Vapor‐Phase Reaction of Citronellal over Mesoporous Molecular Sieves MCM‐41 and Zeolites

The vapor‐phase reaction of citronellal (CTN) at 220 °C and atmospheric pressure has been studied using mesoporous molecular sieves and zeolites in a fixed‐bed reactor. The primary products included isopulegol (IPG), menthone, and pulegol with subsequent reactions to form cyclic hydrocarbons. The CTN conversion and the product selectivity depend on the acidity and the textural property of catalysts. Lewis and/or Brönsted acid sites are essential for catalyzing this reaction. An increase of SiO₂/Al₂O₃ mol ratio diminishes the acid amount of all catalysts and enhances both the surface area and the structural order of MCM‐41. The catalytic activity follows the order of MCM‐41 > HZSM‐5 > Hβ > USY, in accordance with the relative total acid amount except that of MCM‐41. Despite its low acidity, Si‐MCM‐41 exhibits the best catalytic performance due to its uniform mesopores, large surface area and good stability; the CTN conversion and the IPG yield attain 91.9% and 58.6%, respectively, after at least 25 h time‐on‐stream.     

Elucidating Factors Manipulated the Formation of Multiply Charged Protein Homomultimeric Complexes by Electrospray Ionization

Native non‐covalently bonded protein‐protein and protein‐substrate complexes are of great interest and have been extensively studied by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS). Multiply charged protein homomultimeric complexes are shown to form by ESI‐MS. This study addresses factors that can artificially induce the formation of multiply charged protein homomultimeric complexes. Cytochrome c (Cyt c) and ubiquitin, which are monomers in solution, were found to generate (Cyt c)_mⁿ⁺ by electrospray ionization (ESI). The homomultimeric complexes were not limited to dimeric complexes but include also multiply charged trimers, tetramers, and pentamers. The observation of these homomultimeric complexes has never been revealed from a Cyt c solution at the concentration as low as 10 μM. Increasing the concentration of Cyt c enhanced the formation of (Cyt c)_mⁿ⁺ as expected; however, the protein concentration does not affect the relative intensities of monomeric and dimeric complexes. Additionally the enrichment of NH₄OH also promotes the formation of (Cyt c)_mⁿ⁺. Notably, source collision‐induced dissociations (source‐CID) of (Cyt c)_mⁿ⁺ alter the charge state distribution (CSD) and may lead to an incorrect interpretation of Cyt c conformations. Hence, extra care should be taken when using CSD to interpret the conformation of a protein derived from ESI‐MS.     

Synthesis,photophysical and electrochemical studies of di-2-pyridyl ketone complexes of rhodium(III)

Complexes of rhodium(III) with di-2-pyridyl ketone (dpk), Rh(dpk)(MeCN)Cl₃ (1) and cis-[Rh(dpk)₂Cl₂]⁺ (2), have been successfully prepared and characterized. At low temperature (77 K), complex (2) in EtOH/MeOH (4:1, v/v) shows a broad, symmetric and structureless red emission with a microsecond lifetime and, hence, is assigned as the dd* phosphorescence. Electrochemical data, including cyclic voltammetry, normal pulse voltammetry, triple pulse voltammetry and controlled potential electrolysis, have been obtained for the two dpk complexes of rhodium(III) in MeCN. On the basis of analysis of the electrochemical (1,2) and luminescence data (2), electron transfer mechanisms are proposed. For complex (1), two reduction processes occur at the metal-localized orbitals with elimination of chlorides during the first reduction step. This is followed by a one-electron reduction at the metal. For complex (2), three electrons are transferred to the metal in two successive reduction steps accompanied by elimination of two chlorides. After these two reduction steps another one-electron reduction occurs at the dpk ligand.     

Determination of catecholamines in pheochromocytoma cell (PC-12) culture medium by microdialysis-microbore liquid chromatography

An in vitro microdialysis system was constructed for the measurement of catecholamines in pheochromocytoma cell culture medium. The novel microdialysis device is composed of a petri dish, a dialysis membrane and two transmission tubes. The dialysis membrane is located in the space of a petri dish such that it is immersed in the culture medium. Catecholamines contained in the culture medium diffused into a designed dialysis membrane with sufficient recovery (about 60%). Dialysates were collected by a sampling loop and introduced by an on-line injector to a microbore liquid chromatographic system for analysis of catecholamines. This assay yielded a detection limit of 0.2–0.5 pg/injection with acceptable intra- and inter-assay reproducibilities in 5 μl of dialysates. To evaluate the on-line microdialysis system, PC-12 cells were cultured in a petri dish within an incubator. The baseline concentration of dopamine in PC-12 cell culture medium was about 0.29 ng/ml which was elevated to 2.43 ng/ml after treatment with 0.5 mM potassium cyanide. In conclusion, the present microassay provides for the sensitive, direct measurement of catecholamines in culture medium while minimizing pretreatment procedures for sample preparation.     

A Study of Concentration Polarization on Ion Exchange Membrane Electrodialysis

The concentration polarization phenomena in ion exchange membrane electrodialysis have been studied with single exchange membrane cell. The limiting current densities of Asahi ion-permselective membranes CK-1 and CK-2, Selemion ion-exchange membranes CMV, AMV, DMV and ASV have been measured with Ag-AgCl reversible electrode in various electrolyte solutions under 25°C and constant flow rate. In sodium chloride solution, the cation exchange membrane is easier to occur concentration polarization than the anion exchange membrane. The limiting current density increases as the concentration of solution increases for the same kind of ion exchange membrane. The experimental limiting current densities of Selemion CMV and AMV in NaCl, KCl, MgCl₂, CaCl₂, BaCl₂, Na₂SO₄, NaOH and HCl aqueous solutions are measured. The results show that the limiting current density increases as the ion mobility and diffusivity increase, and is affected by the transference number of ion. For the mixture of electrolyte solution, there are linear relationship between limiting current density and equivalent fraction of electrolytes.     

Adsorption Kinetic Characteristics of H2S on Activated Carbon

This study compared H₂S adsorption kinetic parameters in both grain adsorption and column adsorption systems. Results indicated that when the nondimensional mass transfer parameter for adsorption column design was included, the axial dispersion (Pe > 1, < 1) and external film resistance (B 1) could be neglected, the fluid viscosity effect was small (Sc = 0.76), and the adsorbate affinity was fine (). Surface and pore diffusion controlled the adsorbent and fluid mass transfer. In addition, spent activated carbon could be treated by a thermal process and then impregnated with NaOH. After the pretreatment, the spent activated carbon could be used for H₂S adsorption. Furthermore, we also propose that the H₂S adsorption reaction on the carbon is due to the formation of sulfur crystals.     

Pharmacokinetic study of free mangiferin in rats by microdialysis coupled with microbore high-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry

Mangiferin (2-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1,3,6,7-tetrahydroxyxanthen-9-one) has been isolated from the herbal root of Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bung showing antioxidative, antiviral, and anticancer effect. An in vivo microdialysis sampling method coupled to microbore high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was employed for continuous monitoring of free mangiferin in rat blood. Microdialysis probes were inserted into the jugular vein/right atrium and brain striatum of Sprague-Dawley rats, and mangiferin at doses of 10, 30 or 100 mg/kg were then administered via the femoral vein. Dialysates were collected every 10 min and injected directly into a microbore HPLC system. Mangiferin was separated by a reversed-phase C18 microbore column (150 x 1 mm) from dialysate within 10 min. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-0.05% phosphoric acid-tetrahydrofuran (10:75:15, v/v/v) with a flow-rate of 0.05 ml/min. The wavelength of the UV detector was set at 257 nm. The limit of quantification for mangiferin was 0.05 microg/ml and in vivo recovery of mangiferin at concentrations of 1, 5 and 10 microg/ml was in range of 37.7-39.8%. The results indicate that the pharmacokinetics of mangiferin at doses of 10-30 mg/kg reveals a linear relation, while doses of 30-100 mg/kg show a nonlinear pharmacokinetic phenomenon. Mangiferin was undetectable in brain dialysate. The proposed method provides a technique for rapid and sensitive analysis of free mangiferin in rat blood and further application in pharmacokinetic study. Furthermore, the metabolites of mangiferin in the rat bile were confirmed by LC electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS).     

Polyketide chain length control by chain length factor

Bacterial aromatic polyketides are pharmacologically important natural products. A critical parameter that dictates product structure is the carbon chain length of the polyketide backbone. Systematic manipulation of polyketide chain length represents a major unmet challenge in natural product biosynthesis. Polyketide chain elongation is catalyzed by a heterodimeric ketosynthase. In contrast to homodimeric ketosynthases found in fatty acid synthases, the active site cysteine is absent from the one subunit of this heterodimer. The precise role of this catalytically silent subunit has been debated over the past decade. We demonstrate here that this subunit is the primary determinant of polyketide chain length, thereby validating its designation as chain length factor. Using structure-based mutagenesis, we identified key residues in the chain length factor that could be manipulated to convert an octaketide synthase into a decaketide synthase and vice versa. These results should lead to novel strategies for the engineered biosynthesis of hitherto unidentified polyketide scaffolds.     

Synthesis and Mesogenic Properties of Liquid Crystals Containing Terminal Cyclohexylmethanol,Cyclopentylmethanol, Cyclobutylmethanol and Cyclopropylmethanol Moiety

Four series of compounds 11?50 containing terminal alicyclic rings such as cyclohexylmethyl, cyclopentylmethyl, cyclobutylmethyl, and cyclopropylmethyl rings were synthesized and their liquid crystal behavior studied. The ring size and the length of flexible alkoxy chain influence the phase formation in different ways. While the smaller ring and the shorter alkoxy chain tend to favor the formation of the N phase, the larger ring and the longer alkoxy chain tend to favor the formation of the SmC phase. All the compounds except 11 and 21 exhibit SmA phases. The widest temperature range of the N, SmA, and SmC phases are found in the compounds 41 , 46 , and 20 , respectively, which are 75 °C for 41 , 115 °C for 46 , and 100 °C for 20 .     

Simultaneous determination of cefazolin in rat blood and brain by microdialysis and microbore liquid chromatography

A sensitive microbore liquid chromatographic method combined with the minimally invasive technique of microdialysis was devised for simultaneously and continuously monitoring the levels of unbound blood and brain cefazolin in rats. Microdialysis probes were inserted into the jugular vein and brain striatum for blood and brain sampling, respectively. Chromatographic conditions consisted of a mobile phase of methanol-acetonitrile-100 mM monosodium phosphoric acid (20:10:70, v/v, pH 4.5) pumped through a microbore reversed-phase column at a flow rate of 0.05 mL/min. The ultraviolet detection wavelength was set at 270 nm. An on-line design allowed direct and continuous analysis of protein-free samples in the dialysate. Microdialysis probes, being home-made, were screened for acceptable in vivo recovery. Chromatographic resolution and detection were validated for response linearity as well as intra-day and inter-day variabilities. This method was then applied to pharmacokinetic profiling of protein unbound cefazolin in both the blood and brain following intravenous administration (10 mg/kg, i.v., n = 6). Rapid appearance of cefazolin in the rat brain striatal dialysate following drug injection suggested good blood-brain barrier penetration. According to a non-compartmental pharmacokinetics model, the area under the concentration (AUC) vs time ratio of cefazolin in rat brain and blood was 6%.