Die Chemie des Wieland-Gumlich-Aldehyds und seiner Derivate [1] 136. Mitteilung über Alkaloide [2]

The course of the reactions involved in the process of degradation of strychnine ( 1 ) to Wieland-Gumlich aldehyde (WGA) ( 2 ), first performed by Wieland, Kaziro & Gumlich , has been elucidated. 23-Isonitrosostrychnine hydrochloride ( 9a ) upon treatment with thionyl chloride undergoes a fragmentation (2nd order Beckmann rearrangement), thus furnishing N(a)-cyanoformyl-WGA hydrochloride ( 14a ). On heating in an acidic medium, the latter compound is transformed — at least partially via the cyclic urethane 15 — into WGA ( 2 ), which is an important keyintermediate in the syntheses of strychnine and curare alkaloids. The compound 2 can now be obtained in high purity and good yield. A corresponding degradation has been realized with quaternary analogues ( 27 → 3 ) as well as with 10-chlorostrychnine ( 58 → 62 ). 10-Chlorostrychnine ( 58 ) was prepared by chlorination of strychnine with chlorine in conc. hydrochloric acid according to Leuchs & Steinborn. As by-products of the reaction, 10, 15-dichlorostrychnine ( 59 ) and 10, 15, 19-trichlorostrychnine ( 60 ) could be identified. Starting from WGA a series of derivatives have been prepared. Special mention is made of the two epimeric methyl ethers 18 and 19 . The absolute configuration at the centre 17 of WGA and of these two substances has been established by optical comparisons of 3 epimeric pairs. The methyl ether 18 , by-product « B », is obtained if methanol is used in working up the Beckmann rearrangement products of 23-isonitrosostrychnine hydrochloride ( 9a ). A second by-product, « A », results by working up under alkaline conditions. This compound has the structure 44 with inverted configuration at centre 16. Degradation of 44 under controlled conditions leads either to WG-diol ( 42 ) or to 16-epi-WG-diol ( 51 ). Besides « A z.rdang; and « B » a series of by-products and intermediates ( 16, 17, 11a, 22. 23, 24 and 25 ) could be detected in the course of the process of strychnine degradation.     

Electronic structure and spectrum of UO2 2+ and UO2Cl4 2-

A theoretical study is presented of the electronic spectra of the UO(2) (2+) and UO(2)Cl(4) (2-) ions, based on multiconfigurational perturbation theory (CASSCF/CASPT2), combined with a recently developed method to treat spin-orbit coupling [P.-A. Malmqvist et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 357, 230 (2002); B. O. Roos and P.-A. Malmqvist, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 6, 2919 (2004)]. The results are compared to the experimental spectroscopic data obtained for uranyl ions in Cs(2)UO(2)Cl(4) crystals from Denning [Struct. Bonding (Berlin) 79, 215 (1992)] and to previous theoretical calculations performed using a combined configuration-interaction spin-orbit treatment [Z. Zhang and R. M. Pitzer, J. Phys. Chem. A 103, 6880 (1999); S. Matsika and R. M. Pitzer, J. Phys. Chem. A. 105, 637 (2001)]. As opposed to the latter results, the calculations performed in this work point to a significant effect of the weakly bound equatorial chlorine ligands on the excitation energies.     

Determination of paramethoxyamphetamine and other amphetamine-related designer drugs by liquid chromatography/sonic spray ionization mass spectrometry

Paramethoxyamphetamine (PMA) is an amphetamine-like designer drug that has emerged recently on the European illicit drug market. This drug has a wicked reputation, as a number of lethal intoxications have occurred. A method using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to ion trap based mass spectrometry (LC/MS) is described for the determination of this compound together with 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (XTC or MDMA), amphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) in human matrices. A liquid/liquid extraction (LLE) was applied to whole blood, urine and postmortem tissues. Reversed-phase liquid chromatography was performed on a narrow-bore phenyl-type column at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. A switch box allowed disposal of early-eluting irrelevant material to waste, protecting the mass spectrometer from contamination. The column effluent was directed into an ion trap mass spectrometer by a sonic spray ionization (SSI) interface. The method was validated for all three matrices, proving the applicability of SSI even when dealing with complex biological matrices. The within-and between-day precisions were less than 17.5% and accuracy was below 16.2%. Weighted (1/x) quadratic calibration curves were generated ranging from 10 to 1000 ng/mL (blood and urine) or 20 to 2000 ng/g (tissue) and correlation coefficients (r(2)) always exceeded 0.995. In addition, the mass spectrum of PMA is given together with a proposed fragmentation pattern for the obtained LC/MS spectrum. This information can be useful for future identification of PMA with LC/MS in biological matrices as well as in confiscated powders or tablets.     

Questioning the paradigm of metal complex promoted phosphodiester hydrolysis: [Mo7O24](6-) polyoxometalate cluster as an unlikely catalyst for the hydrolysis of a DNA model substrate

The first example of a phosphodiester bond cleavage promoted by a highly negatively charged polyoxometalate cluster has been discovered: the hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bond in a DNA model substrate bis(p-nitrophenyl)phosphate (BNPP) is promoted by the heptamolybdate anion [Mo7O24](6-) with rates which represent an acceleration of nearly four orders of magnitude compared to the uncatalyzed cleavage.     

Determination of fluoxetine in plasma by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using stir bar sorptive extraction

This article presents a method employing stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) with in situ derivatization, in combination with either thermal or liquid desorption on-line coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the analysis of fluoxetine in plasma samples. Ethyl chloroformate was employed as derivatizing agent producing symmetrical peaks. Parameters such as solvent polarity, time for analyte desorption, and extraction time, were evaluated. During the validation process, the developed method presented specificity, linearity (R² > 0.99), precision (R.S.D. < 15%), and limits of quantification (LOQ) of 30 and 1.37 pg mL⁻¹, when liquid and thermal desorption were employed, respectively. This simple and highly sensitive method showed to be adequate for the measurement of fluoxetine in typical and trace concentration levels.     

Wave chaos in real-world vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We report the onset of wave chaos in a real-world vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. In a joint experimental and modeling approach we demonstrate that a small deformation in one layer of the complicated laser structure changes the emission properties qualitatively. Based on the analysis of the spatial emission profiles and spectral eigenvalue spacing distributions, we attribute these changes to the transition from regular behavior to wave chaos, and justify the full analogy to two-dimensional billiards by model calculations. Hence, these lasers represent fascinating devices for wave chaos studies.     

Development of an ELISA screening test for nitroimidazoles in egg and chicken muscle

An antibody was generated that can bind metronidazole (MNZ), a nitroimidazole drug used in veterinary medicine to treat poultry for coccidiosis and histomoniasis. A direct competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) is described. It was used to characterise binding of this antibody to a number of nitroimidazole drugs. It displayed cross-reactivity with dimetridazole (DMZ), ronidazole (RNZ), hydroxydimetridazole (DMZOH), and ipronidazole (IPZ).Egg and chicken muscle samples were extracted with acetonitrile and de-fatted by washing with hexane. Detection capabilities (CCβ) were determined: dimetridazole, <1 ppb (egg) and <2 ppb (muscle); metronidazole, <10 ppb; ronidazole and hydroxydimetridazole, <20 ppb; ipronidazole, <40 ppb.     

Kinetic models of immediate exchange

We propose a novel kinetic exchange model differing from previous ones in two main aspects. First, the basic dynamics is modified in order to represent economies where immediate wealth exchanges are carried out, instead of reshufflings or uni-directional movements of wealth. Such dynamics produces wealth distributions that describe more faithfully real data at small values of wealth. Secondly, a general probabilistic trading criterion is introduced, so that two economic units can decide independently whether to trade or not depending on their profit. It is found that the type of the equilibrium wealth distribution is the same for a large class of trading criteria formulated in a symmetrical way with respect to the two interacting units. This establishes unexpected links between and provides a microscopic foundations of various kinetic exchange models in which the existence of a saving propensity is postulated. We also study the generalized heterogeneous version of the model in which units use different trading criteria and show that suitable sets of diversified parameter values with a moderate level of heterogeneity can reproduce realistic wealth distributions with a Pareto power law.