Rapid separation of phenylthiohydantoin amino acids: ambient pressure ion-mobility mass spectrometry (IMMS)

An electrospray ionization (ESI) ambient pressure ion-mobility spectrometer (APIMS) interfaced to an orthogonal reflector time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) was evaluated for the first time as a detector for the identification of phenylthiohydantoin (PTH)-derivatized amino acids, the final products in the Edman sequencing process of peptides and proteins. The drift and flight times of the twenty common PTH amino acids were characterized by a well-defined 2-D mobility/mass spectral pattern. The combination of mobility/mass modes of analysis gave rise to a unique trend-line formation for the series of PTH amino acids. In addition, each PTH amino acid had a unique reduced mobility constant K(o), thus enabling the differentiation of all the amino acid derivatives including the PTH-leucine and PTH-isoleucine isomers. More importantly it was shown that it was possible to resolve a complete reference mixture of PTH amino acids in a single experimental run in less than 1 min. Detection limits for the PTH amino acids were found to range from 1.04 to 3.52 ng; indicating that the limits of detection were less than 17.0 pmol for all of the PTH amino acids.     

Synthesis,crystal structure and luminescent property of a novel H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O-bridged cobalt(II) polymer with one-dimensional chain structure

The coordination compound [Co(C₁₀H₇COO)₂(H₂O)₃]_2n · 4nH₂O was prepared by the reaction of 1-naphthoic acid and cobalt(II) acetate tetrahydrate in basic solution, and was fully characterized by X-ray diffraction, element analysis, FTIR, TG-DTA and luminescent spectra. In the crystal the six-coordinated Co(II) centers are linked into one-dimensional zigzag chains by water molecules, which are further assembled into a two-dimensional network through weak inter-chain C–H···π interactions. The solid complex exhibits favorable fluorescent properties similar to those of free ligand at room temperature, which can be assigned to the intraligand electronic transfer.     

Conversion of 3-benzoyl-1-methyl-4-phenyl-γ-piperidol by arylamines and arylhydrazines. Synthesis of 3-arylamino-1-oxo-1-phenylpropanes and 1,3-diarylpyrazoles and their fragmentation under electron impact

It has been established that on heating, 3-benzoyl-4-hydroxy-1-methyl-4-phenylpiperidine is ring-opened in the presence of arylamines by a type of retroaldol reaction, with subsequent transamination of the intermediate Mannich base and the formation of 3-arylamino-1-oxo-1-phenylpropanes. When using arylhydrazines this γ-piperidol is recyclized with the formation of 1,3-diarylpyrazoles and their 4,5-dihydro derivatives. The mass spectral behavior of a series of 3-arylamino-substituted 1-phenylpropanones has been studied. __________ Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 10, pp. 1486–1495, October, 2007.     

The Effect of Alkane Chain Length on the Liquid–Liquid Critical Temperatures of Oligostyrene/Linear-Alkane Mixtures

Summary. Upper critical solution temperatures (UCSTs) for liquid–liquid demixing in a set of mixtures of linear alkanes (pentane (N ₁=5) to pentacontane (N ₁=50)) with an oligostyrene (1241amu, N ₂=12) are reported. We find strong correlation between the Hildebrand solubility parameters of the alkanes and the UCST. Correlations are developed which enable predictions concerning the miscibility of mixtures of compounds with longer chains.     

Micellar effect on the electron transfer reaction of chromium(V) ion with organic sulfides

The rate of electron transfer from organic sulfides to [Cr^V(ehba)₂]⁻ (ehba-2-ethyl-2-hydroxy butyric acid) decreases with a decrease in the polarity of the medium. The anionic surfactant, SDS and the cationic surfactant, CTAB have different effects on the kinetics of this reaction. The micellar inhibition observed in the presence of SDS is probably due to the decrease in the polarity and the electrostatic repulsion faced by the anionic oxidant from the anionic micelle and the partition of the hydrophobic substrate between the aqueous and micellar phases. The micellar catalysis in the presence of CTAB is attributed to the increase in the concentration of both reactants in the micellar phase. This micellar catalysis is observed to offset the retarding effects of the less polar micellar medium and the unfavorable charge-charge interaction between the + charge developed on S center in the transition state and the cationic micelle. This catalysis is contrary to the enormous micellar inhibition observed with IO₄⁻, HSO₅⁻ and HCO₄⁻ oxidation of organic sulfides.     

Global optimization of univariate Lipschitz functions: II. New algorithms and computational comparison

We consider the following global optimization problems for a Lipschitz functionf implicitly defined on an interval [a, b]. Problem P: find a globally-optimal value off and a corresponding point; Problem Q: find a set of disjoint subintervals of [a, b] containing only points with a globally-optimal value and the union of which contains all globally optimal points. A two-phase algorithm is proposed for Problem P. In phase I, this algorithm obtains rapidly a solution which is often globally-optimal. Moreover, a sufficient condition onf for this to be the case is given. In phase II, the algorithm proves the-optimality of the solution obtained in phase I or finds a sequence of points of increasing value containing one with a globally-optimal value. The new algorithm is empirically compared (on twenty problems from the literature) with a best possible algorithm (for which the optimal value is assumed to be known), with a passive algorithm and with the algorithms of Evtushenko, Galperin, Shen and Zhu, Piyavskii, Timonov and Schoen. For small, the new algorithm requires only a few percent more function evaluations than the best possible one. An extended version of Piyavskii's algorithm is proposed for problem Q. A sufficient condition onf is given for the globally optimal points to be in one-to-one correspondance with the obtained intervals. This result is achieved for all twenty test problems.The research of the authors has been supported by AFOSR grants 0271 and 0066 to Rutgers University. Research of the second author has been also supported by NSERC grant GP0036426, FCAR grant 89EQ4144 and partially by AFOSR grant 0066. We thank Nicole Paradis for her help in drawing the figures.     

Experiments in Solving Mixed Integer Programming Problems on a Small Array of Transputers

The time-consuming process of solving large-scale Mixed Integer Programming problems using the branch-and-bound technique can be speeded up by introducing a degree of parallelism into the basic algorithm. This paper describes the development and implementation of a parallel branch-and-bound algorithm created by adapting a commercial MIP solver. Inherent in the design of this software are certain ad hoc methods, the use of which are necessary in the effective solution of real problems. The extent to which these ad hoc methods can successfully be transferred to a parallel environment, in this case an array of at most nine transputers, is discussed. Computational results on a variety of real integer programming problems are reported.