Determination of methamphetamine and amphetamine in abusers' plasma and hair samples with HPLC-FL

This paper describes highly sensitive HPLC methods for the determination of amphetamine (AP) and methamphetamine (MP) in abusers' plasma and hair samples. AP and MP were derivatized with the fluorescent reagent, DIB-Cl, to yield a highly fluorescent DIB-derivatives of AP and MP, which were then analyzed by HPLC with fluorescence detection at excitation and emission wavelengths of 325 and 430 nm, respectively. The separation was achieved on an ODS column with isocratic mobile phases composed of acetoniltrile and citrate buffer (55:45, v/v) for plasma samples and of acetonitrile-methanol-citrate buffer (45:20:37.5, v/v/v) for hair samples. The limits of detection were less than 0.87 ng/mL and 0.12 ng/mg in plasma and hair samples, respectively, for both AP and MP. The methods were then applied to the determination of MP and its metabolite AP in plasma obtained from two cases of illegally ingested MP and in one of the cases' hair received later. Case I was treated with dialysis; samples before and after dialysis were analyzed by the described method. After dialysis for 5 h, the total plasma levels of AP and MP decreased from 720 to 190 ng/mL. For case II, MP and AP levels were monitored for 3 days after digestion. Total plasma levels decreased from 57 ng/mL in the day of digestion to 11 ng/mL after 3 days. In hair samples, AP and MP could also be detected in very low concentrations.     

Formation of a ruthenium(IV)-oxo complex by electron-transfer oxidation of a coordinatively saturated ruthenium(II) complex and detection of oxygen-rebound intermediates in C-H bond oxygenation

A coordinatively saturated ruthenium(II) complex having tetradentate tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (TPA) and bidentate 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy), [Ru(TPA)(bpy)](2+) (1), was oxidized by a Ce(IV) ion in H(2)O to afford a Ru(IV)-oxo complex, [Ru(O)(H(+)TPA)(bpy)](3+) (2). The crystal structure of the Ru(IV)-oxo complex 2 was determined by X-ray crystallography. In 2, the TPA ligand partially dissociates to be in a facial tridentate fashion and the uncoordinated pyridine moiety is protonated. The spin state of 2, which showed paramagnetically shifted NMR signals in the range of 60 to -20 ppm, was determined to be an intermediate spin (S = 1) by the Evans' method with (1)H NMR spectroscopy in acetone-d(6). The reaction of 2 with various oraganic substrates in acetonitrile at room temperature afforded oxidized and oxygenated products and a solvent-bound complex, [Ru(H(+)TPA)(bpy)(CH(3)CN)], which is intact in the presence of alcohols. The oxygenation reaction of saturated C-H bonds with 2 proceeds by two-step processes: the hydrogen abstraction with 2, followed by the dissociation of the alcohol products from the oxygen-rebound complexes, Ru(III)-alkoxo complexes, which were successfully detected by ESI-MS spectrometry. The kinetic isotope effects in the first step for the reaction of dihydroanthrathene (DHA) and cumene with 2 were determined to be 49 and 12, respectively. The second-order rate constants of C-H oxygenation in the first step exhibited a linear correlation with bond dissociation energies of the C-H bond cleavage.     

Surface Plasmon Resonance of Au Nanoparticles Fabricated by Negative Ion Implantation and Grid Structure toward Plasmonic Applications

Optical properties of Au nanoparticle composites and a grid structure of Cu nanoparticle composite were studied. Negative ion implantation was applied to synthesize Au and Cu nanoparticles in amorphous SiO₂ and Al₂O₃. Au nanoparticles were embedded within a depth of 30 nm by 60keV Au⁻ implantation. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Au:SiO₂ and Au: Al₂O₃ composites shifted to red and to blue, respectively, compared to calculated ones by the Mie theory. Optical nonlinearity was measured with pump-probe femtosecond spectroscopy and the transient spectrum of Au: Al₂O₃ composite presented a large red shift from the SPR peak. Image mapping of far-field transmitted intensity of Cu-implanted SiO₂ with a fine grid structure drawn by laser-lithography was observed by a scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) system.     

Metal-catalyzed hydrosilylation of alkenes and alkynes using dimethyl(pyridyl)silane

Metal-catalyzed hydrosilylation of alkenes and alkynes using dimethyl(pyridyl)silane is described. The hydrosilylation of alkenes using dimethyl(2-pyridyl)silane (2-PyMe(2)SiH) proceeded well in the presence of a catalytic amount of RhCl(PPh(3))(3) with virtually complete regioselectivity. By taking advantage of the phase tag property of the 2-PyMe(2)Si group, hydrosilylation products were isolated in greater than 95% purity by simple acid-base extraction. Strategic catalyst recovery was also demonstrated. The hydrosilylation of alkynes using 2-PyMe(2)SiH proceeded with a Pt(CH(2)=CHSiMe(2))(2)O/P(t-Bu)(3) catalyst to give alkenyldimethyl(2-pyridyl)silanes in good yield with high regioselectivity. A reactivity comparison of 2-PyMe(2)SiH with other related hydrosilanes (3-PyMe(2)SiH, 4-PyMe(2)SiH, and PhMe(2)SiH) was also performed. In the rhodium-catalyzed reaction, the reactivity order of hydrosilane was 2-PyMe(2)SiH > 3-PyMe(2)SiH, 4-PyMe(2)SiH, PhMe(2)SiH, indicating a huge rate acceleration with 2-PyMe(2)SiH. In the platinum-catalyzed reaction, the reactivity order of hydrosilane was PhMe(2)SiH, 3-PyMe(2)SiH > 4-PyMe(2)SiH > 2-PyMe(2)SiH, indicating a rate deceleration with 2-PyMe(2)SiH and 4-PyMe(2)SiH. It seems that these reactivity differences stem primarily from the governance of two different mechanisms (Chalk-Harrod and modified Chalk-Harrod mechanisms). From the observed reactivity order, coordination and electronic effects of dimethyl(pyridyl)silanes have been implicated.     

Polymerization of micelles under irradiation with UV light

Micelle formation behavior of sodium salts of fatty acids containing double bond at the chain end, sodium 10-undecenoate (Na-10-U) and sodium 8-nonenoate (Na-8-N), was examined with measurement of electric conductivity of their aqueous solutions, and the plot of the electric conductivity against the concentration for each fatty acid was found to show two break points; at 0,044 and 0,12mol/1 for Na-10-U and at 0,16 and 0,44 mol/1 for Na-8-N. The similar behaviors of the aqueous solutions were also found with the measurements of the maximum amount of solubilized benzene into the aqueous solution and of the solution viscosity, and the concentrations corresponding to the break points were assumed to be first and second critical micelle concentrations (CMC's), respectively. Polymerization of the sodium salts under irradiation with UV light was investigated. For each fatty acid, the amount of the obtained polymer was very small at very low concentrations of the fatty acid, but it increased rapidly with increasing concentration of the monomer at concentrations higher than the first CMC and then mildly at the concentrations higher than the second CMC. Number-average degrees of polymerization of the polymers obtained were measured with a gel permeation chromatography technique and found to be up to 13 for Na-10-U and 8,5 for Na-8-N.