Determination of monohydroxylated metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) from wastewater-treatment plants

A high-performance liquid chromatography separation coupled with mass spectrometry via an electrospray interface is proposed for the determination of the hydroxylated derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) in treated and untreated wastewaters and suspended solids from sewage treatment plants (STPs). The developed SPE procedure was applied to spiked wastewater samples, with recovery yields (1000?mL; 100?ng?L^?1 spiking level) in the 65–87% (RSD: 6–12%) range for the selected OH-PAHs. The limits of detections ranged between 0.3 and 3.2?ng?L^?1, depending on the selected compound and on the investigated matrix. The proposed method was applied to the determination of the selected analytes in real samples from a sewage-treatment plant (STP). The investigated OH-PAHs were detected mainly in the particulate fraction. The exhibited mean concentrations of positive samples (as the sum of dissolved and particulate matter) in the STP final effluent ranged from 15 to 68?ng?L^?1.     

HMDST as Useful Tool in Organic Synthesis: A Further Step in the Delivery of Sulfur Functionalities

Abstract

Bis(trimethylsilyl)sulfide (HMDST) was demostrated to be a very efficient reagent in the delivery of sulfur functionalities, allowing us to synthesize a wide range of thiocarbonyl compounds. The most reactive derivatives were trapped with suitable dienes, leading to the synthesis of different heterocyclic molecules with an high degree of chemo- and regioselectivity. Recently, the mildness of this methodology also allowed us to obtain particularly reactive thiooxocompounds, such as thioformylsilanes, α,β-unsaturated thioaldehydes, thioketones, thioacylsilanes, and thioacylstannanes.     

Organic Stereochemistry. Part 4

This Part 4 continues a general presentation of the principles of stereochemistry with special reference to medicinal compounds and their interactions with biological systems. Here, we discuss and illustrate two major aspects of conformational isomerism, namely a) the concept of torsional isomerism about single bonds, and b) the intertwined conformational and configurational aspects of the stereochemistry of cyclic systems. The review begins with a brief reminder of the history and thermodynamics of conformational isomerism, and goes on to explain and illustrate the conventions and graphical representations used for conformers. Examples are then examined, beginning with ethane, the simplest one, and building up to more complex cases, documenting the attractive or repulsive role of substituents. A similar approach is applied when dealing with cyclic systems, although here the presentation necessarily takes into account configurational aspects specific to cyclic systems. The pharmacological implications of the concepts discussed here will be presented in Part 6.     

Evolution of the protein corona of lipid gene vectors as a function of plasma concentration

The concept that the effective unit of interest in the cell-nanomaterial interaction is the particle and its corona of associated proteins is emerging. Here we investigate the compositional evolution of the protein corona of 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium propane (DOTAP) cationic liposomes (CLs) and DOTAP/DNA lipoplexes over a wide range of plasma concentrations (2.5-80%). The composition of the hard corona of lipoplexes is quite stable, but that of CLs does evolve considerably. We show that the protein corona of CLs is made of both low-affinity and competitive-binding proteins whose relative abundance changes with the plasma concentration. This result may have deep biological implications for the application of lipid-based gene vectors both in vitro and in vivo.     

Increasing thermoelectric efficiency: a dynamical systems approach

Inspired by the kinetic theory of ergodic gases and chaotic billiards, we propose a simple microscopic mechanism for the increase of thermoelectric efficiency. We consider the cross transport of particles and energy in open classical ergodic billiards. We show that, in the linear response regime, where we find exact expressions for all transport coefficients, the thermoelectric efficiency of ideal ergodic gases can approach the Carnot efficiency for sufficiently complex charge carrier molecules. Our results are clearly demonstrated with a simple numerical simulation of a Lorentz gas of particles with internal rotational degrees of freedom.     

Synthesis of Indenes via Graphene Oxide Mediated Manipulation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman Alcohols

A new metal-free synthetic approach to functionalized indenes is documented. The use of commercially available graphene oxide (GO) allowed the direct access to indenyl cores (yield up to 80 %) via intramolecular Friedel-Crafts-type allylic alkylations with readily available Morita-Baylis-Hillman alcohols. Combined experimental and spectroscopic investigations contributed to shed light on the reaction mechanism dealing with a nanostructured carbon material-based C−C bond forming reaction.