Differentiation between isomeric oxidative metabolites of a piperidine-containing drug by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with stable-isotope tracer technique

This report describes the application of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method to differentiation of hydroxylations and N-oxidations and of two different aliphatic hydroxylations in the investigation of the metabolism of pibutidine hydrochloride, a novel H2 antagonist, the structure of which includes a piperidine ring. Pibutidine metabolites in urine samples from adult male volunteers after oral administration of pibutidine hydrochloride were separated by reversed-phase LC and ionized using an electrospray ionization (ESI) interface. A hydroxylated form of pibutidine was distinguished from the N-oxide by comparison of their product ion spectra, although their mass-to-charge ratios of protonated molecules were identical. Further, two hydroxylated compounds were present in rat microsomal incubation mixtures with pibutidine. The distinction between their positions of hydroxylation (beta- and gamma-carbon hydroxylation) on the piperidine ring was studied using [piperidine-2H10] pibutidine as incubation substrate. The production of the beta-hydroxylated form was accompanied by the elimination of three 2H, resulting from a mechanism including the formation of iminium/enamine. The participation of the iminium ion intermediate in the beta-hydroxylation was confirmed by the observation that a cyanide adduct of pibutidine was formed instead of the beta-hydroxylated form when another incubation was performed in the presence of cyanide.     

Immobilized anti-α-fetoprotein discs prepared by radiation polymerization for enzyme immunoassay

Immobilized anti-α-fetoprotein discs for enzyme immunoassay of α-fetoprotein were prepared by radiation polymerization of hydroxyethylmethacrylate at ?78°C. The activity (determined by absorbance at 492 nm) of the discs varied with monomer concentration and disc thickness, the optimum values being 200–400 g l^?1 and 10–30 μm, respectively. The discs have a porous polymer matrix, are flexible, and can be dried and stored for long periods. The correlation coefficient for α-fetoprotein concentration determined in sera by radio immunoassay and by enzyme imminoassay with the discs was high (0.97). The recovery of α-fetoprotein added to serum was 99.0–1055.     

Immobilization of antibodies and enzyme-labeled antibodies by radiation polymerization

Immobilization of antibodies and enzyme-labeled antibodies by radiation polymerization at low temperatures was studied. The antibody activity of antibody was not affected by irradiation at an irradiation dose of below 8 MR and low temperatures. Immobilization of peroxidase-labeled anti-rabbit IgG goat IgG, anti-peroxidase, peroxidase, and anti-alpha-fetoprotein was carried out with hydrophilic and hydrophobic monomers. The activity of the immobilized enzyme-labeled antibody membranes varied with the thickness of the membranes and increased with decreasing membrane thickness. The activity of the immobilized antibody particles was varied by particle size. Immobilized anti-alpha-fetoprotein particles and membranes can be used for the assay of alpha-fetoprotein by the antigen-antibody reaction, such as a solid-phase sandwich method with high sensitivity.     

Synthesis of chiral vinylic sulfoxides by Pd-catalyzed asymmetric sulfinylzincation

Novel asymmetric sulfinylzincation of alkynoates has been accomplished via a Pd-catalyzed sulfinylzincation using 1-alkynyl sulfoxides bearing chiral auxiliaries as a sulfinylating reagent. The reaction proceeded in a highly syn-selective fashion, giving the (E)-β-sulfinyl α,β-unsaturated ester exclusively. Among the chiral sulfinylating reagents tested, an isoborneol-type compound (Rs)-4 showed the best results in terms of both yield and diastereoselectivity. As a result of optimization of the reaction, the selectivity was improved up to 92:8 dr, and stereochemistry of the newly formed sulfur stereogenic center was revealed as (Ss)-configuration.     

Degenerate Fermi gases of ytterbium

Evaporative cooling was performed to cool fermionic 173Yb atoms in a crossed optical dipole trap. The large elastic collision rate leads to efficient evaporation and we have successfully cooled the atoms to 0.37+/-0.06 of the Fermi temperature, that is to say, to a quantum degenerate regime. In this regime, a plunge of evaporation efficiency was observed as a result of Fermi degeneracy.     

Synthesis of 4-O-[3-(aryl)prop-2-ynyl]-Neu5Ac2en and its 4-epi-analogs modified at C-4 by Sonogashira coupling reaction

To explore new inhibitors of the sialidase of human parainfluenza virus type 1 (hPIV-1), a series of novel Neu5Ac2en derivatives were synthesized. Thus, 8,9-O-isopropylidene-4-O-2-propynyl-Neu5Ac2en methyl ester 8 was subjected to a Sonogashira coupling reaction with a variety of heteroaryl halides to produce a series of 4-O-(3-heteroaryl-2-propynyl) compound 9. Treatment of 9 with 80% acetic acid followed by alkaline hydrolysis afforded deprotected Neu5Ac2en compounds. The 4-epi-analogs of this type of Neu5Ac2en were synthesized in a similar manner. Compound 5d showed the most potent inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ 1.2 μM) against hPIV-1 sialidase.     

Enantioseparation of α-Amino Acids by Capillary Electrophoresis Using L-Cysteine-Modified Cyclodextrins as Chiral Selectors

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a powerful separation technique that was used in a wide range of analytical chemical applications. Cyclodextrins(CDs) are the most commonly used chiral selectors in chiral capillary electrophoresis at the present time. Under neutral conditions, however, native CDs are neutral and usually applicable only for the enantioseparation of charged analyses. To overcome this defect we modified α- and β-CD with a L-cysteine moiety and used the CD derivatives as chiral selectors for the separation of a-amino acid enantiomers by the ligand exchange mode.     

Bis(oxazoline)–ligand-mediated asymmetric [2,3]-Wittig rearrangement of benzyl ethers: reaction mechanism based on the hydrogen/deuterium exchange effect

We have investigated the mechanism of chiral induction in the asymmetric [2,3]-Wittig rearrangement of allyl benzyl ether in the presence of a bis(oxazoline) chiral ligand [(S,S)-Box–tBu] by comparing the reaction of both enantiomers of monodeuterated benzyl ether 1a–d. As a result, we found that chirality was induced via enantioselective deprotonation followed by efficient chirality transfer of the resulting chiral benzyl carbanion with the inversion of stereochemistry. It was revealed that the chiral ligand facilitates selective deprotonation as well as prevents the chiral carbanion from racemization. Moreover, we examined the effect of the o-methoxy substituent on the benzene ring.     

A miniaturized FIA system for the determination of residual chlorine in environmental water samples.

The present study was aimed at developing a portable miniaturized FIA system with a two-electrode based amperometric detector for on-site monitoring of residual chlorine in environmental samples. The electrode potential control and current data collection were conducted with a home-designed potentiostat with a size of 150 x 100 x 40 mm and the weight of 350 g. It was confirmed that the amperometric response increased in proportion to the chlorine concentration up to 5 microg/ml, and the detection limit for chlorine was 0.05 microg/ml. Besides a drastic reduction in the size of the analytical system, such miniaturization achieved the advantages of increased speed, minimal mobile-phase consumption, and high sensitivity. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of residual chlorine in samples of pool water and tap water. The results were well agreed with those obtained by the N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPD) photometric method.