Concise synthesis of a highly functionalized cyclopentane segment: toward the total synthesis of kansuinine A

Kansuinine A, isolated from the plant Euphorbia kansui Liou, is one of a series of jatrophane diterpenes that have novel structural features, which include contiguous stereocenters, a highly oxygenated carbon framework, and a tricyclic ring system. We describe here a short and concise synthesis of the cyclopentane segment of kansuinine A via SmI₂-mediated cyclization of δ-iodoester as a key construction method.     

Studies on the thermal decomposition of phthalate esters: IX. Thermal decomposition of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate

A flow apparatus equipped with a spray nozzle was developed for investigating the thermal decomposition of esters with high boiling points and viscosities. The thermal decomposition of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (BEHP), which is a typical plasticizer for poly(vinyl chloride) with a high boiling point and viscosity, was carried out by the use of the flow apparatus. The thermal decomposition products were analysed by gas chromatography and the kinetic parameters were calculated. The kinetic parameter of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate was k_BEHP (s^?1)=4.59·10¹¹ exp(?40600/RT). From a comparison with the values for phthalic esters, it is proposed that a cis-elimination reaction takes place with a two-step mechanism in which the rate-determining step is α-carbon cleavage.     

On the thermodynamic stability of clathrate hydrates IV: double occupancy of cages

We have extended the van der Waals and Platteeuw theory to treat multiple occupancy of a single cage of clathrate hydrates, which has not been taken into account in the original theory but has been experimentally confirmed as a real entity. We propose a simple way to calculate the free energy of multiple cage occupancy and apply it to argon clathrate structure II in which a larger cage can be occupied by two argon atoms. The chemical potential of argon is calculated treating it as an imperfect gas, which is crucial to predict accurate pressure dependence of double occupancy expected at high pressure. It is found that double occupancy dominates over single occupancy when the guest pressure in equilibrium with the clathrate hydrate exceeds 270 MPa.     

Dress-up chiral columns for the enantioseparation of amino acids based on fluorous separation

In this paper, we report a new type of chiral high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column—a so-called dress-up chiral column—featuring a chiral stationary phase adsorbed reversibly in a commercial fluorous HPLC column through fluorous interactions. We synthesized perfluroalkylated proline derivatives as chiral stationary phase compounds and then adsorbed them reversibly in the fluorous HPLC column through the pumping of their solutions. By using this dress-up chiral column and fluorophobic elution of an aqueous copper(II) sulfate/MeOH mixture, we could enantioseparate seven racemic amino acids within 40 min. When we washed the dress-up chiral column with fluorophilic tetrahydrofuran or MeOH, the adsorbed chiral stationary phase compounds desorbed from the column, completely destroying its enantioseparation ability. The relative standard deviation of the retention times, the number of theoretical plates, and the resolution for each of four preparations of the dress-up columns were all less than or equal to 9.53 % in 20-times repeated analysis, and were all less than or equal to 18.7 % in four different preparations, respectively.     

A validated HPLC‐fluorescence method with a semi‐micro column for routine determination of homocysteine,cysteine and cysteamine,and the relation between the thiol derivatives in normal human plasma

A semi‐micro column HPLC‐fluorescence method for routine determination of thiol derivatives such as homocysteine (Hcy), cysteine (Cys) and cysteamine (CA) is described. The thiol derivatives labeled with ammonium‐7‐fluorobenzo‐2‐oxa‐1,3‐diazole‐4‐sulfonate (SBD‐F) were isocratically separated within 12 min on a semi‐micro ODS column (Daisopak‐SP‐120‐5‐ODS‐BP) with a mixture of 25 mm acetate buffer (pH 2.00) and CH₃CN as a mobile phase. The purity and similarity of SBD‐thiols by a multi‐wavelength fluorescence detector were more than 92.3 and 96.7%. The detection limits of Hcy, Cys and CA at a signal‐to‐noise ratio of 3 were 0.16, 0.47 and 0.03 µm , respectively. Furthermore validation parameters such as accuracy, precision and robustness of the proposed method showed satisfactory results. Almost 850 plasma sample injections (range 572–1076, n = 3) for a column could be performed without differences in retention time and peak heights of labels. As an application of the proposed method, the determination of thiol derivatives in normal human plasma (n = 103) was demonstrated. The correlation coefficients between Hcy vs Cys and Hcy vs CA were 0.38 and −0.35, respectively. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of Novel Peptide Chiral Selectors Prepared by Solid-Phase Synthesis with a tert-Butoxycarbonyl Amino Acid

A new class of chiral stationary phases (CSP) with peptide chiral selectors was prepared by solid-phase synthesis with a tert-butoxycarbonyl-L-amino acid on silica. The type of amino acid that is favorable for this class of CSP is discussed. Using the CSP with the phenylalanine peptide selector, the effect of peptide length on the enantioselectivity was investigated in normal-phase mode. The applicability of the CSP with a phenylalanine peptide to chiral ligand-exchange chromatography was also examined.

     

Analytical methods for abused drugs in hair and their applications

Hair has been focused on for its usability as an alternative biological specimen to blood and urine for determining drugs of abuse in fields such as forensic and toxicological sciences because hair can be used to elucidate the long intake history of abused drugs compared with blood and urine. Hair analysis consists of several pretreatment steps, such as washing out contaminates from hair, extraction of target compounds from hair, and cleanup for instrumental analysis. Each step includes characteristic and independent features for the class of drugs, e.g., stimulants, narcotics, cannabis, and other medicaments. In this review, recently developed methods to determine drugs of abuse are summarized, and the pretreatment steps as well as the sensitivity and applicability are critically discussed.