Semicarbazide: occurrence in food products and state-of-the-art in analytical methods used for its determination

This review provides an overview of the information currently available about the presence of semicarbazide (SEM) in food. Likely sources of SEM in food matrices are summarised and discussed. Detailed information is given about the analytical methods used to determine SEM; features and drawbacks associated with them are carefully evaluated. Performance criteria characterising the analytical methods discussed are also given.     

A Hundred‐Year‐Old Experiment Re‐evaluated: Accurate Ab Initio Monte Carlo Simulations of the Melting of Radon

State‐of‐the‐art relativistic coupled‐cluster theory is used to construct many‐body potentials for the noble‐gas element radon to determine its bulk properties including the solid‐to‐liquid phase transition from parallel tempering Monte Carlo simulations through either direct sampling of the bulk or from a finite cluster approach. The calculated melting temperature are 200(3) K and 200(6) K from bulk simulations and from extrapolation of finite cluster values, respectively. This is in excellent agreement with the often debated (but widely cited) and only available value of 202 K, dating back to measurements by Gray and Ramsay in 1909.     

Toward understanding the mechanism of chromophore-assisted laser inactivation--evidence for the primary photochemical steps

Chromophore-assisted laser inactivation (CALI) is a light-mediated technique used to selectively inactivate proteins of interest to elucidate their biological function. CALI has potential applications to a wide array of biological questions, and its efficiency allows for high-throughput application. A solid understanding of its underlying photochemical mechanism is still missing. In this study, we address the CALI mechanism using a simplified model system consisting of the enzyme beta-galactosidase as target protein and the common dye fluorescein. We demonstrate that protein photoinactivation is independent from dye photobleaching and provide evidence that the first singlet state of the chromophore is the relevant transient state for the initiation of CALI. Furthermore, the inactivation process was shown to be dependent on oxygen and likely to be based on photooxidation of the target protein via singlet oxygen. The simple model system used in this study may be further applied to identify and optimize other CALI chromophores.     

Determination of the glycosidic bond angle chi in RNA from cross-correlated relaxation of CH dipolar coupling and N chemical shift anisotropy

A new heteronuclear NMR pulse sequence, the quantitative Gamma(HCN) experiment, for the determination of the glycosidic torsion angle chi in (13)C,(15)N-labeled oligonucleotides is described. The Gamma(HCN) experiment allows measurement of CH dipole-dipole, N chemical shift anisotropy cross-correlated relaxation rates (Gamma(C1'H1',N1)(DD,CSA) and Gamma(C2'H2',N9)(DD,CSA) for pyrimidines Gamma(C1'H1'N9)(DD,CSA) and Gamma(C2'H2',N9)(DD,CSA) for purines). A nucleotide-specific parametrization for the dependence of these Gamma-rates on chi based on (15)N chemical shift tensors determined by solid-state NMR experiments on mononucleosides (Stueber, D.; Grant, D. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 10539-10551) is presented. For a 14-mer and a 30-mer RNA of known structures, it is found that the Gamma(HCN) experiment offers a very sensitive parameter for changes in the angle chi and allows restraining of chi with an accuracy of around 10 degrees for residues which do not undergo conformational averaging. Therefore, the Gamma(HCN) experiment can be used for the determination of chi in addition to data derived from (3)J(C,H)-coupling constants. As shown for the 30-mer RNA, the derived torsion angle information can be incorporated as additional restraint, improving RNA structure calculations.     

Komplexe des Rheniums mit planarer ReN2S2-Fünfringstruktur Synthesen und Kristallstrukturen von AsPh4[ReCl4(N2S2)] und PPh4[ReBr4(N2S2)]

Complexes of Rhenium with Planar ReN₂S₂ Rings. Syntheses and Crystal Structures of AsPh₄[ReCl₄(N₂S₂)] and PPh₄[ReBr₄(N₂S₂)] The complex [ReCl₄(N₂S₂)]^? can be obtained as PPh₄^⊕ or AsPh₄^⊕ salt by the action of S(NSiMe₃)₂ and of diphenylacetylene, respectively, on the chlorothionitrene complex [ReCl₄(NSCl)₂]^?. Another method of synthesis is the reaction of [ReCl₃(NSCl)₂(POCl₃)] with SbPh₃. [ReBr₃(N₂S₂)]₂ is obtained from excess Me₃SiBr and [ReCl₃(NSCl)₂(POCl₃)]. The anionic complex [ReBr₄(N₂S₂)]^? forms from either [ReCl₄(NSCl)₂]^? or [ReCl₄(N₂S₂)]^? with Me₃SiBr. All compounds are black, diamagnetic, and sensitive to moisture; the PPh₄^⊕ and AsPh₄^⊕ salts are soluble in CH₂Cl₂ and CH₂Br₂. The IR spectra are reported. The crystal structures of AsPh,₄[ReCl₄(N₂S₂)] and PPh₄[ReBr₄(N₂S₂)] were determined by X-ray diffraction. AsPh₄[ReCl₄(N₂S₂)]: space group P2/n, Z = 2, a = 1244.5, b = 1429.3, c = 791.1 pm, γ = 96.89° (1715 observed reflexions, R = 0.082). PPh₄[ReBr₄[ReBr₄(N₂S₂)]: space group P2₁/n, Z = 4, a = 961.7, b = 1397.4, c = 2205.7 pm, β = 102.10° (1787 observed reflexions, R = 0.073). In both compounds the [ReX₄(N₂S₂)]? anions have the same type of structure, the Re atoms forming part of planar ReN₂S₂ rings; the bond lengths are ReN 177 pm, NS 152 pm, and SS 259 for the chloro compound and ReN 184 pm, NS 153 pm, and SS 264 pm for the bromo compound. In AsPh₄[ReCl₄(N₂S₂)] the cations are stacked to form columns in the c-direction; in PPh₄[ReBr₄(N₂S₂)], there is considerable distortion form this packing principle.     

Pilot study of capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry as a tool to define potential prostate cancer biomarkers in urine

We describe the use of capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) to identify single polypeptides and patterns of polypeptides specific for prostate cancer (CaP) in human urine. Using improved sample preparation methods that enable enhanced comparability between different samples, we examined samples from 47 patients who underwent prostate biopsy. Of this group, 21 patients had benign pathology and 26 with CaP, and these were used to define potential biomarkers, which allow discrimination between these two states. In addition, CE-MS data from these 47 urine samples were compared to that of 41 young men (control) without known or suspected clinical CaP to further confirm the polypeptides indicative for CaP. Upon crossvalidation of the same samples, several polypeptides were selected that enabled correct classification of the CaP patients with 92% sensitivity and 96% specificity. We then examined an additional 474 samples from patients with renal disease enrolled in other studies and found that 14 (3%) had polypeptides suggestive of CaP possibly indicating that they harbor clinical CaP. In conclusion, this early pilot study suggests that CE-MS of urine warrants further investigation as a tool that can identify putative biomarkers for CaP.     

2-arylimino-3-thiazolines - formation of unusual tautomers of 2-arylamino-thiazoles by a modified hantzsch synthesis

The reaction of thioureas with 3-bromomethyl-2-cyanocinnamonitrile gives the hydrobromides either of the 2-aminothiazoles or of the hitherto unknown 2-imino-3-thiazolines.     

N-(2,6-Dihalobenzoyl)-N′-pyrimidinylharnstoffe

N-(2,6-Dichlorobenzoyl)- and N-(2,6-difluorobenzoyl)-N-pyrimidinylureas3b–3n have been synthesized by reaction of the corresponding aminopyrimidine derivatives with 2,6-dichlorobenzoyl isocyanate or 2,6-difluorobenzoyl isocyanate. The insecticidal activity of compounds3b–3n has been evaluated.