Conformers of gaseous protonated glycine

Ab initio geometry optimizations were performed on gaseous protonated glycine using the second-order Møller–Plesset perturbation theory with the 6-31G*, 6-31G**, 6-31+G**, and 6-311+G** basis sets. Eight energy minima and 12 saddle points in the low-energy region of the electronic potential energy surface were characterized. The global minimum was an amino N-protonated conformer containing an ionic H bond between the (SINGLE BOND)NH₃⁺ and O(DOUBLE BOND)C(DIAGONAL BOND)(DIAGONAL BOND) groups. The lowest energy O-protonated conformer was stabilized by a conjugative attraction between the nitrogen lone-pair electrons and the positively charged planar fragment (SINGLE BOND)C(OH)₂⁺. Relative electronic energies of the nine N- and 11 O-protonated species fall in the ranges of 0–10 and 30–40 kcal mol⁻¹. At room temperature the equilibrium distribution contained the most stable N-protonated conformer almost exclusively. Additional subjects for investigation include the effects of basis set and electron correlation on the predicted structures, nonbonded interactions that influence the relative stability of protonated conformers, conformational interconversions based on intrinsic reaction coordinate calculations, and kinetic pathways for protonation and associated changes in Gibbs free energy. The work provides geometric, energetic, and thermodynamic data pertinent to the study of gas-phase ion chemistry of amino acids and peptides. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 19: 1862–1876, 1998     

‘All‐supramolecular’ Nanocapsules from Low‐Molecular Weight Ureas Through Interfacial Addition Reaction in Miniemulsion

This contribution presents a new strategy for preparing nanocapsules with a shell made of a supramolecular polymer which repeating units are held together by reversible interactions rather than covalent bonds. These nanocapsules were prepared in classical miniemulsion through interfacial addition reaction of a diisocyanate (IPDI) and a monoamine (iBA), forming low‐molecular weight bis‐ureas moieties which are strong self‐complementary interacting molecules through hydrogen‐bonding. The nanocapsules present a diameter around 100 nm, and MALDI‐TOF MS and ¹H NMR analyses confirm the expected molecular characteristics for the shell. This strategy opens the scope of a new type of nanomaterials exhibiting stimuli‐responsiveness due to the reversible interaction linking the repeating units.

     

Comparative Analytical and Antioxidant Activity Studies on a Series of Fagus sylvatica L. Leaves Extracts

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - This paper was aimed at analytical and antioxidant activity studies on a series of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) leaves...     

Functionalization of Organic Molecules by Transition‐Metal‐Catalyzed C(sp3)?H Activation

Transition‐metal‐catalyzed C? H activation has recently emerged as a powerful tool for the functionalization of organic molecules. While many efforts have focused on the functionalization of arenes and heteroarenes by this strategy in the past two decades, much less research has been devoted to the activation of non‐acidic C? H bonds of alkyl groups. This Minireview highlights recent work in this area, with a particular emphasis on synthetically useful methods.     

Investigation into the factors affecting accuracy of mass measurements on a time-of-flight mass spectrometer using Design of Experiment

The results of an investigation of the parameters which have the most significant effect on the accuracy of mass measurements on a quadrupole orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer (q-oaToF) are reported. The influence of eight factors is investigated: ion abundances of reference and analyte compounds, mass difference between analyte and reference compounds, quality of calibration, number of reference acquisitions averaged and TDC (time-to-digital converter) settings (resolution, Np multiplier (number of pushes correction factor), minimum number of points, i.e. minimum acquisition width which defines a peak). To extract the maximum information from as few experiments as possible, a Design of Experiment approach was used. The data will be used as a basis for developing guidance on accurate mass measurement on q-oaToF instruments.     

Evaluating the utility of ion mobility separation in combination with high-pressure liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry to facilitate detection of trace impurities in formulated drug products

Many formulated products contain complex polymeric excipients such as polyethylene glycols (PEGs). Such excipients can be readily ionized by electrospray and may be present at very high concentrations, thus making it very difficult to identify trace level impurities such as degradants in samples, even if hyphenated techniques such as liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) are used. Ion mobility (IM) spectrometry is a very rapid gas-phase separation technique and offers additional separation capability within the LC timeframe. This work investigates the use of an IM separator in combination with high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and MS, to improve the separation of drug-related materials from excipients, thus aiding the identification of trace-level impurities in an anti-HIV medication, Combivir.     

Crystalline protein domains and lipid bilayer vesicle shape transformations

Cellular membranes can take on a variety of shapes to assist biological processes including endocytosis. Membrane-associated protein domains provide a possible mechanism for determining membrane curvature. We study the effect of tethered streptavidin protein crystals on the curvature of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) using confocal, fluorescence, and differential interference contrast microscopy. Above a critical protein concentration, streptavidin domains align and percolate as they form, deforming GUVs into prolate spheroidal shapes in a size-dependent fashion. We propose a mechanism for this shape transformation based on domain growth and jamming. Osmotic deflation of streptavidin-coated GUVs reveals that the relatively rigid streptavidin protein domains resist membrane bending. Moreover, in contrast to highly curved protein domains that facilitate membrane budding, the relatively flat streptavidin domains prevent membrane budding under high osmotic stress. Thus, crystalline streptavidin domains are shown to have a stabilizing effect on lipid membranes. Our study gives insight into the mechanism for protein-mediated stabilization of cellular membranes.     

Simultaneous quantification of terpenelactones and flavonol aglycones in hydrolyzed ginkgo biloba extract by liquid chromatography with inline ultraviolet and evaporative light scattering detection

We report here a liquid chromatography (LC) method with inline ultraviolet/evaporative light scattering (UV/ELS) detection for the simultaneous quantification of the terpenelactones and flavonol aglycones in a single sample of hydrolyzed Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE). The sample is hydrolyzed by a rapid and convenient oven heating method for 1 h at 90 degrees C with 10% hydrochloric acid. The 1 h hydrolysis was found to be equivalent to the 2.25 h reflux treatment for dry powder extract, where total flavonol glycosides were 28.4 and 28.1%, respectively. Acceptable precision was achieved for total terpenelactones [relative standard deviation (RSD) = 4.8%] by ELS detection, and total flavonol aglycones (RSD = 2.3%) by UV detection. The analytical range was 1.5 to 7.3% (w/w) for the individual terpenelactones (ELS) and 2.5 to 15.0% (w/w) for the individual glycosides (UV) calculated from the aglycones quercetin, kaempferol, and isorhamnetin. This improved method allows for the first time high throughput sample preparation coupled with the quantification of the predominant compounds generally used for quality control of GBE in a single assay.