Spectrophotometric study of bismuth with N-(2-acetamido)iminodiacetic acid (ADA): Determination of bismuth in pharmaceutical formulations

A new method for the Spectrophotometric determination of bismuth using N-(2-acetamido)iminodiacetic acid as complexometric agent is proposed. The complex is formed in a wide pH range, 5.5–7.5, and has a maximum absorption at 265 nm. Beer's law is obeyed in the interval 3.8–17.9 μg of bismuth(III)/ml, with a minimum photometric error of 2.3. The molar absorptivity is 9.1 × 10³ liters/cm mol. The stoichiometry of the reaction takes place in the metal-to-ligand ratio 1:2. The interferences produced by the more common ions are studied. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of bismuth in pharmaceutical formulations.     

Iodine-poly(2-vinylpyridine-co-styrene-co-divinylbenzene) charge transfer complexes with antibacterial activity

In this work, we have developed three different copolymers based on 2-vinylpyridine, styrene and crosslinked with divinylbenzene (10-30 mol%). The copolymers were morphologically and chemically characterized by apparent density, swelling degree, elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry and optical microscopy. The formation of iodine complexes with these copolymers was carried out by two different procedures: with solvent, or not. The influence of the copolymers structure on the capacity of anchoring iodine has been investigated. The antibacterial properties of polymeric charge transfer complexes were determined towards 10³-10⁷ cells/mL dilutions from the auxotrophic AB1157 Escherichia coli strain.     

An efficient reagent for the phosphorylation of deoxyribonucleosides, DNA oligonucleotides, and their thermolytic analogues

[reaction: see text] The phosphoramidite 11 was prepared in three steps from methyl 2-mercaptoacetate and demonstrated efficiency in the synthesis of conventional 5'-/3'-phosphate/thiophosphate monoester derivatives of 2'-deoxyribonucleosides and DNA oligonucleotides. Moreover, the use of 11 has enabled the preparation of the dinucleoside phosphorothioate analogue 26 in high yields (>95%) with minimal cleavage (<2%) of the thermolytic thiophosphate protecting group.     

Self-consistent-field – Hartree–Fock method with finite nuclear mass corrections

We have upgraded a Self-consistent-field – Hartree–Fock routine to include a finite nuclear mass correction for molecules developed in our laboratory. The new routine can handle isotopomers without calculating any nuclear kinetic energy matrix element. Tests on H₂, LiH, HF, F₂, and H₂O isotopomers indicate the equivalence of our correction to the standard diagonal adiabatic correction. A further original application to C₂H₆ illustrates the usefulness of the method for polyatomic molecules. The resulting molecular orbitals carry the nuclear mass signature, exemplified with Koopmans ionization potentials.From the Proceedings of the 28th Congreso de Químicos Teóricos de Expresión Latina (QUITEL 2002)     

Boron trifluoride-methanol complex—mild and powerful reagent for deprotection of labile acetylated amines

A set of amino-group possessing cyanine dyes is obtained from their N-acetyl derivatives via deprotection with boron trifluoride-methanol complex in good yields.     

Synthesis and herbicidal properties of 3-(2-oxo-1-imidazolidinyliminomethyl)indoles

The reaction of 1-substituted 2-chloroindole-3-carboxaldehydes with 1-amino-2-imidazolidinone gave a series of 1-substituted 2-chloro-3-(2-oxo-1-imidazolidinyliminomethyl)indoles which were evaluated as potential herbicides. The level of biological activity was not sufficient to warrant further investigation.     

Fast exopolysaccharide secretion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on polar polymer surfaces

The influence of the surface chemical structure and related physicochemical properties on the adhesion of P. aeruginosa has been studied for moderately hydrophobic polymers and for hydrophilic surfaces obtained by O2-plasma treatments and 50 keV Ar+ beam irradiation of poly(hydroxymethylsiloxane) and poly(ethyleneterephthalate). The surface chemical structure has been obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the roughness was measured by atomic force microscopy, and the surface free energy was evaluated from contact angle measurements for all the polymer substrates before and after the irradiation treatments. It is shown that a massive and unusually fast secretion of exopolysaccharides onto highly polar surfaces, corresponding to the formation of complex three-dimensional multilayers (i.e., biofilm-like structures), occurs already after 2 h of incubation. It is suggested that such highly polar surfaces can operate either by promoting, by means of a still unknown biomolecular mechanism, an early gene expression process or by mimicking the P. aeruginosa cellular walls.     

Regiocontrolled synthesis of enantiopure 3,3'-thiosubstituted biphenyls

Sulfenylation of 6,6'-dimethoxy-2,2'-dihydroxybiphenyl, used as a racemic mixture and single enantiomers, by phthalimidesulfenyl chloride afforded the corresponding 3,3'-N,N'-dithiophthalimide with complete regioselectivity. Simple manipulations of the latter compound allowed access to the corresponding bis-thiol or o-thioquinone as useful intermediates for the synthesis of new sulfur-containing open-chain and macrocyclic C(2) enantiopure ligands. The application of this methodology to the preparation of a biphenyl bearing two cysteine units as potential HIV-1 protease inhibitor is also described.     

In situ spectroscopic characterization of rectifying molecular monolayers self-assembled on gold.

We report visible, Raman, and infrared spectra of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed by the donor-(pi-bridge)-acceptor chromophore, Z-beta-[N-(omega-acetylthioalkyl)-4-quinolinium]-alpha-cyano-4-styryldicyanomethanide (CH3CO-S-CnH2n-Q3CNQ where n=8, 10), on gold-coated substrates. The data are compared with the spectra collected for the same compound in solution and in the solid state, and with those obtained for a Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) monolayer of C16H33-Q3CNQ deposited on gold. Spectral analysis confirms that in solution, in the solid state and in the LB film the chromophore has a zwitterionic (D+-pi-A-) ground state. At variance with this well-known result, our data show that in SAMs deposited on gold the chromophore has a more neutral, quinoid ground state. We relate this difference to the different packing of the molecules in the two different films: in SAMs in fact the chromophores stand almost vertical with respect to the substrate, whereas in LB films they make an angle of about 45 degrees. The Q3CNQ molecule is a well-known molecular rectifier, and for SAMs we were able to check the direction of electron flow at forward bias on the same samples that have been characterized spectroscopically, shedding light on the rectification mechanism.     

Using capillary electrophoresis for the determination of organic acids in Port wine

The simultaneous separation and determination of organic acids in several samples of white and red Port wines was performed by capillary zone electrophoresis using indirect UV detection with 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid as a background electrolyte buffer. Operational parameters like migration time, temperature, voltage and capillary length were optimized. Sixteen samples of red wine and four samples of white wine were used to analyze for tartaric, malic, lactic, succinic and acetic acids using glyoxylic acid as the internal standard. The method is rapid, sensitive and quantitative, and time-consuming sample preparation, such as solid-phase extraction or liquid-liquid extraction procedure, is not required.