Improved determination of flavour compounds in butter by solid-phase (micro)extraction and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

The practicability and potential of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) coupled to both conventional flame ionisation (FID) and time-of-flight mass spectrometric (TOF-MS) detection, were compared with those of conventional one-dimensional (1D) GC, with the determination of flavour compounds in butter as an application. For polar flavour compounds, which were collected from the aqueous fraction of butter by means of solid-phase extraction (SPE), it was found that GC x GC dramatically improves the overall separation. Consequently, quantification and preliminary identification based on the use of ordered structures, can be performed more reliably. The improvement effected by replacing 1D-GC by GC x GC is considerable also in the case of TOF-MS detection, as illustrated by the high match factors generally obtained during identification. GC x GC was also used successfully for the characterisation of volatile flavour compounds in the headspace of butter collected by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and to study the effect of heat treatment on the composition of butter samples in more detail.     

Developing an on-line derivatization of FAs by microwave irradiation coupled to HPLC separation with UV detection

The development of analytical methods for routine simultaneous identification and quantification of carboxylic fatty acids (CFAs) are required in different fields, such as, pharmaceutical cosmetics, food products and formulations of water–microemulsion–oil systems. Determination of CFAs has been developed mainly by gas chromatography (GC). As an alternative to GC, liquid chromatography (LC) has better sensitivity and selectivity. However, most CFAs show no useful absorption in ultraviolet–violet (UV–Vis) region, one of the more used detection technique in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In order to allow the use of UV–Vis detection, the use of pre-column derivatization has been reported to increase sensitivity and selectivity. Therefore, establishment of a simpler and faster on-line method with complete separation is needed for the screening of large numbers of samples. 2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH.), benzoil chloride (BC), and phenylhydrazine (PH) were used for derivatization of different FAs by microwaves radiation (MW). After the on-line derivatization, products were separated and quantified by HPLC. Reactor coil was placed inside of microwaves oven at 450 W. Parameters as flow, amount of reagents, irradiation time, and chromatographic conditions were optimized. The continuous analysis using the MW–HPLC–UV system provided high sensitivity and reduced both the amount of reagent used and the analysis times. This proposed method can be used for the routine analysis of FAs contained in water–microemulsion–oil systems, to quantify the total acid fraction in each phase.     

Multivariate analysis of extremely large ToFSIMS imaging datasets by a rapid PCA method

Principal component analysis (PCA) and other multivariate analysis methods have been used increasingly to analyse and understand depth profiles in X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). These methods have proved equally useful in fundamental studies as in applied work where speed of interpretation is very valuable. Until now these methods have been difficult to apply to very large datasets such as spectra associated with 2D images or 3D depth‐profiles. Existing algorithms for computing PCA matrices have been either too slow or demanded more memory than is available on desktop PCs. This often forces analysts to ‘bin’ spectra on much more coarse a grid than they would like, perhaps even to unity mass bins even though much higher resolution is available, or select only part of an image for PCA analysis, even though PCA of the full data would be preferred. We apply the new ‘random vectors’ method of singular value decomposition proposed by Halko and co‐authors to time‐of‐flight (ToF)SIMS data for the first time. This increases the speed of calculation by a factor of several hundred, making PCA of these datasets practical on desktop PCs for the first time. For large images or 3D depth profiles we have implemented a version of this algorithm which minimises memory needs, so that even datasets too large to store in memory can be processed into PCA results on an ordinary PC with a few gigabytes of memory in a few hours. We present results from ToFSIMS imaging of a citrate crystal and a basalt rock sample, the largest of which is 134GB in file size corresponding to 67 111 mass values at each of 512 × 512 pixels. This was processed into 100 PCA components in six hours on a conventional Windows desktop PC. © 2015 The Authors. Surface and Interface Analysis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Enantioselective Organocatalytic Addition of Oxazolones to 1,1‐Bis(phenylsulfonyl)ethylene: A Convenient Asymmetric Synthesis of Quaternary α‐Amino Acids

A new, easy, and highly enantioselective method for the synthesis of quaternary α‐alkyl‐α‐amino acids based on organocatalysis is reported. The addition of oxazolones to 1,1‐bis(phenylsulfonyl)ethylene is efficiently catalyzed by simple chiral bases or thioureas. The reaction affords α,α‐disubstituted α‐amino acid derivatives with complete C4 regioselectivity and with excellent yields and enantioselectivities. This methodology is complementary to previously reported enantioselective approaches to quaternary α‐amino acids and allows the synthesis of α‐phenyl‐α‐alkyl‐α‐amino acids and α‐tert‐butyl‐α‐alkyl‐α‐amino acids. It has distinct advantages in terms of operational simplicity, enviromentally friendly conditions, and suitability for large‐scale reactions.     

Stochastic theory of large-scale enzyme-reaction networks: finite copy number corrections to rate equation models

Chemical reactions inside cells occur in compartment volumes in the range of atto- to femtoliters. Physiological concentrations realized in such small volumes imply low copy numbers of interacting molecules with the consequence of considerable fluctuations in the concentrations. In contrast, rate equation models are based on the implicit assumption of infinitely large numbers of interacting molecules, or equivalently, that reactions occur in infinite volumes at constant macroscopic concentrations. In this article we compute the finite-volume corrections (or equivalently the finite copy number corrections) to the solutions of the rate equations for chemical reaction networks composed of arbitrarily large numbers of enzyme-catalyzed reactions which are confined inside a small subcellular compartment. This is achieved by applying a mesoscopic version of the quasisteady-state assumption to the exact Fokker-Planck equation associated with the Poisson representation of the chemical master equation. The procedure yields impressively simple and compact expressions for the finite-volume corrections. We prove that the predictions of the rate equations will always underestimate the actual steady-state substrate concentrations for an enzyme-reaction network confined in a small volume. In particular we show that the finite-volume corrections increase with decreasing subcellular volume, decreasing Michaelis-Menten constants, and increasing enzyme saturation. The magnitude of the corrections depends sensitively on the topology of the network. The predictions of the theory are shown to be in excellent agreement with stochastic simulations for two types of networks typically associated with protein methylation and metabolism.     

A simple one-pot, three-component, catalytic, highly enantioselective isoxazolidine synthesis

The highly chemo- and enantioselective organocatalytic three-component reaction between N-arylhydroxylamines, aldehydes and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes is presented; the reaction gives access to isoxazolidines in high yields with >25:1 dr and 91-99% ee.     

Hexanuclear copper(II) cages built on a central {μ3-O···H···μ3-O} moiety, 1,3-bis(dimethylamino)-2-propanolato and capping R-phosphonates: crystal structures, magnetic behavior, and DFT studies

The syntheses, structural characterization, and magnetic behavior of two new hexanuclear copper(II) complexes derived from R-phosphonic acids and 1,3-bis(dimethylamino)-2-propanol (Hbdmap) with formulas [Cu(6)(μ-bdmap)(3)(μ(3)-Ph-PO(3))(2)(μ(3)-O···H···μ(3)-O)(ClO(4))(2)(H(2)O)]·5H(2)O (1) and [Cu(6)(μ-bdmap)(3)(μ(3)-t-Bu-PO(3))(2)(μ(3)-O···H···μ(3)-O)(μ(1,3)-dca)(dca)(H(2)O)]·6H(2)O (2) (Ph-H(2)PO(3) = phenylphosphonic acid, t-Bu-H(2)PO(3) = tert-butylphosphonic acid, dca = dicyanamide) are reported. Compounds 1 and 2 are hexanuclear 3.111 R-phosphonate(2-)/1,3-bis(dimethylamino)-2-propanolato(1-) cages including in the center the [μ(3)-O···H···μ(3)-O](3-) unit. The temperature dependence of the magnetic properties of 1 and 2 clearly indicates an overall strong antiferromagnetic coupling confirmed by DFT calculations.     

Water-soluble carbosilane dendrimers: synthesis biocompatibility and complexation with oligonucleotides; evaluation for medical applications

Novel amine- or ammonium-terminated carbosilane dendrimers of type nG-[Si{OCH2(C6H3)-3,5-(OCH2CH2NMe2)2}]x, nG-[Si{O(CH2)2N(Me)(CH2)2NMe2}]x and nG-[Si{(CH2)3NH2}]x or nG-[Si{OCH2(C6H3)-3,5-(OCH2CH2NMe3 +I-)2}]x, nG-[Si{O(CH2)2N(Me)(CH2)2NMe3 +I-}]x, and nG-[Si{(CH2)3NH3 +Cl-}]x have been synthesized and characterized up to the third generation by two strategies: 1) alcoholysis of Si--Cl bonds with amino alcohols and subsequent quaternization with MeI, and 2) hydrosilylation of allylamine with Si--H bonds of the dendritic systems and subsequent quaternization with HCl. Quaternized carbosilane dendrimers are soluble in water, although degradation is apparent due to hydrolysis of Si--O bonds. However, dendrimers containing Si--C bonds are water-stable. The biocompatibility of the second-generation dendrimers in primary cell cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and erythrocytes have been analyzed, and they show good toxicity profiles over extended periods. In addition, we describe a study on the interactions between the different carbosilane dendrimers and DNA oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) and plasmids along with a comparative analysis of their toxicity. They can form complexes with DNA ODNs and plasmids at biocompatible doses via electrostatic interaction. Also a preliminary transfection assay has been accomplished. These results demonstrate that the new ammonium-terminated carbosilane dendrimers are good base molecules to be considered for biomedical applications.     

Determination of ethylene glycol dinitrate in dynamites using HPLC: application to the plastic explosive Goma-2 ECO

In this study, a sequential extraction method using water and methanol to recover ethylene glycol dinitrate or nitroglycol (EGDN) contained in Goma-2 ECO dynamite was developed. After, an HPLC method was used for the determination of EGDN in the two extracted phases. The analytical method was validated by evaluating its selectivity, sensitivity, linearity, and linear working concentration range, limit of detection and quantitation, precision (as repeatability and intermediate precision), accuracy, and robustness, providing appropriate values (i.e. RSD values for precision about 6% and accuracy about 100%). Finally, the EGDN content of a sample of the Goma-2-ECO dynamite was determined obtaining a concentration of 30.29%, which is in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications for this dynamite (25.7-31.4%).     

Texture changes inside smectic-C droplets in azobenzene Langmuir monolayers

Preparation of Langmuir monolayers of a mixture of trans- and cis-isomers of an azobenzene derivative, 4-[4-[(4-octylphenyl)azo]phenoxy]butanoic acid, results in the segregation of birefringent trans-isomer domains embedded in an isotropic medium of cis-isomers. Brewster angle microscopy observations allow us to identify different textures inside the domains depending on surface pressure, temperature, and domain size. The evolution of the monolayer in the dark, from initial droplets formed after spreading to a stable stripe texture, is described. The dynamics of domain coalescence and some morphological transitions induced by temperature and surface pressure changes are also discussed. A simple theoretical model is included to supplement some of these experimental observations.