Application of microdialysis for study of caffeine distribution into brain and cerebrospinal fluid in rats.

The usefulness of microdialysis was examined for the chronological determination of caffeine concentration in the brain and cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) following intravenous administration of caffeine in rats. The recovery percent of caffeine by microdialysis, the concentration ratio of caffeine in the dialysate against that in the brain tissue or CSF was determined. The recovery percent was proved to be constant at 5 different steady-state plasma concentrations of caffeine (0.1-280 nmol/ml) and in different collecting periods of dialysate ranging from 30 s to 10 min. The mean recovery percent in the brain and CSF were 10.9 and 13.1%, respectively. Thus, microdialysis was proved useful for determination of drug concentration in the tissue and biological fluids with time resolution of more than 30 s. The microdialysis method was then applied for the chronological determination of caffeine concentration in the brain and CSF following intravenous bolus administration. The estimated caffeine concentration in the brain and CSF was the same as those obtained by direct determination in isolated brain and CSF, respectively. Transfer of caffeine from plasma to brain and CSF were further pharmacokinetically analyzed using a modified 2-compartment model. In this kinetic model, the transfer of caffeine between the CSF and brain was neglected, since the mutual transfer of caffeine was not detected in in vivo experiments. Calculated curves were well fitted on observed caffeine concentrations in the plasma, brain and CSF.     

Possible structural effect of a′,b′‐dihydroxyacetophenone units in the preformed oligoesters upon copolycondensation with isomeric c′,d′‐dihydroxyacetophenones by TsCl/dimethylformamide/pyridine

A two‐stage copolycondensation of a mixture of equal parts of isophthalic acid and terephthalic acid first with a′,b′‐dihydroxyacetophenone (a′,b′‐DHAP) and then with isomeric c′,d′‐DHAP was examined at 60 and 80 °C. A structurally selective reaction was observed. At 80 °C, the preformed oligomers from symmetrically substituted 2′,6′‐DHAP reacted better with similarly substituted 2′,6′‐ or 3′,5′‐DHAP to give the copolymers of significantly higher inherent viscosity values than from the reaction with asymmetrically substituted 2′,4′‐DHAP, whereas at 60 °C they did almost equally well with any c′,d′‐DHAP. Similarly, the reaction of oligomers from 2′,4′‐DHAP with asymmetrically substituted 2′,4′‐DHAP or 2,4‐dihydroxybenzophenone yielded better results than those from the reaction with 2′,6′‐ or 3′,5′‐DHAP at both temperatures. The copolycondensations with comonomers of the structure independent of DHAPs were not affected by the preformed oligomers from DHAPs. The results are discussed in terms of the distributions of resulting oligomers determined by gel permeation chromatography. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 616–623, 2003     

Development of novel active acceptors possessing a positively charged structure for the transglycosylation reaction with Endo-M and their application to oligosaccharide analysis

With Boc-Asn-GlcNAc as a basic structure, four permanently positively charged kinds of new acceptors (GP-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc, GT-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc, HMP-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc, MPDPZ-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc) and five kinds of similar structure acceptors (2-PA-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc, 3-PA-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc, 4-PA-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc, HP-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc, PDPZ-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc) were synthesized as acceptors for the resolution of oligosaccharides in glycopeptides. The synthesized acceptors enzymatically reacted with Disialo-Asn (donor) in the presence of Endo-M. The reaction yields of each transglycosylation product were not obvious, because we do not have all the authentic Disialo-Asn-Boc-acceptors. Therefore, we used the peak area of the transglycosylation product detected by mass spectrometry and evaluated the utility of each acceptor. Among the Boc-Asn-GlcNAc acceptors, the positively charged MPDPZ derivative peak area was the highest, MPDPZ-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc with a positively charged structure showed about a 2.2 times greater sensitivity of the transglycosylation product compared to the conventional fluorescence acceptor DBD-PZ-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc. As a result, the MPDPZ-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc acceptor was suitable for the transglycosylation reaction with Endo-M. The development of a qualitative determination method for the N-linked oligosaccharides in glycoproteins was attempted by combination of the transglycosylation reaction and semi-micro high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-QTOF-MS/MS). The asparaginyl-oligosaccharides in glycoproteins, liberated by treatment with Pronase E, were separated, purified and labeled with positively charged MPDPZ. The resulting derivatives were separated by a semi-micro HPLC system. The eluted N-linked oligosaccharide derivatives were then introduced into a QTOF-MS instrument and sensitively detected in the ESI(+) mode. Various fragment ions based on the carbohydrate units appeared in the MS/MS spectra. Among the peaks, m/z 782.37 corresponding to MPDPZ-Boc-Asn-GlcNAc is the most important one for identifying the asparaginyl-oligosaccharides. Disialo-Asn-Boc-MPDPZ was easily identified by the selected-ion chromatogram at m/z 782.37 by MS/MS detection. Therefore, the identification of N-linked oligosaccharides in glycoproteins seems to be possible by the proposed semi-micro HPLC separations followed by the QTOF-MS/MS detection. Furthermore, several oligosaccharides in ovalbumin and ribonuclease B were successfully identified by the proposed procedure.     

Synthesis of redox-active, intramolecular charge-transfer chromophores by the [2+2] cycloaddition of ethynylated 2H-cyclohepta[b]furan-2-ones with tetracyanoethylene

Ethynylated 2H-cyclohepta[b]furan-2-ones 5-15 have been prepared by Pd-catalyzed alkynylation of 3-iodo-5-isopropyl-2H-cyclohepta[b]furan-2-one (2) with the corresponding ethynylarenes or the reaction of 2-iodothiophene with 3-ethynyl-5-isopropyl-2H-cyclohepta[b]furan-2-one (4) under Sonogashira-Hagihara conditions. Compounds 5-15 reacted with tetracyanoethylene in a formal [2+2] cycloaddition reaction, followed by ring opening of the initially formed [2+2] cycloadducts, cyclobutenes, to afford the corresponding 1,1,4,4-tetracyanobutadienyl (TCBD) chromophores 16-26 in excellent yields. The intramolecular charge-transfer interactions between the 2H-cyclohepta[b]furan-2-one ring and TCBD acceptor moiety were investigated by UV/Vis spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. The redox behavior of the novel TCBD derivatives 16-26 was examined by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry, which revealed multistep electrochemical reduction properties, depending on the number of TCBD units in the molecule. Moreover, a significant color change was observed by UV/Vis spectroscopy under electrochemical reduction conditions.     

Investigation of thermal hazard during the hydrosilylation of 1,6-divinyl(perfluorohexane) with trichlorosilane

In this study, we examined the reaction hazard during the hydrosilylation reaction between trichlorosilane (TCS) and 1,6-divinyl(perfluorohexane) (FDV) in the presence of a butanol solution of chloroplatinic acid (Pt-Cat) as the catalyst. Assuming the three industrial risks of excessive addition of Pt-Cat, contamination by iron rust and mixing with cooling water, we observed the temperature and pressure change of TCS/FDV with an excessive amount of Pt-Cat, TCS/FDV/Pt-Cat with Fe₂O₃ and TCS/FDV/Pt-Cat with distilled water, using an accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC). The temperature and pressure greatly increased, especially in the sample with Fe₂O₃. For instance, in TCS/FDV/Pt-Cat with 1.5 wt.% Fe₂O₃, the heat release rate exceeded 624 K · min^?1 and the pressure rose above 25 MPa during the exothermic reaction.     

Molecular states of p-dimethylaminobenzonitrile coground with β-cyclodextrin investigated using solid-state fluorescence spectroscopy

Changes in molecular states of p-dimethylaminobenzonitrile (DMABN) coground with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) were examined using solid-state fluorescence measurements. Formation of a DMABN/β-CD inclusion complex by coprecipitation was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction measurement. The powder X-ray diffraction pattern of the ground mixture was a halo pattern and differed from the pattern of the mixture prepared by coprecipitation. Solid-state fluorescence measurements revealed emission by DMABN crystals in a twisted intermolecular charge-transfer state at 473 nm. DMABN in the DMABN/β-CD coprecipitate had a fluorescence emission peak at 393 nm due to its planar structure. In contrast, DMABN in a DMABN/β-CD ground mixture had an emission peak at 473 nm due to its twisted structure. Grinding time-dependent structural changes in DMABN were evaluated using fluorescence lifetime and relative quantum yield measurements. Structural changes in DMABN in the DMABN/β-CD coprecipitate from a planar to a twisted structure were observed with grinding. DMABN, dispersed in microcrystalline cellulose (CC) molecules in a DMABN/CC ground mixture, had a fluorescence emission peak at 473 nm. However, the excitation spectrum of a DMABN/β-CD ground mixture differed from that of DMABN in CC. These results indicated that the molecular state of DMABN accommodated in the β-CD cavity differs between the coprecipitate and the ground mixture.     

Application of 4-(4-nitrophenyl)-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione to analysis of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in human plasma by liquid chromatography/electron capture atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry.

The utility of 4-(4-nitrophenyl)-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (NPTAD) as a derivatization reagent in the analysis of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] using liquid chromatography/electron capture atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (LC/ECAPCI-MS) was examined. The derivatives of 25(OH)D3 with NPTAD underwent electron capture in the APCI source in the negative-ion mode and provided 30-fold higher sensitivity compared to an intact compound. This derivatization-LC/ECAPCI-MS method was applied to a plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 assay, and gave satisfactory results in sensitivity, specificity, measurable range and throughput of the analysis.     

Thermal lens spectrophotometry of nitrogen dioxide using an excimer-laser-pumped dye laser

A thermal lens spectrophotometer based on a pulsed dye laser pumped by an excimer laser was constructed. A thermal lens spectrum was measured for nitrogen dioxide by scanning the dye laser wavelength, which was well correlated with an absorption spectrum. A linear calibration graph was obtained in the nl 1^?1 range, the detection limit being 4 nl 1^?1, which is similar to the best value achieved by other laser spectrometric methods. The enhancement factor achieved was 16, which is much smaller than the theoretical value of 292 calculated by assuming an exciting laser with a single transverse mode (beam waist radius 0.12 mm). However, the observed enhancement factor agrees fairly well with the theoretical value of 17 calculated from the observed beam radius (0.5 mm) at the waist. Hence the observed small enhancement factor is ascribed to poor beam quality of the dye laser used. Pulsed thermal lens spectrophotometry is shown to be useful especially for the analysis of gaseous samples at elevated temperatures.