Some chemical transformations of the neo-clerodane diterpene teubotrin

Starting from the natural neo-clerodane diterpenoid teubotrin (1) several neo-clerodane derivatives (3-7,9-11) have been obtained. The naturally occurring diterpenoid teuscordinon (12) has also been synthesized from teubotrin (1), showing thereby how some of these transformations can be useful for the synthesis of other natural neo-clerodane diterpenes. The latter are of interest due to their activity as insect antifeedants and other important biological properties.     

Determination of fluoride in complex liquid matrices by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with in-furnace oxygen-assisted ashing

A new chemical method is reported for the determination of total fluoride in complex liquids and suspensions, such as fruit juices, urine, serum and blood. It is based on the formation of the A1F radical in a graphite furnace afterin situ oxygen-assisted ashing of the untreated sample. The absorbance of this radical is measured at 227.45 nm. The method is relatively easy to use and provides a low detection limit (14 ng/ml) and reasonable reproducibility (5–10%).     

Thienopyrrolizines: New condensed triheterocyclic systems

Cyclization of 3-(1-pyrrolyl)thiophene-2-carboxamide derivatives of methyl 3-(1-pyrrolyl)-2-thiophenecarboxylate afforded imminium salts and resulted in the formation of thieno[2,3-b]pyrrolizine derivatives.     

Mass spectrometry of 3,4-dihydroquinazolin-4-ones of pharmaceutical interest. Part 3 . Electron ionization mass spectra of 2-substituted-3-(5′-pyrazolyl)-4(3H)-quinazolinones

The fragmentation reactions induced by electron impact of eighteen title compounds has been investigated with the aid of low beam energy spectra (14 eV, nom. value), metastable ion detection, high resolution measurements and labelling experiments. The loss of the 4-carbonyl oxygen together with the 3-substituent, which constitutes a characteristic fragmentation route of 3-aryl and 3-heteroaromatic substituted-4(3H)-quinazolinones, is again observed, but the presence of a carboxyethyl group at the 4′-position of the pyrazole ring is responsible of an anomalous loss of 47 daltons from the molecular ion. Lastly, a comparison with the previously described behaviour of 3-(5′-isoxazolyl) derivatives was carried out.     

1H-NMR,Ultraviolet and infrared spectra of some (Z)-α-(phenyl)-β-(2-furyl), -(2-pyrrolyl) and -(N-methyl-2-pyrrolyl)acrylonitriles

The ¹H-nmr data of some (Z)-α-(p-substituted-phenyl)-β-(2-furyl), -(2-pyrrolyl), and -(N-methyl-2-pyrrolyl)-acrylonitriles have been investigated to indicate the preferred conformation and to establish the conformational preferences of the β-heterocyclic ring. The ultraviolet spectra have been discussed in order to obtain information about the chromophores responsible for the absorption. The infrared spectra have been analyzed for the identification of the main absorption frequencies of cyano and ethylenic groups and to assign the characteristic absorption bands to specific normal vibrations of the heteroaromatic nuclei.     

Substituent effects in eight-electron electrocyclic reactions

The main features of transition structures associated with eight-electron electrocyclic reactions have been studied with Density Functional Theory. It is found that conrotatory electrocyclization reaction of (3Z,5Z)-octa-1,3,5,7-tetraenes takes place via M?bius aromatic transition structures of helical conformation. The reaction is completely periselective. In general, transition structures having outward substituents are preferred with respect to the inward transition structures, irrespective of the pi-donor or pi-acceptor character of the substituent. In contrast with four-electron thermal conrotatory electrocyclic reactions, there is no satisfactory correlation between the difference in energy of activation between inward and outward substituents and the Taft resonance sigma(R) parameter.     

Characterization of cocoa butters and other vegetable fats by pyrolysis-mass spectrometry

Pyrolysis Mass Spectrometry (Py-MS) was used for the discrimination of cocoa butters from other vegetable fats. Mass spectra ranging from 50 amu to 250 amu were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and with neural nets. The application of neural nets leads to a good discrimination between the two classes. Detailed analysis of the nets revealed that only the first 60 masses were used within the net. The use of PCA requires a careful selection of the number of masses included in the calculation. Canonical variance analysis was applied to determine the significant masses. Optimal performance of PCA was observed only using the first 22 significant masses. Most of these masses were different from the ones used by the neural net. It seems that the mass spectra obtained by Py-MS contain sufficient information for the discrimination of pure cocoa butter from other vegetable fats, but none of the methods seems to be able to extract all information available. Neural net provides a very robust method for this task and no prior data selection was necessary. Received: 13 May 1996 / Revised: 7 August 1996 / Accepted: 7 August 1996     

Determination of thallium and lead in cadmium salts by anodic stripping voltammetry with addition of surfactants to suppress the cadmium peaks

Conditions have been found which make possible the determination of thallium and/or lead in cadmium and its salts without preliminary separation. The electrochemical activity of the cadmium, which usually interferes in the determination of thallium, is inhibited by the addition of 0.01% of polyethylene glycol of M.W. 4000. Thallium is determined by electrolysis at ?0.74 V vs. SCE, in 0.1M EDTA solution: 10^?1M thallium can be determined in the presence of 0.1M cadmium, while copper and lead at 10^?2M and 10^?5M respectively do not interfere. Lead is determined in 0.1M acetic acid containing 0.1% cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The addition of CTAB shifts the cadmium peak, as well as the optimum deposition potential for cadmium, to more negative values, making it possible to determine lead in the presence of cadmium as long as the deposition potential lies in the range between ?0.50 and ?0.56 V vs. SCE. Lead can be determined in the presence of ten times as much thallium.     

Charge transfer across a polymer gel/liquid interface: determination of ionophores

An electrochemical method for the determination of the ionophores monensin and lasalocid was developed, based on the polarization of an agar gel/nitrobenzene electrolyte interface. The measured current corresponding to the facilitated ion transfer across this interface is directly proportional to the concentration of an ionophore dissolved in the organic phase. Using cyclic voltammetry in a three-electrode system the detection limit for both ionophores is about 3 × 10^?5 M.     

New membrane materials for potassium-selective ion-sensitive field-effect transistors

Several polymeric materials were studied as membrane materials for potassium-selective ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFETs) to overcome the problems related with the use of conventional plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) membranes casted on ISFET gate surfaces. Several acrylate materials, such as ACE, Epocryl and derivatives, showed no reproducible results. Three room-temperature vulcanizing (RTV)-type silicone rubbers were tested. The addition-type RTV-2 silicone rubber was not suitable as a membrane material, but the condensation-type RTV-1 and especially the RTV-2 silicone rubber showed good results. ISFETs with a Silopren membrane showed a durability of at least 2 months.