Preconcentration of emerging contaminants in environmental water samples by using silica supported Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles for improving mass detection in capillary liquid chromatography

A magnetic material based on Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticles incorporated in a silica matrix by using a sol-gel procedure has been used to extract and preconcentrate emerging contaminants such as acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen, diclofenac and ibuprofen from environmental water samples prior to the analysis with Capillary LC-MS. The use of the proposed silica supported Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticles enables surfactant free extracts for the analysis with MS detection without interferences in the ionisation step. Under the optimum conditions, we demonstrated the reusability of the magnetic sorbent material during 20 uses without loss in the extraction efficiency. In addition, no cleanup was necessary. The preconcentration factor was 100 and the detection limits were between 50 and 150 ng/L. The proposed procedure has been applied to the analysis of water samples obtaining recoveries between 80 and 110% and RSD values lower than 12%. Concentrations of the target analytes over the range 1.7 and 0.1 μg/L have been found in different water samples.     

Urinary peptides as a diagnostic tool for renal failure detected by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry: an evaluation of their clinical significance

The development of new analytical methodologies related to the proteome for the evaluation of renal physiology and pathology is surely of wide interest for physicians, giving them new tools for monitoring complications associated with diabetes, such as end-stage renal disease. In the present study, the clinical significance of the urinary abundance of two peptides, SGSVIDQSRVLNLGPITR (the uromodulin precursor, m/z 1912) and IGPHypGPHypGLMGPP [present in the collagen-α-5(IV) chain precursor, m/z 1219], detected by matrix- assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry (MALDI/MS) in microalbuminuric or nephropathic diabetic patients and in non-diabetic nephropathic patients was evaluated. A progressive increase in the abundance of the ion at m/z 1219 and a decrease in the abundance of the ion at m/z 1912 have been found in diabetic microalbuminuric, diabetic-nephropathic and nephropathic patients. Linear correlations are present between serum creatinine values and the abundances of the ions at m/z 1219 (positive correlation, r=0.3645, P<0.0001) and at m/z 1912 (negative correlation, r=-0.3053, P<0.0005). Correlations between the MALDI data and the estimated glomerular filtration rate were also found, while relationships with urinary albumin excretion were found only in sub-sets of patients. Analysis of receiver operating characteristic curves showed a sensitivity up to 96% and a specificity of up to 84% for the two ionic species, or their ratio, for distinguishing diabetic patients with different degrees of nephropathy from healthy subjects, proving that the urinary abundance of the two peptides at m/z 1219 and m/z 1912, determined with MALDI/MS, may be considered as a possible diagnostic tool for the determination of progression toward renal failure, also with the aim of monitoring kidney function, in diabetic patients.     

Copper(II) complexes of rat amylin fragments

The fragments of rat amylin rIAPP(17-29) (Ac-VRSSNNLGPVLPP-NH(2)), rIAPP(17-22) (Ac-VRSSNN-NH(2)), rIAPP(19-22) (Ac-SSNN-NH(2)) and rIAPP(17-20) (Ac-VRSS-NH(2)) together with the related mutant peptides (Ac-VASS-NH(2) and Ac-VRAA-NH(2)) have been synthesized and their copper(II) complexes studied by potentiometric, UV-Vis, CD and EPR spectroscopic methods. Despite the lack of any common strongly coordinating donor functions some of these fragments are able to bind copper(II) ions in the physiological pH range. The longest fragment rat amylin(17-29) keeps one equivalent copper(II) ion in solution in the whole pH range, while two other peptides Ac-VRSSNN-NH(2) and Ac-SSNN-NH(2) are also able to interact with copper(II) ions in the slightly alkaline pH range. According to the spectral parameters of the complexes, the peptides can be classified into two different categories: (i) the tetrapeptides Ac-VRSS-NH(2), Ac-VASS-NH(2) and Ac-VRAA-NH(2) can interact with copper(II) only under strongly alkaline conditions (pH > 10.0) and the formation of only one species with four amide nitrogen coordination can be detected; (ii) the peptides Ac-VRSSNNLGPVLPP-NH(2), Ac-VRSSNN-NH(2) and Ac-SSNN-NH(2) can form complexes above pH 6.0 with the major stoichiometries [CuH(-2)L], [CuH(-3)L](-) and [CuH(-4)L](2-). These data support that rIAPP(17-29) can interact with copper(II) ions under physiological conditions and the SSNN tetrapeptide fragment can be considered as the shortest sequence responsible for metal binding. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations provide some information on the possible coordination modes of Ac-SSNN-NH(2) towards the copper(II) ion and suggest that for [CuH(-2)L], [CuH(-3)L](-) and [CuH(-4)L](2-), the binding of two, three and four deprotonated amide nitrogens, with NH(-) of the side chain of asparagine as anchoring group, is probable. Moreover, these data reveal that peptides can be effective metal binding ligands even in the absence of anchoring groups, if more polar side chains are present in a specific sequence.     

Unexpected structure of a C. difficile toxin A ligand necessitates an annotation correction in a popular screening library

The structure of the pentasaccharide S259-1 in the Consortium for Functional Glycomics was investigated using a variety of techniques. Surprisingly, the structure differs from the structure assumed from the previously established specificity of the human fucosyltransferase FUT-III used in the last step of chemoenzymatic synthesis. When presented with a tetrasaccharide substrate containing both type I and type II disaccharide moieties, the enzyme generates a pentasaccharide in which the type II moiety is preferentially fucosylated. The unexpected product generated by FUT-III in this case highlights the importance of performing detailed structural analysis on products generated by enzymes.     

Photo-induced magnetic bistability in a controlled assembly of anisotropic coordination nanoparticles

Anisotropic coordination nanoparticles of the photomagnetic network Cs(I)(2)Cu(II)(7)[Mo(IV)(CN)(8)](4) are obtained through a surfactant-free high-yield synthetic procedure in water. These particles are organised as Langmuir-Blodgett films with a preferential orientation of the nano-objects within the film that exhibit a magnetic bistability below 20 K with a very large coercivity due to an efficient photo-transformation.     

How Does CuII Convert into CuI? An Unexpected Ring‐Mediated Single‐Electron Reduction

Cu(x)O (x=1,2) nanomaterials with tailored composition and properties-a hot topic in sustainable technologies-may be fabricated from molecular sources through bottom-up processes that involve unexpected changes in the metal oxidation state and open intriguing challenges on the copper redox chemistry. How copper(II) sources may lead to copper(I) species in spite of the absence of any explicit reducing agent, and even in the presence of oxygen, is one such question-to date unanswered. Herein, we study copper "reduction without reductants" within one molecule and reveal that the actual reducing agent is abstracted atomic hydrogen. By investigating the fragmentation of a copper(II) precursor for copper oxide nanostructures by combined ESI-MS with multiple collisional experiments (ESI/MS(n)) and theoretical calculations, we highlight a copper-promoted C-H bond activation, leading to reduction of the metal center and formation of a Cu(I)-C-NCCN six-membered ring. Such a novel ring system is the structural motif for a new family of cyclic copper(I) adducts, which show a bonding scheme, herein reported for the first time, that may shed unprecedented light on copper chemistry. Beyond the relevance for the preparation of copper oxide nanostructures, the hydrogen-abstraction/proton-delivery/electron-gain mechanism of copper(II) reduction disclosed herein appears to be a general property of copper and might help to understand its redox reactivity.     

Multifunctionality in hybrid magnetic materials based on bimetallic oxalate complexes

This tutorial review illustrates the design of multifunctional oxalate-based magnetic materials through the combination of the intrinsic magnetism of the metal-organic framework and the additional properties introduced by several organic/inorganic functional cations.     

Structural investigation of e-beam cured epoxy resins through solid state NMR

In this paper the network structure of e-beam cured DGEBF based epoxy resins is investigated. Two epoxy systems, having different reactivity and cured in different process conditions, were analyzed through solid state NMR spectroscopy. The analysis shows that the more reactive system has higher cross-linking density and higher uniformity of network distribution. Similar information were obtained, in a previous work, on the same systems through dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. It is worth noting that unlike DMTA tests, which interfere with the molecular structure of the analyzed material, due to the heating during the analysis itself, more reliable information, without any artefact, are obtained by solid state NMR, carried out at constant room temperature.     

Triggered release in lipid bilayer-capped mesoporous silica nanoparticles containing SPION using an alternating magnetic field

We report here the on-command cargo controlled delivery using an alternating magnetic field (AMF) from magnetic silica mesoporous supports capped with a lipid bilayer.     

Combination of magnetic susceptibility and electron paramagnetic resonance to monitor the 1D to 2D solid state transformation in flexible metal-organic frameworks of Co(II) and Zn(II) with 1,4-bis(triazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene

Two families of coordination polymers, {[M(btix)(2)(OH(2))(2)]·2NO(3)·2H(2)O}(n) [M = Co (1), Zn (2), Co-Zn (3); btix = 1,4-bis(triazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene] and {[M(btix)(2)(NO(3))(2)]}(n) [M = Co (4), Zn (5), Co-Zn (6)], have been synthesized and characterized. The two conformations of the ligand, syn and anti, lead to one-dimensional (1D) cationic chains or two-dimensional (2D) neutral grids. Extrusion of the water molecules of the 1D compounds results in an irreversible transformation into the 2D compounds, which involves a change in conformation of the btix ligands and a rearrangement in the metal environment with cleavage and reformation of covalent bonds. This structural transformation has been followed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and magnetic susceptibility measurements to monitor the minor modifications that the metal centers suffer.