Quality Evaluation of Light- and Dark-Colored Hungarian Honeys,Focusing on Botanical Origin,Antioxidant Capacity and Mineral Content

Melissopalynology, antioxidant capacity and mineral and toxic element contents were analyzed in eight types of Hungarian honeys. Based on color, two groups were distinguished: light honeys comprised acacia, amorpha, phacelia and linden honeys; while dark honeys included sunflower, chestnut, fennel and sage honeys, with 100 to 300 and 700 to 1500 mAU, respectively. The unifloral origin of each sample was supported using pollen analysis. The absorbance of honey correlated positively with antioxidant capacity determined by three different methods (TRC, DPPH, ORAC), and also with mineral content. The exception was the light amber linden honey with significantly higher K content and antiradical activity than other light honeys. The Mn, Zn and Fe contents were the highest in chestnut, sunflower and fennel honeys, respectively. The black meadow sage honey performed best regarding the content of other elements and antioxidant activity. The concentrations of several toxic elements were below the detection limit in the samples, indicating their good quality. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed correlations between different antioxidant assays and minerals, and furthermore, confirmed the botanical authentication of the honeys based on the studied parameters. To our best knowledge, the present study is the first to provide a complex analysis of quality parameters of eight unifloral Hungarian honeys.     

Metabolite profiling in rat urine by liquid chromatography/electrospray ion trap mass spectrometry. Application to the study of heavy metal toxicity

This work reports the use of reverse-phase liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ion trap (QIT) mass spectrometry for the analysis of the metabolome in rat urine. An injection of 20 microL of urine into the chromatographic system is followed by a slow gradient elution and mass spectrometric detection in the scanning mode from m/z 100-1000 in both positive and negative modes. Over a time scale of 90 min, 30 and 20 resolved peaks were observed in the positive and the negative modes, respectively, corresponding to the presence of a few hundred m/z ratios. By using a QIT analyzer, data-dependent tandem mass spectrometry of selected m/z ratios identified several compounds in rat urine and characterized various chemical families, including carboxylic acids, amines, sulfated compounds, glucuronides and glycosides, by the observation of characteristic fragment ions or neutral losses. The method has been applied to the investigation of the chronic toxicity of heavy metals in rat urine. A few tens of m/z ratios, differing in intensity more than threefold from control values, were observed in both positive and negative modes. The time variations for some selected ions suggest that LC/ESI-MS could allow selective characterization of biomarkers in response to specific toxic compounds.     

Evidence of an equilibrium between selenides and osmium(VIII) reagents and selenoxides and osmium(VI) reagents

Driving the equilibrium between selenides and osmium(VIII) reagents with selenoxides and osmium(VI) by a subsequent reaction (rearrangement of allyl selenoxides to allyl alcohols or addition of osmium(VIII) species on C=C double bonds) to one side, allows the transformation of methyl geranyl selenides to linalool and of methyl citronellyl selenoxide to 6,7-dihydroxy citronellyl selenide.     

Microfluidic Device Using a Gold Pillar Array and Integrated Electrodes for On‐chip Endothelial Cell Immobilization,Direct RBC Contact,and Amperometric Detection of Nitric Oxide

We describe a microfluidic device that can be used to detect interactions between red blood cells (RBCs) and endothelial cells using a gold pillar array (created by electrodeposition) and an integrated detection electrode. Endothelial cells can release nitric oxide (NO) via stimulation by RBC‐derived ATP. These studies incorporate on‐chip endothelial cell immobilization, direct RBC contact, and detection of NO in a single microfluidic device. In order to study the RBC‐EC interactions, this work used a microfluidic device made of a PDMS chip with two adjacent channels and a polystyrene base with embedded electrodes for creating a membrane (via gold pillars) and detecting NO (at a glassy carbon electrode coated with platinum‐black and Nafion). RBCs were pharmacologically treated with treprostinil in the absence and presence of glybenclamide, and ATP release was determined as was the resultant NO release from endothelial cells. Treprostinil treatment of RBCs resulted in ATP release that stimulated endothelial cells to release on average 1.8±0.2 nM NO per endothelial cell (average±SEM, n=8). Pretreatment of RBCs with glybenclamide inhibited treprostinil‐induced ATP release and, therefore, less NO was produced by the endothelial cells (0.92±0.1 nM NO per endothelial cell, n=7). In the future, this device can be used to study interactions between many other cell types (both adherent and non‐adherent cell lines) and incorporate other detection schemes.     

Development of a heterogeneous chemiluminescent flow immunoassay for DDT and related compounds

A heterogeneous chemiluminescent (CL) flow immunoassay for DDT was optimized comparing different types of immunoaffinity supports: beads, nylon coils and membranes (membranes HyBondN+). In order to characterize solid immunoaffinity supports two basic immunoassay formats were performed, using (1) enzyme-labeled secondary and (2) enzyme-labeled specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). In both formats, hapten DDT5 conjugated to ovalbumin immobilized on solid supports according to the appropriate immobilization procedure, enzyme label (horseradish peroxidase, HRP) and luminescent detection (luminol/H₂O₂/p-iodophenol) were used. The lowest limit of detection (LOD), 1 nM p,p-DDT, was obtained with a membrane-based flow immunoassay with HRP-labeled specific antibody. Beads and packed tubing were discarded as appropriate supports because of the difficulties encountered for reproducible packing and the occurrence of light scatterring (beads), which seriously compromised the performance and reproducibility of the flow immunoassay.     

Ultrafast Single-Scan 2D NMR Spectroscopic Detection of a PHIP-Hyperpolarized Protease Inhibitor

Two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy is one of the most important spectroscopic tools for the investigation of biological macromolecules. However, due to the low sensitivity of NMR spectroscopy, it takes usually from several minutes to many hours to record such spectra. Here, the possibility of detecting a bioactive derivative of the sunflower trypsin inhibitor-1 (SFTI-1), a tetradecapeptide, by combining parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) and ultrafast 2D NMR spectroscopy is shown. The PHIP activity of the inhibitor was achieved by labeling with O-propargyl-l -tyrosine. In 1D PHIP experiments a signal enhancement of a factor of approximately 1200 compared to standard NMR was found. This enhancement permits measurement of 2D NMR correlation spectra of low-concentrated SFTI-1 in less than 10 seconds, employing ultrafast single-scan 2D NMR detection. As experimental examples PHIP-assisted ultrafast single-scan TOCSY spectra of SFTI-1 are shown.     

N-Heterocyclic Olefins as Electron Donors in Combination with Triarylborane Acceptors: Synthesis,Optical and Electronic Properties of D–π–A Compounds

N-heterocyclic olefins (NHOs), relatives of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), exhibit high nucleophilicity and soft Lewis basic character. To investigate their π-electron donating ability, NHOs were attached to triarylborane π-acceptors (A) giving donor (D)–π–A compounds 1 – 3 . In addition, an enamine π-donor analogue ( 4 ) was synthesized for comparison. UV–visible absorption studies show a larger red shift for the NHO-containing boranes than for the enamine analogue, a relative of cyclic (alkyl)(amino) carbenes (CAACs). Solvent-dependent emission studies indicate that 1 – 4 have moderate intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) behavior. Electrochemical investigations reveal that the NHO-containing boranes have extremely low reversible oxidation potentials (e.g., for 3 , =−0.40 V vs. ferrocene/ferrocenium, Fc/Fc⁺, in THF). Time-dependent (TD) DFT calculations show that the HOMOs of 1 – 3 are much more destabilized than that of the enamine-containing 4 , which confirms the stronger donating ability of NHOs.     

Proton Relaxometry of Long-Lived Spin Order

A study of long-lived spin order in chlorothiophene carboxylates at both high and low magnetic fields is presented. Careful sample preparation (removal of dissolved oxygen in solution, chelating of paramagnetic impurities, reduction of convection) allows one to obtain very long-lived singlet order of the two coupled protons in chlorothiophene derivatives, having lifetimes of about 130 s in D₂O and 240 s in deuterated methanol, which are much longer than the T₁-relaxation times (18 and 30 s, respectively, at a field =9.4 T). In protonated solvents the relaxation times become shorter, but the lifetime is still substantially longer than . In addition, long-lived coherences are shown to have lifetimes as long as 30 s. Thiophene derivatives can be used as molecular tags to study slow transport, slow dynamics and slow chemical processes, as has been shown in recent years.     

1H and 13C hyperfine coupling constants of the tryptophanyl cation radical in aqueous solution from microsecond time-resolved CIDNP

Relative values of the 1H and 13C isotropic hyperfine couplings in the cationic oxidized tryptophan radical TrpH*+ in aqueous solution are determined. The data are obtained from the photo-CIDNP (chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization) enhancements observed in the microsecond time-resolved NMR spectra of the diamagnetic products of photochemical reactions in which TrpH*+ is a transient intermediate. The method is validated using the tyrosyl neutral radical Tyr*, whose 1H and 13C hyperfine couplings have previously been determined by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Good agreement is found with hyperfine coupling constants for TrpH*+ calculated using density functional theory methods but only if water molecules are explicitly included in the calculation.     

Organocatalytic functionalization of carboxylic acids: isothiourea-catalyzed asymmetric intra- and intermolecular Michael addition--lactonizations

Tetramisole promotes the catalytic asymmetric intramolecular Michael addition-lactonization of a variety of enone acids, giving carbo- and heterocyclic products with high diastereo- and enantiocontrol (up to 99:1 dr, up to 99% ee) that are readily derivatized to afford functionalized indene and dihydrobenzofuran carboxylates. Chiral isothioureas also promote the catalytic asymmetric intermolecular Michael addition-lactonization of arylacetic acids and α-keto-β,γ-unsaturated esters, giving anti-dihydropyranones with high diastereo- and enantiocontrol (up to 98:2 dr, up to 99% ee).