High‐throughput approaches towards the definitive identification of pharmaceutical drug metabolites. 2. An example of how unexpected dissociation behaviour could preclude correct assignment of sites of metabolism

S‐oxidation is a common metabolic route for sulfur‐containing compounds. Whilst investigating the dissociation of a series of chemically synthesised model S‐oxide metabolites, two unexpected losses of 62 m/z units were observed in the collision‐induced dissociation (CID) product ion spectrum of protonated 3‐dimethylaminomethyl‐4‐(4‐methanesulfinyl‐3‐methylphenoxy)benzenesulfonamide. A single loss was initially assigned using the low‐resolution product ion spectrum, acquired by electrospray ionisation quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometry (ESI‐QIT‐MS), as methanethial, S‐oxide via a charge‐remote, four‐centred rearrangement. This assignment was consistent with well‐documented hydrogen rearrangements in the literature. Further, the loss was not observed for the parent compound. Thus, it was inferred that the site of metabolism was involved in the dissociation and the attractive nature of the four‐centred rearrangement meant that the loss of methanethial, S‐oxide was a logical assignment. However, deuterium‐labelling experiments and accurate mass measurements, performed using electrospray ionisation Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI‐FT‐ICR‐MS), showed that the nominal loss of 62 m/z units occurs via two distinct dissociation pathways. Neither of these losses was of methanethial, S‐oxide as initially hypothesised from the low‐resolution product ion spectrum of the protonated molecule. Mechanisms consistent with the experimental findings are postulated. An MS³ spectrum of the fully exchanged, deuterated species supported the proposed mechanisms by suggesting that 3‐dimethylaminomethyl‐4‐(4‐methanesulfinyl‐3‐methylphenoxy)benzenesulfonamide has multiple sites of protonation in the gas phase. The planar structures of the posited product ions are likely to provide the driving force for the rearrangements. The relevance of the observations with regards to pharmaceutical drug metabolite identification is discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collisional activation of a series of homoconjugated octadecadienoic acids with fast atom bombardment and tandem mass spectrometry

High-energy collisional activation (CA) of long-chain fatty acid ions induces decompositions that occur remote from the charge site. These charge-remote fragmentations (CRFs) have been shown to provide much structural information. In this report, the CRF of a continuous series of 12 homoconjugated octadecadienoic acids was studied with fast atom bombardment and tandem mass spectrometry. Each fatty acid was desorbed as the carboxylate anion, [M ? H]^?, the dilithiated species, [M ? H+2Li]⁺, or the bariated species, [M ? H+Ba]⁺, giving three ways of localizing the charge. A characteristic pattern is generated for CRF of the 1,4-diene functional group, and this allows for the rapid identification of the functional group and its location on the chain. Minor variations of this pattern are observed for the different ionic precursors and for different locations of the double bonds. Furthermore, there are a few complications from different types of charge-proximate reactions, especially of the fatty acid carboxylates.     

Optical sum-frequency emission from langmuir-blodgett films of variable thickness: effects of the substrate and polar orientation of fatty acids in the films

The nonlinear optical response arising from a model multilayer structure, i.e., Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films comprised of different numbers of per-protonated (H) and per-deuterated (D) fatty acid layers on solid substrates, has been evaluated by sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. The SFG signals depend significantly on the absolute polar orientation of the fatty acids in the individual layers and on the nonlinear optical response of the substrate. The SFG spectra on gold and fused quartz substrates demonstrate a totally different dependence on the number of the contributing H layers, which it is possible to analyze quantitatively. The results provide important information for understanding the origin of the nonlinear optical responses from ordered systems composed of multiple interfaces and therefore for extracting exact structural information about each interface from the observed SFG signals.     

The invariant polynomials characterizing U(n) tensor operators p, q,…, q, 0,…, 0 having maximal null space

We make use of the “path sum” function to prove that the family of stretched operator functions characterized by the operator irrep labels p,q,…,q, 0,…, 0 satisfy a pair of general difference equations. This family of functions is a generalization of Milne's p,q,…,q, 0, functions for U(n) and Biedenharn and Louck's p,q, 0 functions for U(3). The fact that this family of stretched operator functions are polynomials follows from a detailed study of their symmetries and zeros. As a further application of our general difference equations and symmetry properties we give an explicit formula for the polynomials characterized by the operator irrep labels p, 1, 0,…, 0.     

Spreading and infiltration of inkjet-printed polymer solution droplets on a porous substrate

Simultaneous spreading and infiltration of inkjet-printed droplets has been studied. Small (54- and 63-microm diameter) droplets of an aqueous polymer solution (2.4 vol% polyacrylic acid, PAA, MW 60,000) were deposited on high green density porous ceramic beds, and the wetting-induced spreading and infiltration of the droplets were characterized. The time scales for spreading and infiltration were comparable (approximately milliseconds), resulting in interruption of the spreading prior to completion by infiltration of the liquid into the powder bed, a situation that has received little treatment in the literature. The infiltration time was varied by changing the pore size (via particle size) in the powder bed, and it was confirmed that slower infiltration resulted in greater spreading of the liquid. The spreading and infiltration of the droplet were modeled to examine the coupling between the two processes and allow prediction of the maximum extension of the droplet as a function of the powder bed particle size. The liquid spreading was found to follow r(t)=a(b+t)(n) behavior, and the effect of particle size on infiltration time was used to predict the point at which spreading ceases due to infiltration for various particle sizes.     

Single-molecule spectroscopy of interfacial electron transfer

It is widely appreciated that single-molecule spectroscopy (SMS) can be used to measure properties of individual molecules which would normally be obscured in an ensemble-averaged measurement. In this report we show how SMS can be used to measure photoinduced interfacial electron transfer (IET) and back electron transfer rates in a prototypical chromophore-bridge-electrode nonadiabatic electron transfer system. N-(1-hexylheptyl)-N'-(12-carboxylicdodecyl)perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylbisimide was synthesized and incorporated into mixed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on an ITO (tin-doped indium oxide, a p-type semiconductor) electrode. Single-molecule fluorescence time trajectories from this system reveals "blinks", momentary losses in fluorescence (>20 ms to seconds in duration), which are attributed to discrete electron transfer events: electron injection from the perylene chromophore into the conduction band of the ITO leads to the loss of fluorescence, and charge recombination (back electron transfer) leads to the return of fluorescence. Such blinks are not observed when an electrode is not present. The fluorescence trajectories were analyzed to obtain the forward and back electron rates; the measured rates are found to lie in the millisecond to second regime. Different rates are observed for different molecules, but the lifetime distributions for the forward or back electron transfer for any given molecule are well fit by single exponential kinetics. The methodology used is applicable to a wide variety of systems and can be used to study the effects of distance, orientation, linker, environment, etc. on electron transfer rates. The results and methodology have implications for molecular electronics, where understanding and controlling the range of possible behaviors inherent to molecular systems will likely be as important as understanding the individual behavior of any given molecule.     

A Re(V)-catalyzed C-N bond-forming route to human lipoxygenase inhibitors

[reaction: see text] A regioselective synthesis of propargylamines by the coupling of propargyl alcohols with tosylamines and carbamates catalyzed by an air- and moisture-tolerant rhenium-oxo complex is described. The ability to couple functionalized components allows for convergent approaches to nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds such as the marine antibiotic pentabromopseudilin. These compounds were assayed against human lipoxygenase and found to be both potent and selective.