Air monitoring of volatile aromatic compounds by means of long-term exposure diffusive samplers

Results obtained by using "Analyst", a long-term diffusive sampler, in some monitoring campaigns, performed for the determination of benzene and the volatile aromatic pollutants, in five cities of the Italian Umbria Region and at the city of Forlì, are presented and discussed. First results of an inter comparison between the "Analyst" and "radial-type" diffusive samplers, carried out by the Regional Agency for the Ambient Protection (ARPA) of Forlì, point out substantial advantages with the long-time sampling devices.     

1H detection in MAS solid-state NMR spectroscopy of biomacromolecules employing pulsed field gradients for residual solvent suppression

In this communication, we demonstrate the feasibility of 1H detection in MAS solid-state NMR for a microcrystalline, uniformly 2H,15N-labeled sample of a SH3 domain of chicken alpha-spectrin, using pulsed field gradients for suppression of water magnetization. Today, B0 gradients are employed routinely in solution-state NMR for coherence order selection and solvent suppression. We suggest to use gradients to purge water magnetization which cannot be suppressed using conventional water suppression schemes. The achievable gain in sensitivity for 1H detection is in the order of 5 compared to the 15N detected version of the experiment (at a MAS rotation frequency of 13.5 kHz). We expect that this labeling concept which achieves high sensitivity due to 1H detection, in combination with the possibility to measure long range 1H-1H distances as we have shown previously, to be a useful tool for the determination of protein structures in the solid state.     

Search of ligands for the amyloidogenic protein beta2-microglobulin by capillary electrophoresis and other techniques

Beta2-microglobulin (beta2-m) is a small amyloidogenic protein normally present on the surface of most nucleated cells and responsible for dialysis-related amyloidosis, which represents a severe complication of long-term hemodialysis. A therapeutic approach for this amyloidosis could be based on the stabilization of beta2-m through the binding to a small molecule, and consequent inhibition of protein misfolding and amyloid fibril formation. A few compounds have been described to weakly bind beta2-m, including the drug suramin. The lack of a binding site for nonpolypeptidic ligands on the beta2-m structure makes it difficult for both the identification of functional groups responsible for the binding and the search of hits to be optimized. The characterization of the binding properties of suramin for beta2-m by using three different techniques (surface plasmon resonance, affinity CE (ACE), ultrafiltration) is here described and the results obtained are compared. The common features of the chemical structures of the compounds known to bind the protein led us to select 200 sulfonated/suramin-like molecules from a wider chemical library on the basis of similarity rules, so as to possibly single out some interesting hits and to gain more information on the functional groups involved in the binding. The development of screening methods to test the compounds by using ultrafiltration and ACE is described.     

The Dienone–Phenol Rearrangement of Santonin: A Comprehensive Laboratory Experiment for Advanced Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Students

A comprehensive laboratory experiment suitable for advanced undergraduate organic chemistry students has been designed. The experiment is based on the dienone-phenol rearrangement reaction of the sesquiterpene santonin to give -desmotroposantonin acetate. It challenges students to solve an earlier controversial stereochemical problem. The students carry out the reaction and analyze spectroscopic data to determine the stereochemistry of the starting material and the product. In addition, they perform simple molecular modeling calculations, which enable them to rationalize the stereochemical outcome of the transformation and discuss the mechanism of the dienone-phenol rearrangement and related rearrangements reported in the literature.     

Palladium-catalyzed reaction of aryl iodides with acetic anhydride. A carbon monoxide-free synthesis of acetophenones

[reaction: see text] The palladium-catalyzed reaction of aryl iodides with acetic anhydride provides a straightforward and experimentally simple carbon monoxide-free route to acetophenones. The reaction tolerates a wide range of functionalized aryl iodides. Acetophenones are isolated in excellent yield with a variety of neutral, slightly electron-rich, and slightly electron-poor aryl iodides, whereas moderate yields are obtained with aryl iodides containing strongly electron-withdrawing substituents.     

Characterization of dendrimer properties by capillary electrophoresis and their use as pseudostationary phases

The general properties of dendrimers and in particular their electrolytic characteristics that are relevant in electrokinetic separations, are described. In order to confirm theoretical considerations on commercial dendrimer charge and hydrodynamic radius, several capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) experiments were performed. Electrophoretic mobilities measured at different pH values indicated a sensible increase of dendrimer hydrodynamic radius at pH values lower than 2.5. This was probably due to the Coulombic repulsion of charged amine groups of the inner dendrimer shells. The principal reasons that should address the use of dendrimers as pseudostationary phases in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) are discussed. Moreover, a survey of different separations performed utilizing dendrimers in MEKC as well as of several future plausible uses of various classes of dendrimers is presented.     

Structure elucidation and 3D solution conformation of the antibiotic enduracidin determined by NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics

Enduracidin and ramoplanin belong to the large family of cyclodepsipeptide antibiotics, highly effective against Gram-positive bacteria. The primary and 3D solution structure of ramoplanin is already well known, and the primary structure of enduracidin has been determined by a combination of chemical and NMR spectroscopic methods. Both antibiotics share a similar peptide core of 17 amino acids and differ mainly in the length of the acyl chain and the presence of two D-mannose moieties in ramoplanin. Based on the high sequence homology with ramoplanin, the structure in solution of enduracidin is modeled as a cyclic peptide. The tertiary structure thus obtained was refined through molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, in which the interatomic NOE-derived distance restraints were imposed. MD simulations yielded a family of representative 3D structures (RMSD = 0.89), which highlighted a backbone geometry similar to that of ramoplanin in its beta-hairpin arrangement. In contrast, enduracidin displays a different arrangement of the side-chain and of the residues forming the hydrophobic core.     

Thermogravimetry as a screening tool for the estimation of the vapor pressures of pure compounds

A simplified approach was developed to estimate the vapor pressure of pure compounds from experimental data obtained by isothermal thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. A numerical procedure was developed to estimate the Antoine parameters of the substance by the analysis of isothermal TG data. The results of the experimental validations carried out evidenced that at least a preliminary estimation of vapour pressures of pure substances by the analysis of TG data is possible. The limited time and the reduced amounts of sample required for the experimental runs make the technique attractive with respect to the conventional and more accurate techniques for vapor pressure assessment.     

New 1,2,3‐triazolo[4,5‐e]1,2,4‐triazolo[4,3‐c]pyrimidine derivatives II

The 7‐chloro‐3‐(2‐chlorobenzyl)‐ and 7‐chloro‐3‐(2‐fluorobenzyl)‐1,2,3‐triazolo[4,5‐d]pyrimidines ( 1 and 4 ), by nucleophilic replacement with some hydrazides, gave the corresponding 7‐hydrazidoderivatives ( 2a‐e and 5a‐e ). These, by heating in Dowtherm, underwent an intramolecular cyclization to form the new tricyclic 7‐substituted‐3‐(2‐chlorobenzyl)‐ and 3‐(2‐fluorobenzyl)‐1,2,3‐triazolo[4,5‐e]1,2,4‐triazolo[4,3‐c]pyrimidines ( 3a‐d and 6a‐d ). The 7‐hydrazino‐3‐(2‐chlorobenzyl)‐ and 7‐hydrazino‐3‐(2‐fluorobenzyl)‐triazolo‐pyrimidines ( 9a and 9b ) were also prepared via the corresponding mercapto ( 7a and 7b ) and thiomethyl ( 8a and 8b ) derivatives.     

Statistical experimental design-driven discovery of room-temperature conditions for palladium-catalyzed cyanation of aryl bromides

A combination of Pd₂(dba)₃·CHCl₃ (0.5 mol %) and commercially available, air-stable phosphonium salt [(t-Bu)₃PH]BF₄ (1.4 mol %) in a presence of Zn powder and Zn(CN)₂ as the cyanide source comprises an extremely efficient catalyst system for the cyanation of a diverse array of aryl bromides, at room temperature. This result emerged from an experimental strategy that combines the advantages of parallel, automated experimentation with the design of experiments (DOE) for the effective definition of an optimal set of reaction conditions.