High-Throughput Analysis of Sofalcone in Human Plasma by Use of Automated 96-Well Protein Precipitation and LC-MS-MS

A sensitive and selective method for the determination of sofalcone in human plasma was established by use of protein precipitation and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Plasma samples were transferred into 96-well plate using an automated sample handling system and spiked with 10 L of 2 g mL^–1 internal standard solution (d₃-sofalcone). 0.5 mL of acetonitrile was added to the 96-well plate and the plasma samples were then vortexed for 30 sec. After centrifugation, the supernatant was transferred into another 96-well plate and completely evaporated at 40 °C under a stream of nitrogen. The dry residue was reconstituted with mobile phase. All sample transfer and protein precipitation was automated through the application of both the PerkinElmer MultiPROBE II HT and TOMTEC Quadra 96 workstation. The limit of quantitation of sofalcone was 2 ng mL^–1 using a sample volume of 0.2 mL for the analysis. The reproducibility of the method was evaluated by analyzing five samples at nine quality control (QC) levels over the nominal concentration range from 2 ng mL^–1 to 1000 ng mL^–1. Validation of the method showed that the assay has good precision and accuracy. Sofalcone and internal standard produced a protonated precursor ion ([M+H]⁺) at m/z 451 and 454, and both gave a corresponding product ion at m/z 315. The high sample throughput of the method has been successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of sofalcone in human plasma.     

Determination of Glimepiride in Human Plasma by LC-MS-MS and Comparison of Sample Preparation Methods for Glimepiride

A sensitive and selective method for quantitation of glimepiride in human plasma was established using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Three different methods for the sample preparation of glimepiride and an internal standard were investigated (liquid-liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction and protein precipitation). Glipizide was used as an internal standard. Compounds were separated on a C₁₈ column with 80% acetonitrile and 20% deionized water (adjusted to pH 3.5 with acetic acid), as mobile phase at a flow rate of 200 L min^–1. By use of multiple reaction monitoring mode in MS-MS with liquid-liquid extraction and solid-phase extraction, glimepiride and glipizide were detected without severe interference from the human plasma matrix. Glimepiride produced a protonated precursor ion ([M+H]⁺) at m/z 491 and a corresponding product ion at m/z 352, and the internal standard produced a protonated precursor ion ([M+H]⁺) at m/z 446 and a corresponding product ion at m/z 321. The limit of quantitation was 0.1 ng mL^–1, 0.5 ng mL^–1 and 1.0 ng mL^–1 when using liquid-liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction and protein precipitation, respectively. The validation, reproducibility, stability, and recovery of the different sample preparation methods were comparable and all the methods gave reliable results. The method has been successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study of glimepiride in human plasma.     

Efficient chemoselective deprotection of silyl ethers using catalytic 1-chloroethyl chloroformate in methanol

Fast and chemoselective desilylation of silyl-protected alcohols was achieved using a catalytic amount of 1-chloroethyl chloroformate in methanol. With a minimal amount of 1-chloroethyl chloroformate as the source for anhydrous HCl, extremely efficient cleavage of silyl ethers of primary and secondary alcohols was accomplished, and chemoselective deprotection of one silyl ether in the presence of another silyl or other acid-labile group was possible through controlling the amount of the chloroformate and reaction time.     

Scaffold-based molecular design with a graph generative model

Searching for new molecules in areas like drug discovery often starts from the core structures of known molecules. Such a method has called for a strategy of designing derivative compounds retaining a particular scaffold as a substructure. On this account, our present work proposes a graph generative model that targets its use in scaffold-based molecular design. Our model accepts a molecular scaffold as input and extends it by sequentially adding atoms and bonds. The generated molecules are then guaranteed to contain the scaffold with certainty, and their properties can be controlled by conditioning the generation process on desired properties. The learned rule of extending molecules can well generalize to arbitrary kinds of scaffolds, including those unseen during learning. In the conditional generation of molecules, our model can simultaneously control multiple chemical properties despite the search space constrained by fixing the substructure. As a demonstration, we applied our model to designing inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor and show that our model can employ a simple semi-supervised extension to broaden its applicability to situations where only a small amount of data is available.

We propose a scaffold-based graph generative model for designing novel drug candidates that include the desired scaffold as a substructure.     

Cadmium(II) and mercury(II) complexes of an NO2S2-donor macrocycle and its ditopic xylyl-bridged analogue

The NO2S2-donor macrocycle (L1) was synthesised from the ring closure reaction between Boc-N-protected 2,2'-iminobis(ethanethiol) (3) and 2,2'-(ethylenedioxy)bis(benzyl chloride) (4) followed by deprotection of the Boc-group. alpha,alpha'-Dibromo-p-xylene was employed as a dialkylating agent to bridge two L1 to yield the corresponding N-linked product (L2). The X-ray structure of L2 (as its HBr salt) is described. A range of Cd(II) and Hg(II) complexes of L1 (6-9) and L2 (10-12) were prepared and characterised. Reaction of HgX2 (X = Br or I) with L1 afforded [Hg(L1)Br]2[Hg2Br6].2CH2Cl2 6 and [Hg(L1)I(2)] 7, respectively. For 6, the Hg(II) ion in the complex cation has a distorted tetrahedral coordination environment composed of S2N donor atoms from L1 and a bromo ligand. In 7 the coordination geometry is highly distorted tetrahedral, with the macrocycle coordinating in an exodentate manner via one S and one N atom. The remaining two coordination sites are occupied by iodide ions. [Hg(L1)(ClO4)]ClO4 8 was isolated from the reaction of Hg(ClO4)2 and L1. The X-ray structure reveals that all macrocyclic ring donors bind to the central mercury ion in this case, with the latter exhibiting a highly distorted octahedral coordination geometry. The O2S2-donors from the macrocyclic ring define the equatorial plane while the axial positions are occupied by the ring nitrogen as well as by an oxygen from a monodentate perchlorato ion. Reaction of Cd(NO3)(2).4H2O with L1 afforded [Cd(L1)(NO3)2](.)0.5CH2Cl2 9 in which L1 acts as a tridentate ligand, binding exo-fashion via its S2N donors. The remaining coordination positions are filled by two bidentate nitrate ions such that, overall, the cadmium is seven-coordinate. Reactions of HgX2(X = Br or I) with L2 yielded the isostructural 2 : 1 (metal : ligand) complexes, [Hg2(L2)Br4] 10 and [Hg2(L2)I(4)] 11. Each mercury ion has a distorted tetrahedral environment made up of S and N donors from an exodentate L2 and two coordinated halides. Contrasting with this, the reaction of L2 with Cd(NO3)(2).4H2O yielded a 1-D coordination network, {[Cd2(L2)(NO3)4].2CH2Cl2}n 12 in which each ring of L2 is exo-coordinated via two S atoms and one N atom to a cadmium ion which is also bound to one monodentate and one bidentate nitrate anion. The latter also has one of its oxygen atom attached to a neighboring cadmium via a nitroso (mu2-O) bridge such that the overall coordination geometry about each cadmium is seven-coordinate. The [Cd(L2)0.5(NO3)2] units are linked by an inversion to yield the polymeric arrangement.     

Complexation of Eu3+ and Am3+ with soil humic acid extracted from Okchon Basin of Korean Peninsula

The complexation of Eu³⁺ and Am³⁺ ions with the humic acids has been investigated at various pH (4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.4) in 0.1M NaClO₄ solution using solvent extraction technique. Two humic acids are used in this study: humic acid extracted from the soil of Taejon on the Okchon Basin of Korea (TJHA) and commercially available one from Aldrich Chemical Co. (AHA). The total carboxylate group concentrations were determined to be 3.58 meq/g and 4.59 meq/g for Taejon and Aldrich humic acids, respectively. The conditional stability constants (log ₁ and log ₂), dependent on the pH of the solution, of the complexes of Eu³⁺ and Am³⁺ ions with the humic acids have been determined at the ionic medium of 0.1M NaClO₄. The values of stability constants with the degree of ionization of TJHA for Eu and Am complexes are quite well agreed with those of Lake Bradford humic acid (LBHA), indicating that structural characteristics of TJHA and LBHA may be quite similar to one another.     

镍基气凝胶催化CH4-CO2重整制取合成气反应的研究 Ⅲ.影响催化剂积碳性能因素的探讨

考察了823K焙烧的干凝胶xNCA550、气凝胶aNCA550及浸渍型催化剂iNCA550在923K、1073K、1173K反应温度下的积碳行为，对催化剂表面碳的活性及类型进行了分析，并探讨了影响催化剂积碳的因素。实验结果表明，随反应温度的提高，催化剂的积碳能力减弱，尤以气凝胶催化剂aNCA550明显。催化剂的积碳主要发生在反应的初期，反应温度越高，到达积碳量相对稳定期所需要的时间越短；随着反应时间的延续，催化剂积碳量缓慢增长，并且表面碳的活性降低。催化剂的酸性和镍晶粒大小是影响其积碳性能的主要内在因素，而它们对积碳的影响程度受反应温度的影响，反应温度越高，催化剂表达酸性中心利于积碳的作用越小，小晶粒镍抑制催化剂积碳的能力越强。     

Symbol dynamic maps of spatial-temporal chaotic vibrations in a string of impact oscillators

Spatially complex, temporally chaotic dynamics of N-coupled impact oscillators connected by a string are studied experimentally using a discrete measure of the motion for each of the masses. For N=8, a binary assignment of symbols, corresponding to whether or not the masses impact an amplitude constraint, is used to code the spatial pattern as a binary number and to store its change in time in a computer. A spatial pattern return map is then used to observe the change in spatial patterns with time. Bifurcations in spatial impact patterns are observed in this experiment. An entropy measure is also used to characterize the dynamics. Numerical simulation shows behavior similar to the experimental system.     

Experimental measurement of chaotic attractors in solid mechanics(a))

In this paper a review is given of experimental techniques in chaotic dynamics of solid mechanical systems based on modern ideas of nonlinear dynamics. These methods include Poincare maps, double Poincare sections, symbol dynamics, and fractal dimension. The physical problems discussed include nonlinear elastic beams, forced motion of a string, flow-induced vibration of a rod, forced motions of a magnetic pendulum, and rigid body dynamics of a magnet and high-temperature superconductor.     

Electronic structure and molecular orbital study of the first excited state of the high‐efficiency blue OLED material bis(2‐methyl‐8‐quinolinolato)aluminum(III) hydroxide complex from ab initio and TD‐B3LYP

Bis(2‐methyl‐8‐quinolinolato)aluminum(III) hydroxide complex (AlMq₂OH) is used in organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) as an electron transport material and emitting layer. By means of ab initio Hartree–Fock (HF) and density functional theory (DFT) B3LYP methods, the structure of AlMq₂OH was optimized. The frontier molecular orbital characteristics and energy levels of AlMq₂OH have been analyzed systematically to study the electronic transition mechanism in AlMq₂OH. For comparison and calibration, bis(8‐quinolinolato)aluminum(III) hydroxide complex (Alq₂OH) has also been examined with these methods using the same basis sets. The lowest singlet excited state (S₁) of AlMq₂OH has been studied by the singles configuration interaction (CIS) method and time‐dependent DFT (TD‐DFT) using a hybrid functional, B3‐LYP, and the 6‐31G* basis set. The lowest singlet electronic transition (S₀ → S₁) of AlMq₂OH is π → π* electronic transitions and primarily localized on the different quinolate ligands. The emission of AlMq₂OH is due to the electron transitions from a phenoxide donor to a pyridyl acceptor from another quinolate ligand including C → C and O → N transference. Two possible electron transfer pathways are presented, one by carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms and the other via metal cation Al³⁺. The comparison between the CIS‐optimized excited‐state structure with the HF ground‐state structure indicates that the geometric shift is mainly confined to the one quinolate and these changes can be easily understood in terms of the nodal patterns of the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals. On the basis of the CIS‐optimized structure of the excited state, TD‐B3‐LYP calculations predict an emission wavelength of 499.78 nm. An absorption wavelength at 380.79 nm on the optimized structure of B3LYP/6‐31G* was predicted. They are comparable to AlMq2OH 485 and 390 nm observed experimentally for photoluminescence and UV‐vis absorption spectra of AlMq₂OH solid thin film on quartz, respectively. Lending theoretical corroboration to recent experimental observations and supposition, the reasons for the blue‐shift of AlMq2OH were revealed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2004