High performance liquid chromatography equipped with a cathodic detector and column-switching device as a high-throughput method for a phosphatase assay with p-nitrophenyl phosphate

A preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method for isolation and purification of coumarin compounds from the Chinese medicinal plant Peucedanum decursivum (Miq.) Maxim (Zihuaqianhu in Chinese) was successfully established by using light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:7:4, v/v) as the two-phase solvent system. The upper phase of light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:7:4, v/v) was used as the stationary phase of HSCCC. Nodakenetin (2.8 mg), 6.1 mg of Pd-C-IV, 7.3 mg of Pd-D-V, 4.7 mg of ostruthin, 7.8 mg of decursidin and 11.2 mg of decursitin C with the purity of 88.3%, 98.0%, 94.2%, 97.1%, 97.8% and 98.4%, respectively, were separated successfully in one-step separation from 150 mg of crude sample from P. decursivum (Miq.) Maxim. After purified by HSCCC again with light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:4:5, v/v) as the two-phase solvent system, the purity of (I) can reach 99.4%. The structures of all the compounds were identified by 1H NMR and 13C NMR.     

Synthesis of the ABCD ring of gambierol

A fully functionalized ABCD ring moiety of gambierol, a marine polycyclic ether toxin, was synthesized by the use of the oxiranyl anion strategy and reductive cycloetherification of a beta,delta-dihydroxy ketone.     

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.     

Correlation between oxygen consumption and photobleaching during in vitro photodynamic treatment with ATX-S10.Na(II) using pulsed light excitation: dependence of pulse repetition rate and irradiation time

We revealed that in ATX-S10.Na(II)(13,17-bis (1-carboxypropionyl) carbamoylethyl-8-etheny-2-hydroxy-3-hydroxyiminoethylidene-2,7,12,18-tetraethyl porphyrin sodium)-mediated photodynamic therapy using 667 nm nanosecond-pulsed light excitation at a peak intensity of 2.0 MW/cm(2), phototoxicity increased with decreasing pulse repetition rate in the range of 5-30 Hz for A549 cell cultures. To examine the relation between the reaction mechanism and measured phototoxicity, we carefully measured the kinetics of photochemical oxygen consumption and photobleaching during irradiation of ATX-S10.Na(II)-sensitized A549 monolayer cultures. Measurements of oxygen consumption with a microelectrode, which was performed just above the cells, showed that there was no significant difference between the magnitudes of decrease in oxygen at the three repetition rates at the same cumulative fluence. Loss of ATX-S10.Na(II) fluorescence intensity also exhibited little repetition rate dependence when compared at the same cumulative fluence. We investigated the correlation between oxygen consumption and photobleaching during irradiation and obtained "fluorescence-oxygen diagrams." The diagrams showed dynamic changes between oxygen-dependent and oxygen-independent photobleaching at the higher repetition rates of 10 and 30 Hz, whereas such change was not clearly seen over the whole irradiation time at 5 Hz. These results suggest that the reduced phototoxicity at high repetition rates might be due to an oxygen-independent reaction. We presumed that the change in the reaction mechanism was associated with the local concentrations of the photosensitizer and oxygen in cells during irradiation.     

High performance liquid chromatography with an electrochemical detector in the cathodic mode as a tool for the determination of p-nitrophenol and assay of acid phosphatase in urine samples

Utilizing a commercially available helium-purging device and PEEK tubes for all tubing, especially for connection between the mobile phase and pump, high performance liquid chromatography with an electrochemical detector (ECD/HPLC) at the cathodic mode is a simple and precise method for the determination of p-nitrophenol (NP). Studies with cyclic and hydrodynamic voltammetry indicated that 25% aqueous MeOH containing 0.1% (v/v) CF(3)CO(2)H and -0.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl are the best mobile phase and detection potential for cathodic ECD/HPLC. With the present system, the limits of detection and determination were 0.2 and 0.25 microM, respectively, and up to 50 microM, a linear calibration curve was afforded. Within-day precisions for the analysis of 5 and 50 microM NP were 0.8 and 0.7% (n=6), respectively, and between-day precisions (n=6) for these samples were 3.5 and 2.2%, respectively. Compared with the commonly used Bessey-Lowry-Brock method, cathodic ECD/HPLC was useful for the assay of acid phosphatase in urine samples with p-nitrophenyl phosphate disodium salt as a substrate.     

Distributed computing and NMR constraint-based high-resolution structure determination: applied for bioactive Peptide endothelin-1 to determine C-terminal folding

Distributed computing has been implemented to the solution structure determination of endothelin-1 to evaluate efficiency of the method for NMR constraint-based structure calculations. A key target of the investigation was determination of the C-terminal folding of the peptide, which had been dispersed in previous studies of NMR, despite its pharmacological significances. With use of tens of thousands of random initial structures to explore the conformational space comprehensively, we determined high-resolution structures with good convergences of C-terminal as well as previously defined N-terminal structures. The previous studies had missed the C-terminal convergence because of initial structure dependencies trapped in localized folding of the N-terminal region, which are strongly constricted by two disulfide bonds.     

Development of a novel analytical method for determination of chondroitin sulfate using an in-capillary enzyme reaction

A novel analytical method for determination of total amount of chondroitin sulfate (CS) based on its conversion to desulfated chondro-disaccharide via an enzyme-catalyzed reaction, was developed. Using the in-capillary enzyme reaction, the method was also applied to the successful construction of an on-line analytical system. Within this system, electrophoretic migration was used to mix zones containing the enzyme mixture (chondroitinase ABC, chondro-4-sulfatase, chondro-6-sulfatase and 2-o-sulfatase) and the substrate (CS). The reaction was then allowed to proceed in the presence of a weak electric field and, finally, the product (desulfated chondro-disaccharide) of enzyme reaction migrated to the detector under the influence of an applied electric field. A polyvinyl alcohol-coated capillary was used to reduce protein adsorption. Desulfated chondro-disaccharide was successfully migrated toward the anode in 10 mM Tris-acetate buffer (pH 7.0) under reversed polarity and detected at 232 nm. The established method was validated and demonstrated to be applicable in the determination of total amount of CS in a commercial ophthalmic solution. No interference from the formulation excipients was observed. Good linearity was obtained, with correlation coefficients above 0.999. Recoveries and precisions ranged from 100.0 to 100.5%, and from 0.2 to 0.6% of the relative standard deviation, respectively. Good agreement was obtained between the established method and traditional photometric method based on carbazole reaction. In this study, application of the method to disaccharide compositional analysis was also performed.     

Polyion complex stabilized palladium nanoparticles for Suzuki and Heck reaction in water

Palladium nanoparticles stabilized by a polyion complex composed of poly{4-chloromethylstyrene-co-(4-vinylbenzyl) tributylammonium chloride} and poly(acrylic acid) were easily recovered by filtration after pH treatment. The polyion complex stabilized palladium nanoparticles have high catalytic activity for the Suzuki and Heck reactions in water.     

Preparation, properties, and crystal structures of organometallic ionic liquids comprising 1-ferrocenyl-3-alkylimidazolium-based salts of bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide and hexafluorophosphate

Bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (TFSA), hexafluorophosphate (PF(6)(-)), and iodide salts of 1-ferrocenyl-3-alkylimidazolium were prepared and their thermal and physical properties, including the dependence on alkyl chain length (methyl-hexadecyl), were investigated. The TFSA salts were highly viscous ionic liquids with melting points around room temperature. 1-Ferrocenyl-4-methyltriazolium salts were also prepared for comparison. The ferrocenylimidazolium and ferrocenyltriazolium cations showed redox waves for both the ferrocenyl moiety and the azolium moiety and exhibited corresponding charge-transfer bands at around 330 nm, which were analyzed using the Marcus-Hush model. Crystal structure determinations at low temperature revealed that the PF(6) and iodide salts form layerlike structures composed of ionic layers of the charged moieties. The TFSA salt exhibited short hydrogen-bond-like intermolecular contacts between the hydrogen atoms of the cation and oxygen atoms of the anion.