Synthesis of meso-tetra-(3,5-dibromo-4-hydroxylphenyl)-porphyrin and its application to second-derivative spectrophotometric determination of lead in clinical samples

A new very sensitive and selective chromogenic reagent, meso-tetra-(3,5-dibromo-4-hydroxylphenyl)porphyrin [T(DBHP)P], was synthesized and studied for the determination of trace lead in detail. In 0.10 mol l-1 NaOH medium, lead reacts with T(DBHP)P to form a 1:2 yellow complex, which gives a maximum absorption at 479 nm; 0-0.48 microgram ml-1 Pb(II) obeyed Beer's law. The molar absorptivity of the complex and Sandell's sensitivity are 2.5 x 10(5) 1 mol-1 cm-1 and 0.000812 microgram cm-2, respectively. Second-derivative spectrophotometry is better than conventional spectrophotometry in sensitivity and selectivity, and its limit of quantification, limit of detection and relative standard deviation are 0.70 ng ml-1, 0.21 ng ml-1 and 1.0%, respectively. Ca (3250-fold), Mg (2000-fold), Sr (1000-fold), Ba (750-fold), Al (1000-fold), Bi (500-fold), Fe (2000-fold), Co (750-fold), Ni (1000-fold), Cu (750-fold), Zn (1250-fold), Cd (2500-fold) and Ag (550-fold) do not interfere with the determination of lead. The chromogenic system is remarkably superior to other reagents, especially porphyrin compounds. The influence caused by oxygen in air or in solution can be easily eliminated by adding Na2SO3. The reaction is very stable, the stability constant of the complex being 1.2 x 10(45). The chromogenic reaction is completed within 1 min at room temperature when 8-hydroxylquinoline is used as catalyst. The proposed method has been applied to the direct determination of trace lead in clinical samples. The accuracy and precision are both very satisfactory.     

Linear-quadratic stochastic pursuit-evasion games

A linear-quadratic differential game in which the system state is affected by disturbance and both players have access to different measurements is solved. The problem is first converted to an optimization problem in infinite-dimensional state space and then solved using standard techniques. For convenience, L ₂-white noise instead of Wiener process setup is used.     

Potential-energy surface, dynamics of van der Waals motions, and vibronic transitions in p-difluorobenzene-argon complex

The dynamics of van der Waals vibrational motions and vibronic spectrum of the complex of argon with p-difluorobenzene (ArDFB) are investigated using the ab initio method. The electronic ground-state potential-energy surface of the complex is calculated at the second-order M?ller-Plesset level of theory using a well-balanced basis set aug-cc-pVDZ and its reduced version without tight polarization functions. The dissociation energy of 351 cm(-1) and the binding energy of 402 cm(-1) determined at the Ar distance of 3.521 Angstroms from the DFB ring well agree with the experimental data available. The character of calculated vibrational levels is analyzed and the effect of a strong coupling between the stretching and bending motions is investigated. A new class of hybrid states created by this coupling is found. To investigate the vibronic S(1)-S(0) spectrum, the surfaces of the electronic transition dipole moment are calculated using the ab initio method. From these surfaces, the vibronic transition intensities are determined and employed to assign the Franck-Condon- and Herzberg-Teller-induced transitions.     

Intensification of Double Kinetic Resolution of Chiral Amines and Alcohols via Chemoselective Formation of a Carbonate–Enzyme Intermediate

Chiral amines and alcohols are synthons of numerous pharmaceutically-relevant compounds. The previously developed enzymatic kinetic resolution approaches utilize a chiral racemic molecule and achiral acyl donor (or acyl acceptor). Thus, only one enantiodivergent step of the catalytic cycle is engaged, which does not fully exploit the enzyme’s abilities. The first carbonate-mediated example of simultaneous double chemoselective kinetic resolution of chiral amines and alcohols is described. Herein, we established a biocatalytic approach towards four optically-pure compounds (>99% ee, Enantioselectivity: E > 200) via double enzymatic kinetic resolution, engaging chiral organic carbonates as acyl donors. High enantioselectivity was ensured by extraordinary chemoselectivity in lipase-catalyzed formation of unsymmetrical organic carbonates and engaged in a process applicable for the synthesis of enantiopure organic precursors of valuable compounds. This study focused not only on preparative synthesis, but additionally the catalytic mechanism was discussed and the clear impact of this rarely observed carbonate-derived acyl enzyme was shown. The presented protocol is characterized by atom efficiency, acyl donor sustainability, easy acyl group removal, mild reaction conditions, and biocatalyst recyclability, which significantly decreases the cost of the reported process.     

HCSE method for detection of small carbon–carbon couplings and their signs,comparison with SLAP pulse sequence

Performance of homonuclear coupling sign edited (HCSE) experiment applied to detection of signed carbon–carbon couplings is discussed using a set of already measured samples of nine monosubstituted benzenes. It is shown that coupling sign detection is insensitive to the settings of carbon–carbon polarization transfer delays. The HCSE spectra of ten from the total of 43 measured carbon–carbon couplings were considerably influenced by relaxations and proton–proton strong couplings. These effects are quantitatively discussed. The results of HCSE and SLAP experiments are compared. It is shown that the two methods may complement each other in detection of signed carbon–carbon couplings. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Broadband excitation pulses for high‐field solid‐state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

In nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, experimental limits due to the radiofrequency transmitter and/or coil means that conventional radiofrequency pulses (“hard pulses”) are sometimes not sufficiently powerful to excite magnetization uniformly over a desired range of frequencies. Effects due to nonuniform excitation are most frequently encountered at high magnetic fields for nuclei with a large range of chemical shifts. Using optimal control theory, we have designed broadband excitation pulses that are suitable for solid‐state samples under magic‐angle‐spinning conditions. These pulses are easy to implement, robust to spinning frequency variations, and radiofrequency inhomogeneities, and only four times as long as a corresponding hard pulse. The utility of these pulses for uniformly exciting ¹³C nuclei is demonstrated on a 900 MHz (21.1 T) spectrometer. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DMSA and its complexes with radioisotopes: review

Meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) forms stable complexes with a remarkable wide range of metal ions. This relatively small molecule has attracted increasing attention in the field of radiopharmacy, treatment of heavy metal intoxications and nanoparticles preparation. In this review detailed summary of all physical, chemical and biological properties of DMSA and its complex compounds with ^99mTc, ^186/188Re, ¹⁶⁶Ho, ¹⁷⁷Lu and ⁹⁰Y is provided. The clinical utilisation of DMSA complexes in the nuclear medicine and its use for treatment of heavy metal intoxication is briefly summarised. The aspects of its application in the field of nanoparticles preparation is behind the scope of this review, therefore it is only shortly described.