Improvements in the Synthesis of the Third-Generation EGFR Inhibitor Osimertinib

Osimertinib, a third generation potent and specific EGFR inhibitor is an important drug against many forms of cancer. It was synthesized by an improved and highly efficient protocol, revisiting the classical synthetic process and modifying parameters, such as solvents, temperature, reagents, and reaction time. A cost-effective, environmentally friendly methodology for the synthesis of osimertinib was established, which gave shorter reaction times, saved labor by eliminating purification steps through column chromatography, and enhanced yields. Four of the seven steps in total, were proceeded quantitatively or almost quantitatively (ca. 98 %). This synthetic protocol provides a very high overall yield, up to 68 %. In addition, the entire approach enables the preparation of osimertinib analogues and could be extended in the synthesis of other structurally similar bioactive compounds.     

Structural Characterization of Graphene Nanosheets for Miniaturization of Potentiometric Urea Lipid Film Based Biosensors

The present article describes a miniaturized potentiometric urea lipid film based biosensor on graphene nanosheets. Structural characterization of graphene nanosheets for miniaturization of potentiometric urea lipid film based biosensors have been studied through atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. UV‐Vis and Fourrier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopy have been utilized to study the pre‐ and postconjugated surfaces of graphene nanosheets. The presented potentiometric urea biosensor exhibits good reproducibility, reusability, selectivity, rapid response times (～4 s), long shelf life and high sensitivity of ca. 70 mV/decade over the urea logarithmic concentration range from 1×10^?6 M to 1×10^?3 M.     

Compressive advection and multi‐component methods for interface‐capturing

This paper develops methods for interface‐capturing in multiphase flows. The main novelties of these methods are as follows: (a) multi‐component modelling that embeds interface structures into the continuity equation; (b) a new family of triangle/tetrahedron finite elements, in particular, the P₁DG‐P₂(linear discontinuous between elements velocity and quadratic continuous pressure); (c) an interface‐capturing scheme based on compressive control volume advection methods and high‐order finite element interpolation methods; (d) a time stepping method that allows use of relatively large time step sizes; and (e) application of anisotropic mesh adaptivity to focus the numerical resolution around the interfaces and other areas of important dynamics. This modelling approach is applied to a series of pure advection problems with interfaces as well as to the simulation of the standard computational fluid dynamics benchmark test cases of a collapsing water column under gravitational forces (in two and three dimensions) and sloshing water in a tank. Two more test cases are undertaken in order to demonstrate the many‐material and compressibility modelling capabilities of the approach. Numerical simulations are performed on coarse unstructured meshes to demonstrate the potential of the methods described here to capture complex dynamics in multiphase flows. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A High Cell‐Bearing Capacity Multibore Hollow Fiber Device for Macroencapsulation of Islets of Langerhans

Macroencapsulation of islets of Langerhans is a promising strategy for transplantation of insulin‐producing cells in the absence of immunosuppression to treat type 1 diabetes. Hollow fiber membranes are of interest there because they offer a large surface‐to‐volume ratio and can potentially be retrieved or refilled. However, current available fibers have limitations in exchange of nutrients, oxygen, and delivery of insulin potentially impacting graft survival. Here, multibore hollow fibers for islets encapsulation are designed and tested. They consist of seven bores and are prepared using nondegradable polymers with high mechanical stability and low cell adhesion properties. Human islets encapsulated there have a glucose induced insulin response (GIIS) similar to nonencapsulated islets. During 7 d of cell culture in vitro, the GIIS increases with graded doses of islets demonstrating the suitability of the microenvironment for islet survival. Moreover, first implantation studies in mice demonstrate device material biocompatibility with minimal tissue responses. Besides, formation of new blood vessels close to the implanted device is observed, an important requirement for maintaining islet viability and fast exchange of glucose and insulin. The results indicate that the developed fibers have high islet bearing capacity and can potentially be applied for a clinically applicable bioartificial pancreas.     

A facile method to synthesize high‐molecular‐weight biobased polyesters from 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid and long‐chain diols

In this study, biobased furan dicarboxylate polyesters have been prepared using 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and diols with high number of methylene groups (long‐chain diols), namely, 8, 9, 10, and 12. Because of the high boiling points of these diols, a modified procedure of the well‐known melt polycondensation was applied in this work. According to this, the dimethyl ester of FDCA (DMFD) reacted in the first transesterification stage with the corresponding diols forming bis‐hydroxy‐alkylene furan dicarboxylates (BHFD). In the second stage, the BHFD reacted with DMFD again at temperatures of 150–170 °C (for 4–5 h), and in the final stage, the temperature was raised to 210–230 °C (vacuum was applied for 2–3 h). The molecular weight of the polyesters and the content of oligomers, as was verified by gel permeation chromatography analysis, depend on the polycondensation time and temperature. The chemical structure of the polyesters was verified from ¹H NMR spectroscopy. All the polymers were found to be semicrystalline, with melting temperatures from 69 to 140 °C depending on the diol used. In addition, the mechanical properties also varied with the type of diol. The higher values were observed for poly(octylene 2,5‐furanoate), whereas the lowest values were observed for poly(dodecylene 2,5‐furanoate) with the higher number of methylene groups in its repeating unit. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2617–2632     

Determination of phenolic compounds using spectral and color transitions of rhodium nanoparticles

This work reports a new approach for the determination of phenolic compounds based on their interaction with citrate-capped rhodium nanoparticles. Phenolic compounds (i.e., catechins, gallates, cinnamates, and dihydroxybenzoic acids) were found to cause changes in the size and localized surface plasmon resonance of rhodium nanoparticles, and therefore, give rise to analyte-specific spectral and color transitions in the rhodium nanoparticle suspensions. Upon reaction with phenolic compounds (mainly dithydroxybenzoate derivatives, and trihydroxybenzoate derivatives), new absorbance peaks at 350 nm and 450 nm were observed. Upon reaction with trihydroxybenzoate derivatives, however, an additional absorbance peak at 580 nm was observed facilitating the speciation of phenolic compounds in the sample. Both absorbance peaks at 450 nm and 580 nm increased with increasing concentration of phenolic compounds over a linear range of 0–500 μM. Detection limits at the mid-micromolar levels were achieved, depending on the phenolic compound involved, and with satisfactory reproducibility (<7.3%). On the basis of these findings, two rhodium nanoparticles-based assays for the determination of the total phenolic content and total catechin content were developed and applied in tea samples. The obtained results correlated favorably with commonly used methods (i.e., Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum complexation assay). Not the least, the finding that rhodium nanoparticles can react with analytes and exhibit unique localized surface plasmon resonance bands in the visible region, can open new opportunities for developing new optical and sensing analytical applications.