Validated LC–MS/MS method for quantification of agomelatine in human plasma and its application in a pharmacokinetic study

An analytical method based on liquid–liquid extraction has been developed and validated for analysis of agomelatine in human plasma. Fluoxetine was used as an internal standard for agomelatine. A Betasil C18 (4.0 × 100 mm, 5 µm) column provided chromatographic separation of analytes followed by detection with mass spectrometry. The method involves simple isocratic chromatographic conditions and mass spectrometric detection in the positive ionization mode using an API‐4000 system. The proposed method has been validated with linear range of 0.050–8.000 ng/ml for agomelatine. The intra‐run and inter‐run precision values are within 12.12% and 9.01%, respectively, for agomelatine at the lower limit of quantification level. The overall recovery for agomelatine and fluoxetine was 67.10% and 72.96%, respectively. This validated method was used successfully for analysis of plasma samples from a pharmacokinetic study. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bioactivity and mechanical properties of nickel‐incorporated hydrogenated carbon nanocomposite thin films

In this paper, the influence of nickel incorporation on the mechanical properties and the in vitro bioactivity of hydrogenated carbon thin films were investigated in detail. Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a‐C:H) and nickel‐incorporated hydrogenated carbon (Ni/a‐C:H) thin films were deposited onto the Si substrates by using reactive biased target ion beam deposition technique. The films' chemical composition, surface roughness, microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated by using XPS, AFM, TEM, nanoindentation and nanoscratch test, respectively. XPS results have shown that the film surface is mainly composed of nickel, nickel oxide and nickel hydroxide, whereas at the core is nickel carbide (Ni₃C) only. The presence of Ni₃C has increased the sp² carbon content and as a result, the mechanical hardness of the film was decreased. However, Ni/a‐C:H films shows very low friction coefficient with higher scratch‐resistance behavior than that of pure a‐C:H film. In addition, in vitro bioactivity study has confirmed that it is possible to grow dense bone‐like apatite layer on Ni/a‐C:H films. Thus, the results have indicated the suitability of the films for bone‐related implant coating applications. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Revisiting the properties of delafossite CuCrO2: A single crystal study

Platelet-like single-crystals of delafossite CuCrO₂ have been successfully grown and characterised by X-ray diffraction and pole figures, scanning electron and atomic force microscopy. Transport measurements reveal that the resistivity is highly anisotropic, with a ratio of about 35 at 300 K between the in- and out-of-plane directions, reflecting the layered crystal structure. The magnetization and specific heat data show that CuCrO₂ undergoes a unique antiferromagnetic transition at T_N=24.0 K, in contrast to a recent report on CuCrO₂ single-crystals [16] showing the existence of two magnetic transitions, T_N1=24.2 K and T_N2=23.6 K, depending on the orientation of the applied magnetic field along and perpendicular to c, respectively.     

Synthesis and characterisation of bis(pentafluorophenyl)antimony(V) cations, [(C6F5)2SbL3]

Pentacoordinate complex cations of the general formula [(C₆F₅)₂SbL₃]³⁺ stabilized as solid salts in combination with tetraphenylborate (BPh₄), tetrafluorobroate (BF₄) anions, where L=DMSO, Ph₃AsO, PyO, DMF, α-, β- and γ-picoline have been isolated. The newly formed complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductance measurements, solid-state IR and and NMR. From these results, a five-fold coordination around antimony was required.     

Vanadium(III) chloride catalyzed Biginelli condensation: solution phase library generation of dihydropyrimidin-(2H)-ones

The three component condensation of an aldehyde, a β-keto ester and urea (thiourea) in the presence of a catalytic amount of VCl₃ is disclosed for the solution phase synthesis of dihydropyrimidinones. The ease of synthesis and work-up allowed the parallel synthesis of a 48-membered library of dihydropyrimidinones quickly and efficiently in good yields.     

A Facile Diversity‐Oriented Multicomponent One‐Pot Synthesis of 3‐Amino‐6,7‐dihydrobenzo[c]thiophen‐4(5H)‐one Derivatives from α‐Oxo‐N,S‐ketene Acetal

A convenient one‐pot multicomponent method for the preparation of 3‐amino‐6,7‐dihydrobenzo[c]thiophen‐4(5H)‐one derivative has been developed. Reaction of 1,3‐cyclohexanedione and phenyl isothiocynate gave α‐oxo‐N,S‐ketene acetal that were reacted in situ with 2‐chloromethylquniazoline‐4‐one derivatives, in the presence of sodium hydride to afford the target compound in reasonable overall yields.     

BF3·OEt2-catalyzed synthesis of 1-(tetrahydropyran-3-yl)-1,3-dihydroisobenzofuran and trans-fused hexahydropyrano[3,2-c]chromene derivatives

A novel intramolecular Prins cyclization of (E)-5-(2-(hydroxymethyl)phenyl)pent-4-en-1-ol with aldehydes has been achieved using 10 mol % BF₃·Et₂O to produce 1-(tetrahydropyran-3-yl)-1,3-dihydroisobenzofuran derivatives in good to excellent yields with high selectivity. Similar type of coupling with salicylaldehydes provides the trans-fused hexahydropyrano[3,2-c]chromene derivatives in excellent yields.     

Synthesis,Characterization, and Antibacterial Activity of Novel (1H‐Benzo[d]imidazole‐2‐yl)‐6‐(diethylamino)‐3H‐one‐xanthene,Phenoxazine, and Oxazine

A series of novel (1H‐benzo[d]imidazole‐2‐yl)‐6‐(diethylamino)‐3H‐one‐xanthene, phenoxazine, and oxazine derivatives have been synthesized from 2‐(2′,4′‐dihydroxyphenyl) benzimidazole intermediate. Synthesized compounds 8a , 8b , 8c , 8d are fluorescent in solution, photophysical properties of compounds were studied and results revealed that compounds absorb and emit in UV–visible region with good fluorescence quantum yield. Synthesized compounds are thermally stable up to 300°C. The antibacterial activities of the synthesized compounds were studied by the well‐diffusion method. Escherichia coli (ATTC‐25922), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC‐25923), Micrococcus (ATCC‐4698), and Bacillus subtilis (ATCC‐55422) were used to investigate the antibacterial activities.     

Impact of Targeted Specific Antibiotic Delivery for Gut Microbiota Modulation on High-Fructose-Fed Rats

The objective of present investigation was to study the effect of gut microbiota alteration by oral administration of targeted delivery of pH sensitive cefdinir microspheres to high-fructose-fed (HFD) rats. Rats were fed with a high-fructose diet with or without cefdinir microsphere administration for 30 days. The fecal microbiota community, oral glucose tolerance, the markers of liver injury, plasma and hepatic lipids profile, and histological evaluation were investigated. The levels of blood glucose, liver injury markers, lipid profile in plasma and liver, and fat tissue were significantly increased in high-fructose-fed rats. However, after pH-sensitive cefdinir microsphere administration, the elevation of these parameters was significantly suppressed. Cef EL significantly lowered the increased AST (p?<?0.05) and ALT (p?<?0.001) levels in HFD group. There is a significant lower (p?<?0.01) AUC_glucose level in Cef EL group than HFD group The histological changes in the liver and the small and large intestines were more profound in HFD group as compared to cefdinir-treated HFD and control groups. Feeding of cefdinir microsphere sustained lactobacilli and bifidobacteria and significantly decreased (p?<?0.05) the number of Enterobacteriaceae induced by HFD. Experimental evidences demonstrated that the effectiveness of pH-specific cefdinir microsphere on reducing insulin resistance and development of metabolic changes in high-fructose-fed rats and suggested that it may be a promising therapeutic agent in treating type 2 diabetes. Intestinal-targeted antibiotic delivery needs to be further explored for its therapeutic applications.