Complete assignment of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra of antimicrobial 4‐arylamino‐ 3‐nitrocoumarin derivatives

Herein, we describe the synthesis and complete assignment of the ¹H and ¹³C NMR chemical shifts of a series of antimicrobial 4‐arylamino‐3‐nitrocoumarin derivatives based on a combination of ¹H and ¹³C NMR, ¹H‐¹H‐COSY, NOESY, HSQC and HMBC experiments. Conformational effects upon the chemical shifts of the coumarin moiety arising from the anisotropy of the aryl side group are briefly discussed. This study provides the first complete and fully assigned NMR data for this important group of antimicrobial compounds and bridges the gap existing in the literature with regard to NMR structural data for 4‐arylamino‐3‐nitrocoumarins. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crystallographic evidence of Gly‐d,l‐Met oxidation to its sulfoxide in the presence of gold(III): solid solution of the racemic mixture of two diastereoisomers

Crystallographic analysis of a solid solution of two diastereoisomers, i.e. ({(1S,R)‐1‐carboxy‐3‐[(R,S)‐methylsulfinyl]propyl}aminocarbonyl)methanaminium tetrachloridoaurate(III) and ({(1S,R)‐1‐carboxy‐3‐[(S,R)‐methylsulfinyl]propyl}aminocarbonyl)methanaminium tetrachloridoaurate(III), (C₇H₁₅N₂O₄S)[AuCl₄], has shown that in the presence of gold(III), the methionine part of the Gly‐d ,l ‐Met dipeptide is oxidized to sulfoxide, and no coordination to the Au^III cation through the S atom of the sulfoxide is observed. In view of our observation, literature reports that methionine acts as an N,S‐bidentate donor ligand forming stable gold(III) complexes require verification. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that crystallization of the oxidation product leads to a substantial 77:23 excess of both S‐methionine/R‐sulfoxide and R‐methionine/S‐sulfoxide over S‐methionine/S‐sulfoxide and R‐methionine/R‐sulfoxide. The presence of two different diastereoisomers at the same crystallographic site is a source of static disorder at this site.     

Chemical deposition of semiconducting cadmium selenide quantum dots in thin film form and investigation of their optical and electrical properties

Cadmium selenide quantum dots with cubic crystal structure are chemically deposited in thin film form using selenosulfate as a precursor for selenide ions and ammonia buffer with double role: as a ligand and as a pH value controller. The optical band gap energies of as-deposited and thermally treated cadmium selenide thin films, calculated within the framework of parabolic approximation for the dispersion relation, on the basis of equations which arise from the Fermi's golden rule for electronic transitions from valence to conduction band, are 2.08 and 1.77 eV, correspondingly. The blue shift of band gap energy of 0.34 eV for as-deposited thin films with respect to the bulk value is due to the quantum size effects (i.e., nanocrystals behave as quantum dots) and this finding is in agreement with the theoretical predictions. During the thermal treatment the nanocrystals are sintered, the increase of crystal size being in correlation with the decrease of band gap energy. The annealed thin films are practically non-quantized. From the resistance-temperature measurements, on the basis of the dependence of ln(R/Ω) vs 1/T in the region of intrinsic conduction, the thermal band gap energy (at 0 K) of 1.85 eV was calculated.     

Novel application of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry for the characterization of drying oils in art: Elucidation on the composition of original paint materials used by Edvard Munch (1863–1944)

Modern oil paints, introduced at the beginning of the 20th century, differ from those classically used in antiquity in their chemical and compositional features. The main ingredients were still traditional drying oils, often used in mixtures with less expensive oils and added with several classes of additives. Consequently, detailed lipid profiling, together with the study of lipid degradation processes, is essential for the knowledge and the conservation of paint materials used in modern and contemporary art.     

Exciplex and excimer molecular probes: detection of conformational flip in a myo-inositol chair

2-O-tert-Butyldimethylsilyl-4,6-bis-O-pyrenoyl-myo-inositol-1,3,5-orthoformate (6) and 2-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl-4-O-[4-(dimethylamino)benzoyl]-6-O-pyrenoyl-myo-inositol-1,3,5-orthoacetate (10) adopt conformationally restricted unstable chairs with five axial substituents. In the symmetrical diester 6, the two pi-stacked pyrenoyl groups are electron acceptor-donor partners, giving a strong intramolecular excimer emission. In the mixed ester 10, the pyrenoyl group is the electron acceptor and the 4-(dimethylamino)benzoyl ester is the electron donor, giving a strong intramolecular exciplex emission. The conformation of the mixed ester 10 was assessed using 1H NMR spectroscopy (1H-NOESY) and computational studies. which showed the minimum inter-centroid distance between the two aromatic systems to be approximately 3.9 A. Upon addition of acid, the orthoformate/orthoacetate trigger in 6 and 10 was cleaved, which caused a switch of the conformation of the myo-inositol ring to the more stable penta-equatorial chair, leading to separation of the aromatic ester groups and loss of excimer and exciplex fluorescence, respectively. This study provides proof of principle for the development of novel fluorescent molecular probes.     

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The novel heteronuclear complexes [{cis-PtCl (NH₃)(μ-pyrazine)ZnCl (terpy)}](ClO₄)₂ (Pt-L1-Zn) and [{cis-PtCl (NH₃)(μ-4,4′-bipyridyl)ZnCl (terpy)}](ClO₄)₂ (Pt-L2-Zn) (where terpy = 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine, L1 = pyrazine, L2 = 4,4′-bipyridyl) were synthesized and characterized. The pK_a values were determined, and based on them it was established that the π-acceptor ability of the pyrazine bridging ligand is more affective on lower pK_a values. The kinetic measurements of the substitution reactions with biologically relevant ligands, such as guanosine-5′-monophosphate (5′-GMP), inosine-5′-monophosphate (5′-IMP) and glutathione (GSH), were studied at pH 7.4. The reactions were followed under pseudo-first-order conditions by UV–Vis spectrophotometry. The order of reactivity of the investigated biomolecules for the first reaction is 5′-GMP > 5′-IMP > GSH, while for the second is 5′-IMP > GSH. Pt-L1-Zn complex is more reactive than Pt-L2-Zn. The cytotoxic activity of heteronuclear Pt-L1-Zn and Pt-L2-Zn complexes was determined on human colorectal cancer cell line (HCT-116) and human breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231). Both complexes significantly reduced cell viability on tested cell lines and exerted significant cytotoxic effects, with better effect on HCT-116 cells than cisplatin, especially after 72 hr (IC₅₀ < 0.52 μM). The Pt-L2-Zn complex showed higher activity against human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) than cisplatin after 72 hr. The higher reactivity toward DNA constituent and significant cytotoxic activity may be attributed to the different geometry, Lewis acidity of different metal centers, as well as, to choice of bridging ligands.     

Influence of structural and interfacial properties of microemulsion eluent on chromatographic separation of simvastatin and its impurities

In order to calculate the structural and compositional characteristics of microemulsions, used as eluents in the investigation of HPLC separation of simvastatin and its six impurities, predictive molecular thermodynamic approach is developed. For calculating fundamental interfacial properties of microemulsions, from pure component properties, the lattice fluid self-consistent field theory (SCF), in conjunction with new classical thermodynamic expressions, was applied. Calculation of predicted radii (PR), area per surfactant (ApS) and film thickness (FT), as well as is interfacial tension and bending moment enabled better understanding of separation of such a complex mixture. The microemulsion, which contained 1% (w/w) of diisopropyl ether, 2% (w/w) of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), 6.6% (w/w) of co-surfactant such as n-butanol and 90.4% (w/w) of aqueous 25 mM disodium phosphate pH 7.0 enabled appropriate chromatographic separation between investigated compounds. It has been proved that this microemulsion had the smallest droplet radii and film thickness, which enabled optimal separation. Also the interfacial tension is the smallest, so the free energy change associated with dispersing the drops favoured a large number of small droplets. Hydrophobic interactions between solutes and stationary phase, as well as the microstructural characteristics of microemulsion eluents had a significant influence on chromatographic behavior of simvastatin and its six impurities.     

Validation of an oil-in-water microemulsion liquid chromatography method for analysis of perindopril tert-butylamine and its impurities

This paper describes the development and validation of a microemulsion liquid chromatography (MELC) method for simultaneous determination of perindopril tert-butylamine and its impurities in bulk active substances and the pharmaceutical dosage form of tablets. An appropriate resolution with reasonable retention times was obtained for a microemulsion containing 0.24% (w/v) butyl acetate, 0.30% (w/v) ethyl acetate, 2% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulfate, 7.75% (w/v) n-butanol, and 20.0 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate, the pH of which was adjusted to 3.70 with 85% orthophosphoric acid. Separations were performed on a Nucleosil 120-5 butyl modified (C4), 250 x 4 mm, 5 microm particle size silica column at 40 degrees C, with a mobile phase flow rate of 1.25 mL/min. UV detection was performed at 254 nm. The established method was subjected to method validation, and required validation parameters were defined. Robustness testing, an important part of method validation, was performed as well. Since robustness validation can be conducted using different experimental designs, the Plackett-Burman design was applied due to its possibility of testing many factors at the same time. The validated MELC method was found to be suitable for the simultaneous determination of perindopril tert-butylamine and its impurities in pharmaceuticals.     

Desirability-based optimization and its sensitivity analysis for the perindopril and its impurities analysis in a microemulsion LC system

In the current paper the application of multiobjective optimization (MOOP) technique, via Derringer's desirability function, to a microemulsion liquid chromatographic (MELC) method is described. Chromatographic separation of perindopril tert-butylamine and its four impurities was selected as the case study. Central composite design (CCD) with fractional factorial design, ± 0.5 α star design and four replications in central point was applied for a response surface study, in order to examine in depth the effects of the most important factors. As factors that influence the system mostly (i) content of ethyl acetate and (ii) butyl acetate in composite internal phase, (iii) content of sodium dodecyl sulfate (surfactant) and (iv) n-butanol (co-surfactant), as well as (v) pH of the mobile phase were selected. Retention factor of (a) perindoprilat and (b) impurity Y 31 and (c) resolution factor for impurities Y 32 and 33 were chosen for simultaneous optimization. By adjustment of the importance coefficients and weights, according to defined objectives, the optimal mobile phase composition was predicted to be: 0.24% w/v butyl acetate, 0.3% w/v ethyl acetate, 2% w/v SDS, 7.75% w/v n-butanol and pH of the mobile phase 3.7. The sensitivity analysis of desirability function for these optimal conditions was conducted for the first time in LC separations, by applying a sensitivity procedure. The performed sensitivity analysis confirmed that the higher overall desirability does not necessarily mean a better solution. The accuracy of prediction might be affected if the optimal levels of input variables, achieved from several design points, end up with equal settings and different corresponding overall desirability. In our study this was not the issue, which confirmed the adequacy of predicted optimum.     

Simultaneous Determination of Pb and Cd Traces in Water Samples by Anodic Stripping Voltammetry Using a Modified GC Electrode

The determination of Pb and Cd with a Nafion‐modified glassy carbon electrode and Cu‐DPABA complex (Cu‐DPABA–NA/GCE; DPABA is methyl 3,5‐bis{bis‐[(pyridin‐2‐yl)methyl]amino}methyl‐benzoate) as an alternative electrode for anodic stripping voltammetry was described. Pb and Cd were accumulated in acetate buffer pH 4 at a potential of ?1.4 V (vs. Ag/AgCl electrode) for 120 s followed by a DPASV scan from ?1.2 to ?0.2 V. Under optimum conditions the calibration curves were linear in the range of 4.8×10^?9–5.0×10^?5 and 5.0×10^?9–5×10^?5 mol L^?1 for Pb and Cd, respectively. Detection limits were 1.8×10^?9 and 1.2×10^?9 mol L^?1 for Pb and Cd, respectively. Different parameters and conditions, such as membrane ingredients, accumulation time, potential and pH value were optimized. A study of interfering substances was also performed. A significant increase in current was achieved at the modified electrode in comparison with the bare glassy carbon electrode. The validation of the proposed method was made by Pb and Cd determination in the certified reference material Groundwater CRM 610 (BCR, Community Bureau of Reference, Brussels, Belgium). The electrode was successfully applied for determination of Pb and Cd in river water with a high content of organic contaminants without any pretreatment.