A New Ir‐NHC Catalyst for Signal Amplification by Reversible Exchange in D2O

NMR signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) has been observed for pyridine, methyl nicotinate, N‐methylnicotinamide, and nicotinamide in D₂O with the new catalyst [Ir(Cl)(IDEG)(COD)] (IDEG=1,3‐bis(3,4,5‐tris(diethyleneglycol)benzyl)imidazole‐2‐ylidene). During the activation and hyperpolarization steps, exclusively D₂O was used, resulting in the first fully biocompatible SABRE system. Hyperpolarized ¹H substrate signals were observed at 42.5 MHz upon pressurizing the solution with parahydrogen at close to the Earth's magnetic field, at concentrations yielding barely detectable thermal signals. Moreover, 42‐, 26‐, 22‐, and 9‐fold enhancements were observed for nicotinamide, pyridine, methyl nicotinate, and N‐methylnicotinamide, respectively, in conventional 300 MHz studies. This research opens up new opportunities in a field in which SABRE has hitherto primarily been conducted in CD₃OD. This system uses simple hardware, leaves the substrate unaltered, and shows that SABRE is potentially suitable for clinical purposes.     

Biochemical analysis with microfluidic systems

Microfluidic systems are capillary networks of varying complexity fabricated originally in silicon, but nowadays in glass and polymeric substrates. Flow of liquid is mainly controlled by use of electroosmotic effects, i.e. application of electric fields, in addition to pressurized flow, i.e. application of pressure or vacuum. Because electroosmotic flow rates depend on the charge densities on the walls of capillaries, they are influenced by substrate material, fabrication processes, surface pretreatment procedures, and buffer additives. Microfluidic systems combine the properties of capillary electrophoretic systems and flow-through analytical systems, and thus biochemical analytical assays have been developed utilizing and integrating both aspects. Proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids can be separated because of their different electrophoretic mobility; detection is achieved with fluorescence detectors. For protein analysis, in particular, interfaces between microfluidic chips and mass spectrometers were developed. Further levels of integration of required sample-treatment steps were achieved by integration of protein digestion by immobilized trypsin and amplification of nucleic acids by the polymerase chain reaction. Kinetic constants of enzyme reactions were determined by adjusting different degrees of dilution of enzyme substrates or inhibitors within a single chip utilizing mainly the properties of controlled dosing and mixing liquids within a chip. For analysis of kinase reactions, however, a combination of a reaction step (enzyme with substrate and inhibitor) and a separation step (enzyme substrate and reaction product) was required. Microfluidic chips also enable separation of analytes from sample matrix constituents, which can interfere with quantitative determination, if they have different electrophoretic mobilities. In addition to analysis of nucleic acids and enzymes, immunoassays are the third group of analytical assays performed in microfluidic chips. They utilize either affinity capillary electrophoresis as a homogeneous assay format, or immobilized antigens or antibodies in heterogeneous assays with serial supply of reagents and washing solutions.     

The dimethyldioxirane-mediated oxidation of phenylethyne

The product pattern found for the dimethyldioxirane-mediated oxidation of phenylethyne strongly depends on the reaction conditions. Dimethyldioxirane generated in situ from caroate (HSO(5)(-)) and acetone in acetonitrile-water furnishes phenylacetic acid as the main product. With solutions of dimethyldioxirane in acetone, mandelic acid and phenylacetic acid are mainly formed. The relative abundances of the two acids depend on the residual water present in the dimethyldioxirane-acetone solution. Application of thoroughly dried solutions of the reagent effects increased formation of mandelic acid. When phenylethyne is oxidized by dimethyldioxirane transferred into tetrachloromethane, to minimize traces of water even further, oligomeric mandelic acid is obtained. The results are rationalized by the initial formation of phenyloxirene, which is known to equilibrate with phenylformylcarbene and benzoylcarbene. Subsequent Wolff rearrangement produces intermediate phenylketene, which can be trapped by water as phenylacetic acid or suffer from further oxidation to the alpha-lactone of mandelic acid. The alpha-lactone can either react with water to yield mandelic acid or, under anhydrous conditions, to yield oligomeric mandelic acid. In addition to mandelic acid and phenylacetic acid phenylglyoxylic acid, benzoic acid and benzaldehyde are observed as reaction products. The formation of phenylglyoxylic acid by transfer of two oxygen atoms to the unrearranged carbon skeleton of phenylethyne followed by oxygen insertion into the aldehydic C-H bond of the intermediately formed phenylglyoxal is discussed. In a second pathway this acid is formed by partial oxidation of mandelic acid. Benzaldehyde and benzoic acid are explained as products of the oxidative degradation of the alpha-lactone by dimethyldioxirane. Under in situ conditions benzoic acid is also formed by caroate initiated oxidative decarboxylation of phenylglyoxylic acid and/or intermediate phenylglyoxal.