Carbosilane dendrimers NN8 and NN16 form a stable complex with siGAG1

A new mechanism of gene expression inhibition has been discovered as RNA interference, in which the ability of double-stranded RNA to stimulate specific degradation of an mRNA target with a complementary sequence to one of the double-stranded RNA strands. Water-soluble carbosilane dendrimers containing ammonium or amine groups at their periphery are biocompatible molecules that may be good candidates as non-viral carriers of small interfering RNA. In studying the formation of complex between anti-HIV siRNA siGAG1 and carbosilane dendrimers NN8 and NN16 by circular dichroism, fluorescence, and zeta-potential, the size of nanoparticles formed has been estimated by dynamic light scattering. At a charge ratio of 1:3-4 (siGAG1:dendrimer), the dendriplexes formed were in the size range of 250-350 nm.     

A mild method for the deprotection of tetrahydropyranyl (THP) ethers catalyzed by iron(III) tosylate

A mild method for the deprotection of THP ethers catalyzed by iron(III) tosylate (2.0 mol %) in CH₃OH has been developed. Iron(III) tosylate, Fe(OTs)₃·6H₂O, is a commercially available solid that is inexpensive, noncorrosive, and easy to handle. The room temperature reaction conditions make this method attractive for deprotection of a range of THP ethers.     

Reactivity of the unsaturated manganese dihydrides [Mn2(μ-H)2(CO)6(μ-L2)] [L2 = (EtO)2POP(OEt)2, Ph2PCH2PPh2, Me2PCH2PMe2] toward silicon and tin hydrides

The dimanganese hydride complexes [Mn₂(μ-H)₂(CO)₆(μ-L₂)] [L₂ = (EtO)₂POP(OEt)₂ (tedip), Ph₂PCH₂PPh₂ (dppm)] react with primary and secondary silanes H₂SiPhR (R = Ph, Me, H) to give the corresponding derivatives [Mn₂(μ-H₂SiPhR)(CO)₆(μ-L₂)] having a silane molecule displaying a relatively unusual μ-κ²:κ² coordination mode (averaged values are ca. Mn-H = 1.59 Å, H-Si = 1.69 Å and Mn-Si = 2.381 Å, when R = Ph and L₂ = tedip). These complexes display in solution cis and/or trans arrangement of the bridging silane relative to the diphosphorus ligands (and facial and/or meridional arrangements of the corresponding carbonyl ligands), depending on the bridging groups. The novel unsaturated dihydride [Mn₂(μ-H)₂(CO)₆(μ-dmpm)] (dmpm = Me₂PCH₂PMe₂) has been prepared through the reaction of [Mn₂(μ-Cl)₂(μ-dmpm)(CO)₆] and 5 equiv of Li[BH₂Me₂] in tetrahydrofuran followed by addition of water. The dihydride complexes [Mn₂(μ-H)₂(CO)₆(μ-L₂)] (L₂ = tedip, dppm, dmpm) react with HSnPh₃ to give different mixtures of products strongly dependent on the particular reaction conditions. We have thus been able to isolate and characterize five new types of dimanganese-tin derivatives: [Mn₂(μ-SnPh₂)₂(CO)₆(μ-L₂)], [Mn₂(μ-H)(μ-Ph₂SnO(H)SnPh₂)(CO)₆(μ-L₂)] (average values are Mn-Sn = 2.54 Å, Sn-O = 2.11 Å, when L₂ = tedip), [Mn₂(μ-H)(μ-κ¹:κ²-HSnPh₂)(CO)₆(μ-L₂)], [Mn₂(μ-H)(μ-κ¹:κ¹-O(H)SnPh₂)(CO)₆(μ-L₂)], and [Mn₂(μ-H)(SnPh₃)(CO)₇(μ-L₂)] (Mn-Mn = 3.237(1) Å, Mn-Sn = 2.642(1) Å, when L₂ = dppm).     

Evaluation of relevant time-of-flight-MS parameters used in HPLC/MS full-scan screening methods for pesticide residues

An automatic screening method based on HPLC/time-of-flight (TOF)-MS (full scan) was used for the analysis of 103 non-European fruit and vegetable samples after extraction by the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method. The screening method uses a database that includes 300 pesticides, their fragments, and isotopical signals (910 ions) that identified 210 pesticides in 78 positive samples, with the highest number of detection being nine pesticides/sample. The concentrations of 97 pesticides were <10 microg/kg, 53 were between 10 and 100 microg/kg, and 60 were at a concentration of >100 microg/kg. Several parameters of the automatic screening method were carefully studied to avoid false positives and negatives in the studied samples; these included peak filter (number of chromatographic peak counts) and search criteria (retention time and error window). These parameters were affected by differences in mass accuracy and sensitivity of the two HPLC/TOF-MS systems used with different resolution powers (15 000 and 7500), the capabilities of which for resolving the ions included in the database from the matrix ions were studied in four matrixes, viz., pepper, rice, garlic, and cauliflower. Both of these mass resolutions were found to be satisfactory to resolve interferences from the signals of interest in the studied matrixes.