Charge-transfer complexes of barbiturates and phenytoin

Simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods are described, for the first time, for the determination of sodium salts of phenobarbital (1), thiopental (2), methohexital (3) and phenytoin (4). The methods are based on the reaction of these drugs as n-electron donors with the sigma-acceptor iodine and various pi-acceptors: 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane; 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone; 2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone; 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-1,4-benzoquinone; 2,5-dichloro-3,6-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone; tetracyanoethylene and 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenon. Depending on the solvent polarity, different coloured charge-transfer complexes and radicals were developed. Different variables and parameters affecting the reactions were studied and optimized. The formed complexes were examined by UV/VIS, infrared and (1)H-NMR. Due to the rapid development of colours at ambient temperature, the obtained results were used on thin layer chromatograms for the detection of the investigated compounds. Beer's plots were obeyed in a general concentration range of 1-400 mug ml(-1) for the investigated compounds with different acceptors. Interference from some co-formulated drugs was also studied. No interference was observed due to additives commonly present in the pharmaceutical preparations. The proposed methods could be applied successfully to the determination of the investigated compounds in pure and pharmaceutical dosage forms with good accuracy and precision, the recoveries ranged from 98.7+/-0.5 to 101.1+/-0.5%. The results were compared favourably with the official methods.     

Solvent extraction of lanthanum(III), europium(III) and lutetium(III) with fluorinated 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-benzoyl-5-pyrazolones into chloroform

A series of chelating reagents, 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-(2-fluorobenzoyl)-5-pyrazolone, 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-(3-fluorobenzoyl)-5-pyrazolone and 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-(4-fluorobenzoyl)-5-pyrazolone, has been synthesized. The extraction of Ln(III), (Ln = La, Eu and Lu) into chloroform with these reagents at 30 +/- 1 degrees has been studied. The composition of the complexes extracted has been determined by the slope method, and the extraction constants K(ex), were measured. The presence of the fluorine atom in the reagents does not make the K(ex), values much different from those obtained with the parent pyrazolone.     

Selective spectrophotometric determination of ascorbic acid in drugs and foods

A new analytical method was developed for the determination of ascorbic acid. The method is based on the reaction of ascorbic acid with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazane (NBD-Cl) in the presence of 0.2M sodium hydroxide, where a bluish green colour (lambda(max) 582 nm) is developed after dilution with 50% (v/v) aqueous acetone solution. Beer's law was obeyed in a concentration range of 5-20 microg ascorbic acid/ml with a good correlation coefficient (r = 0.9990). The method was found to be highly specific for the determination of ascorbic acid in the presence of dehydro-ascorbic acid, all other vitamins and minerals possibly present in multivitamin preparations, rutin, salicylamide, acetyl salicylic acid, paracetamol, caffeine, phenylephrine hydrochloride and dipyrone. Moreover, the proposed procedure was also successfully applied for the determination of ascorbic acid in some canned and fresh fruit juices, some vegetables and infant milk products without interference from coloured and other substances present in the plant extracts.     

Influence of substitutions on asymmetric dihydroxychlorins with regard to intracellular uptake, subcellular localization and photosensitization of Jurkat cells

The search for new efficient sensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT) points to improve photophysical properties like absorption in the red region and singlet oxygen quantum yield as well as to control the localization of the sensitizer within the tumour cell. Depending on their physicochemical properties and their uptake mechanism, sensitizers can reach different intracellular concentrations and localize in different subcellular compartments. Moreover, the preferential localization of a sensitizer in target organelles, like mitochondria or lysosomes, could determine the cell death mechanism after PDT. This study aimed to investigate the influence of substitutions on dihydroxychlorins with regard to intracellular uptake, subcellular localization and cell death pathway. Moreover, the effect of a liposome-based delivery system was tested. The intracellular uptake was found to be strictly dependent on the sensitizer molecular structure and the means of its delivery. The most polar sensitizer in this study (compound 3) had, depending on incubation time, an intracellular concentration 2-8 times higher than the unsubstituted chlorin 1. All investigated photosensitizers localize predominantly in lysosomes but after longer incubation times weak fluorescence intensity was also detected in mitochondria and Golgi apparatus. The cell death pathway was found to be influenced by the sensitizer intracellular concentration and the applied light doses. In general, the increasing amphiphilicity of the sensitizer molecules is correlated with an increased sensitizer uptake and an increased rate of necrotic cells after irradiation.     

Synthesis and Structure Elucidation of Novel Spirooxindole Linked to Ferrocene and Triazole Systems via [3 + 2] Cycloaddition Reaction

In the present work, a novel heterocyclic hybrid of a spirooxindole system was synthesized via the attachment of ferrocene and triazole motifs into an azomethine ylide by [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction protocol. The X-ray structure of the heterocyclic hybrid (1″R,2″S,3R)-2″-(1-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)-5-methyl-1H-1,2,3-triazole-4-carbonyl)-5-methyl-1″-(ferrocin-2-yl)-1″,2″,5″,6″,7″,7a″-hexahydrospiro[indoline-3,3″-pyrrolizin]-2-one revealed very well the expected structure, by using different analytical tools (FTIR and NMR spectroscopy). It crystallized in the triclinic-crystal system and the P-1-space group. The unit cell parameters are a = 9.1442(2) Å, b = 12.0872(3) Å, c = 14.1223(4) Å, α = 102.1700(10)°, β = 97.4190(10)°, γ = 99.1600(10)°, and V = 1484.81(7) ų. There are two molecules per unit cell and one formula unit per asymmetric unit. Hirshfeld analysis was used to study the molecular packing of the heterocyclic hybrid. H···H (50.8%), H···C (14.2%), Cl···H (8.9%), O···H (7.3%), and N···H (5.1%) are the most dominant intermolecular contacts in the crystal structure. O···H, N···H, H···C, F···H, F···C, and O···O are the only contacts that have the characteristic features of short and significant interactions. AIM study indicated predominant covalent characters for the Fe–C interactions. Also, the electron density (ρ(r)) at the bond critical point correlated inversely with the Fe–C distances.     

Observation on Symmetry Properties of Sodium Zinc(II)-2,9,16,23-phthalocyanine Tetracarboxylate in Water:NaOH Solution

The shift of the Q-band of sodium zinc(II)-2,9,16,23-phthalocyanine tetracarboxylate (ZnPc(COONa)₄) to about 800 nm is attributed to the influence of the electron-donating property of the carboxylate groups substituted in the β–position. ZnPc(COONa)₄ which was found to have a symmetry of D _2h characterized by a splitting of the Q transition. This splitting was interpreted by the formation of dianionic symmetric ZnPc(COONa)₄ resulting from the dissociation of the pyrrole protons as well as the possibility of Na⁺ dissolution of ZnPc(COONa)₄ in the aqueous solution of NaOH.     

Infra-Red Study of Tautomerism in Some Schiff Bases.

Infra-Red spectra of a series of substituted salicylaldehyde and 2-hydroxy-naphthaldehyde Schiff bases were used to investigate enol-keto tautomeric equilibrium. Two model compounds, namely, salicylidinaniline and naphthylidinequinolineamine Schiff bases were used to represent the enol and keto forms, respectively. From the IR spectra of the model compounds it was possible to assign the IR absorption for the C=O and the C=N groups in both the keto and the enol form. It was also possible to assign other absorptions which were either specific to the keto or the enol forms. Specific pattern were observed for all the studied compounds.     

A theoretical evidence for cooperativity effects in fluorine-centered halogen bonds: linear (FCN)2–7 and (FNC)2–7 clusters

A theoretical investigation was performed to study cooperative effects in fluorine-centered halogen bond interactions. We investigated geometry, strength, and origin of the interactions in linear (FCN)_2–7 and (FNC)_2–7 clusters by means of MP2 and CCSD(T) methods. Our results strongly suggest that cooperative effects induced by fluorine-centered halogen bonds are significant in both linear FCN and FNC clusters. CCSD(T)/6-311++G** calculations reveal that for (FCN)_2–7 clusters, the average halogen-bonding energy per monomer increases from ?0.76 kcal/mol in dimer to ?0.92 kcal/mol in heptamer. The results of electron density analysis suggest that the capacity of the linear FCN and FNC clusters to concentrate electrons at the F···N and F···C BCPs enhance considerably with cluster size. The results also indicate that the magnitude of cooperative effects is more important for FCN than for FNC clusters. According to energy decomposition analysis, attractive electrostatic and dispersion components make the major contribution to the F···N and F···C halogen bond interactions. An acceptable correlation is found between different energy terms and total interaction energies, revealing the main role of these interactions for stability of linear (FCN) _n and (FNC) _n clusters.     

A novel method for non-destructive Compton scatter imaging based on the genetic algorithm

Compton scattering tomography is widely used in numerous applications such as biomedical imaging, nondestructive industrial testing and environmental survey, etc. This paper proposes the use of the genetic algorithm (GA), which utilizes bio-inspired mathematical models, to construct an image of the insides of a test object via the scattered photons, from a voxel within the object. A NaI(Tl) scintillation detector and a 185 MBq ¹³⁷Cs gamma ray source were used in the experimental measurements. The obtained results show that the proposed GA based method performs well in constructing images of objects.