The caffeine contents of dietary supplements commonly purchased in the US: analysis of 53 products with caffeine-containing ingredients

As part of a study initiating the development of an analytically validated Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database (DSID) in the United States (US), a selection of dietary supplement products were analyzed for their caffeine content. Products sold as tablets, caplets, or capsules and listing at least one caffeine-containing ingredient (including botanicals such as guarana, yerba mate, kola nut, and green tea extract) on the label were selected for analysis based on market share information. Two or three lots of each product were purchased and analyzed using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Each analytical run included one or two National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) and two products in duplicate. Caffeine intake per serving and per day was calculated using the maximum recommendations on each product label. Laboratory analysis for 53 products showed product means ranging from 1 to 829 mg caffeine/day. For products with a label amount for comparison (n = 28), 89% (n = 25) of the products had analytically based caffeine levels/day of between −16% and +16% of the claimed levels. Lot-to-lot variability (n = 2 or 3) for caffeine in most products (72%) was less than 10%.     

Measuring vitamins and minerals in dietary supplements for nutrition studies in the USA

This article illustrates the importance of having analytical data on the vitamin and mineral contents of dietary supplements in nutrition studies, and describes efforts to develop an analytically validated dietary supplement ingredient database (DSID) by a consortium of federal agencies in the USA. Preliminary studies of multivitamin mineral supplements marketed in the USA that were analyzed as candidates for the DSID are summarized. Challenges are summarized, possible future directions are outlined, and some related programs at the Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health are described. The DSID should be helpful to researchers in assessing relationships between intakes of vitamins and minerals and health outcomes.     

Attacking boron nucleophiles: NMR properties of five-membered diazaborole rings

This paper reports computed NMR spectral data for the diazaborole anion (C2H4B1N2-) and the corresponding neutral five-membered rings with B-H (C2H5B1N2, diazaborole) and B-Li (C2H4B1Li1N2, Li-diazaborole) bonds, which are the central moieties of newly synthesized nucleophilic organoboryl five-membered rings, recently reported by Segawa et al. (Science 2006, 314, 113). Both spin-spin coupling constants and chemical shifts were obtained using high-level ab initio calculations. These data are a necessary complement to the very scarce experimental information available.     

4‐Iodo‐N‐(2‐nitro­phenyl­sulfanyl)­aniline: π‐stacked sheets generated by a combination of N—H⃛O and C—H⃛O hydrogen bonds

Molecules of the title compound, C₁₂H₉IN₂O₂S, are linked by one N—H⃛O hydrogen bond [H⃛O = 2.16 Å, N⃛O = 2.935 (4) Å and N—H⃛O 147°] and two C—H⃛O hydrogen bonds [H⃛O both 2.49 Å, C⃛O = 3.231 (5) and 3.220 (5) Å, and C—H⃛O = 135 and 134°] into sheets which themselves are weakly linked by an aromatic π–π‐stacking interaction between iodinated rings in centrosymmetrically related mole­cules. There are no iodo–nitro interactions.     

Barium‐deficient celsian,Ba1−xAl2−2xSi2+2xO8 (x = 0.20 or 0.06)

Barium‐deficient forms of celsian (barium aluminium silicate) with the formula Ba_1−xAl_2−2xSi_2+2xO₈ (x = 0.20 and 0.06) have been identified. In contrast with the celsian–orthoclase solid solutions which have been reported previously, these forms, refined in the space group C2/m, with Ba and one O atom in the 4i sites with m site symmetry, and a further O atom in a 4g site with twofold axial symmetry, suggest a slight solid solution with silica. The serendipitous preparation of the compounds represents a possible hazard associated with solid‐state synthesis.     

Bilayers in 4‐iodo‐N‐(2‐iodo‐4‐nitrophenyl)benzamide generated by a combination of an N—H⋯O=C hydrogen bond and two independent iodo–nitro interactions

Molecules of the title compound, C₁₃H₈I₂N₂O₃, are linked into C(4) chains by a single N—H⋯O=C hydrogen bond [H⋯O = 2.10 Å, N⋯O = 2.832 (5) Å and N—H⋯O = 140°]. Two independent two‐centre iodo–nitro interactions, both involving the same O atom but different I atoms [I⋯O = 3.205 (3) and 3.400 (3) Å, and C—I⋯O = 160.4 (2) and 155.7 (2)°], link the hydrogen‐bonded chains into bilayers.     

Structures and Dynamics of Secondary and Tertiary Alkylphosphine Oxides Adsorbed on Silica

The three secondary phosphine oxides [CH₂=CH(CH₂)₄]₂HPO ( 1 ), [CH₂=CH(CH₂)₅]₂HPO ( 2 ), and [CH₂=CH(CH₂)₆]₂HPO ( 3 ), and two diphosphine dioxides, {[CH₂=CH(CH₂)₆]₂PO(CH₂)₇}₂ ( 4 ) and {[CH₂=CH(CH₂)₆]₂PO(CH₂)₄}₂ ( 5 ), incorporating long methylene chains, are described. The single crystal X‐ray structures of 1 , 2 , and 5 have been determined. The phosphine oxides 3 , 4 , and 5 have been adsorbed on silica in submonolayer quantities to give 3 a – 5 a . The ¹H, ¹³C, and ³¹P solid‐state NMR spectra of polycrystalline 3 – 5 have been analyzed and compared with those of 3 a – 5 a . The changes of the solid‐state NMR characteristics upon adsorption and the surface mobilities of the phosphine oxides are discussed.     

Effects of estrogens and bladder inflammation on mitogen-activated protein kinases in lumbosacral dorsal root ganglia from adult female rats

Background  

Interstitial cystitis is a chronic condition associated with bladder inflammation and, like a number of other chronic pain states, symptoms associated with interstitial cystitis are more common in females and fluctuate during the menstrual cycle. The aim of this study was to determine if estrogens could directly modulate signalling pathways within bladder sensory neurons, such as extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases. These signalling pathways have been implicated in neuronal plasticity underlying development of inflammatory somatic pain but have not been as extensively investigated in visceral nociceptors. We have focused on lumbosacral dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons projecting to pelvic viscera (L1, L2, L6, S1) of adult female Sprague-Dawley rats and performed both in vitro and in vivo manipulations to compare the effects of short- and long-term changes in estrogen levels on MAPK expression and activation. We have also investigated if prolonged estrogen deprivation influences the effects of lower urinary tract inflammation on MAPK signalling.     

Three N2‐benzoyl­oxybenz­amidines: sheet structures built from hard and soft hydrogen bonds and aromatic π–π stacking interactions

Molecules of the title compounds N²‐(benzoyl­oxy)­benz­ami­dine, C₁₄H₁₂N₂O₂, (I), N²‐(2‐hydroxy­benzoyl­oxy)­benz­ami­dine, C₁₄H₁₂N₂O₃, (II), and N²‐benzoyloxy‐2‐hydroxybenzamidine, C₁₄H₁₂N₂O₃, (III), all have extended chain conformations, with the aryl groups remote from one another. In (I), the mol­ecules are linked into chains by a single N—H⋯N hydrogen bond [H⋯N = 2.15 Å, N⋯N = 3.029 (2) Å and N—H⋯N = 153°] and these chains are linked into sheets by means of aromatic π–π stacking interactions. There is one intramolecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bond in (II), and a combination of one three‐centre N—H⋯(N,O) hydrogen bond [H⋯N = 2.46 Å, H⋯O = 2.31 Å, N⋯N = 3.190 (2) Å, N⋯O = 3.146 (2) Å, N—H⋯N = 138° and N—H⋯O = 154°] and one two‐centre C—H⋯O hydrogen bond [H⋯O = 2.46 Å, C⋯O = 3.405 (2) Å and C—H⋯O = 173°] links the mol­ecules into sheets. In (III), an intramolecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond and two N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds [H⋯O = 2.26 and 2.10 Å, N⋯O = 2.975 (2) and 2.954 (2) Å, and N—H⋯O = 138 and 163°] link the molecules into sheets.