Secondary processes in atmospheric pressure chemical ionization–ion trap mass spectrometry: a case study of orotic acid

Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization is known for producing unusual artifacts of the ionization process in some cases. In this work, processes occuring in atmospheric pressure chemical ionization/MS of orotic acid that afforded ions accompanying protonated and deprotonated orotic acid molecules in the spectra were studied. Two processes ran in parallel in the ion source: decarboxylation of neutral orotic acid and collision‐induced dissociation of its protonated or deprotonated form. A procedure discerning pre‐ionization decomposition and post‐ionization dissociation by manipulating ion source parameters was proposed. Experiments with isotopically labeled solvents confirmed ion–molecule reactions of the product of collision‐induced dissociation of protonated orotic acid with solvent molecules in the ion source and even under vacuum in the ion trap. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New dinuclear nickel(II) complexes: synthesis, structure, electrochemical, and magnetic properties

The reaction of [NiBr(2)(bpy)(2)] (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) with organic phosphinic acids ArP(O)(OH)H [Ar = Ph, 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl (Mes), 9-anthryl (Ant)] leads to the formation of binuclear nickel(II) complexes with bridging ArP(H)O(2)(-) ligands. Crystal structures of the binuclear complexes [Ni(2)(μ-O(2)P(H)Ar)(2)(bpy)(4)]Br(2) (Ar = Ph, Mes, Ant) have been determined. In each structure, the metal ions have distorted octahedral coordination and are doubly bridged by two arylphosphinato ligands. Magnetic susceptibility measurements have shown that these complexes display strong antiferromagnetic coupling between the two nickel atoms at low temperatures, apparently similar to binuclear nickel(II) complexes with bridging carboxylato ligands. Cyclic voltammetry and in situ EPR spectroelectrochemistry show that these complexes can be electrochemically reduced and oxidized with the formation of Ni(I),Ni(0)/Ni(III) derivatives.     

Imaging reflection IR spectroscopy as a tool to achieve higher integration for high-throughput experimentation in catalysis research

FTIR spectroscopy in reflection mode combined with a focal plane array (FPA) detector was employed for high-throughput screening of activity of catalysts in n-pentane hydroisomerization. The reactor system was evaluated using reference catalysts Pt-MOR and gamma-alumina of known catalytic activity. By using the reflection setup, a higher degree of parallelization was possible, as compared to previous reports, in which transmission cells had been used. The 49-channel parallel reactor in combination with the FPA-IR optical setup was able to provide reliable information about the activity of different catalysts with relative data error of less than +/-20%.     

Simultaneous identification of historical pigments Prussian blue and indigo in paintings by electrospray mass spectrometry

A new analytical protocol for identification of Prussian blue (PB) and indigo was proposed. Pigments useful for dating of artworks were detected by flow injection analysis/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry after alkalization of their suspensions in water, decomposition of PB to iron (III) hydroxide and hexacyanoferrate (II) and reduction of indigo to soluble leucoindigo using sodium dithionite. Limits of detection (PB 47 pg, indigo 59 pg) complied with requirements for analysis of microsamples of historical paintings. Potential of the developed method was proven in analysis of blue samples of two oil paintings from the 20^th century. Further, PB was confirmed in a microsample from a painting of ‘Crucifixion’, St. Sebestian church on St. Hill in Mikulov, Czech Republic. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New Heterocyclic Organophosphorus–Sulfur–Nitrogen Compounds,Syntheses and Structures

The new compound C₁₀H₆P(S)[NSi(CH₃)₃]₂P(S) ( 3 ) which contains a P₂N₂ heterocycle has been prepared in low yield by partial thermal decomposition of 1-{[N,N′-bis(trimethylsilyl)acetamidinium]sulfido}-3-(trimethylsilylamino)-1 H,3 H,1 λ⁵,3 λ⁵-naphtho[1,8 a,8-cd][1,2,6]thiadiphosphinine-1,3-dithione [CH₃C{NHSi(CH₃)₃}₂]⁺[C₁₀H₆P(S)(NHSiMe₃)SP(S)₂]^– ( 2 ). Reaction of 2 with potassium hydroxide in acetonitrile gives the completely desilylated product [CH₃C(NH₂)₂]⁺[C₁₀H₆P(S)(NH₂)SP(S)₂]^– ( 4 ). The structures of the new compounds 3 and 4 were elucidated by FTIR and NMR spectroscopy methods and by X-ray structure analyses.     

A non-radioactive assay for precise determination of intracellular levels of imatinib and its main metabolite in Bcr-Abl positive cells

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is often associated with overexpression of the P-glycoprotein (P-gp, ABCB1). It was demonstrated that the P-gp mediated efflux decreases the drug concentration in cancer cells which results in the failure of chemotherapy. However, the MDR phenotype in cancer cells obviously involves various mechanisms. Therefore, if we want to estimate a contribution of the P-gp expression to the MDR phenotype, a clear quantitative relationship between the intracellular drug level and cell sensitivity must be established. To achieve this goal, a sensitive and non-radioactive assay for precise determination of intracellular levels of imatinib and its main metabolite N-desmethyl imatinib (CGP 74588) has been developed. The assay is based on an optimised extraction of cells with 4% formic acid after their separation from the growth medium by centrifugation through a layer of silicone oil. Cell extracts are subsequently analyzed by LC/MS/MS. Calibration curves were linear from 1 to 500 nmol/l for imatinib and from 2 to 500 nmol/l for CGP 74588, with correlation coefficients (r²) better than 0.998 and 0.996, respectively. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 1 nmol/l for imatinib and 2 nmol/l for CGP 74588. Our method has been successfully applied to the determination of intracellular levels of imatinib in sensitive K562 and their resistant variant, K562/Dox cells.     

On the complexation of the sodium cation with beauvericin: experimental and theoretical study

Abstract  

From extraction experiments in the two-phase water/nitrobenzene system and γ-activity measurements, the stability constant of the beauvericin·Na⁺ complex species dissolved in nitrobenzene saturated with water was determined. By using quantum mechanical density functional level of theory (DFT) calculations, the most probable structure of this complex species was derived.     

Photochemistry of HI on argon and water nanoparticles: hydronium radical generation in HI·(H2O)n

Photochemistry of HI molecules on large Ar(n) and (H(2)O)(n), n ～ 100-500, clusters was investigated after excitation with 243 nm and 193 nm laser radiation. The measured H-fragment kinetic energy distributions pointed to a completely different photodissociation mechanism of HI on water than on argon clusters. Distinct features corresponding to the fragment caging (slow fragments) and direct exit (fast fragments) were observed in the spectra from HI photodissociation on Ar(n) clusters. On the other hand, the fast fragments were entirely missing in the spectrum from HI·(H(2)O)(n) and the slow-fragment part of the spectrum had a different shape from HI·Ar(n). The HI·(H(2)O)(n) spectrum was interpreted in terms of the acidic dissociation of HI on (H(2)O)(n) in the ground state, and hydronium radical H(3)O formation following the UV excitation of the ionically dissociated species into states of a charge-transfer-to-solvent character. The H(3)O generation was proved by experiments with deuterated species DI and D(2)O. The experiment was complemented by ab initio calculations of structures and absorption spectra for small HI·(H(2)O)(n) clusters, n = 0-5, supporting the proposed model.     

The Nature of the Binding of Au, Ag, and Pd to Benzene, Coronene, and Graphene: From Benchmark CCSD(T) Calculations to Plane-Wave DFT Calculations

The adsorption of Ag, Au, and Pd atoms on benzene, coronene, and graphene has been studied using post Hartree-Fock wave function theory (CCSD(T), MP2) and density functional theory (M06-2X, DFT-D3, PBE, vdW-DF) methods. The CCSD(T) benchmark binding energies for benzene-M (M = Pd, Au, Ag) complexes are 19.7, 4.2, and 2.3 kcal/mol, respectively. We found that the nature of binding of the three metals is different: While silver binds predominantly through dispersion interactions, the binding of palladium has a covalent character, and the binding of gold involves a subtle combination of charge transfer and dispersion interactions as well as relativistic effects. We demonstrate that the CCSD(T) benchmark binding energies for benzene-M complexes can be reproduced in plane-wave density functional theory calculations by including a fraction of the exact exchange and a nonempirical van der Waals correction (EE+vdW). Applying the EE+vdW method, we obtained binding energies for the graphene-M (M = Pd, Au, Ag) complexes of 17.4, 5.6, and 4.3 kcal/mol, respectively. The trends in binding energies found for the benzene-M complexes correspond to those in coronene and graphene complexes. DFT methods that use empirical corrections to account for the effects of vdW interactions significantly overestimate binding energies in some of the studied systems.     

Interaction of hydrated protons with octyl-phenyl-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethyl phosphine oxide (CMPO): NMR and theoretical study

Interaction of octyl-phenyl-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (CMPO, the 'classical' rare metal extraction agent) with fully ionized hydrated protons (HP) was studied in acetonitrile-d(3) using (1)H, (13)C, (31)P NMR, PFG NMR and magnetic relaxation. The experimental results were confronted with high-precision ab initio DFT calculations. Relative chemical shifts of NMR signals of CMPO (0.01 mol/L) under the presence of HP in the molar ratio β = 0-2.0 mol/mol show binding between CMPO and HP. Self-diffusion measurements using (1)H PFG NMR demonstrate that larger complexes with higher content of CMPO are generally formed at β < 0.75. Analyzing the collective dependence of (13)C and (31)P NMR chemical shifts on β by the use of program LETAGROP, we obtained very good fitting for the assumed coexistence of two complexes (CMPO)(2)·HP (C(2)) and CMPO.HP (C(1)). The logarithms of the respective stabilization constants log K(i) were found to be 7.518 (C(2)) and 4.581 (C(1)). The system dynamics was studied by measuring the transverse (1)H NMR relaxation using CPMG sequence with varying delays t(p) between the π pulses in the mixtures with β = 0.4-0.8. The following exchange correlation times were obtained: τ(10) = 2.35 × 10(-5), τ(20) = 0.82 × 10(-4), τ(21) = 0.45 × 10(-3) s. The DFT calculations support the conclusion that the complexes C(1) and C(2) are the main species in the mixtures of CMPO with HP. They also agree with the NMR and FTIR observation that the main site to which H(3) O(+) is bound is the P=O group, whereas the amide group does not form a strong bond with the ion when excess water molecules are present.