Functional Rotaxanes in Catalysis

Mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs) have gained attention in the field of catalysis due to their unique molecular properties. Central to MIMs, rotaxanes are highly promising and attractive supramolecular catalysts due to their unique three-dimensional structures and the flexibility of their subcomponents. This Minireview discusses the use of rotaxanes in organocatalysis and transition-metal catalysis.     

Increased speed of steroid analysis by capillary GC and GC-MS; effects of sample pretreatment and sample introdution

Quantitative analysis of steroids and their metabolites in urine samples calls for increased speed of sample clean-up, of the derivatization procedure, and of separation. A fast procedure for sample pretreatment, which can be performed within 8 hours, is introduced and evaluated. It is shown that use of fast pretreatment in combination with narrow bore columns, which are compatible with existing instrumentation, can considerably increase, laboratory throughput. The effect of different sample introduction techniques (e.g. splitless, on-column, and moving needle) on column efficiency and resolution is demonstrated and discussed.     

Peptide-mediated blood-brain barrier transport of polymersomes

A polymeric nanocarrier: Polymersomes tagged with a dodecamer peptide that recognizes gangliosides GM1 and GT1b are shown to cross the blood-brain barrier, both in an in?vitro model and in?vivo. The combination of polymeric vesicles with a small GM1-binding peptide and GM1/GT1b gangliosides as targeting sites for blood-brain barrier transport is unprecedented.