Distinguishing Ontario ginseng landraces and ginseng species using NMR-based metabolomics

The use of ¹H-NMR-based metabolomics to distinguish and identify unique markers of five Ontario ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) landraces and two ginseng species (P. quinquefolius and P. ginseng) was evaluated. Three landraces (2, 3, and 5) were distinguished from one another in the principal component analysis (PCA) scores plot. Further analysis was conducted and specific discriminating metabolites from the PCA loadings were determined. Landraces 3 and 5 were distinguishable on the basis of a decreased NMR intensity in the methyl ginsenoside region, indicating decreased overall ginsenoside levels. In addition, landrace 5 was separated by an increased amount of sucrose relative to the rest of the landraces. Landrace 2 was separated from the rest of the landraces by the increased level of ginsenoside R_b1. The Ontario P. quinquefolius was also compared with Asian P. ginseng by PCA, and clear separation between the two groups was detected in the PCA scores plot. The PCA loadings plot and a t-test NMR difference plot were able to identify an increased level of maltose and a decreased level of sucrose in the Asian ginseng compared with the Ontario ginseng. An overall decrease of ginsenoside content, especially ginsenoside R_b1, was also detected in the Asian ginseng’s metabolic profile. This study demonstrates the potential of NMR-based metabolomics as a powerful high-throughput technique in distinguishing various closely related ginseng landraces and its ability to identify metabolic differences from Ontario and Asian ginseng. The results from this study will allow better understanding for quality assessment, species authentication, and the potential for developing a fully automated method for quality control.

Transfer Hydrogenation of Ketones with 2‐Propanol and Raney® Nickel

Raney nickel in refluxing 2‐propanol containing a trace of HCl is an effective catalytic system for the reduction of ketones to secondary alcohols.     

Development of a compact alpha and beta camera for dismantlement applications

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - A new method has been developed to image surface contamination on-site by short range radiation emitters (such as alpha or beta particle...     

Hydrogen bonding in polymers: III further infrared temperature studies of polyamides

Fourier transform infrared temperature studies of two semi-crystalline polyamides, nylon 12 and a terpolymer of nylon 6/66/610 are presented. The results obtained are consistent with those recently published from similar studies of an amorphous polyamide and nylon 11 and further bolster our general interpretation of the infrared spectra of polyamides.     

Intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy of platinum sulfide in the near infrared

A new electronic transition of PtS with a red degraded band head at 12 460 cm⁻¹ was recorded and analyzed. Gas phase PtS was produced in a platinum-lined hollow cathode with a trace of SF₆ gas, and the spectrum was recorded at near Doppler resolution using intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy. Molecular constants for the newly identified excited state are presented.     

Palladium-catalyzed, asymmetric Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of prochiral cyclobutanones with PHOX ligands

Described in this report is a general method for the conversion of prochiral 3-substituted cyclobutanones to enantioenriched γ-lactones through a palladium-catalyzed Baeyer-Villiger oxidation using phosphinooxazoline ligands in up to 99% yield and 81% ee. Lactones of enantiopurity ≥93% could be obtained through a single recrystallization step. Importantly, 3,3-disubtituted cyclobutanones produced enantioenriched lactones containing a β-quaternary center.     

Dielectric friction as a mechanism for selectivity alteration in capillary electrophoresis using acetonitrile-water media

The mobilities of a series of aromatic carboxylates and sulfonates, ranging in charge from -1 to -4, were investigated as a function of acetonitrile concentration in the electrophoretic buffer. Absolute mobilities were determined by extrapolation of the effective mobilities to zero ionic strength according to the Pitts' equation. In general, anions of higher charge were more strongly influenced by ionic strength, with similarly charged anions experiencing ionic strength effects that were not significantly different at the 95% confidence level. Furthermore, the relative magnitudes of the Onsager slopes varied with acetonitrile content according to the z/(etaepsilon(1/2)) dependence in the electrophoretic effect of the Pitt's equation. Addition of acetonitrile to the electrophoretic media resulted in changes in the absolute mobilities of the anions. These acetonitrile-induced selectivity alterations were attributed to dielectric friction. As predicted by the Hubbard-Onsager model of dielectric friction, changes in sulfonate mobility were shown to correlate to changes in solvent viscosity (eta), dielectric constant (epsilon), and relaxation time (tau). The combined effects of ionic strength and dielectric friction caused analytes with higher charge-to-size ratios to be slowed to a greater extent upon addition of acetonitrile compared to those with lower charge-to-size. For example, at 75% acetonitrile and 20 mM ionic strength, a migration order reversal occurred between the triply and singly charged sulfonates.     

Heavy-atom kinetic isotope effects,cocatalysts, and the propagation transition state for polymerization of 1-hexene using the rac-(C(2)H(4)(1-indenyl)(2))ZrMe(2) catalyst precursor

Using 13C NMR techniques, the 12C/13C kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) for the polymerization of 1-hexene catalyzed by rac-(C2H4(1-indenyl)2)ZrMe2 in the presence of four different cocatalysts (tris(pentfluorophenyl)borane, tris(pentafluorophenyl)alane, anilinium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate, and methylalumoxane) have been determined. All cocatalysts yield similar KIEs within experimental uncertainty, with values of 1.009(1) and 1.017(2) at C1 and C2, respectively. Ab initio DFT computational modeling of the polymerization KIE indicates that alkene binding to the catalyst must be reversible, with the majority of the KIE developing in the subsequent migratory insertion reaction.     

Variational principles for average exit time moments for diffusions in Euclidean space

Let be a smoothly bounded domain in Euclidean space and let be a diffusion in Euclidean space. For a class of diffusions, we develop variational principles which characterize the average of the moments of the exit time from of a particle driven by where the average is taken over all starting points in

     

FTIR studies of calcium and sodium ionomers derived from an ethylene–methacrylic acid copolymer

A systematic study of the sodium and calcium salts of an ethylene–methacrylic acid copolymer is reported. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (in the midinfrared region) is applied to the characterization of structural changes as a function of temperature and time of annealing. In the spectra of calcium ionomers, bands associated with carboxylate dimers are identified and assignments of specific spectral features to multiplets and clusters are discussed. The spectroscopic changes observed in the spectra of sodium ionomers differ somewhat from their calcium counterparts in that a single infrared band attributed to isolated carboxylate groups is observed. Assignments of specific bands to multiplets and clusters can, however, be made in a manner consistent with the interpretation of the spectra of calcium ionomers.