Simultaneous determination of thirteen main components and identification of eight major metabolites in Xuebijing Injection by UPLC/Q-TOF

An ultra performance liquid chromatographic method was used for the simultaneous identification and quantification of thirteen main components in Xuebijing Injection, including uridine, gallic acid, guanosine, danshensu, protocatechualdehyde, oxypaeoniflorin, hydroxysafflor yellow A, paeoniflorin, ferulic acid, safflor yellow A, senkyunolide I, senkyunolide H and salvianolic acid B. The chromatographic separation was performed on an Acquity UPLC BEH C₁₈ column (1.7-μm, 2.1 × 100 mm, i.d.) with a gradient elution of acetonitrile and 0.2% acetic acid at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The method was validated for linearity (r ² > 0.9990), intra- and inter-day precision (RSD < 1.94%), accuracy (91.8–99.7%), recovery (96.8–103.8%), limits of detection (0.16–8.0 ng), and limits of quantification (0.54–26.8 ng). At least eight metabolites in prototype were found in rat plasma and urine after intravenous injection of 4 mL/kg doses of Xuebijing Injection. The proposed method could be utilized to qualify and control Xuebijing Injection to ensure its safety and efficacy in application.     

Induction of decision trees using genetic programming for modelling ecotoxicity data: adaptive discretization of real-valued endpoints

Recent literature has demonstrated the applicability of genetic programming to induction of decision trees for modelling toxicity endpoints. Compared with other decision tree induction techniques that are based upon recursive partitioning employing greedy searches to choose the best splitting attribute and value at each node that will necessarily miss regions of the search space, the genetic programming based approach can overcome the problem. However, the method still requires the discretization of the often continuous-valued toxicity endpoints prior to the tree induction. A novel extension of this method, YAdapt, is introduced in this work which models the original continuous endpoint by adaptively finding suitable ranges to describe the endpoints during the tree induction process, removing the need for discretization prior to tree induction and allowing the ordinal nature of the endpoint to be taken into account in the models built.     

Analysis of Ah receptor binding affinities of polybrominated diphenyl ethers via in silico molecular docking and 3D-QSAR

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have become ubiquitous contaminations due to their use as flame retardants. The structural similarity of PBDE to some dioxin-like compounds suggested that they may share similar toxicological effects: they might activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) signal transduction pathway and thus might have adverse effects on wildlife and humans. In this study, in silico computational workflow combining molecular docking and three-dimensional quantitative structure–activity relationship (3D-QSAR) was performed to investigate the binding interactions between PBDEs and AhR and the structural features affecting the AhR binding affinity of PBDE. The molecular docking showed that hydrogen-bond and hydrophobic interactions were the major driving forces for the binding of ligands to AhR, and several key amino acid residues were also identified. The CoMSIA model was developed from the conformations obtained from molecular docking and exhibited satisfactory results as q ² of 0.605 and r ² of 0.996. Furthermore, the derived model had good robustness and statistical significance in both internal and external validations. The 3D contour maps generated from CoMSIA provided important structural features influence the binding affinity. The obtained results were beneficial to better understand the toxicological mechanism of PBDEs.     

Synthesis and crystal structures of two zinc(II) complexes derived from N-isopropyl-N′-[1-(2-methoxyphenyl)methylidene]ethane-1,2-diamine

Two isostructural mononuclear zinc(II) complexes, [ZnLBr₂] (I) and [ZnLI₂] (II), derived from the Schiff base N-isopropyl-N′-[1-(2-methoxyphenyl)methylidene]ethane-1,2-diamine (L), have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectra, and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. The crystal of I is monoclinic: space group P2₁/n, a = 14.476(1) Å, b = 7.327(1) Å, c = 17.528(1) Å, β = 101.153(1)°, V = 1824.0(3) ų, Z = 4. The crystal of II is monoclinic: space group P2₁/n, a = 14.482(1), b = 7.329(1), c = 17.528(1)Å, β = 101.195(2)°, V = 1825.0(3)ų, Z = 4. The Zn atom in each complex is four-coordinated in a tetrahedral coordination, with one imine N and one amine N atoms of L, and two halide atoms. Both complexes and the Schiff base were tested in vitro for their antibacterial activities.     

Synthesis and crystal structure of a novel trinuclear Schiff base cadmium(II) complex [Cd3L4] · 2ClO4 · 2CH3OH with antimicrobial activity

The Schiff base 2-ethoxysalicylaldehydethiosemicarbazone (HL) derived from 3-ethoxysalicylaldehyde and thiosemicarbazide and its centrosymmetric trinuclear cadmium(II) complex [Cd₃L₄] · 2ClO₄ · 2CH₃OH (I), have been successfully prepared. The structure of complex I was characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectrum, and single crystal X-ray crystallographic determination. The complex crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/c with unit cell dimensions a = 15.584(2), b = 19.540(2), c = 20.994(3) Å, β = 106.632(2)°, V = 6125.2(13) ų, Z = 4, R ₁ = 0.0558, and wR ₂ = 0.1696. The Schiff base coordinates to the Cd atoms through the phenolate O, ether O, imino N, and S atoms. The central Cd atom of complex I is coordinated by eight O atoms from four Schiff base ligands. The terminal Cd atoms of the complex are coordinated by six donor atoms from two Schiff base ligands. The effect of the complex on the antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans were studied.     

Hydrothermal synthesis, crystal structure, and photoluminescence of Pb(II) and Mn(II) coordination polymers based on imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline

Two new coordination polymers, [Pb(IDPT)₂(NO₃)₂] (I) and [Mn(IDPT)(SO₄)(H₂O)₂] (II) (IDPT = imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline), were synthesized by hydrothermal method and characterized by elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique. The results reveal that the complex I belongs to monoclinic crystal system, space group C2/c and complex II belongs to monoclinic crystal system, P2₁/c space group. The cell parameters are: a = 19.1970(13), b = 7.3875(5), c = 17.3825(12) Å, β = 100.47(10)°, V = 2424.0(3) ų, Z = 4, F(000) = 1488 for I; a = 10.9135(6), b = 7.0230(4), c = 19.7034(10) Å, β = 99.32(10)°, V = 1490.25(14) ų, Z = 4, F(000) = 828 for II. In the structure of complex I, the metal center Pb(II) is six-coordinated, displays an octahedral geometry. Each molecule is further connected with neighboring one via π-π interactions into 1D chain. In complex II, Mn(II) is six-coordinated to form a distorted octahedral geometry. Compound II displays 1D supramolecular chain formed through hydrogen bonds. Additionally, the fluorescent properties for the complexes were investigated. Complexes I and II exhibit strong photoluminescence with emission maximum at 583 and 529 nm at room temperature.     

Synthesis, structure, and activity evaluation of two silver(I) complexes as Helicobacter pylori urease inhibitors

Two silver(I) compounds, [Ag(R,R-hxn)](C₇H₄BrO₂) · 2H₂O (I) (Chxn = 1,2-diaminocyclohexane) and [Ag(C₅H₆N₂)₂]₂(C₈H₄O₄) · 10H₂O (II), were synthesized and complex I was structurally characterized by X-ray crystallography. Compound I contains a catena-(trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane) silver polycation ([Ag(Chxn)]_∞) in a roughly linear fashion, while II possesses a linear-type silver monocation. Compounds I and II were evaluated for their inhibitory activities against Helicobacter pylori urease in vitro. Both were found to have strong inhibitory activities against H. pylori urease comparable to that of acetohydroxamic acid.     

Synthesis, crystal structures, and properties of inorganic-organic hybrid complexes constructed from copper(II) macrocyclic fragment

Reaction of a macrocyclic copper(II) complex [Cu(L)](ClO₄)₂ · 3H₂O (I) (L = 1,3,10,12,16,19-hexaazatetracyclotetracosane) with a hexapod carboxylate ligand H₆TTHA (H₆TTHA = 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine hexaacetic acid) and a tripod carboxylate ligand H₃TATB (H₃TATB = 4,4′,4″-S-triazine-2,4,6-triyl-tribenzoic acid) yielded two mononuclear copper(II) complexes [Cu(L)][H₄TTHA] · 4H₂O (II) and [Cu(L)][HTATB] · 4H₂O (III). The complexes I–III have been structurally characterized. The crystal structures of complexes II and III show the copper(II) ion has a distorted pentacoordinate square-pyramidal geometry with two secondary and two tertiary amines from the macrocyclic complex [Cu(L)]²⁺ and one oxygen atom from the carboxylate ligand group at the axial position. The UV-Vis spectra are utilized to discuss the hydrolysis of the complex II.