cyclohexadiene) block in the binary block copolymer. The rate of dehydrogenation was fast on a long sequence of 1,4‐CHD units, whereas it was relatively slow for 1,2‐CHD/1,4‐CHD (≈1/1) unit sequences. The bonding of the polystyrene block to the polymer chain effectively improved not only the rate of dehydrogenation of a long sequence of 1,4‐CHD units but also that of the polymer chain with a high content of 1,2‐CHD units. The dehydrogenation of a poly(1,3‐cyclohexadiene) block containing a small number of 1,2‐CHD units progressed via step‐by‐step reactions. The dehydrogenation of a long sequence of 1,4‐CHD units proceeded as the first step. Subsequently, in the second step, the 1,2‐CHD/1,4‐CHD (≈1/1) unit sequences remaining in the polymer chain were dehydrogenated. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 3526–3537, 2006     

有序介孔碳材料负载铂纳米粒子：用于硝基苯及其衍生物液相催化氢化的高效催化剂

介孔碳材料由于具有规整的孔道结构、表面疏水性、化学惰性、大的比表面积和大的孔体积等特点,在催化领域的应用备受关注,不仅可以直接用作催化剂,还可以作为催化剂载体负载金属活性中心并用于催化反应.介孔碳材料作为载体用于加氢反应已有报道,并且其催化活性明显优于活性炭材料.有序介孔碳材料的代表之一CMK-3可以经过SBA-15翻模合成.采用浸渍法将氯铂酸负载到CMK-3载体上,经过甲酸钠还原制得质量分数为5%的Pt/CMK-3催化剂.小角XRD谱表明CMK-3保留了p6mm对称性,介孔结构完好;从广角XRD谱可以看出,金属铂粒子的衍射峰比较宽,说明铂纳米粒子分散比较均匀. CO化学吸附和透射电镜(TEM)的表征结果进一步证明铂纳米粒子分散得比较均匀,平均粒子大小约为2.5 nm (CO化学吸附), EDX结果表明铂的实际担载量为4.7%.将Pt/CMK-3催化剂用于硝基苯及其衍生物的液相加氢反应中,发现溶剂对反应结果具有很大的影响.首先参考以前的工作,选用水和乙醇体积比9：1的混合溶液为溶剂.在298 K和4 MPa氢气条件下,50 mg催化剂可以将21 mmol硝基苯在10 min内转化98.4%,产物苯胺的选择性高于99%;活性明显高于商品化Pt/C催化剂(相同条件下转化率为88.7%).在此基础上,把Pt/CMK-3催化剂用于含有不同取代基的硝基苯衍生物的液相催化加氢反应,含有吸电子基团如氯取代的硝基苯衍生物转化率为(21.4%–77.7%);苯环上含有给电子基团如甲基时,硝基甲苯加氢反应的转化率为(83.3%–98.0%);而给电子能力更大的基团如甲氧基取代的硝基苯衍生物的转化率却并不高.一方面是由于电子效应导致氯取代的硝基苯衍生物活性偏低,另一方面是由于空间位阻导致邻位取代的硝基苯衍生物活性相对其它位置取代的衍生物转化率偏低.考虑到部分反应物在混合溶剂中溶解度较低,可能导致加氢反应过程受到影响,从而影响反应结果,所以又选用无水乙醇溶剂进行了比较.首先仍用50 mg催化剂于硝基苯催化加氢反应,发现在乙醇溶剂中,21 mmol硝基苯在5 min内可以完全转化;当把硝基苯的量增加到5倍时,转化率为22.2%,苯胺选择性高于99%.因此,在乙醇溶剂中将催化剂用量减半,结果在5 min内21 mmol硝基苯衍生物均完全转化为对应的芳香胺化合物;除了硝基氯苯发生脱氯副反应外,其它衍生物选择性都很高.为了更好地区分不同取代基硝基苯衍生物的加氢活性,将2-氯硝基苯和2-甲基硝基苯的用量增大至105 mmol,反应过程中保持氢气压力恒为4 MPa,并使反应在5 min后中止,此时测得2-氯硝基苯催化加氢的TOF值为28.3 s–1,而2-甲基硝基苯的TOF值高达43.8 s–1. X射线光电子能谱(XPS)显示Pt/CMK-3表面含有带一定正电的铂物种,推测此物种有助于吸附硝基的氧原子,从而活化底物,促进加氢反应的顺利进行.最后还考察了Pt/CMK-3催化剂在硝基苯加氢中的循环使用性能,发现催化剂可以循环使用至少14次,活性没有任何下降.对反应滤液进行ICP分析,发现滤液中并没有铂离子流失;对使用过的催化剂进行透射电镜表征也没有观察到铂粒子聚集现象,说明催化剂的稳定性良好.     

Magnetic porous carbon derived from a metal–organic framework as a magnetic solid‐phase extraction adsorbent for the extraction of sex hormones from water and human urine

An iron‐embedded porous carbon material (MIL‐53‐C) was fabricated by the direct carbonization of MIL‐53. The MIL‐53‐C possesses a high surface area and good magnetic behavior. The structure, morphology, magnetic property, and porosity of the MIL‐53‐C were studied by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and N₂ adsorption. With the use of MIL‐53‐C as the magnetic solid‐phase extraction adsorbent, a simple and efficient method was developed for the magnetic solid‐phase extraction of three hormones from water and human urine samples before high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. The developed method exhibits a good linear response in the range of 0.02–100 ng/mL for water and 0.5–100 ng/mL for human urine samples , respectively. The limit of detection (S/N = 3) for the analytes was 0.005–0.01 ng/mL for water sample and 0.1–0.3 ng/mL for human urine sample. The limit of quantification (S/N = 10) of the analytes were in the range of 0.015–0.030 and 0.3–0.9 ng/mL, respectively.     

Assay of urinary 8‐hydroxy‐2′‐deoxyguanosine by capillary electrophoresis with spectrophotometric detection using a high‐sensitivity detection cell and solid‐phase extraction

A sensitive capillary electrophoretic method featuring spectrophotometric detection using a commercial Z‐cell was devised for the assay of 8‐hydroxy‐2′‐deoxyguanosine (8OHdG) in human urine. Solid‐phase extraction (SPE) based on hydrophilic‐lipophilic‐balanced RP sorbent was utilized for urine sample pretreatment and analyte preconcentration. The separation was carried out in conventional fused‐silica capillaries employing a Z‐cell with hydrodynamic sample injection (at 50 mbar for 12 s). The BGE (pH* 9.2, adjusted with 1 M NaOH) contained 0.15 M boric acid and 10% v/v ACN. The detection wavelength was 282 nm. The calibration curve for 8OHdG (measured in spiked urine) was linear in the range 10–1000 ng/mL; R² = 0.9993. The LOD was 3 ng/mL (11 nmol/L) of 8OHdG. Determination of the 8OHdG urinary levels was possible even in healthy individuals.     

Enantioseparation of 3‐phenyllactic acid by chiral ligand exchange countercurrent chromatography

3‐Phenyllactic acid is an antimicrobial compound with broad‐spectrum activity against various bacteria and fungus. The observed difference in pharmacological activity between optical isomeric 3‐phenyllactic acid necessitates a method for enantioseparation. Chiral ligand exchange countercurrent chromatography was investigated for the enantioseparation of 3‐phenyllactic acid with a synthesized chiral ligand. A two‐phase solvent system was composed of n‐butanol/hexane/water (0.4:0.6:1, v/v/v) to which N‐n‐dodecyl‐l ‐hydroxyproline was added to the organic phase as chiral ligand and cupric acetate was added in the aqueous phase as a transitional metal ion. The influence factors were optimized by enantioselective liquid–liquid extraction. Baseline enantioseparation of racemic 3‐phenyllactic acid by analytical high‐speed countercurrent chromatography was achieved. The optical purities of enantiomeric 3‐phenyllactic acid reached 99.0%, as determined by chiral high‐performance liquid chromatography.     

Detection of Thiols by o‐Quinone Nanocomposite Modified Electrodes

A chemically modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode was developed as an amperometric sensor for detection of biological thiols. The electrode was modified by inclusion of co‐enzyme pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) and a co‐catalyst of oxidized single wall carbon nanotubes (Ox‐SWNT) into a gold polypyrrole (Au‐PPy) nanocomposite matrix. The electrode (PQQ/Ox‐SWNT/Au‐PPy/GC) was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Optimal conditions for the PQQ/Ox‐SWNT/Au‐PPy/GC electrode were determined and then utilized for the amperometric detection of L‐cysteine, N‐acetyl‐L‐cysteine, L‐penicillamine and D, L‐glutathione. The electrochemical response for each thiol in pH 3.2 citrate phosphate buffer at +450 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl) was found to be linear with limit of detections (LOD, S/N=3) ranging from 0.50 µM for L‐penicillamine to 1.55 µM for D, L‐glutathione with sensitivities of 30.2 nA/µM and 3.6 nA/µM respectively. The electrode design is simple and easy to construct using a minimum amount of co‐enzyme and co‐catalyst, resulting in detection methods with very good stability and improved sensitivity for thiol detection.     

Dual Amplified Electrochemical Immunosensor for Hepatitis B Virus Surface Antigen Detection Using Hemin/G‐Quadruplex Immobilized onto Fe3O4‐AuNPs or (Hemin‐Amino‐rGO‐Au) Nanohybrid

A sensitive electrochemical immunosensor for Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) detection was fabricated based on hemin/G‐quadruplex interlaced onto Fe₃O₄‐AuNPs or hemin ‐amino‐reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (H‐amino‐rGO‐Au). G‐quadruplex DNAzyme, which is composed of hemin and guanine‐rich nucleic acid, is an effective signal amplified tool for its outstanding peroxidase activity and Fe₃O₄‐AuNPs or (H‐amino‐rGO‐Au) nanocomposites with quasi‐enzyme activity provide appropriate support for the immobilization of hemin/G‐quadruplex. The target protein was sandwiched between the primary antibody immobilized on the GO and secondary antibody immobilized on the Fe₃O₄‐AuNPs or (H‐amino‐rGO‐Au) nanocomposites and glutaraldehyde was used as linking agent for the immobilization of primary antibody on the surface of GO. Both Fe₃O₄‐AuNPs and H‐amino‐rGO‐Au nanocomposite and also hemin/G‐quadruplex can cooperate the electrocatalytic reduction of H₂O₂ in the presence of methylene blue as mediator. The proposed immunosensor has a wide linear dynamic range of 0.1 pg/ml to 300 pg/ml with a detection limit of 60 fg/ml when Fe₃O₄‐AuNPs was used for immobilization of hemin/G‐quadruplex, while the dynamic range and DL were 0. 1–1000 pg/mL and 10 fg/mL, respectively in the presence of H‐amino‐rGO‐ Au nanocomposite as platform for immobilizing of hemin/G‐quadruplex. The proposed immunosensor was also used for analysis of HBsAg in spiked human serum samples with satisfactory results.     

Development and validation of an enantioselective LC‐MS/MS method to quantify enantiomers of (±)‐TAK‐700 in rat plasma: lack of in vivo inversion of (+)‐TAK‐700 (Orteronel) to its antipode

A highly sensitive, specific and enantioselective assay has been developed and validated for the estimation of TAK‐700 enantiomers [(+)‐TAK‐700 and (?)‐TAK‐700] in rat plasma on LC‐MS/MS‐ESI in the positive‐ion mode. Liquid–liquid extraction was used to extract (±)‐TAK‐700 enantiomers and IS (phenacetin) from rat plasma. TAK‐700 enantiomers were separated using methanol and 5 mm ammonium acetate (80:20, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min on a Chiralcel OJ‐RH column. The total run time was 7.0 min and the elution of (+)‐TAK‐700, (?)‐TAK‐700 and IS occurred at 3.71, 4.45 and 4.33 min, respectively. The MS/MS ion transitions monitored were m/z 308.2 → 95.0 for TAK‐700 and m/z 180.2 → 110.1 for IS. The standard curves for TAK‐700 enantiomers were linear (r² > 0.998) in the concentration range 2.01–2015 ng/mL for each enantiomer. The inter‐ and intra‐day precisions were in the ranges 3.74–7.61 and 2.06–8.71% and 3.59–9.00 and 2.32–11.0% for (+)‐TAK‐700 and (?)‐TAK‐700, respectively. Both the enantiomers were found to be stable in a battery of stability studies. This novel method was applied to the study of stereoselective oral pharmacokinetics of (+)‐TAK‐700 and it was unequivocally demonstrated that (+)‐TAK‐700 does not undergo chiral inversion to its antipode in vivo. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A sensitive column-switching HPLC method for aripiprazole and dehydroaripiprazole and its application to human pharmacokinetic studies

A simple and sensitive column‐switching HPLC‐UV method was developed for the simultaneous determination of aripiprazole, a novel atypical antipsychotic drug, and its active metabolite, dehydroaripiprazole in human plasma. Aripiprazole, its active metabolite and 7‐[5‐[4‐(3‐chloro‐2‐methylphenyl)‐1‐piperazinyl]pentyloxy]‐3,4‐dihydro‐2(1H)‐quinolinone (OPC‐14558) as an internal standard were extracted from 1 mL of plasma using a mixture of chloroform/n‐heptane (3:7, v/v), and the extract was injected into a column I (TSK BSA‐ODS/S precolumn, 5 μm) for cleanup and column II (C₁₈ STR ODS‐II analytical column, 5 μm) for separation. Peaks were detected with an UV detector set at a wavelength of 254 nm, and the total time for chromatographic separation was ～20 min. Mean absolute recoveries were 74.0 and 74.7% for aripiprazole and dehydroaripiprazole, respectively. Intra‐ and inter‐day CVs were less than 7.5 and 7.1% for aripiprazole concentrations ranging from 2 to 600 ng/mL, and 9.2 and 4.5% for dehydroaripiprazole concentrations ranging from 2 to 160 ng/mL. The validated concentration ranges for this method were 1–500 ng/mL and the limits of detection were 0.5 ng/mL for both aripiprazole and dehydroaripiprazole. This method was applied to pharmacokinetic study in human volunteers and patients taking aripiprazole.     

Chiral analytical method development and application to pre‐clinical pharmacokinetics of pinocembrin

An analytical method enabling the detection and quantification of the individual enantiomers of racemic (±) pinocembrin is required to fully characterize its pharmacokinetic disposition. Direct resolution of the enantiomers of pinocembrin was achieved using a novel and simple reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography method with electrospray ionization and detection by mass spectrometry in rat serum. A Chiralcel® AD‐RH column was employed to perform baseline separation with electrospray positive‐mode ionization with selected ion monitoring detection. The standard curves were linear from 0.5 to 100 µg/mL for each enantiomer. The limit of quantification was 0.5 µg/mL. The assay was applied successfully to stereoselective serum disposition of pinocembrin enantiomers in rats. Pinocembrin enantiomers were detected in serum. Both enantiomers had a serum half‐life of ~15 min in rats. Similar values of volume of distribution between the enantiomers were also observed: 1.76 L/kg for S‐pinocembrin and 1.79 L/kg for R‐pinocembrin. Total clearance was 5.527 L//h/kg for S‐pinocembrin and 5.535 L/h/kg for R‐pinocembrin, and the area under the curve was 1.821 µg h/mL for S‐pinocembrin and 1.876 µg h/mL for R‐pinocembrin. The large volume of distribution coupled with the short serum half‐life suggests extensive distribution of pinocembrin into the tissues. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and bioanalytical evaluation of morphine-3-O-sulfate and morphine-6-O-sulfate in human urine and plasma using LC-MS/MS

The aim of this work was to synthesize morphine‐3‐O‐sulfate and morphine‐6‐O‐sulfate for use as reference substances, and to determine the sulfate conjugates as possible heroin and morphine metabolites in plasma and urine by a validated LC‐MS/MS method. Morphine‐6‐O‐sulfate and morphine‐3‐O‐sulfate were prepared as dihydrates from morphine hydrochloride, in overall yields of 41 and 39% with product purities of >99.5% and >98%, respectively. For bioanalysis, the chromatographic system consisted of a reversed‐phase column and gradient elution. The tandem mass spectrometer was operated in the positive electrospray mode using selected reaction monitoring, of transition m/z 366.15 to 286.40. The measuring range was 5–500 ng/mL for morphine‐3‐O‐sulfate and 4.5–454 ng/mL for morphine‐6‐O‐sulfate in plasma. In urine, the measuring range was 50–5000 ng/mL for morphine‐3‐O‐sulfate and 45.4–4544 ng/mL for morphine‐6‐O‐sulfate. The intra‐assay and total imprecision (coefficient of variation) was below 11% for both analytes in urine and plasma. Quantifiable levels of morphine‐3‐O‐sulfate in authentic urine and plasma samples were found. Only one authentic urine sample contained a detectable level of morphine‐6‐O‐sulfate, while no detectable morphine‐6‐O‐sulfate was found in plasma samples.     

Mesoporous chitosan‐immobilized iron tetrakis(4‐carboxyphenyl)porphyrin as a model of cytochrome P‐450 enzyme for oxidation of ethylbenzene

Mesoporous chitosan‐grafted iron tetra (4‐carboxyphenyl) porphyrin catalyst (Fe TCPP/mesp‐CTS) was prepared and investigated as a practical model for the nano‐cavity and coordinate regulation‐catalysis(CRC) function in cytochrome P‐450 enzyme. Fe TCPP/mesp‐CTS was characterized by X‐ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetry (TG), Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy(UV‐Vis), Ultraviolet–visible– Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV‐DRS), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. The catalytic activity of Fe TCPP/mesp‐CTS for ethylbenzene oxidation was investigated and it was proved to be a better catalyst than Fe TCPP/macp‐CTS based on the ethylbenzene conversion, turnover numbers(TON), and the reusability. These results are attributed to the mesocavity and CRC of amino group in Fe TCPP/mesp‐CTS. The highest ethylbenzene conversion and yields of ketone and alcohol were 24.4% and 18.2%, respectively.     

Derivatization of chiral carboxylic acids with (S)‐anabasine for increasing detectability and enantiomeric separation in LC/ESI‐MS/MS

A simple and practical derivatization procedure for increasing the detectability and enantiomeric separation of chiral carboxylic acids in LC/ESI‐MS/MS has been developed. (S)‐Anabasine (ANA) was used as the derivatization reagent and rapidly reacted with carboxylic acids [3‐hydroxypalmitic acid (3‐OH‐PA), 2‐(β‐carboxyethyl)‐6‐hydroxy‐2,7,8‐trimethylchroman (γ‐CEHC), and etodolac] in the presence of 4‐(4,6‐dimethoxy‐1,3,5‐triazin‐2‐yl)‐4‐methylmorpholium chloride. The resulting ANA‐derivatives were highly responsive in ESI‐MS operating in the positive‐ion mode and gave characteristic product ions during MS/MS, which enabled sensitive detection using selected reaction monitoring; the detection responses of the ANA‐derivatives were increased by 20–160‐fold over those of the intact carboxylic acids and the limits of detection were in the low femtomole range (1.8–11 fmol on the column). The ANA‐derivatization was also effective for the enatiomeric separation of the chiral carboxylic acids; the resolution was 1.92, 1.75, and 2.03 for 3‐OH‐PA, γ‐CHEC, and etodolac, respectively. The derivatization procedure was successfully applied to a biological sample analysis; the derivatization followed by LC/ESI‐MS/MS enabled the separation and detection of trace amounts of 3‐OH‐PA in neonatal dried blood spot and γ‐CEHC in human saliva with a simple pretreatment and small sample volume.