Synthesis and characterization of succinylcholine-d18 and succinylmonocholine-d3 designed for simultaneous use as internal standards in mass spectrometric analyses

Succinylcholine (SUX) is a routinely used yet potentially lethal depolarizing muscle relaxant, the detection of which poses severe problems to the clinical or forensic analyst: within a few minutes after its in vivo administration, SUX is broken down via succinylmonocholine (SMC) to yield the endogenous substances succinic acid and choline. For quantification of SUX and SMC in biological matrices using mass spectrometric detection, appropriate internal standards, i.e. deuterated analogs of the above substances, are indispensable but not commercially available. Internal standards for both substances were hence tailored to fit the analytical needs. The two-step synthesis and subsequent characterization of SUX-d(18) and SMC-d(3) using a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, fast atom bombardment mass spectroscopy (FAB-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) are described. SUX-d(18) was synthesized by reacting ethanolamine and iodomethane-d(3) in a first quaternization step to choline-d(9), which in turn was esterified with succinyldichloride to yield the final product. SMC-d(3) was produced by esterification of succinic acid anhydride with dimethylaminoethanol, yielding desmethyl-SMC as intermediate product. The latter was then reacted with iodomethane-d(3) to obtain SMC-d(3). (1)H- and (13)C-NMR data support the identity and purity as well as the designated deuteration of both preparations, findings which were further confirmed by FAB-MS as well as HPLC-MS/MS. Owing to a thoughtful design, the obtained substances SUX-d(18) and SMC-d(3) feature different deuteration patterns at their trimethylamine moieties, and thus finally offer the possibility to simultaneously quantify SUX and SMC in clinical as well as forensic samples using isotope dilution mass spectrometry.     

The synthesis of dichlorodiazirine and the generation of dichlorocarbene: spectroscopy and structure of dichlorocarbene ylides

Reaction of 2,4-dinitrophenoxychlorodiazirine (13) with chloride ions affords dichlorodiazirine (4). Photolysis of 4 generates dichlorocarbene. In laser flash photolysis (LFP) experiments, CCl2 forms chromophoric ylides or oxides with pyridine, 2-picoline, thioanisole, and oxygen. Spectroscopic and computational studies of the ylides are reported. The UV spectrum of CCl2 in solution, however, is not observed. It appears possible that CCl2 is rapidly captured by oxygen to afford a chromophoric dichlorocarbene carbonyl oxide. We present a theoretical analysis of this process.     

Syntheses, solution multi-NMR characterization, and reactivities of [C6F5Xe]+ salts of weakly coordinating borate anions, [BY4]- (Y = CF3, C6F5, CN, or OTeF5)

New examples of [C6F5Xe]+ salts of the weakly coordinating anions [B(CF3)4]-, [B(C6F5)4]-, [B(CN)4]-, and [B(OTeF5)4]- have been synthesized by metathesis reactions of [C6F5Xe][BF4] with the corresponding MI[BY4] salts (MI = K or Cs; Y = CF3, C6F5, CN, or OTeF5). The salts were characterized in solution by multi-NMR spectroscopy. Their stabilities in prototypic solvents (CH3CN and CH2Cl2) and decomposition products are reported. The influence of the coordinating nature of [BY4]- on the decomposition rate of [C6F5Xe]+ as well as the presence of the weakly nucleophilic [BF4]- ion has been studied. The electrophilic pentafluorophenylation of C6H5F by [C6F5Xe][BY4] in solvents of different coordinating abilities (CH3CN and CH2Cl2) and the effects of stronger nucleophiles (fluoride and water) on the pentafluorophenylation process have been investigated. Simulations of the 19F and 129Xe NMR spectra of [C6F5Xe]+ have provided the complete set of aryl 19F-19F and 129Xe-19F coupling constants and their relative signs. The 19F NMR parameters of the [C6F5Xe]+ cation in the present series of salts are shown to reflect the relative degrees of cation-solvent interactions.     

Application of polymer based stationary phases in high performance liquid chromatography and capillary high performance liquid chromatography hyphenated to microcoil 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The increased demand for chromatographic materials that are able to achieve a fast separation of large quantities of structure analogues is a great challenge. It is known that polymer based chromatographic materials have a higher loadability, compared to silica based sorbents. Unfortunately these polymer materials cannot be used under high pressure which is necessary in order to obtain high flow rates, and hence long times are needed to perform a separation. However, by immobilizing a polymer on a mechanically stable porous silica core, this problem can be circumvented and higher flows become feasible on these materials. Especially for capillary liquid chromatography hyphenated with nuclear magnetic resonance a high loadability is of great importance in order to obtain sharp, resolved, and concentrated peaks thus resulting in a good signal to noise ratio in the NMR experiment. Therefore, a highly shape selective chromatographic sorbent was developed by covalently immobilizing a poly(ethylene-co-acrylic) acid copolymer (-CH(2)CH(2)-)(x)[CH(2)CH(CO(2)H)-](y) (x=119, y=2.4) with a mass fraction of acrylic acid of 5% as stationary phase on silica via a spacer molecule (3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane). First, the loadability of this sorbent compared to C(30) is demonstrated by the HPLC separation of two xanthophyll isomers. Subsequently, it has been successfully employed in the hyphenation of capillary HPLC with microcoil (1)H NMR spectroscopy by separating and identifying a highly concentrated solution of the tocopherol homologues.     

High amounts of 17-methylated anabolic-androgenic steroids in effervescent tablets on the dietary supplement market

In numerous studies it has been demonstrated that several nutritional supplements contain prohormones not declared on the label. In the current study two products (effervescent tablets) containing high amounts of the 17-methylated anabolic androgenic steroids metandienone (product 1: 16.8 mg/tablet) and stanozolol (product 2: 14.5 mg/tablet) were identified. Additionally in both products norandrostenedione was detected, in product 2 with minor amounts of several other steroids. The substances identified can cause enormous health risks. In addition, the use of the analyzed tablets can lead to positive doping results for metabolites of the respective steroids in sports. This study again shows the insufficient surveillance of the production and trade of dietary supplements. Consumers should be aware of the enormous health and doping risks connected with the use of such products. For GC-MS identification of the analytes the trimethylsilyl derivatives of the steroids and the mixed N-t-butyldimethylsilyl,O-trimethylsilyl derivatives were used. The quantitation of metandienone, norandrostenedione, and stanozolol was performed using HPLC-DAD.     

Bioactive aromatic derivatives from endophytic fungus, Cytospora sp

Two new benzyl gamma-butyrolactone analogues, (R)-5-((S)-hydroxy(phenyl)-methyl)dihydrofuran-2(3H)-one (1) and its 6-acetate (2), and a new naphthalenone derivative (8), together with eight additional known aromatic derivatives, (S)-5-((S)-hydroxy(phenyl)-methyl)dihydrofuran-2(3H)-one (3), (S)-5-benzyl-dihydrofuran-2(3H)-one (4), 5-phenyl-4-oxopentanoic acid (5), gamma-oxo-benzenepentanoic acid methyl ester (6), 3-(2,5-dihydro-4-hydroxy-5-oxo-3-phenyl-2-furyl)propionic acid (7), (3R)-5-methylmellein (9), integracins A (10) and B (11) were isolated from Cytospora sp., an endophytic fungus isolated from Ilex canariensis from Gomera. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analysis, comparison with reported data, and chemical interconversion. The absolute configurations of the new compounds (1, 2, 8) were established on the basis of optical rotation or CD spectra analysis. Preliminary studies showed antimicrobial activity of these compounds against the fungi Microbotryum violaceum, Botrytis cinerea and Septoria tritici, the alga Chlorella fusca, and the bacterium Bacillus megaterium.     

Phomosines H-J, novel highly substituted biaryl ethers, isolated from the endophytic fungus Phomopsis sp. from Ligustrum vulgare

From the endophytic fungus Phomosis sp., four known phomosines A-D (1-4) and three new phomosines H-J (5-7) have been isolated. The structures of the new compounds were determined on the basis of their spectroscopic data analysis (1H, 13C, 1H-1H COSY, HMQC, and HMBC NMR, as well as mass spectrometry). The structures of phomosine H (5) and J (7) were also confirmed by semisynthesis from phomosine A (1). The remaining four known compounds [phomosines A-D (1-4)] were identified by comparing their spectroscopic data with those reported in the literature. The four known metabolites were biologically active. Of the novel metabolites, only 6 was antifungal and antibacterial.     

Uniqueness of minimal coverings of maximal partial clones

A partial function f on a k-element set E _k is a partial Sheffer function if every partial function on E _k is definable in terms of f. Since this holds if and only if f belongs to no maximal partial clone on E _k , a characterization of partial Sheffer functions reduces to finding families of minimal coverings of maximal partial clones on E _k . We show that for each k ≥ 2, there exists a unique minimal covering.