Simple, Sensitive, High-Throughput Method for the Quantification of Mitragynine in Rat Plasma Using UPLC-MS and Its Application to an Intravenous Pharmacokinetic Study

A simple, sensitive and rapid ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) method was developed and validated for the quantification of mitragynine in rat plasma using amitriptyline hydrochloride as an internal standard. Sample preparation involved a one-step liquid?Cliquid extraction using methyl t-butyl ether. Mitragynine was separated on an Acquity UPLC^? BEH HILIC column using isocratic elution with a mobile phase of 10 mM ammonium formate buffer containing 0.1% formic acid:acetonitrile (15:85, v/v). At a flow rate of 0.2 mL min^?1, the retention time of mitragynine was found to be 1.3 min. Ionization was performed in the positive ion electrospray mode. The selected mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio transition of mitragynine ion [M + H]⁺ used in the selected ion recording (SIR) was 399.1. The calibration curve was found to be linear over a concentration range of 1?C5,000 ng mL^?1 (r = 0.999) with a lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 1 ng mL^?1. Intra- and inter-day assay variations were found to be less than 15%. The extraction recoveries ranged from 85?C93% at the three concentrations (2, 400 and 4,000 ng mL^?1) in rat plasma. This method was successfully used to quantify mitragynine in rat plasma following intravenous administration of the compound.     

Gas‐Sensing Properties of Needle‐Shaped Ni‐Doped SnO2 Nanocrystals Prepared by a Simple Sol–Gel Chemical Precipitation Method

The preparation of needle‐shaped SnO₂ nanocrystals doped with different concentration of nickel by a simple sol–gel chemical precipitation method is demonstrated. By varying the Ni‐dopant concentration from 0 to 5 wt %, the phase purity and morphology of the SnO₂ nanocrystals are significantly changed. Powder XRD results reveal that the SnO₂ doped with a nickel concentration of up to 1 wt % shows a single crystalline tetragonal rutile phase, whereas a slight change in the crystallite structure is observed for samples with nickel above 1 wt %. High resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) results reveal the change in morphology of the materials from spherical, for SnO₂, to very fine needle‐like nanocrystals, for Ni‐doped SnO₂, annealed at different temperatures. The gas sensing properties of the SnO₂ nanocrystals are significantly enhanced after the nickel doping.     

Fluorines in tetrafluoromethane as halogen bond donors: Revisiting address the nature of the fluorine's σhole

It has been demonstrated in several instances that the 0.001 a.u. (electrons per bohr³) isodensity mapped electrostatic surface potentials on the fluorines along the outermost extensions of the C? F covalent bonds in tetrafluoromethane (CF₄) are entirely negative, they are thereby unable to engage in σ_hole bonding interactions with the negative sites on another molecules. In this study, we have attempted at resolving this controversy by performing various high‐level electronic structure calculations with Quadratic Configuration Integrals of Singles and Doubles QCISD(full), second‐order Møller–Plesset MP2(full), and 12 other Density Functional Theory (DFT) based functionals with and without dispersion corrections, all in conjunction with the 6–311++G(2d,2p) basis set. The results achieved with all the levels of theory utilized suggest that the fluorine's σ_holes in CF₄ are positive regardless of the 0.001‐, 0.0015‐, and 0.002‐a.u. isodensity mapped electrostatic surfaces examined. Because of this specific quality, the fluorines in CF₄ have displayed their capacities to form not only 1:1 clusters with the Lewis bases such as water (H₂O), ammonia (NH₃), formaldehyde (H₂C?O), hydrogen fluoride (HF), and hydrogen cyanide (HCN), but also 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4 clusters with the latter three randomly chosen Lewis bases. Various topological and nontopological features obtained from applications of atoms in molecules, noncovalent interaction reduced‐density‐gradient and natural bond orbital analytical tools reveal that the N···F, O···F, and F···F long‐ranged interactions developed between the interacting monomers in H₃N···FCF₃, H₂O···FCF₃, and (Y? D)_n=1–4···F₄C (Y? D = H₂C?O, HCN, and HF) are reminiscent of halogen bonding. The nonadditive cooperative and anticooperative energetic effects emerged on cluster formations are discussed in detail. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) technique for determining multi-element composition of transformed hairy root cultures of Boerhaavia diffusa L.: an important medicinal herb

Therapeutically important inorganic elements in Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated genetically transformed hairy root cultures (HRCs) of a pharmaceutically significant herb Boerhaavia diffusa were quantified using proton induced X-ray emission technique. This was compared with that of roots from the naturally grown donor plant. Two macro-elements (Ca & K) and eight different trace elements namely V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu Zn, and Ni were detected and their content was determined. In HRCs of a transformed rhizoclone, calcium and potassium had values which were significantly higher than that of in vivo roots. The concentrations of several trace elements, which are known to have a positive implication in human healthcare, were found to be either comparable (Fe) to that in the natural root samples or higher (Mn, Zn, Cr, Cu, Co) in the transformed rhizoclone. The genetically transformed HRCs can thus serve as a fast-proliferating renewable resource of medicinally useful minerals targeting specific diseases.     

High-Affinity Hybridization of Complementary Aromatic Oligoamide Strands in Water

We prepared a series of water-soluble aromatic oligoamide sequences all composed of a segment prone to form a single helix and a segment prone to dimerize into a double helix. These sequences exclusively assemble as antiparallel duplexes. The modification of the duplex inner rim by varying the nature of the substituents borne by the aromatic monomers allowed us to identify sequences that can hybridize by combining two chemically different strands, with high affinity and complete selectivity in water. X-ray crystallography confirmed the expected antiparallel configuration of the duplexes whereas NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry allowed us to assess precisely the extent of the hybridization. The hybridization kinetics of the aromatic strands was shown to depend on both the nature of the substituents responsible for strand complementarity and the length of the aromatic strand. These results highlight the great potential of aromatic hetero-duplex as a tool to construct non-symmetrical dynamic supramolecular assemblies.     

An efficient one-pot synthesis of pyrrolines and tetrahydropyridines from their chloro-precursors via in situ aza-Wittig reaction

A simple and efficient method for synthesizing pyrrolines and tetrahydropyridines via an intramolecular aza-Wittig reaction has been achieved by microwave irradiation of the corresponding chloro-alkane derivatives in the presence of tertiary phosphite and sodium azide. The in situ formation of the alkyl azides makes this a facile and safe method for aza-Wittig reactions.     

Cu(II) complexes with 4-amino-3,5-dimethyl isoxazole and substituted aromatic aldehyde Schiff bases: synthesis,crystal structure,antimicrobial activity,DNA binding and cleavage studies

Three isoxazole Schiff bases 2-((E)-(3,5-dimethylisoxazol-4-ylimino)methyl)-6-methoxyphenol (L¹), 2-((E)-(3,5-dimethylisoxazol-4-ylimino)methyl)-4,6-diiodophenol (L²), 2-((E)-(3,5-dimethylisoxazol-4-ylimino)methyl)-6-bromo-4-chlorophenol (L³), and their Cu(II) complexes [Cu(L¹)₂] (1), [Cu(L²)₂] (2) and [Cu(L³)₂] (3) were synthesized. All the complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, ESI mass, UV-Visible, ESR, TGA, magnetic moments, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Based on analytical data, a square planar geometry is assigned to the Cu(II) complexes with N₂O₂ donors from the Schiff base ligands. The single-crystal X-ray diffraction measurements of 1 and 2 confirmed the square planar geometry. DNA binding studies from electronic absorption titrations, viscosity measurements, and fluorescence quenching studies indicated an intercalation mode of binding of Cu(II) complexes with CT-DNA. DNA cleavage experiments of Cu(II) complexes with supercoiled plasmid pBR322 DNA have also been investigated by agarose gel electrophoresis in the presence of H₂O₂ (oxidative cleavage) and UV light (photolytic cleavage). The synthesized compounds were screened for antibacterial (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtillis and Staphylococcus aureus) and antifungal (Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger) activities by the paper disk method. The Cu(II) complexes showed better activity than corresponding Schiff bases.     

Molecular Architecture of Multi‐Block Polymer Synthesized in a Dual‐Catalyst Single CSTR

This work aims at deriving analytical solutions for the molecular architecture of multi‐block polymer synthesized in a dual‐catalyst single CSTR. While the relevant equations are developed for homopolymerization, they can easily be extended to copolymerization. Special emphasis is placed on the quantities associated with each catalyst rather than the overall ones. However, if all rate parameters are available, the expressions can be used to calculate the properties of the material made by each catalyst as well as the overall ones under various process conditions. Given the reasonable assumption of large residence time, the solutions are simplified to elucidate the kinetics of chain‐shuttling involving two catalysts. It is shown that systems with low chain‐shuttling ability, if DP^P_n,0 ≠ DP^Q_n,0, may exhibit significant deviation from Flory's most probable distribution. Furthermore, systems with high chain‐shuttling ability produce macromolecules with more uniform architecture and polydispersity index close to 2.