Simultaneous kinetic-spectrophotometric determination of levodopa and benserazide by bi- and three-way partial least squares calibration

A procedure for the simultaneous kinetic-spectrophotometric determination of levodopa (I) and benserazide (II), from their oxidation reaction with KIO(4) in an acidic medium, is described. Both species instantly oxidize, giving rise to compounds which present maximum values of absorbance close to 400 nm. In the presence of an excess of the oxidizing agent, the levodopa derivative evolves to form the corresponding aminochrome (lambda(m)=480 nm), while the benserazide derivative decomposes to yield colorless compounds. The appearance of new compounds, with absorption bands in the region of 500-700 nm, is additionally seen upon adding the oxidizing agent to a mixture of I and II. These compounds also evolve decomposing and forming colorless products. In spite of the complexity of the system studied, the calibration by bi-linear partial least squares (PLS) as well as by three-way partial least squares (nPLS) permit the quantification of both analytes with a precision on the order of 0.7% for levodopa and of 1.5% for benserazide. nPLS also allows for the qualitative interpretation of the phenomena which occur. The proposed method is applied to the quantification of I and II in the commercial, pharmaceutical preparation Madopar, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as the analytical reference technique.     

Lead determination in glasses by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been used to determine the lead content of different types of lead silicate glasses commercially designed as sonorous glass (which contain ∼ 10 wt.% PbO); crystal glass (with at least 24 wt.% PbO) and superior crystal glass (with at least 30 wt.% PbO). Seven different types of glass samples were selected, including historic-original, model and commercially available. The selected samples were artificially weathered under neutral, acid and alkaline attack. Analysis by LIBS was carried out in vacuum under excitation at 266 nm and results were compared with those obtained by conventional techniques used for glass characterization. Composition of the bulk glasses was analyzed by XRF (X-ray fluorescence) and the corroded surfaces were characterized by SEM/EDX (scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis). A linear correlation was obtained between the intensity of selected Pb lines in the LIB spectra and the PbO content. The effect of corrosion could be characterized by comparing successive LIB spectra recorded on the same area; acid attack resulted in a decrease of PbO, CaO and Na₂O content in the surface with respect to the bulk of the sample, while minor changes in the composition were noticed under alkaline attack. These results show LIBS as a useful technique to classify the different types of lead glasses by their lead content and to determine and asses the degree and type of corrosion.     

Regioselective synthesis of fluoroalkyl pyridine derivatives from 3-fluoroalkyl substituted 2-aza-1,3-butadienes

A method for the preparation of 3-fluoroalkyl substituted 2-aza-butadienes by aza-Wittig reaction of N-vinylic phosphazenes and aldehydes is reported. [4+2] Cycloaddition reaction with enamines affords fluoralkyl substituted pyridine derivatives in a regioselective fashion.     

Synthesis, characterization, and photochemical and computational investigations of Ru(II) heterocyclic complexes containing 2,6-dimethylphenylisocyanide (CNx) ligand

The isocyanide ligand forms complexes with ruthenium(II) bis-bipyridine of the type [Ru(bpy)(2)(CNx)Cl](CF(3)SO(3)) (1), [Ru(bpy)(2)(CNx)(py)](PF(6))(2) (2), and [Ru(bpy)(2)(CNx)(2)](PF(6))(2) (3) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, py = pyridine, and CNx = 2,6-dimethylphenylisocyanide). The redox potentials shift positively as the number of CNx ligands increases. The metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) bands of the complexes are located at higher energy than 450 nm and blue shift in proportion to the number of CNx ligands. The complexes are not emissive at room temperature but exhibit intense structured emission bands at 77 K with emission lifetimes as high as 25 micros. Geometry optimization of the complexes in the singlet ground and lowest-lying triplet states performed using density functional theory (DFT) provides information about the orbital heritage and correlates with X-ray and electrochemical results. The lowest-lying triplet-state energies correlate well with the 77 K emission energies for the three complexes. Singlet excited states calculated in ethanol using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and the conductor-like polarizable continuum model (CPCM) provide information that correlates favorably with the experimental absorption spectra in ethanol.     

Optical Spectroscopy of Hybrid Sol-Gel Coatings Doped with Noble Metals

Sol-gel coatings in the xM (100-x) SiO₂ system, (M = Cu, Ag and Au) x =0.1–10 mol%), are deposited on soda lime glass slides by using silicon tetramethoxide Si(OCH₃)₄) and methyltriethoxysilane (SiCH₃[OCH₂CH₃]₃) as silica precursors. Anhydrous CuCl, CuCl₂ 2H₂O, Cu(NO₃)₂ 3H₂O, CuSO₄ 5H₂O, AgNO₃ and HAuCl₄ 3H₂O are used as copper, silver and gold sources. Coatings with thicknesses ranging from 100 to 900 nm are deposited on the subs trates by dip-coating and subsequently densified at 500°C for 1 h in air. Spectroscopic studies of the coatings as a function of the thicknesses and the metal concentration are carried out by photoluminescence (PL) and optical absorption (OA). In addition, direct observations of some gold coatings were performed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results indicate that for silver and copper containing coatings the excitation and emission spectra arise from electronic transitions in Ag⁺ and Cu⁺ ions and no significant absorption bands due to colloidal precipitation are observed. Gold containing coatings show purple coloration due to an absorption peaking in the 520–560 nm range, which is characteristic of gold colloids. The presence of these colloids is confirmed by TEM observations.     

Aza-Wittig reaction of fluoroalkylated N-vinylic phosphazenes with carbonyl compounds. Usefulness of 2-azadienes for the preparation of fluoroalkyl pyridine derivatives

A method for the preparation of 3-fluoroalkyl substituted 2-aza-butadienes 6 by aza-Wittig reaction of 3-fluoroalkyl-N-vinylic phosphazenes 4 and aldehydes 5 is reported. [4+2] Cycloaddition reaction of these heterodienes 6 with enamines 9 gives fluoroalkyl substituted pyridine 15, 16, 24-27 and isoquinoline 12-14, 20 derivatives.     

Interface double-exchange ferromagnetism in the Mn-Zn-O system: new class of biphase magnetism

In this Letter, we experimentally show that the room temperature ferromagnetism in the Mn-Zn-O system recently observed is associated with the coexistence of Mn(3+) and Mn(4+) via a double-exchange mechanism. The presence of the ZnO around MnO(2) modifies the kinetics of MnO(2)-->Mn(2)O(3) reduction and favors the coexistence of both Mn oxidation states. The ferromagnetic phase is associated with the interface formed at the Zn diffusion front into Mn oxide, corroborated by preparing thin film multilayers that exhibit saturation magnetization 2 orders of magnitude higher than bulk samples.