Novel approach to microwave-assisted extraction and micro-solid-phase extraction from soil using graphite fibers as sorbent

A single-step extraction-cleanup procedure involving microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and micro-solid-phase extraction (micro-SPE) has been developed for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from soil samples. Micro-SPE is a relatively new extraction procedure that makes use of a sorbent enclosed within a sealed polypropylene membrane envelope. In the present work, for the first time, graphite fiber was used as a sorbent material for extraction. MAE-micro-SPE was used to cleanup sediment samples and to extract and preconcentrate five PAHs in sediment samples prepared as slurries with addition of water. The best extraction conditions comprised of microwave heating at 50 degrees C for a duration of 20 min, and an elution (desorption) time of 5 min using acetonitrile with sonication. Using gas chromatography (GC)-flame ionization detection (FID), the limits of detection (LODs) of the PAHs ranged between 2.2 and 3.6 ng/g. With GC-mass spectrometry (MS), LODs were between 0.0017 and 0.0057 ng/g. The linear ranges were between 0.1 and 50 or 100 microg/g for GC-FID analysis, and 1 and 500 or 1000 ng/g for GC-MS analysis. Granular activated carbon was also used for the micro-SPE device but was found to be not as efficient in the PAH extraction. The MAE-micro-SPE method was successfully used for the extraction of PAHs in river and marine sediments, demonstrating its applicability to real environmental solid matrixes.     

Structure-based design of Aurora A & B inhibitors

The Aurora family of serine/threonine kinases are mitotic regulators involved in centrosome duplication, formation of the bipolar mitotic spindle and the alignment of the chromosomes along the spindle. These proteins are frequently overexpressed in tumor cells as compared to normal cells and are therefore potential therapeutic oncology targets. An Aurora A high throughput screen revealed a promising sub-micromolar indazole-benzimidazole lead. Modification of the benzimidazole portion of the lead to a C2 linker with a phenyl ring was proposed to achieve novelty. Docking revealed that a conjugated linker was optimal and the resulting compounds were equipotent with the lead. Further structure-guided optimization of substituents on the 5 & 6 position of the indazole led to single digit nanomolar potency. The homology between the Aurora A & Aurora B kinase domains is 71% but their binding sites only differ at residues 212 & 217 (Aurora A numbering). However interactions with only the latter residue may be used for obtaining selectivity. An analysis of published Aurora A and Aurora B X-ray structures reveals subtle differences in the shape of the binding sites. This was exploited by introduction of appropriately sized substituents in the 4 & 6 position of the indazole leading to Aurora B selective inhibitors. Finally we calculate the conformational energy penalty of the putative bioactive conformation of our inhibitors and show that this property correlates well with the Aurora A binding affinity.     

Sol-gel-coated oligomers as novel stationary phases for solid-phase microextraction

Amphiphilic and hydrophilic oligomers were synthesized and coated on fused silica capillaries using a sol-gel technique. Sol-gel-coated capillaries were evaluated for the solid-phase microextraction and preconcentration of a wide variety of non-polar and polar analytes. Both types of coatings were stable under high temperature (up to 280 degrees C). The extraction efficiency of the sol-gel coatings was evaluated for the extraction of both non-polar and polar analytes, including organochlorine pesticides, triazine herbicides, estrogens and alkylphenols (APs) and bisphenol-A (BPA). Compared with commercially available solid-phase microextraction (SPME) adsorbents such as poly(dimethylsiloxane)divenylbenzene and polyacrylate, the new materials showed comparable selectivity and sensitivity towards both non-polar and polar analytes. The new coatings gave good linearity and detection limits. For example with triazines, a detection limit of <0.005 microl l(-1), precision from 5.0 to 11.0% (n = 6) and linearity of the calibration plots (0.5 to 50 microl l(-1)) were obtained. The sol-gel coated SPME capillaries were used for the determination of triazine herbicides in reservoir water samples collected in Singapore.     

Polymer-coated hollow-fiber microextraction of estrogens in water samples with analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A novel sorbent, dihydroxylated polymethylmethacrylate (DHPMM), coated on hollow-fiber membrane, is used for the polymer-coated hollow-fiber microextraction of trace amounts of natural and synthetic estrogens, such as diethylstilbestrol, estrone, 17beta-estradiol and 17alpha-ethynylestradiol, in aqueous samples. In this procedure, estrogens were extracted using the functionalized polar DHPMM polymer with derivatization using N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis. The detection limits for estrogens in aqueous sample were between 0.03 and 0.8 ng l(-1) and the calibration curves were linear over the concentration range 0.05-10 microgl(-1) and had correlation coefficients of >0.994. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were <15% (n = 3). This simple, accurate, sensitive and selective analytical method is applicable to the determination of trace amounts of estrogens in reservoir and potable water samples.     

cis‐[(4R,5R)‐4,5‐Bis­(amino­methyl)‐2,2‐di­methyl‐1,3‐dioxolane‐N,N′](malonato‐O,O′)­platinum(II), an anticancer agent

In the title compound, [Pt(C₃H₂O₄)(C₇H₁₆N₂O₂)], the Pt atom is coordinated to two O and two N atoms in a square‐planar arrangement. The two independent mol­ecules, which have very similar structures, are approximately related by pseudo‐twofold screw‐axis symmetry. The six‐membered chelate ring in the leaving ligand assumes a conformation intermediate between the half‐chair and boat forms. The seven‐membered ring in the carrier ligand assumes a twist‐chair conformation and the oxolane ring assumes an envelope conformation. The crystal packing consists of extensive hydrogen‐bonding networks which form two‐dimensional molecular layers, and there are weak van der Waals interactions between these layers.     

Non-Markovian diffusion process in polymers and stretched exponential relaxation

In this contribution, we model the long-time behaviour of the desorption from an LDPE sheet, using non-Markovian random walks. It is shown that the mass of penetrant in the final stage of desorption decays as t ^–m , where m is proportional to the exponent of the probability distribution (t) t ^–(1+u), 0 < v < 1. Furthermore, it is shown that this model may lead to the so-called mechanical stretched exponential relaxation, and that Wagner's memory function can be obtained as a special case.Presented at the second conference Recent Developments in Structured Continua, May 23–25, 1990, in Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada     

Development of Vancomycin-Capped β-CD-Bonded Silica Particles as Chiral Stationary Phase for LC

Vancomycin-capped (3-(2-O-β-cyclodextrin)-2-hydroxypropoxy)-propylsilyl-appended silica particles (VCD-HPS), a new type of substituted β-cyclodextrin-bonded chiral stationary phase (CSP) for liquid chromatography (LC), have been synthesized by treatment of bromoacetate-substituted-(3-(2-O-β-cyclodextrin)-2-hydroxypropoxy)-propylsilyl-appended silica particles (BACD-HPS) with vancomycin in anhydrous methanol. The stationary phase is characterized by elemental analysis. This new CSP has a chiral selector with two recognition sites: vancomycin and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), which can provide multiple interactions with the solutes. The chromatographic performance of VCD-HPS was studied with several disubstituted benzenes and some chiral drug compounds as solutes in reversed-phase LC. The results show that VCD-HPS has excellent selectivity for the separation of aromatic positional isomers and enantiomers of chiral compounds.     

Numerical simulation of power law and yield stress fluid flows in double concentric cylinder with slotted rotor and vane geometries

In our previous report, we showed that a rheometer equipped with a double concentric cylinder geometry with slotted rotor could effectively reduce wall slip effects and thus it could be used as an alternative to a rheometer with a vane geometry in yield stress measurements. Here, we use three-dimensional CFD simulation to compare these two geometries for rheological measurements of power law and yield stress fluids. Our results indicate that the double concentric cylinder rheometer with slotted rotor (DCCR/SR) is able to accurately measure rheological properties of a wider spectrum of test fluids than a vane rheometer because of significant reduction of the end and secondary flow effects.