HPLC methods for the determination of simvastatin and atorvastatin

We review high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods for the determination of two major statins used in clinical treatment – simvastatin and atorvastatin – in various fields of application, including bio-analytical assays, pharmaceutical assays and environmental applications.

Statin molecules are known to be susceptible to interconversion of the lactone and acidic forms, so it is necessary to consider this phenomenon during method development. We highlight liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods, as they have become a method of choice in bio-analytical and environmental applications. We compare the methods from the point of view of sensitivity. We discuss selection of the precursor ion for performing selected reaction monitoring (SRM) in MS detection and sample preparation.     

Sample Preparation for TLC — Genetic Algorithm-Based Optimization of Microwave-Assisted Extraction

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - Optimization of microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) as a method of sample preparation in thin-layer chromatographic (TLC) analysis...     

Decomposition of complete graphs into (0, 2)-prisms

R. Frucht and J.Gallian (1988) proved that bipartite prisms of order 2n have an α-labeling, thus they decompose the complete graph K _6nx+1 for any positive integer x. We use a technique called the ? ⁺-labeling introduced by S. I. El-Zanati, C. Vanden Eynden, and N. Punnim (2001) to show that also some other families of 3-regular bipartite graphs of order 2n called generalized prisms decompose the complete graph K _6nx+1 for any positive integer x.     

Improved biocompatibility of protein encapsulation in sol–gel materials

By using the fluorescent dye 6-propionyl-2-(N,N-dimethylamino) naphthalene (PRODAN) to monitor methanol generated during tetramethyl orthosilicate polymerization we have optimised the encapsulation of protein in silica sol–gel monoliths with respect to completion of hydrolysis and distillation in order to remove methanol such that protein can be added without denaturation. A minimum of 24 h at +4 °C was found to be required before hydrolysis is complete and 3–5 min of vacuum distillation at 50 °C and 300 mbar needed to remove methanol before the gel is formed. The biocompatibility of a tetramethyl orthosilicate sol–gel monolith was demonstrated by preserving the trimer protein allophycocyanin (APC) in its native form for up to 500 h. This obviates the previously essential requirement of covalently binding the trimer together in order to prevent dissociation into monomers and has enabled observation of native APC trimer in a sol–gel pore for the first time down to the single molecule level using combined fluorescence spectroscopy and confocal microscopy. The higher stability afforded by the protocol we describe could impact on the application of sol–gel materials to single-molecule studies of wider bearing such as protein folding and aggregation.     

Three quinolone compounds featuring O...I halogen bonding

Ethyl 1‐ethyl‐6‐iodo‐4‐oxo‐1,4‐dihydroquinoline‐3‐carboxylate, C₁₄H₁₄INO₃, (I), and ethyl 1‐cyclopropyl‐6‐iodo‐4‐oxo‐1,4‐dihydroquinoline‐3‐carboxylate, C₁₅H₁₄INO₃, (II), have isomorphous crystal structures, while ethyl 1‐dimethylamino‐6‐iodo‐4‐oxo‐1,4‐dihydroquinoline‐3‐carboxylate, C₁₄H₁₅IN₂O₃, (III), possesses a different solid‐state supramolecular architecture. In all three structures, O...I halogen‐bonding interactions connect the quinolone molecules into infinite chains parallel to the unique crystallographic b axis. In (I) and (II), these molecular chains are arranged in (101) layers, viaπ–π stacking and C—H...π interactions, and these layers are then interlinked by C—H...O interactions. The structural fragments involved in the C—H...O interactions differ between (I) and (II), accounting for the observed difference in planarity of the quinolone moieties in the two isomorphous structures. In (III), C—H...O and C—H...π interactions form (100) molecular layers, which are crosslinked by O...I and C—H...I interactions.     

Mechanical oscillators described by a system of differential-algebraic equations

The classical framework for studying the equations governing the motion of lumped parameter systems presumes one can provide expressions for the forces in terms of kinematical quantities for the individual constituents. This is not possible for a very large class of problems where one can only provide implicit relations between the forces and the kinematical quantities. In certain special cases, one can provide non-invertible expressions for a kinematical quantity in terms of the force, which then reduces the problem to a system of differential-algebraic equations.