Theoretical study on gas-phase conformations and vibrational assignment of methylphenidate

The molecular geometry, the normal mode frequencies and corresponding vibrational assignments of methylphenidate in the ground state were performed by DFT/B3LYP level of theory using the 6-311++G(d, p) basis set. Harmonic vibrational frequencies were calculated. The complete assignments were performed on the basis of the total energy distribution (TED) of the vibrational modes, calculated with scaled quantum mechanics (SQM) method. The conformational stabilities and optimized geometrical parameters have been carried out with density functional theory with 6-311++G(d, p) basic set by the DFT/B3LYP method. The frequency calculations have been performed with DFT to study the vibrational properties and their dependence on the molecular conformation.     

Toxicokinetic assessment of methylphenidate (Ritalin) enantiomers in pregnant rats and rabbits

Ritalin or methylphenidate (MPH) is prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. The present report describes the determination of plasma concentrations of D-threo- and L-threo-enantiomers of MPH in toxicokinetic (TK) studies in pregnant Wistar Hannover rats and New Zealand white rabbits following repeated daily oral dosing of D,L-MPH (racemate). A previously reported chiral liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method with a lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 1.09 ng/mL was utilized. Oral (gavage) doses of 7, 25 and 75 mg/kg/day of racemic MPH were selected for the rat study. An over-proportional increase in exposure was observed with increasing doses of MPH racemate, the effect being more profound with the D- than the L-enantiomer. In contrast, Cmax values of both enantiomers were approximately proportional to the dose. Oral (gavage) doses of 20, 60 and 200 mg/kg were selected for the rabbit study. In general, for the D-isomer, an over-proportional increase in exposure was observed with increasing doses of MPH racemate. Conversely, for the L-isomer, a slight under-proportionality was detected in exposure with increasing doses of D,L-MPH. For mean Cmax, while L-isomer exhibited dose proportionality with increasing doses of MPH racemate, the D-isomer appeared to be over-proportional. Herein, the experimental design and observed TK parameters in each study are presented.     

Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of methylphenidate and p-hydroxymethylphenidate using deuterated internal standards

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry assay is described for the simultaneous determination of threo-dl-methylphenidate and threo-dl-p-hydroxymethylphenidate in plasma and urine using selected ion monitoring of electron impact generated fragments of their pentafluoropropionyl derivatives. The use of recently available deuterated analogues as internal standards improves overall performance relative to previous methods. The practical limit of quantifiable detection of the assay is 0.5 ng/ml for both methylphenidate and p-hydroxymethylphenidate. p-Hydroxymethylphenidate appears to be a significant urinary metabolite of methylphenidate in rats but not in humans.     

Conformational analysis of methylphenidate: comparison of molecular orbital and molecular mechanics methods

Summary Methylphenidate (MP) binds to the cocaine binding site on the dopamine transporter and inhibits reuptake of dopamine, but does not appear to have the same abuse potential as cocaine. This study, part of a comprehensive effort to identify a drug treatment for cocaine abuse, investigates the effect of choice of calculation technique and of solvent model on the conformational potential energy surface (PES) of MP and a rigid methylphenidate (RMP) analogue which exhibits the same dopamine transporter binding affinity as MP. Conformational analysis was carried out by the AM1 and AM1/SM5.4 semiempirical molecular orbital methods, a molecular mechanics method (Tripos force field with the dielectric set equal to that of vacuum or water) and the HF/6-31G* molecular orbital method in vacuum phase. Although all three methods differ somewhat in the local details of the PES, the general trends are the same for neutral and protonated MP. In vacuum phase, protonation has a distinctive effect in decreasing the regions of space available to the local conformational minima. Solvent has little effect on the PES of the neutral molecule and tends to stabilize the protonated species. The random search (RS) conformational analysis technique using the Tripos force field was found to be capable of locating the minima found by the molecular orbital methods using systematic grid search. This suggests that the RS/Tripos force field/vacuum phase protocol is a reasonable choice for locating the local minima of MP. However, the Tripos force field gave significantly larger phenyl ring rotational barriers than the molecular orbital methods for MP and RMP. For both the neutral and protonated cases, all three methods found the phenyl ring rotational barriers for the RMP conformers/invertamers (denoted as cte, tte, and cta) to be: cte, tte> MP > cta. Solvation has negligible effect on the phenyl ring rotational barrier of RMP. The B3LYP/6-31G* density functional method was used to calculate the phenyl ring rotational barrier for neutral MP and gave results very similar to those of the HF/6-31G* method.     

Moments and distribution functions for polypeptide chains. Poly-L-alanine.

Statistical mechanical averages of vectors and tensors characterizing the configurations of polypeptides have been calculated for poly-L-alanines (PLA) of xu = 2-400 peptide units. These quantities are expressed in the reference frame of the first peptide unit, the X axis being situated along the virtual bond, the Y axis in the plane of the peptide unit. The persistence vector a identical to (r) converges rapidly with chain length to its limit a infinity which lies virtually in the XZ plane. Configurational averages of Cartesian tensors up to the sixth rank formed from the displacement vector p = r-a have been computed. For xu greater than 50 the even moments of fourth and sixth rank formed from the reduced vector p for the real chain are well repreented by the freely jointed chain with 21.7 virtual bonds equivalent to one of the model. The moments of p display assymmetry for xu less than 50. Density distribution functions Wa(p), evaluated from the three-dimensional Hermite series truncated at the term in the polynomial involving the tensors of p of sixth rank, display no obvious symmetry for xu less than 50. Approximate spherical symmetry of the distribution of p about a is observed only for xu greater than or equal to 100.     

Molecular weights and molecular weight distribution of polymers by equilibrium ultracentrifugation. Part II. Molecular weight distribution

A method has been developed for determining the molecular weight distribution of a polymer sample from the sedimentation–diffusion equilibrium data for a solution under pseudo-ideal conditions. From some theoretical examples it appears that the method works well and that the molecular weight distribution can be determined with a reasonable degree of resolution. From three polymer samples (polyethylene, polystyrene, and polycaprolactam) the molecular weight distribution was determined in this way. The average molecular weights, M?_n, M?_w, M?_z, and M _z+1, calculated from these distribution functions agree well with those calculated directly from the equilibrium data.     

Molecular charge distribution and chemical binding in five-membered heterocycles. I

Electron density maps for the heterocycles thiophene, furan, and pyrrole are determined from ab initio 4-31G wavefunctions. The charge distributions in these molecules are analyzed in terms of the total molecular density and difference density maps and their profiles. The atomiclike core, especially the L core of sulfur, is found to play an important role, via its polarization and interaction, in determining the extent and direction of valence density transfer from the carbon to the heteroatom. The changes in the charge distributions that occur in the immediate vicinity of the heteroatoms and the relation of density quantities to binding and antibinding characteristics are discussed. The quantum topological features of the molecular charge distributions of the three heterocycles are analyzed and discussed and the different bonding situations, e.g., ring strain, ionic and covalent binding, etc., are compared in a model-independent way.     

Axial mass transport and distribution of particles in D.C. arc plasma

A model is proposed to establish the axial distribution of added substances in an arc plasma. Particles with a higher ionization degree in the plasma are retained by the cathode. This causes a decrease in the axial transport velocity of particles newly arriving in the vicinity of the cathode. Consequently, this decrease of transport velocity causes an increase in the density of particles and their radiation density. Such an assumption is confirmed by measurement of the axial transport velocities. The theoretical consideration here is based on the works of Boumans and Krinberg and Smirnova, and takes into account the stated phenomena of decrease of axial transport velocities near the cathode. Using the results of the experimentally determined axial radiation density distribution, the axial distribution of particle transport velocities was calculated. The proposed model to establish the axial distribution of added substances contributes to the explanation of cathode layer enrichment of radiation density.     

Nylon 66 polymers. I. Molecular weight and compositional distribution

Results from characterization of melt-polymerized nylon 66 by various solution property measurements are reported and employed in analysis of typical molecular weight and compositional distributions for these systems. Critical attention is paid to application of standard procedures including light scattering, viscosity, membrane osmometry and other colligative property measurements in arriving at satisfactory specification of polymer molecular weight averages. Particular consideration is given to polymers extending appreciably beyond the lower and higher limits in molecular weight normally encountered. The conclusions drawn are: (1) in the range of number-average molecular weights less than about 25 000, nylon 66 as ordinarily prepared by melt condensation consists principally of linear species approximating the “most probable” distribution; (2) small amounts of cyclic oligomers are present in all samples: (3) increase in the extent of the melt polycondensation to progressively higher stages is accompanied by secondary reactions and the formation of branched components terminating ultimately in crosslinked, insoluble gels. Intrinsic viscosity–molecular weight relationships in seven solvents, applicable to nylon polymers meeting the requirements of (1) above, are derived.     

Polymerization mechanisms and molecular weight distribution. I. Mathematical treatment

A novel method for determining the polymerization mechanism and the kinetic rate constants from the molecular weight distribution is proposed. The particular criterion function used as basis for parameter adjustment is where θ is the vector of dependent variables, y(r, θ) is the theoretical molecular weight distribution for the assumed polymerization mechanism, and y_E(r) is the experimental molecular weight distribution which is a function of the chain length r. A form of the gradient method of optimization was used to solve the criterion function. The proposed method is particularly powerful since the whole molecular weight distribution is utilized.     

Configurational studies on amylose. II. Moments and distribution functions

Statistical mechanical averages of vectors and tensors characterizing the configuration of amylose chains have been calculated. These quantities are expressed in the reference frame affixed to the first glucose unit, the x axis being situated along the O(4)—O(1) virtual bond vector, and the Y axis in the plane of the virtual bond and the O(4)—C(4) bond. The persistence vector a as defined by the average of the end-to-end vector r converges slowly to the limiting persistence vector a _∞ with increasing chain length. Configurational averages of the Cartesian tensors formed from the displacement vector ρ = r ? a have been computed up to seventh rank according to the generator matrix method. The density distribution functions W_α (ρ) evaluated for x_u = 40 by using the three-dimensional Hermite polynomial expansion truncated at the term involving the tensor of seventh rank are approximately cylindrically symmetric about one of the principal axes of the second-moment tensor <ρ^×2. The density distribution function W_α(ρ) is slightly asymmetric even for x_u = 80.     

A convenient method for synthesis of enantiomerically enriched methylphenidate from N-methoxycarbonylpiperidine

[formula: see text] This report describes a new method to prepare optically active methylphenidate starting from piperidine. The method consists of a transformation of N-methoxycarbonylpiperidine to the corresponding alpha-methoxylated carbamate I by utilizing electrochemical oxidation followed by the coupling reaction with optically active Evans imides II to produce optically active methylphenidate derivatives III with high stereoselectivities, threo-(2R,2'R)-Methylphenidate (IV; Ar = Ph; Ritalin) was easily prepared from III in three steps.