The degree of deacetylation of chitosan: advocating the first derivative UV-spectrophotometry method of determination

The degree of deacetylation (DD) is increasingly becoming an important property for chitosan, as it determines how the biopolymer can be applied. Therefore, a simple, rapid and reliable method of determining the DD for chitosan is essential. In this report, the DD of chitosan was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), linear potentiometric titration (LPT), ninhydrin test and first derivative UV-spectrophotometry (1DUVS). The DD was calculated on a per mol basis instead of on a per mass basis. This is important as the molecular weights of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine and d-glucosamine are different. By converting the mass of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine and d-glucosamine into mols and calculating for the percentage of d-glucosamine present in the chitosan sample, a more accurate estimation of the DD can be obtained. Of the four methods, there is good correlation between 1DUVS and NMR. The concentration of chitosan solution for 1DUVS analysis was standardised as 0.1000 mg chitosan per ml of 0.0100 M acetic acid solution. The presence of d-glucosamine was corrected for by a reference curve for N-acetyl-d-glucosamine. 1DUVS is easy to perform, sensitive and the interference of other contaminants to the results is minimal compared with the other three methods. Therefore, we advocate 1DUVS to be used as the standard methods for routine determination of DD of chitosan.     

Temperature driven morphological changes of chemically precipitated hydroxyapatite nanoparticles

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is synthesized by a wet chemical route using calcium hydroxide and ortho-phosphoric acid at various temperatures (40, 80, and 100 degrees C). X-ray diffraction of the precipitate particles revealed HA as the predominant phase (>99%) with a small amount of beta-tricalcium phosphate. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated the presence of carbonate substitution, which decreased with increasing temperature. Transmission electron microscopy observations revealed needle-shaped particles with a high aspect ratio at 40 degrees C, which changed to spheroidal when the precipitation temperature was increased to 100 degrees C. The changes in the morphology with temperature were analyzed taking into account the driving force for the HA precipitation and the supersaturation level of Ca2+ and PO4(3-) ions with respect to HA. The analysis indicated that the supersaturation level of the reactants, especially the concentration of Ca2+ ions, played a predominant role on the precipitate morphology for this classical acid-base reaction.     

Thermal stability of some polyquinazolone polymers: Effect of acid catalysis

Thermal properties of polyquinazolones (PQ) polymers prepared from 4,4-diaminodiphenyl-3,3-dicarboxylic acid (BDC) and 4,6-diamino-isophthalic acid (DAIA) with diacetamido derivative of a number of diammines have been studied by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The effect of acid catalysis was also investigated. The results show that polyquinazolones prepared from DAIA have higher thermal stabilities and glass transition temperatures compared to those prepared from BDC. This can be attributed to the more stable and rigid fused quinazolone backbone unit in the PQ/DAIA system. Both polymer systems show improved thermal stability in the presence of catalyst which is a direct result of increased number of fully cyclised quinazolone rings in the polymer.

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Zusammenfassung Thermische Eigenschaften von aus 4,4-Diaminodiphenyl-3,3-dicarbonsäure (BDC) und 4,6-Diaminoisophtalsäure (DAIA) mit Diacetoimido-Derivaten einer Auswahl von Diaminen hergestellten Polymeren von Polyquinazolon (PQ) wurden mittels TG und DSC untersucht. Die mit DAIA erhaltenen Polyquinazolone sind thermisch stabiler und weisen höhere Glasübergangstemperaturen auf als die mit BDC hergestellten. Das kann der stabileren und fester ankondensierten Quinazolonhauptketteneinheit im PQ/DAIA-System zugeschrieben werden. Beide Polymersysteme weisen in Gegenwart eines Katalysators eine verbesserte thermische Stabilität auf, was auf eine größere Anzahl von voll zyklisierten Quinazolonringen im Polymer zurückzuführen ist.

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(), 4,4--3,3- () 4,6- () . . , , , , . /. , .

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Paper presented at the World Conference on Thermal Analysis, Madeira (Portugal), 1986.     

Development and validation of an LC-MS-MS method for the simultaneous determination of sulforaphane and its metabolites in rat plasma and its application in pharmacokinetic studies

A highly sensitive and simple high-performance liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS-MS) assay is developed and validated for the quantification of sulforaphane and its metabolites in rat plasma. Sulforaphane (SFN) and its metabolites, sulforaphane glutathione (SFN-GSH) and sulforaphane N-acetyl cysteine (SFN-NAC) conjugates, are extracted from rat plasma by methanol-formic acid (100:0.1, v/v) and analyzed using a reversed-phase gradient elution on a Develosil 3 μm RP-Aqueous C(30) 140? column. A 15-min linear gradient with acetonitrile-water (5:95, v/v), containing 10 mM ammonium acetate and 0.2% formic acid, as mobile phase A, and acetonitrile-water (95:5, v/v), containing 10 mM ammonium acetate and 0.2% formic acid as mobile phase B, is used. Sulforaphane and its metabolites are well separated. Sulforaphene is used as the internal standard. The lower limits of quantification are 1 ng/mL for SFN and 10 ng/mL for both SFN-NAC and SFN-GSH. The calibration curves are linear over the concentration range of 25-20,000 ng/mL of plasma for each analyte. This novel LC-MS-MS method shows satisfactory accuracy and precision and is sufficiently sensitive for the performance of pharmacokinetic studies in rats.     

The impact of antibody/epitope affinity strength on the sensitivity of electrochemical immunosensors for detecting small molecules

A displacement immunoassay involves having a labelled analogue of the analyte (the epitope) already bound to the antibody. The presence of the analyte causes a competition for antibodies, and some of the antibodies dissociates from the epitope so that it can bind with the analyte. Herein, the influence of the affinity of the surface-bound epitope for the antibody on the sensitivity and selectivity of a displacement immunosensor is explored both theoretically and experimentally. An electrochemical immunosensor described previously [1], where the dissociation of antibodies from an electrode surface causes an increase in current from surface-bound ferrocene species, is used for this purpose. As expected, the ease and effectiveness of the bound antibody being displaced is inversely related to the affinity of the antibody to the surface-bound epitope relative to the analyte in solution as expected. However, if the affinity constant is too low, selectivity and/or sensitivity are compromised. Experimental results are qualitatively compared with a simple mass-action model.

Apparent solubility of hydroxyapatite in aqueous medium and its influence on the morphology of nanocrystallites with precipitation temperature

Two differing wet-chemical synthesis routes, Ca(OH)2 + H3PO4 and CaCl2 + Na3PO4/NaOH, were used to prepare hydroxyapatite (HA) at various temperatures ranging from 30 to 95 degrees C. The electrical conductivity of the solution was measured at regular intervals of time during H3PO4 and Na3PO4 addition to the suspension/solution containing Ca2+ ions. The rate of change of conductivity is used to note the end point of the reaction. X-ray diffraction of the dried, precipitated particles revealed HA as the predominant phase, and the FTIR spectroscopy studies indicated the presence of CO3(2-) groups which substituted PO4(3-) groups in the HA lattice (B-type). FESEM observations revealed that the aspect ratio of the particles decreased with increasing precipitation reaction temperature in one system [Ca(OH)2 + H3PO4] and in the other system it increased with increasing temperature. The changes in the morphology with temperature were analyzed through conductivity measurements and the thermochemical properties of the reaction systems. Conductivity measurements showed that the concentration of dissolved ions at the end point of the reaction between Ca(OH)2 and H3PO4 increased, indicating an increased apparent solubility of HA with increasing temperature, whereas the end-point conductivity did not increase noticeably in the other reaction system.