PHOTOCYTOTOXICITY OF CURCUMIN

Curcumin, bis (4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-l,6-diene-3,5-dione, is a yellow-orange dye derived from the rhizome of the plant Curcuma longa. Curcumin has demonstrated phototoxicity to several species of bacteria under aerobic conditions (Dahl, T. A., et al. , 1989, Arch. Microbiol. 151 183), denoting photodynamic inactivation. We have now found that curcumin is also phototoxic to mammalian cells, using a rat basophilic leukemia cell model, and that this phototoxicity again requires the presence of oxygen. The spectral and photochemical properties of curcumin vary with environment, resulting in the potential for multiple or alternate pathways for the exertion of photodynamic effects. For example, curcumin photogenerates singlet oxygen and reduced forms of molecular oxygen under several conditions relevant to cellular environments. In addition, we detected carbon-centered radicals, which may lead to oxidation products (see accompanying paper). Such products may be important reactants in curcumin's phototoxicity since singlet oxygen and reduced oxygen species alone could not explain the biological results, such as the relatively long lifetime (t¹²= 27 s) of the toxicant responsible for decreased cell viability.     

Ground-state dynamics of α-methylstyrene. I. Thermally induced oligomerization in bulk

α-Methylstyrene (α-Me-St) in bulk undergoes a variety of thermally induced processes which we investigated in detail by product-distribution analysis. The oligomeric products, shown by GC–MS coupling techniques and independent syntheses, consisted of nine dimers and nine trimers with no detectable higher oligomers or polymers. Two isomeric cyclobutanes and one of the open-chain unsaturated dimers were formed by a conventional two-step cycloaddition; a Flory-type diradical was the common intermediate. In contrast to these 2π + 2π products, the majority of the remaining oligomers could not be interpreted on the basis of π-electron interaction between closed shell molecules. Their structures, however, were compatible with a free radical process in which cumyl(MH·) and 1,4-dimethyl-1-phenyl-tetrahydronaphthalene-yl(THN·), which are consecutive products of 4π + 2π and 2π + 2π interactions, respectively, were involved in addition and transfer reactions. Because of the small rate of initiation and the obvious lack of free radical recombination products, a mechanism was suggested in which MH· and THN· radicals react predominantly in a closed sequence of elementary processes and to a rather small extent only by bimolecular free radical termination. Two sorts of stabilization steps, hydrogen transfer to monomer (R_nH· + M → R_n + MH·) and hydrogen abstraction from a hypothetical 4π + 2π intermediate I (R_nH· + I → R_nH₂ + THN·), are attributed to the high rates of unsaturated and saturated oligomer formation.     

Accreditation of reference material producers: the example of IRMM's Reference Materials Unit

The potential approaches for third-party assessment of reference material producers are revisited and the activities of the Reference Materials (RM) Unit of the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) to obtain accreditation to ISO Guide 34 and ISO 17025 are described. Accreditation was related to the Unit as all matrix RM activities of the institute are concentrated there. A management system was established that allows sufficient flexibility to be applicable to a wide range of RMs while being precise enough to ensure compliance with ISO Guides 30, 31 and especially 34 and 35. Accreditation was achieved in 2004 with independent scopes for testing and RM production and was confirmed and extended in 2005. The key aspects of the RM Unit's management system for RM production are presented. Presented at BERM-10, April 2006, Charleston, SC, USA     

Quantitation of amorphicity by microcalorimetry

The amorphous state of solids is characterized by a higher chemical and physical reactivity and a hygroscopic behaviour. Furthermore processing of amorphous powders is often difficult, because of the instability. Fast crystallizations, precipitations and milling favour the formation of the amorphous state. Galenical processes like granulation, drying, lyophilization, mixing, may also induce amorphous regions in the drug products.X-ray diffraction techniques can be used for the determination of the amorphicity of drug raw materials or drug products. Unfortunately, 10% is the detection limit, which in normal cases can be attained. Amorphous substances undergo an exothermic crystallization at temperatures above the glass transition point. Water which is a plasticizer decreases the temperature of the glass transition point, allowing the crystallization to occur at lower temperatures. The crystallization energy is measure of by microcalorimetry.Examples show the influence of the choice of the experimental conditions, especially the influence of the amorphicity on the kinetic of the reaction. Critical steps are discussed for three different drug substances. Limits of detection in the magnitude of 1 % are possible using microcalorimetry.     

The 6Li,6Li-INADEQUATE Experiment: A New Tool for 1D- and 2D-NMR Studies of Organolithium Compounds

The 1D- and 2D-⁶Li, ⁶Li-INADEQUATE experiments are described as new tools for the detection of scalar coupled nonequivalent ⁶Li nuclei in organolithium clusters. Practical applications of these sequences are demonstrated for the ⁶Li-NMR spectra of (E)-1-lithio-2-(2-lithiophenyl)-1-phenylhex-1-ene ( 1 ) and (E)-2-lithio-1-(2-lithiophenyl)-1-phenylpent-1-ene ( 2 ), where signals due to dimers and monomers can be distinguished. The performance of the 2D-⁶Li, ⁶Li-INADEQUATE and the ⁶Li, ⁶Li-COSY-45-LR experiment are compared. The ⁶Li chemical shifts of 1 and 2 are discussed.     

Surface modification of imide containing polymers I: Catalytic groups

This paper describes basic studies of the surface modification of polyimide covered wires for insulation of electrical machines. Drain-off of the impregnating resin during production should be reduced by introduction of surface catalytic groups. ¹H NMR kinetic analysis of aminolytic ring opening reaction of low molecular model compounds for polyimides showed very fast modification reactions. The catalytic effect of various functional groups on unsaturated polyester imide, acrylate and epoxy resins was investigated by DSC. Co(II)-catalysts and tertiary aliphatic amines proved highest activity for double bond containing systems and epoxy resins, respectively. Aminolytic treatment of Kapton^® slides was followed by ATR-IR spectroscopy. Plate-plate rheometer measurements of epoxy resins employing tertiary amine-treated Kapton^® slides proved significantly reduced gelling temperature.     

Silver(I) 1,3-butadiynediide and two related silver(I) double salts containing the C4(2-) dianion

Ag2C4, the second silver carbide to be fully characterized, has been synthesized as a light-gray powder (contaminated with metallic silver) that is explosive at high temperature (130 degrees C) and sensitive to mechanical shock, rather like the well-known prototype Ag2C2. In the pair of hydrated double salts Ag2C4.6AgNO3.nH2O (n = 2, 3), the nearly linear, centrosymmetric 1,3-butadiyne-1,4-diyl dianion C42-exhibits an unprecedented mu8-coordination mode, each terminal being capped by four sigma-bonded silver(I) atoms with pi-interaction to one of them.     

Characterization and complementation of a Pichia stipitis mutant unable to grow on d-xylose or l-arabinose

Pichia stipitis CBS 6054 will grow on d-xylose, d-arabinose, and l-arabinose. d-Xylose and l-arabinose are abundant in seed hulls of maize, and their utilization is important in processing grain residues. To elucidate the degradation pathway for l-arabinose, we obtained a mutant, FPL-MY30, that was unable to grow on d-xylose and l-arabinose but that could grow on d-arabinitol. Activity assays of oxidoreductase and pentulokinase enzymes involved in d-xylose, d-arabinose, and l-arabinose pathways indicated that FPL-MY30 is deficient in d-xylitol dehydrogenase (D-XDH), d- and l-arabinitol dehydrogenases, and d-ribitol dehydrogenase. Transforming FPL-MY30 with a gene for xylitol dehydrogenase (PsXYL2), which was cloned from CBS 6054 (Gen Bank AF127801), restored the D-XDH activity and the capacity for FPL-MY30 to grow on l-arabinose. This suggested that FPL-MY30 is critically deficient in XYL2 and that the d-xylose and l-arabinose metabolic pathways have xylitolas a common intermediate. The capacity for FPL-MY30 to grow on d-arabinitol could proceed through d-ribulose.