Selective determination of catechin, epicatechin and ascorbic acid in human urine using chiral capillary electrophoresis

Chiral CE was successfully applied to the separation and quantification of catechin, epicatechin and ascorbic acid in some commercial drinks and human urine. Analysis involved the separation of analytes in less than 5.0 min at 240 nm with an untreated fused-silica capillary under hydrodynamic injection mode. The running buffer consisted of 50 mM borate buffer with 3 mM beta-CD at pH 8.35. Detection limits for catechin, epicatechin and ascorbic acid were 0.028, 0.011 and 0.004 microg/mL, respectively. Linearity was investigated by selecting the ranges of calibration according to the amount of analytes in urine giving correlation coefficient percent (% r(2)) ranging between 99.4 and 99.6 at 99% confidence level. The maximum urinary excretion of catechin and epicatechin were noted at 2.0 and 4.0 h of the administrated dose. Unchanged catechin, epicatechin and ascorbic acid amounted to about 1.500, 8.696 and 0.003% of the administered dose in the 48.0 h urine collection. The proposed method achieved 99.2% completeness (n = 20) in urine media.     

Determination of catechin isomers in human plasma subsequent to green tea ingestion using chiral capillary electrophoresis with a high-sensitivity cell

A simple and reliable analytical electrophoretic method using chiral capillary electrophoresis (CCE) with a high-sensitivity cell of special design has been established for simultaneous determination of (+)-catechin (C) and (-)-epicatechin (EC) in aqueous and human plasma media. The application of a capillary with high-sensitivity cell has led to an improvement of 10-fold and 5-fold time-corrected peak area over a standard cell and a capillary with bubble cell, respectively. Analysis has involved the electrophoretic separation of C and EC in less than 4.0 min at 210 nm. The running buffer consist of 50.0 mmol L(-1) borate buffer with 1.0 mmol L(-1) beta-cyclodextrin at pH 8.5. CCE system has been proved for its intended use by applying procedure starting from calibration of CE instrument into validation of all experimental parameters. The resolution between catechin isomers under optimal conditions has been found to be more than 3.0. The detection limits of C and EC have been calculated to be 3.2 and 1.0 ng mL(-1), respectively. Good linearity has been obtained with correlation coefficient (r(2)) ranging between 0.995 and 0.996 at 99% confidence level (CL). Application of the proposed method to human plasma after ingestion of green tea has successfully been achieved and has statistically been proved. The unchanged amounts of C and EC in plasma were about 17.4 and 1.8% of the administered dose after 2 h of starting tea ingestion. The detection limits of C and EC in human plasma at 210 nm were 4.1 and 1.5 ng mL(-1), respectively.     

A novel assignment method in the 13C NMR spectroscopy of coumarins and furocoumarins

The signal shifts caused by replacing the carbonyl oxygen by sulphur represent a valuable method of assignment of the ¹³C NMR signals in coumarins and furocoumarins substituted at the benzoic and furanoic rings.     

Effect of position of the lateral fluoro substituent on the mesophase behaviour of aryl 4-alkoxyphenylazo benzoates in pure and binary mixtures

Five groups of 4-substituted phenyl 4?-(2?- (or 3″-) substituted-4?-alkoxyphenylazo) benzoates (In_a-c to Vn_a-c) were investigated in which, within each group, the length of the terminal alkoxy group varies between 8 and 16 carbons, while the other terminal substituent, X, is a polar group that alternatively changed between the electron-donating CH₃O and the electron-withdrawing Br group, in addition to the un-substituted analogue (X = H). The lateral substituent (Y) in the five groups I–V varies, respectively, between H, 3-CH₃, 2-CH₃, 3-F and 2-F. Their mesophase stabilities were determined by differential scanning calorimetry and phases identified by polarised light microscopy. The two newly prepared groups of compounds (IVn_a-c and Vn_a-c) are structurally characterised by infrared, ¹H-NMR, mass spectroscopy, thermogravimetric and elemental analyses. Binary phase diagrams were constructed for each pair of isomers from groups IV and V bearing the same wing substituents but the lateral F is attached to different positions (2? or 3″).     

Electrochemical immunosensor for determination of aflatoxin B1 in barley

This paper reports the assembly of a disposable electrochemical immunosensor based on the indirect competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), for simple and fast measurement of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) in barley using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The immunosensor strip was assembled immobilising the biological component (i.e. the AFB₁ conjugated to bovine serum albumin, incubation the sample (or standard) with the monoclonal antibody anti-AFB₁ (MAb). A spectrophotometric ELISA was used in a preliminary phase of development, prior to transferring the assay to the SPEs.

Results showed a detection limit of 20 and 30 pg/mL for the spectrophotometric ELISA and the electrochemical immunosensor, respectively.

The extraction efficiency and the matrix effect have been evaluated by spiking blank barley with AFB₁ before and after the sample treatment. After treatment, samples were analysed using a 1:10 (v/v) dilution in PBS (phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.4) in order to minimise the matrix effect. Good recoveries were obtained, which demonstrated the suitability of the proposed method for routine screening of AFB₁ in barley.     

Mono- and binuclear Schiff base complexes derived from glycine, 3-acetylpyridine and transition metal ions

Binuclear Schiff base complexes derived from glycine (Gly) and 3-acetylpyridine (3-APy) in the presence of M(OAc)₂ [M = Co^II, Ni^II, Cu^II, Zn^II and Cd^II] have been synthesized. The role of pH in promoting the condensation of glycine and 3-acetylpyridine, as well as the substitution of acetates by hydroxide ion, has been discussed. Also, the reaction of glycine with 3-acetylpyridine in the presence of MCl₂ [M = Co^II and Ni^II] and MCl₃ [M = Fe^III and Cr^III] yields mono- and/or binuclear complexes containing both of glycine and 3-acetylpyridine without condensation. Both types of complex were isolated and characterized by chemical analysis, conductance, spectral (u.v.–vis., i.r., and ¹H-n.m.r.), magnetic and thermal measurements.     

5-(5-Aryl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-carbonyl)furan-3-carboxylate and new cyclic C-glycoside analogues from carbohydrate precursors with MAO-B, antimicrobial and antifungal activities

Cyclization of acyclic C-glycoside derivatives 1a,b to 2a,b as the major isomers, and 4a,b as the minor isomers were carried out. The isopropylidene derivatives 3a,b were prepared, as well as the hydrazide derivative 6, which was condensed with a variety of aldehydes to give hydrazones 7a-e which were also prepared from the compounds 12a-e. Acetylation of 7a,d gave the corresponding acetyl derivatives 8a,d, respectively. In addition, the dicarbonyl compound 9 was prepared in the hydrate form, which reacted with a number of aroylhydrazines to give the corresponding bisaroylhydrazones 10a-d, which were cyclized into 1,3,4-oxadiazoles 11a-d. Furthermore, two of the prepared compounds were examined to show the ability to activate MAO-B. In addition a number of prepared compounds showed antibacterial and antiviral activities.     

Synthesis of Some New Pyrazole,Pyrimidine, Pyridazine,and Their Fused Derivatives from 3‐Oxo‐3,N‐diphenylpropionamide

The title compounds were obtained from the reactions of 3‐oxo‐3,N‐diphenylpropionamide 3 with dimethylformamide dimethylacetal followed by hydrazine to afford the pyrazole 7 , condensation with benzaldehyde followed by cyclocondensation with guanidine to afford the pyrimidine derivative 13 , condensation with active methylenes followed by azo coupling of the products followed by cyclization to afford the pyridazines 17a , 17b . The pyridazinone 17b was explored for the synthesis of some novel pyridazine‐fused heterocyclic compounds 19 , 21 , 24a , 24b , 24c , and 26 . All structures were proved via their elemental analyses and spectral data.     

Silica sulfuric acid/ethylene glycol as an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine-3-carbonitrile derivatives

A simple and efficient eco-friendly method was developed for the synthesis of new benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine-3-carbonitrile derivatives in excellent yields. The synthesis was achieved through the reaction of 2-aminobenzimidazole, aldehydes and active nitriles (malononitrle or ethyl cyanoacetae) in the presence of silica sulfuric acid/ethylene glycol. This protocol offers very short reaction times (in some cases, reaction times were reduced to five minutes), high yields and low cost. This method thus provides an improvement over the existing methods.     

Determination of heavy metal ions in environmental samples employing preconcentration on novel resins of polyurethane foam linked with o-Aminophenol or o-Hydroxyphenylazonaphthol

o-Aminophenol (AP) and its azo derivative with ß-Naphthol(Naph) is bonded to polyurethane foam (BPUF) and used as solid phase extractor of nickel, cadmium and zinc ions in aqueous solutions prior to their atomic absorption spectrometric determinations. The novel resins of polyurethane foam were characterised by density, elemental analysis, IR spectra and chemical stability. The parameters including pH, sample volume, matrix effects were investigated. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the combined method of sample treatment, preconcentration and determination with atomic absorption spectrometry is generally lower than 10%. The limit of detection was found between 0.06 and 0.22?µg?L^?1. The procedure was used for determination of analyte ions in natural water samples, apple leaves and fish liver.