New insights into the titanium-mediated enantioselective oxidation of fluorinated aryl benzyl sulfides and aryl phenacyl sulfides

A fruitful switch from tert-butyl to cumene hydroperoxide was able to overcome a difficulty arose in the enantioselective oxidation of fluorinated aryl benzyl sulfide with hydroperoxides in the presence of a titanium/(S, S)-hydrobenzoin catalyst. New experiments show the complementarity of the old and the new protocols and indicate unequivocally the right choice leading to the corresponding highly enantioenriched sulfoxides. Moreover, in a totally unexpected way, the new protocol was able to overcome another difficulty arose in another field of research, that is the enantioselective oxidation of a fluorinated aryl phenacyl sulfide. Also in this case, the complementarity of behavior is acting. Finally, this investigation gives new support to the attribution of configuration of sulfoxides with ECD techniques, but only if the protocol outlined in our past research was followed thoroughly.     

The distribution of stresses in rigid fractal-like aggregates in a uniform flow field

The distribution of stresses in rigid fractal-like aggregates moving in a uniform flow field was investigated for particle-cluster and cluster-cluster aggregates with fractal dimensions ranging from 1.7 to 2.3. The method of reflections was used to calculate the drag force on each monomer, while the internal inter-monomer interactions were calculated by applying force and torque balances on each primary particle. The stress distribution was found to be very dissimilar from that of the applied external forces. Although the highest external forces act on the monomers located at the periphery of the aggregate where the drag is more intense, the most stressed inter-monomer bonds are always located in the internal part of the aggregate. This phenomenon is a consequence of the structure of the studied fractal aggregates, which are made mainly of filaments of monomers: the stress generated by the external forces is propagated and progressively accumulated by such filaments up to their roots, which are situated in the inner part of the cluster. Such a behaviour is different from that exhibited by highly connected structures, in which the loads are absorbed locally by the structure and the largest stresses are normally found in the proximity of the highest applied external forces.     

The application of the Ehrlich-Aberth method to structured polynomial eigenvalue problems

An algorithm for the application of the Ehrlich-Aberth method to polynomial eigenvalue problems (PEPs) is proposed. The computational complexity of the algorithm is only quadratic with respect to the degree of the polynomial, where customary matrix methods have cubic complexity. For the case of some structured PEPs a strategy is given in order to exploit the structure and obtain the induced coupling in the spectrum. Numerical experiments are provided for the particular case of even/odd PEPs. This communication is based on joint work with Dario A. Bini and Luca Gemignani. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Phanquinone as a suitable derivatization reagent in micellar electrokinetic chromatography and HPLC analysis of amino acids

Phanquinone (chemically: 4,7-phenanthroline-5,6-dione) was applied as an original precolumn derivatization reagent for amino acids followed by separation using MEKC with UV detection (240 nm). The derivatization reaction was carried out at 68 degrees C in the presence of aqueous phosphate buffer (pH 8.0) and it was found to be complete after 30 min. Twelve derivatized standard amino acids were separated in about 22 min under MEKC conditions using sodium cholate (250 mM) as the surfactant in phosphate buffer (20 mM, pH 9.0). The developed method was validated for the analysis of D,L-phosphoserine (D,L-p-Ser) and L-glutamine (L-Gln); good linearity (r > 0.999) was achieved in the calibration range of 0.25-2.5 micromol/mL. The sensitivity of the MEKC method (LOD 0.1 micromol/mL; LOQ 0.25 micromol/mL, RSD% <5.0%, n = 3) was found to be adequate for quantitation of amino acids in pharmaceuticals. Quantitative applications of the validated MEKC method were carried out by the analysis of commercially available oral polyaminoacid formulations (tablets and extemporaneous solutions) containing L-Gln and D,L-p-Ser; the obtained results were found to be in agreement with those from a validated reference RP-HPLC method.     

Development of an analytical method for the determination of the residues of four pyrethroids in meat by GC–ECD and confirmation by GC–MS

The development of an analytical method for the determination of four selected pyrethroid insecticides at residue level in beef meat is presented. Acetone and petroleum ether at 40-60 degrees C were chosen as extraction solvents. A two-step clean-up was performed using an Extrelut NT3-C(18) system followed by a Florisil column, with disposable, ready-to-use cartridges. Instrumental analysis was carried out on a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron capture detector (GC-ECD), using matrix-matched and internal standard calibration techniques. Confirmatory analysis by GC-MS was performed. Recoveries at the EU Maximum Residue Limit (MRL), 0.5 x MRL and 1.5 x MRL levels and the repeatabilities were widely satisfactory. The main advantage of the method was the reduction of analysis time as compared with previously published works. The applicability of the method to different matrices and pesticide classes will be investigated.     

Separation of alkamides from Echinacea purpurea extracts by cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Separation of nine important alkyl methylbutyl- and isobutylamides (known as alkamides) obtained from Echinacea purpurea extracts was investigated by using cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography (CD-MEKC). Hydrophobic alkamides interact strongly with the micelles from the most common surfactants used in MEKC and this lead to predominant partition of the analytes into the micellar phase, resulting in poor resolution. The addition of neutral CDs to the alkaline (10 mM phosphate buffer pH 8.0) micellar system of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium cholate (SC) and sodium deoxycholate (SDC) was found to improve the separation of the studied alkamides. Among the several combinations surfactant/CD, three different systems showed to be particularly effective: SDS/hydroxypropyl-beta-CD (110 mM/100 mM) and SC/heptakis (2, 3, 6-tri-O-methyl)-beta-CD (200 mM/40 mM) which provided a complete separation of the studied compounds, and SDC/heptakis (2, 6-di-O-methyl)-beta-CD. The importance of appropriate surfactant vs. CD concentration ratio as well as that of total concentration of both surfactant and CD was considered. The optimization of the separation was performed by focussing the need for a rapid separation of nine alkamides diagnostically useful to define the fingerprint of Echinacea species.     

Time Translation of Quantum Properties

Based on the notion of time translation, we develop a formalism to deal with the logic of quantum properties at different times. In our formalism it is possible to enlarge the usual notion of context to include composed properties involving properties at different times. We compare our results with the theory of consistent histories.     

Infrared chemiluminescence in the reactions of 0.45 eV hydrogen atoms with Cl2, SCl2 and PCl3

Infrared chemiluminescence from HCl has been observed in “arrested relaxation” experiments to yield vibrational and rotational distributions from the reactions $\text{H}$+Cl₂, SCl₂ and PCl₃, where $\text{H}$ denotes hydrogen atoms with translational energy of 0.45 eV. The following relative populations were determined: N_v-1: N_v-2: N_v-3: N_v-4: N_v-5: N_v-6 = 0.89:1.00:0.84:0.47:0.26:0.11 for $\text{H}$+Cl₂: N_v-1: N_v-2: N_v-3: N_v-4: N_v-5: N_v-6 = 0.80:1.00:0.72:0.48:0.24:0.10 for $\text{H}$+SCl₂: N_v-1: N_v-2: N_v-3: N_v-4: N_v-5 = 0.79:1.00:0.88:0.36:0.14 for H+PCl₃. In all three reaction systems the chemiluminescence was attributed to the primary chlorine abstraction. Comparison with the results of the thermal processes (0.04 eV hydrogen atoms) led to the following conclusions: for H+Cl₂ the excess of translational energy is transformed into translational product energy and rotational energy of the molecule HCl; for H+SCl₂ the excess of translational energy is transformed mainly into translational energy of the products and perhaps internal energy of SCl; for H+PCl₃ the excess of translational energy allows the observation of the primary abstraction reaction, which could in earlier experiments at 300 K not be separated from secondary chemiluminescent processes. Bimodal rotational distributions were confirmed for several vibrational states of HCl formed in the systems $\text{H}$+Cl₂, and $\text{H}$+SCl₂. Bimodal rotational distributions were also detected in the chemiluminescent reaction H(0.04 eV)+CH₃SCl → HCl(v ? 5)+CH₃S.     

Development and characterization of beta-secretase monolithic micro-immobilized enzyme reactor for on-line high-performance liquid chromatography studies

beta-Site APP cleavage enzyme 1 (BACE-1) is a transmembrane aspartyl protease that cleaves the amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP), which is abundant in neurons. BACE-1 is required for the generation of amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptides implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is widely believed that halting the production of Abeta peptide, by inhibition of BACE-1, is an attractive therapeutic modality for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. BACE-1 has never been immobilized before. In the present study, for the first time, human recombinant beta-secretase micro-immobilised enzyme reactor (hrBACE-1-micro-IMER) was prepared by using an in situ immobilisation procedure on an ethylendiamine monolithic convective interaction media (EDA-CIM) disk. The activity and kinetic parameters of the hrBACE-1-micro-IMER were investigated by insertion in a HPLC system with fluorescent and mass detection. The micro-IMER was characterized in terms of units of immobilised hrBACE-1 and best mobile phase conditions for activity, by using as substrate casein-FITC and JMV2236, a peptide mimicking the Swedish-mutated APP (amyloid precursor protein) sequence. The characterization of the hrBACE-1-micro-IMER in terms of number of enzymatic active units after covalent linking to the solid matrix was performed by using the JMV2236 peptide as substrate in a HPLC-MS system. JMV2236 was injected into the hrBACE-1-micro-IMER and enzymatically cleaved; the product of the enzymatic cleavage and the remaining non-cleaved substrate were collected on a C18 column trap and switched to the LC-electrospray ionization MS system for kinetic constants determination. Inhibition studies were carried out. The effect of donepezil and pepstatin A, as BACE-1 inhibitors, was evaluated by simultaneous injection of the compounds with the peptidic substrate. The relative IC(50) values were found in agreement with that derived by the conventional fluorescence method, confirming the applicability of this new IMER for on-line inhibition studies. The main advantages of the hrBACE-1-micro-IMER approach over the conventional methods were found to be the increased enzyme efficiency, stability and the decreased time of analysis.