Simplified procedures for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water, sediments and mussels

We describe in this paper simple and robust analytical protocols to determine the 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of the US Environmental Protection Agency priority list in water, sediment and mussels. For water samples, eight different solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbents have been compared and among them, C18 provided highest recoveries and limits of detection of 0.3-15 ng/L. For lyophilized sediments, Soxhlet and ultrasonic extraction were compared, and the last one permitted to recover all analytes with highest repetitivity and was validated by analysing a certified reference material. Finally, the analysis of mussels was undertaken using Soxhlet, ultrasonic and pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and the performance of several clean-up steps are compared. Whereas for the former two, incomplete recovery or losses of some analytes were evidenced, PLE permitted a more efficient extraction and although alkaline digestion was necessary to remove coextracted compounds, the method gave acceptable recoveries and limits of detection of 0.5-7.7 microg/kg dry mass, as for sediments. In all cases, analysis was performed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and internal standard quantification was performed using five deuterated PAHs. Each method performance is discussed for the three matrices analysed and the paper reports advantages and disadvantages of each for their routine application in monitoring programs.     

Fluoropolyethers end‐capped by polar functional groups. IV. A novel approach to the evaluation of reactivities of hydroxy‐terminated ethoxylated fluoropolyethers in the tin(IV)‐catalyzed reactions with isophorone diisocyanate

The effect of catalyst dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL) on the kinetics of urethane formation reactions of α,ω‐bis(hydroxy)‐terminated fluoropolyethers Fomblin® Z‐DOL TXs (FPEs) of various molecular weights and poly(oxyethylene) glycol PEG‐400 with isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) in hexafluoroxylene (HFX) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) at 40 °C and NCO:OH = 2:1 have been studied in a broad range of catalyst (0.10–9.00) ×10^?4 M and total reagents (10.0–60.1 wt %) concentrations. The rate of tin‐catalyzed second‐order reactions (with respect to diol and diisocyanate) was found to be proportional to the square root of catalyst concentration [DBTDL]^0.5 both in low polar (HFX) and polar (THF) solvents. Effect of catalyst saturation was revealed for all the reaction systems at higher DBTDL concentrations as well as the appearance of the limiting catalyst concentrations C_lim below which the rates of reaction were close to zero. Based on these findings new effective rate coefficients have been derived k = k_cat/(C ? C) that are independent of the total reagent concentration in the range of 10.0–60.1 wt % ([OH] = 0.10–0.91 equiv/L). This new approach highlights that the rate of the tin‐catalyzed urethane formation reactions of α,ω‐bis(hydroxy)‐terminated fluoropolyethers Z‐DOL TXs with IPDI in HFX at 40 °C and NCO:OH = 2:1 increases significantly with increasing MW of FPE from 776 up to 3405. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5354–5371, 2004     

Mechanism of action of 4-hydroxymethyl-1,6,8-trimethylfuro[2,3-h]quinolin-2(1H)-one, a very active angular furocoumarin-like sensitizer

The molecular structure of 1,4,6,8-tetramethylfuro[2,3-h]quinolin-2(1H)-one (FQ), a recent furocoumarin-like photosensitizer, has been modified with the aim of reducing its strong genotoxicity, by replacing the methyl group at 4 position with a hydroxymethyl one, and so obtaining 4-hydroxymethyl-1,6,8-trimethylfuro[2,3-h]quinolin-2(1H)-one (HOFQ). This modification gave rise to a strong reduction of lipophilicity and dark interaction with DNA. The formation of monoadducts (MA) was deeply affected, whereas the induction of bifunctional adducts between DNA and proteins (DPC(L>0)) was replaced by an efficient production of DNA-protein cross-links at zero length (DPC(L=0)), probably via guanine damage. Because of its angular molecular structure, HOFQ does not form interstrand cross-links (ISC): therefore, DPC(L=0) and MA represent the main lesions induced by HOFQ in DNA. In comparison with FQ (which induces MA and DPC(L>0)) and 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) (MA, ISC, DPC(L>0)), HOFQ seems to be a more selective agent. In fact, contrary to FQ and 8-MOP, HOFQ, together with a noticeable antiproliferative activity, shows low levels of point mutations in bacteria and of clastogenic effects in mammalian cells. HOFQ is also an efficient apoptosis inducer, especially in comparison with 8-MOP, when tested at equitoxic experimental conditions; this property might be correlated with the complete HOFQ inability of inducing skin erythemas, a well-known side effect of classic furocoumarin photosensitization.     

A general NMR method for rapid, efficient, and reliable biochemical screening

High-throughput screening is usually the method of drug-lead discovery. It is now well accepted that, for a functional assay, quality is more important than quantity. The ligand-based or protein-based NMR screening methodologies for detecting compounds binding to the macromolecular target of interest are now well established. A novel and sensitive NMR method for rapid, efficient, and reliable biochemical screening is presented. The method named 3-FABS (three fluorine atoms for biochemical screening) requires the labeling of the substrate with a CF(3) moiety and utilizes (19)F NMR spectroscopy for the detection of the starting and enzymatically modified substrates. The method allows for high-quality screening of large compound or natural product extract collections and for measuring their IC(50) values. Applications of this technique to the screening of inhibitors of the Ser/Thr kinase AKT1 and the protease trypsin are presented. In addition, an interesting application of 3-FABS to functional genomics is also presented.     

Theoretical and photoluminescence studies on the d10-s2 AuI-TlI interaction in extended unsupported chains

The reactions of solutions of TlPF(6) and OPPh(3) in tetrahydrofuran or acetone with NBu(4)[AuR(2)] (R=C(6)Cl(5), C(6)F(5)) gave the new complexes [Au(C(6)Cl(5))(2)](2)[Tl(OPPh(3))][Tl(OPPh(3))(L)] (L=THF (1), acetone (2)) and the previously reported [Tl(OPPh(3))(2)][Au(C(6)F(5))(2)] (3). The crystal structures of complexes 1 and 2 display extended unsupported chains with short intermolecular interactions between alternating gold(I) and thallium(I) centres. Moreover, the Tl(I) centres show two different types of geometrical environments, such as pseudotetrahedral and distorted trigonal-bipyramidal, due to the presence of solvent molecules that act as ligands in the solid-state structure. Quasirelativistic and nonrelativistic ab initio calculations were performed to study the nature of the intermetallic Au(I)-Tl(I) interactions and are consistent with the presence of a high ionic contribution (80 %) and dispersion-type (van der Waals) interaction with a charge-transfer contribution (20 %) when relativistic effects are taken into account. All complexes are luminescent in the solid state at room temperature and at 77 K. Complexes 1 and 2 show site-selective excitation, probably due to the different environments around the Tl(I) centres. The DFT and time-dependent (TD)-DFT calculations are in agreement with the experimental excitation spectra for all complexes and confirm the site-selective excitation behaviour as a function of the Tl(I) geometrical environment.     

Stereoselective synthesis of novel types of cyclopropyl carbocyclic nucleosides containing quaternary stereogenic centers

Versatile and stereocontrolled synthetic entries to novel types of cyclopropyl carbocyclic nucleosides are described. The target products have been synthesized from suitable cyclopropane precursors obtained, in turn, from olefinic compounds derived from D-glyceraldehyde as a chiral precursor. Selective manipulation of the functional groups has allowed the preparation of enantiopure nucleosides, some of them displaying opposite chirality. All these molecules contain a quaternary stereogenic carbon at C-1 or C-3 of the cyclopropane ring and bear an amino, a hydroxymethyl, or a methyl group as an additional substituent. In one instance, thymine is directly linked to the cyclopropane. A methylene unit serves as the spacer in the other synthesized nucleosides.     

Molecular recognition of biotin, barbital and tolbutamide with new synthetic receptors

We have measured, by means of NMR titrations, the binding constants for the complexes between hosts N,N′-bis(6-methylpyridin-2-yl)-1,3-benzenedicarboxamide (7) and 4-chloro-N,N′-bis(6-methylpyridin-2-yl)-2,6-pyridinedicarboxamide (8, hydrated) with biotin methyl ester (1), N,N′-dimethylurea (2), 2-imidazolidone (3), N,N′-trimethylenurea (4), barbital (5) and tolbutamide (6) as guests. Molecular Mechanics calculations (Monte Carlo Conformational Search, AMBER and OPLS force fields, MacroModel v.8.1) on the complexes formed between the foregoing guests and hosts 7 and 8, comparatively with 4-oxo-N,N′-bis(6-methylpyridin-2-yl)-1,4-dihydro-2,6-pyridinedicarboxamide (9a) have been carried out in order to determine the correlation between experimental and theoretical results and to understand the behaviour of the designed new hosts. Finally we have performed single point DFT [B3LYP/6-31G(d,p)] calculations on the optimised Molecular Mechanics geometries for the complexes between hosts 7-9 and water.     

Synthesis of di- and monobromo(ferrocenylvinyl)cyclopropanes

The Wittig olefination of ferrocene-containing chalcones leads to 1,3-dienes and their cyclodimers. The reaction of 1,3-dienes with dibromocarbene yields gem-dibromo(ferrocenylvinyl)cyclopropanes. Upon reductive dehalogenation with ethylmagnesium bromide they afford the corresponding monobromo derivatives. All the obtained compounds were characterized by ¹H and ¹³C NMR, elemental analysis, and mass spectrometry. The structures of compounds 5a,b, 6g, 6h, and 7i were confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis.     

Thermal decomposition of HO2NO2 (peroxynitric acid, PNA): rate coefficient and determination of the enthalpy of formation

Rate coefficients for the gas-phase thermal decomposition of HO(2)NO(2) (peroxynitric acid, PNA) are reported at temperatures between 331 and 350 K at total pressures of 25 and 50 Torr of N(2). Rate coefficients were determined by measuring the steady-state OH concentration in a mixture of known concentrations of HO(2)NO(2) and NO. The measured thermal decomposition rate coefficients k(-)(1)(T,P) are used in combination with previously published rate coefficient data for the HO(2)NO(2) formation reaction to yield a standard enthalpy for reaction 1 of Delta(r)H degrees (298K) = -24.0 +/- 0.5 kcal mol(-1) (uncertainties are 2sigma values and include estimated systematic errors). A HO(2)NO(2) standard heat of formation, Delta(f)H degrees (298K)(HO(2)NO(2)), of -12.6 +/- 1.0 kcal mol(-1) was calculated from this value. Some of the previously reported data on the thermal decomposition of HO(2)NO(2) have been reanalyzed and shown to be in good agreement with our reported value.     

Agaricus bisporus Crude Extract: Characterization and Analytical Application

In the present work crude Agaricus bisporus extract (ABE) has been prepared and characterized by its tyrosinase activity, protein composition and substrate specificity. The presence of mushroom tyrosinase (PPO3) in ABE has been confirmed using two-dimensional electrophoresis, followed by MALDI TOF/TOF MS-based analysis. GH27 alpha-glucosidases, GH47 alpha-mannosidases, GH20 hexosaminidases, and alkaline phosphatases have been also detected in ABE. ABE substrate specificity has been studied using 19 phenolic compounds: polyphenols (catechol, gallic, caffeic, chlorogenic, and ferulic acids, quercetin, rutin, dihydroquercetin, l-dihydroxyphenylalanine, resorcinol, propyl gallate) and monophenols (l-tyrosine, phenol, p-nitrophenol, o-nitrophenol, guaiacol, o-cresol, m-cresol, p-cresol). The comparison of ABE substrate specificity and affinity to the corresponding parameters of purified A. bisporus tyrosinase has revealed no major differences. The conditions for spectrophotometric determination have been chosen and the analytical procedures for determination of 1.4 × 10⁻⁴–1.0 × 10⁻³ M l-tyrosine, 3.1 × 10⁻⁶–1.0 × 10⁻⁴ M phenol, 5.4 × 10⁻⁵–1.0 × 10⁻³ M catechol, 8.5 × 10⁻⁵–1.0 × 10⁻³ M caffeic acid, 1.5 × 10⁻⁴–7.5 × 10⁻⁴ M chlorogenic acid, 6.8 × 10⁻⁵–1.0 × 10⁻³ M l-DOPA have been proposed. The procedures have been applied for the determination of l-tyrosine in food supplements, l-DOPA in synthetic serum, and phenol in waste water from the food manufacturing plant. Thus, we have demonstrated the possibility of using ABE as a substitute for tyrosinase in such analytical applications, as food supplements, medical and environmental analysis.