Direct determination of residual Pluronic F-68 in in-process samples from monoclonal antibody preparations by high performance liquid chromatography

A simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed to determine residual Pluronic F-68 (PF-68) in in-process samples of monoclonal antibody (MAb) preparations. The method permits the direct injection of proteinaceous samples after simple sample dilution and is able to quantitate as low as 50 mg/L of PF-68 in the presence of up to approximately 30 g/L of protein. The PF-68 molecule was separated on a restricted access reversed phase column using a step gradient and then measured by an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD). The method was successfully applied to demonstrate PF-68 clearance in MAb purification processes. A modified colorimetric method using liquid-liquid extraction and cobalt thiocyanate to derivatize PF-68 is also described. The results obtained by both the HPLC and colorimetric methods were compared. In addition to its ease of use and simplicity, the HPLC method had better accuracy and higher throughput than the colorimetric method.     

Excited state spin waves in ErFe2

Neutron inelastic scattering measurements on ErFe₂ reveal an unusual doubling of the two lowest energy spin wave branches over a wide temperature range. Crystal field calculations suggest that one member of each doublet is associated with transitions from the ground state of Er³⁺ to the first excited state, while the other is associated with transitions between excited states. The gapless acoustic mode appearing at high temperatures is identified as a propagating excited state spin wave.     

Operational features and microwave characteristics of the VircatorII experiment

The Vircator II oscillating virtual-cathode microwave source operates with diode voltages between 600 and 800 kV and diode current between 50 and 120 kA. Maximal microwave output power between 200 and 500 MW is achieved when the diode aspect ratio, cathode surface, charge voltage, and extraction coupling are arranged to simultaneously (1) maximize diode voltage, (2) satisfy magnetic insulation criteria, (3) avoid nonuniform or unstable electron emission, and (4) optimize microwave transmission from the virtual cathode to the launching antenna. Broadband radiation between 0.4 and 5.5 GHz is generated. The central frequency follows the beam plasma frequency. It is tuned by varying the current density with anode-cathode gap adjustments     

Analyses of pseudo-nondiffracting beams at oblique incidence

We design three types of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) which generate pseudo-nondiffracting beams (PNDBs) in different regions by using the conjugate gradient method. In order to analyze the influence of the tilt angles of the DOEs, the coordinate-transformation method is used to simplify the calculation. The uniformity of the out-coupling illuminance along the optical axis is calculated. The analyzed results show that when the tilt angle increases, the uniformity in the region [140 mm, 200 mm] has more violent fluctuations than those in the regions [280 mm, 340 mm] and [380 mm, 520 mm]. The analyses also reveal that the uniformity of DOEs with a longer focal length is less sensitive to the tilt angle, and some points within the PNDB region have small variations of axial illuminance while the tilt angle increases.     

Photoinduced Fe-Cp bond cleavage and insertion reactions of strained silicon- and sulphur-bridged [1]ferrocenophanes in the presence of transition-metal carbonyls

The photochemical reactions of the moderately strained sila[1]ferrocenophane [Fe(eta-C(5)H(4))(2)SiPh(2)] (1) and the highly strained thia[1]ferrocenophane [Fe(eta-C(5)H(4))(2)S] (8) with transition-metal carbonyls ([Fe(CO)(5)], [Fe(2)(CO)(9)] and [Co(2)(CO)(8)]) have been studied. The use of metal carbonyls has allowed the products of photochemically induced Fe-cyclopentadienyl (Cp) bond cleavage reactions in the [1]ferrocenophanes to be trapped as stable, characterisable products. During the course of these studies the synthesis of 8 from [Fe(eta-C(5)H(4)Li)(2)TMEDA] (TMEDA=N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine) and S(SO(2)Ph)(2) has been significantly improved by a change of reaction solvent and temperature. Photochemical reaction of 1 with excess [Fe(CO)(5)] in THF gave the dinuclear complex [Fe(2)(CO)(2)(mu-CO)(2)(eta-C(5)H(4))(2)SiPh(2)] (9). The analogous photolytic reaction of 8 with [Fe(CO)(5)] in THF gave cyclic dimer [Fe(eta-C(5)H(4))(2)S](2) (10) and [Fe(2)(CO)(2)(mu-CO)(2)(eta-C(5)H(4))(2)S] (11), with the former being the major product. Photolysis of 1 with [Co(2)(CO)(8)] afforded the remarkable tetrametallic dimer [(CO)(2)Co(eta-C(5)H(4))SiPh(2)(eta-C(5)H(4))Fe(CO)(2)](2) (13). The corresponding photochemical reaction of 8 with [Co(2)(CO)(8)] gave a trimetallic insertion product in high conversion, [Co(CO)(4)(CO)(2)Fe(eta-C(5)H(4))S(eta-C(5)H(4))Co(CO)(2)] (14). These reactivity studies show that UV light promotes Fe-Cp bond cleavage reactions of both of the [1]ferrocenophanes 1 and 8. We have found that, whereas the less strained sila[1]ferrocenophane 1 requires photoactivation for Fe-Cp bond insertions to occur, the highly strained thia[1]ferrocenophane 8 undergoes both irradiative and non-irradiative insertions, although the latter occur at a slower rate. Our results suggest that such photoinduced bond cleavage reactions may be general and applicable to other related strained organometallic rings with pi-hydrocarbon ligands.     

One‐Electron Oxidation of [M(PtBu3)2] (M=Pd,Pt): Isolation of Monomeric [Pd(PtBu3)2]+ and Redox‐Promoted C−H Bond Cyclometalation

Oxidation of zero‐valent phosphine complexes [M(P^tBu₃)₂] (M=Pd, Pt) has been investigated in 1,2‐difluorobenzene solution using cyclic voltammetry and subsequently using the ferrocenium cation as a chemical redox agent. In the case of palladium, a mononuclear paramagnetic Pd^I derivative was readily isolated from solution and fully characterized (EPR, X‐ray crystallography). While in situ electrochemical measurements are consistent with initial one‐electron oxidation, the heavier congener undergoes C−H bond cyclometalation and ultimately affords the 14 valence‐electron Pt^II complex [Pt(κ²_PC‐P^tBu₂CMe₂CH₂)(P^tBu₃)]⁺ with concomitant formation of [Pt(P^tBu₃)₂H]⁺.     

Asymmetric total synthesis of (-)-indicol by a carbene cyclization-cycloaddition cascade strategy

The first total synthesis of a secodolastane, (-)-indicol, has been accomplished. The key reaction is a rhodium(II)-mediated carbene cyclization-cycloaddition cascade, by which the core bicyclo[5.4.0]undecane skeleton was assembled. In this one-pot reaction, a domino series of transformations resulting in the construction of three sigma bonds and three stereocenters was realized in good yield.     

Detection, characterization, and quantification of resveratrol glycosides in transgenic arabidopsis over-expressing a sorghum stilbene synthase gene by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

Transgenic Arabidopsis plants were analyzed by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) to investigate the glycosylation patterns of resveratrol derived from expression of a sorghum stilbene synthase gene. In negative ionization mode, the different resveratrol derivatives fragmented to yield the diagnostic deprotonated resveratrol ion at m/z 227.2. The use of precursor ion scanning led to the identification of precursor ions for different resveratrol glycosides through rapid differentiation from other phytochemical constituents. Structural information was generated simultaneously from the low-collision-energy product ion spectra using hybrid linear ion-trap mass spectrometry. Three additional resveratrol-related metabolites - a resveratrol diglucoside (M1) and trans- and cis-resveratrol acetylhexosides (M2 and M3) - were detected in the crude plant extracts. The identities of M1, M2, and M3 were confirmed by accurate mass analysis on a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer as well as beta-glucosidase digestion or UV-induced isomerization. Quantitative analyses by LC/MS in multiple reaction monitoring mode revealed that resveratrol diglucoside and cis-resveratrol acetyhexoside accumulated up to 2.79 and 10.38 microg/g, respectively, while trans-resveratrol acetylhexoside was barely detectable. This study demonstrated the power of the hybrid linear ion-trap technology for simultaneous profiling and structural characterization of stilbene-related metabolites, which would be useful to understand how resveratrol is modified in sorghum and other plants.