CO2 laser microfabrication of an integrated polymer microfluidic manifold for the determination of phosphorus

A simple colorimetric technique is implemented in a polymer microfluidic manifold. The simple chemistry aids an uncomplicated microchannel design, which is fabricated by CO(2) laser ablation. Issues such as bonding of multiple layers, alignment of micro-fabricated structures and integration of optical components are addressed. A demonstration of a stopped flow regime in the microfluidic manifold is also presented.     

Precipitation and selective extraction of human serum endogenous peptides with analysis by quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry reveals posttranslational modifications and low-abundance peptides

The endogenous peptides of human serum may have regulatory functions, have been associated with physiological states, and their modifications may reveal some mechanisms of disease. In order to correlate levels of specific peptides with disease alongside internal standards, the polypeptides must first be reliably extracted and identified. Endogenous blood peptides can be effectively enriched by precipitation of the serum with organic solvents followed by selective extraction of peptides using aqueous solutions modified with organic solvents. Polypeptides on filter paper were assayed with Coomasie brilliant blue binding. The polypeptides were resolved by detergent tricine polyacrylamide electrophoresis and visualized by diamine silver staining. Peptides in the extracts were collected by C18 and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization and liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) quadrupole time-of-flight MS/MS. Peptides were resolved as multiple isotopic peaks in MS mode with mass deviation of 0.1 Da or less and similar accuracy for fragments. The sensitivity of MS and MS/MS analysis was estimated to be in the picomolar range or less. The peptide composition of the extracts was dependent on solvent formulation. Multiple peptides from apolipoproteins, complement proteins, coagulation factors, and many others were identified by X!Tandem with high mass accuracy of peptide ions and fragments from collision-induced dissociation. Many previously unreported posttranslational modifications of peptides including phosphorylations, oxidations, glycosylations, and others were detected with high mass accuracy and may be of clinical importance. About 4,630 redundant peptides were identified with 99% confidence separately, and together some 1,251 distinct proteins were identified with 99% confidence or greater using the Paragon algorithm.     

Expanding Lipidome Coverage Using LC-MS/MS Data-Dependent Acquisition with Automated Exclusion List Generation

Untargeted omics analyses aim to comprehensively characterize biomolecules within a biological system. Changes in the presence or quantity of these biomolecules can indicate important biological perturbations, such as those caused by disease. With current technological advancements, the entire genome can now be sequenced; however, in the burgeoning fields of lipidomics, only a subset of lipids can be identified. The recent emergence of high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HR-MS/MS), in combination with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography, has resulted in an increased coverage of the lipidome. Nevertheless, identifications from MS/MS are generally limited by the number of precursors that can be selected for fragmentation during chromatographic elution. Therefore, we developed the software IE-Omics to automate iterative exclusion (IE), where selected precursors using data-dependent topN analyses are excluded in sequential injections. In each sequential injection, unique precursors are fragmented until HR-MS/MS spectra of all ions above a user-defined intensity threshold are acquired. IE-Omics was applied to lipidomic analyses in Red Cross plasma and substantia nigra tissue. Coverage of the lipidome was drastically improved using IE. When applying IE-Omics to Red Cross plasma and substantia nigra lipid extracts in positive ion mode, 69% and 40% more molecular identifications were obtained, respectively. In addition, applying IE-Omics to a lipidomics workflow increased the coverage of trace species, including odd-chained and short-chained diacylglycerides and oxidized lipid species. By increasing the coverage of the lipidome, applying IE to a lipidomics workflow increases the probability of finding biomarkers and provides additional information for determining etiology of disease.

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Novel and efficient copper-catalysed synthesis of nitrogen-linked medium-ring biaryls

Herein, a new copper-catalysed strategy for the synthesis of rare nitrogen-linked seven-, eight- and nine-membered biaryl ring systems is described. It is proposed that the reaction proceeds through a highly activated intramolecularly co-ordinated copper catalyst. The process is technically simple, proceeds under relatively mild conditions, displays a broad substrate scope and forms biologically valuable products that are difficult to synthesise by other methods. We envisage that this methodology will prove useful in a wide synthetic context, with possible applications in both target-oriented and diversity-oriented synthesis.     

Lanthanide nitrate complexes of tri-isobutylphosphine oxide: solid state and CD2Cl2 solution structures

The complexes Ln(NO(3))(3)L(3) between Ln(NO(3))(3) and (i)Bu(3)PO (=L) have been prepared for Ln = La-Lu (excluding Pm). The isolated complexes have been characterized by infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The single crystal X-ray structures have been determined for representative complexes across the series Ln = Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb and show the coordination geometry around the metal to be the same with 9-coordinate lanthanide ions and bidentate nitrates. Subtle changes in the coordination of the nitrate ligand occur from Sm onward. Changes in the infrared spectra correlate well with changes in the X-ray structures. Solution properties have been examined by variable temperature multinuclear ((1)H, (13)C, (15)N, and (31)P) NMR spectroscopy in CD(2)Cl(2). The spectra of complexes of the early lanthanides are consistent with the presence of a single species in solution while those of the heavier lanthanides show that more than one complex is present in solution and that two inequivalent phosphorus environments are observable at low temperature. The fluxional behavior is lanthanide dependent with smaller ions giving static structures at higher temperature. Complexes with tricyclohexylphosphine oxide show that the dynamic NMR behavior is also related to the size of the ligand. Analysis of the lanthanide induced shifts indicates minor changes in solution structure occur from Sm onward which correlate well with the solid state structures.     

Radiation degradation of poly(2-methylpentene-1 sulfone)

Poly(2-methylpentene-1 sulfone) underwent random chain scission upon exposure to 1 MeV electron irradiation followed by extensive depropagation from the broken ends of the chain. Above 100°C, both sulfone and aliphatic peaks in the infrared spectrum disappeared at equal rates. An investigation of the kinetics suggested that the chains completely unzip. Below 100°C the initial rate of loss of SO₂ was faster than loss of the aliphatic moiety.