Phosphorus and Energy Recovery from Manure and Digestion Residues

Abstract

Human and animal excrements, in particular manure, stand for a significant and undisputable source of plant nutrients and renewable energy. In Europe, only 36% of P-inputs to soils originate from primary resources (rock phosphate) whereas 63% come from animal and human excretions applied to cropland as manure, digestion residues and sewage sludge. Simultaneously these waste flows represent a potential hazard to human health and aquatic bodies because of pathogens and eutrophication. Management of these waste flows is far from being sustainable, in part due to the lack of efficient processing technologies. A cooperative InnoEnergy—EIT financed KIC Knowledge and Innovation Community—research project pursues development and demonstration of highly efficient technologies to overcome the constraints and to yield renewable phosphate fertilizers and energy from waste flows that may have a combined technical energy potential of 3,600 PJ/year and an annual phosphate recovery potential of 4.5–5.5 million tonnes (as P₂O₅) in Europe.     

High-Field Detection of Biomarkers with Fast Field-Cycling MRI: The Example of Zinc Sensing

Many smart magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) probes provide response to a biomarker based on modulation of their rotational correlation time. The magnitude of such MRI signal changes is highly dependent on the magnetic field and the response decreases dramatically at high fields (>2 T). To overcome the loss of efficiency of responsive probes at high field, with fast-field cycling magnetic resonance imaging (FFC-MRI) we exploit field-dependent information rather than the absolute difference in the relaxation rate measured in the absence and in the presence of the biomarker at a given imaging field. We report here the application of fast field-cycling techniques combined with the use of a molecular probe for the detection of Zn²⁺ to achieve 166 % MRI signal enhancement at 3 T, whereas the same agent provides no detectable response using conventional MRI. This approach can be generalized to any biomarker provided the detection is based on variation of the rotational motion of the probe.     

Short Syntheses of some ‘Decalin‐1,8‐diones’ and their Derivatives: Breaking the Pretended Symmetry

A cheap synthesis of the so‐called ‘decalin‐1,8‐diones’ started with the conjugate (1,4‐) addition of cyclohex‐2‐en‐1‐one derivatives to the γ‐position of the dilithium derivative (buta‐1,3‐diene‐1,1‐bis(olate)) of crotonic acid. Hydrogenation of these ‘1,4‐γ’ adducts and final cyclization afforded the enol tautomers of decalin‐1,8‐diones. Nucleophilic substitutions at these 3‐oxoenols by NH₃ or primary amines created only monoamino products (namely, 3‐oxoenamines) whose reactions with OPCl₃ yielded dihydro(1,3,2)oxazaphosphinin‐2‐one derivatives. The two regioisomers of a trimethyl‐3‐oxoenamine served as models for the constitutional assignments of the two rapidly interconverting (hence, individually NMR‐invisible), tautomeric trimethyl‐3‐oxoenols. Such methyl substitutions served to break the ‘pretended’ symmetry of ‘decalin‐1,8‐dione’. Hydrazine and 3‐oxoenols furnished oxygen‐free indazole derivatives whose N?H bonds exchanged with t_1/2=ca. 0.00035 s at ca. ?58(9) °C.     

Stability of the gold(i)-phosphine bond. A comparison with other group 11 elements

The stability of gold phosphine complexes of the form [Au(PH(3))(n)()](+) (n = 1-4) and [AuCl(PH(3))(n)()] (n = 1-3) is analyzed in detail by applying quantum theoretical methods and compared to the coordination behavior of the lighter group 11 elements copper and silver. It is shown that, once [M(PH(3))(2)](+) or [MClPH(3)] (M = Cu, Ag, and Au) is formed, further coordination by PH(3) ligands is relatively weak; i.e., the energy gain to form [M(PH(3))(3)](+) from [M(PH(3))(2)](+) is less than 60 kJ mol(-)(1), and less than 100 kJ mol(-)(1) to form [MCl(PH(3))(2)] from [MClPH(3)]. Relativistic effects in gold significantly influence these factors and reduce the tendency for phosphine coordination beyond two-coordination. This implies that the most favored coordination number for gold is two with either a linear P-Au-P or P-Au-X arrangement (X = a strongly coordinating ligand like Cl(-)). Instead, X-Au-PH(3) units prefer to interact via close Au-Au contacts (aurophilic interactions) keeping the linear structure approximately intact, while the corresponding copper and silver compounds prefer PH(3) coordination to strongly bound M(2)Cl(2) units (M = Cu or Ag) where two chlorine atoms bridge the two metal atoms thus having the formal coordination number of three for copper or silver.     

Mehrfachbindungen zwischen Hauptgruppenelementen und Übergangsmetallen : XLIV. Synthesen von Hydrogensulfido- und Hydrogenselenido-Komplexen der Metalle Chrom, Molybdän und Wolfram

Hydrogenchalcogenido complexes of general composition (η⁵-C₅R₅)(CO)₃M(EH) (R = H, CH₃; M = Cr, Mo, W; E = S, Se) can be obtained by three different routes, sometimes in quite good yields. Thus, the sulfur and selenium derivatives can be synthesized by insertion of the respective elements into the metal-hydrogen bonds of the precursor compounds (η⁵-C₅R₅)(CO)₃MH. This species also reacts with potassium selenocyanate to yield the hydrogenselenido derivatives (η⁵-C₅R₅)(CO)₃M(SeH) which can also be obtained by treatment of the methyl complexes (η⁵-C₅R₅)(CO)₃M(CH₃ (M = Mo, W) with HBF₄ and Li[SeH]. The corresponding hydrogentellurido compounds are probably formed by these preparative methods but appear to be quickly converted into either the dinuclear tellurium bridge products (μ-Te)[(η⁵-C₅R₅)(CO)₃M]₂ (M = Mo) or into the hydrido complexes (η⁵-C₅R₅)(CO)₃MH (M= Mo, W) by release of elemental tellurium.     

Tailored Tolane-Perfluorotolane Assembly as Supramolecular Base Pair Replacement in DNA

Arene-fluoroarene interactions offer outstanding possibilities for engineering of supramolecular systems, including nucleic acids. Here, we implement the tolane-perfluorotolane interaction as base pair replacement in DNA. Tolane (THH) and perfluorotolane (TFF) moieties were connected to acyclic backbone units, comprising glycol nucleic acid (GNA) or butyl nucleic acid (BuNA) building blocks, that were incorporated via phosphoramidite chemistry at opposite positions in a DNA duplex. Thermodynamic analyses by UV thermal melting revealed a compelling stabilization by THH/TFF heteropairs only when connected to the BuNA backbone, but not with the shorter GNA linker. Detailed NMR studies confirmed the preference of the BuNA backbone for enhanced polar π-stacking. This work defines how orthogonal supramolecular interactions can be tailored by small constitutional changes in the DNA backbone, and it inspires future studies of arene-fluoroarene-programmed assembly of DNA.     

Method development for quantitative monitoring of monoclonal antibodies in upstream cell-culture process samples with limited sample preparation – An evaluation of various capillary coatings

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become an important class of biopharmaceuticals used for the treatment of various diseases. Their quantification during the manufacturing process is important. In this work, a capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method was developed for the monitoring of the mAb concentration during cell-culture processes. CZE method development rules are outlined, particularly discussing various capillary coatings, such as a neutral covalent polyvinyl alcohol coating, a dynamic successive multiple ionic-polymer coating, and dynamic coatings using background electrolyte additives such as triethanolamine (T-EthA) and triethylamine. The dynamic T-EthA coating resulted in most stable electro-osmotic flows and most efficient peak shapes. The method is validated over the range 0.1–10 mg/ml, with a linear range of 0.08–1.3 mg/ml and an extended range of 1–10 mg/ml by diluting samples in the latter concentration range 10-fold in water. The intraday precision and accuracy were 2%–12% and 88%–107%, respectively, and inter-day precision and accuracy were 4%–9% and 93%–104%, respectively. The precision and accuracy of the lowest concentration level (0.08 mg/ml) were slightly worse and still well in scope for monitoring purposes. The presented method proved applicable for analysing in-process cell-culture samples from different cell-culture processes and is possibly well suited as platform method.     

An interlaboratory capillary zone electrophoresis-UV study of various monoclonal antibodies,instruments, and ε-aminocaproic acid lots

Capillary zone electrophoresis ultraviolet (CZE-UV) has become increasingly popular for the charge heterogeneity determination of mAbs and vaccines. The ε-aminocaproic acid (eACA) CZE-UV method has been used as a rapid platform method. However, in the last years, several issues have been observed, for example, loss in electrophoretic resolution or baseline drifts. Evaluating the role of eACA on the reported issues, various laboratories were requested to provide their routinely used eACA CZE-UV methods, and background electrolyte compositions. Although every laboratory claimed to use the He et al. eACA CZE-UV method, most methods actually deviate from He's. Subsequently, a detailed interlaboratory study was designed wherein two commercially available mAbs (Waters’ Mass Check Standard mAb [pI 7] and NISTmAb [pI 9]) were provided to each laboratory, along with two detailed eACA CZE-UV protocols for a short-end, high-speed, and a long-end, high-resolution method. Ten laboratories participated each using their own instruments, and commodities, showing excellence method performance (relative standard deviations [RSDs] of percent time-corrected main peak areas from 0.2% to 1.9%, and RSDs of migration times from 0.7% to 1.8% [n = 50 per laboratory], analysis times in some cases as short as 2.5 min). This study clarified that eACA is not the main reason for the abovementioned variations.     

OVID and SUPER: Two overlap programs for drug design

Summary Two programs, OVID and SUPER, for exploring the similarity of molecules with respect to their action at a receptor are described. OVID accepts two molecules as input and optimizes the three-dimensional overlap of specified atoms in one molecule with specified atoms in the second molecule. The result is expressed as a percent of the theoretical maximum. OVID gives a quantitative measure of the extent of a guessed correspondence between two molecules based on volume overlap of selected atoms. The Achilles' heel of OVID is that the correspondence between the two molecules has to be guessed. We realized that it would be better to systematically examine all possible correspondences of two structures to minimize the chance of overlooking a superior correspondence. We created SUPER to satisfy this need. SUPER accepts two molecules as input and finds the top twenty correspondences of their surfaces and charge distributions, giving a quantitative measure of the extent of each correspondence. An instructive example of the application of OVID and SUPER to the design of leukotriene D₄ receptor antagonists is described. SUPER appears to be a practical brainstorming tool for the medicinal chemist trying to understand how molecules whose structures may not resemble one another in an obvious way can bind to the same site.