Ammonoxidised lignins as slow nitrogen-releasing soil amendments and CO₂-binding matrix

Nitrogen (N) is a major nutrient element controlling the cycling of organic matter in the biosphere. Its availability in soils is closely related to biological productivity. In order to reduce the negative environmental impact, associated with the application of mineral N-fertilizers, the use of ammonoxidised technical lignins is suggested. They can act as potential slow N-release fertilisers which concomitantly may increase C sequestration of soils by its potential to bind CO?. The idea of our study was to combine an improved chemical characterisation of ammonoxidised ligneous matter as well as their CO?-binding potential, with laboratory pot experiments, performed to enable an evaluation of their behaviour and stability during the biochemical reworking occurring in active soils.     

Mass spectrometric approaches for the identification of anthracycline analogs produced by actinobacteria

Anthracyclines are a well‐known chemical class produced by actinobacteria used effectively in cancer treatment; however, these compounds are usually produced in few amounts because of being toxic against their producers. In this work, we successfully explored the mass spectrometry versatility to detect 18 anthracyclines in microbial crude extract. From collision‐induced dissociation and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, we proposed structures for five new and identified three more anthracyclines already described in the literature, nocardicyclins A and B and nothramicin. One new compound 8 (4‐[4‐(dimethylamino)‐5‐hydroxy‐4,6‐dimethyloxan‐2‐yl]oxy‐2,5,7,12‐tetrahydroxy‐3,10‐dimethoxy‐2‐methyl‐3,4‐dihydrotetracene‐1,6,11‐trione) was isolated and had its structure confirmed by ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance. The anthracyclines identified in this work show an interesting aminoglycoside, poorly found in natural products, 3‐methyl‐rhodosamine and derivatives. This fact encouraged to develop a focused method to identify compounds with aminoglycosides (rhodosamine, m/z 158; 3‐methyl‐rhodosamine, m/z 172; 4′‐O‐acethyl‐3‐C‐methyl‐rhodosamine, m/z 214). This method allowed the detection of four more anthracyclines. This focused method can also be applied in the search of these aminoglycosides in other microbial crude extracts. Additionally, it was observed that nocardicyclin A, nothramicin and compound 8 were able to interact to DNA through a DNA‐binding study by mass spectrometry, showing its potential as anticancer drugs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chronocoulometric study of the electrochemistry of Prussian blue

During the electrochemical oxidation of Prussian blue (PB) to Prussian yellow (PY), an electrocatalytic oxygen production proceeds at the electrode when aqueous electrolyte solutions are used. The formed oxygen is scavenged by the PY, probably by absorption, and it is consumed during the electrochemical reduction of PY to PB by a heterogeneous chemical reaction of PB with oxygen to PY and hydrogen peroxide. Because of this catalytic regeneration of PY, it is impossible to determine the amount of low-spin iron by chronocoulometry using a potential program in which PB is first oxidized to PY and then the charge is measured to reduce PY to PB. The latter charge is biased by the electrocatalytic PY regeneration.     

Variable coordination mode of chloranilic acid. Synthesis, structure, and electrochemical properties of some osmium complexes

Reaction of chloranilic acid (H2ca) with [Os(bpy)2 Br2] (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) affords a dinuclear complex of type [{Os(bpy)2}2 (ca)]2+, isolated as the perchlorate salt. A similar reaction of H2ca with [Os(PPh3)2 (pap)Br2] (pap = 2-(phenylazo)pyridine) affords a dinuclear complex of type [{Os(PPh3)2 (pap)}2 (ca)]2+ (isolated as the perchlorate salt) and a mononuclear complex of type [Os(PPh3)2 (pap)(ca)]. Reaction of H2ca with [Os(PPh3)2(CO)2(HCOO)2] gives a dinuclear complex of type [{Os(PPh3)2(CO)2}2 (r-ca)], where r-ca is the two electron reduced form of the chloranilate ligand. The structures of the [{Os(PPh3)2 (pap)}2 (ca)](ClO4)2, [Os(PPh3)2 (pap)(ca)], and [{Os(PPh3)2(CO)2}2 (r-ca)] complexes have been determined by X-ray crystallography. In the [{Os(bpy)2}2 (ca)]2+ and [{Os(PPh3)2 (pap)}2 (ca)]2+ complexes, the chloranilate dianion is serving as a tetradentate bridging ligand. In the [Os(PPh3)2 (pap)(ca)] complex, the chloranilate dianion is serving as a bidentate chelating ligand. In the [{Os(PPh3)2(CO)2}2 (r-ca)] complex, the reduced form of the chloranilate ligand (r-ca(4-)) is serving as a tetradentate bridging ligand. All the four complexes are diamagnetic and show intense metal-to-ligand charge-transfer transitions in the visible region. The [Os(PPh3)2 (pap)(ca)] complex shows an Os(II)-Os(III) oxidation, followed by an Os(III)-Os(IV) oxidation on the positive side of a standard calomel electrode. The three dinuclear complexes show two successive oxidations on the positive side of SCE. The mixed-valent Os(II)-Os(III) species have been generated in the case of the two chloranilate-bridged complexes by coulometric oxidation of the homovalent Os(II)-Os(II) species. The mixed-valent Os(II)-Os(III) species show intense intervalence charge-transfer transitions in the near-IR region.     

Antibodies as Tailor-Made Chiral Selectors: an Interdisciplinary Approach to Enantiomer Separation and Detection

 It has long been known that the configurational isomers of biologically active compounds, e.g., nutrients, pesticides, and drugs, may exhibit different activities in a chiral environment such as the human body. Although the majority of drugs presently in development are chiral, analytical and preparative methods for the quantitative determination and purification of stereoisomers still lag behind. One reason is that commonly used chiral selectors for the direct resolution of enantiomers are not tailor-made for a specific analyte. The identification of suitable selectors for a particular pair of enantiomers still requires considerable experimentation and is generally demanding with regard to material, time and labor. The rational design of chiral host molecules, therefore, represents a challenge in facilitating enantiomer analysis. In this article, we describe how a combination of techniques ranging from organic synthesis to molecular biology yields antibodies of predetermined specificity and stereoselectivity that can be used as tailor-made chiral selectors for the chromatographic separation of enantiomers and their sensitive detection in immunosensors.     

Chiral separation of halogenated amino acids by ligand-exchange capillary electrophoresis

The chiral separation of halogenated amino acids by ligand-exchange CE is described. Halogenated amino acids attracted increasing interest in recent years because of their physiological activities. Different chiral selectors, as there are L-4-hydroxyproline, L-histidine, and N-alkyl derivatives of L-4-hydroxyproline in form of their copper(II) complexes, are compared for their chiral recognition ability for halogenated amino acids. The influence of various parameters, such as selector concentration, pH, organic modifier, and field strength, on the resolution was investigated. All halogenated amino acids investigated were baseline-separated under optimized conditions.