Conformational Study of Naringenin in the Isolated and Solvated States by Semiempirical and Ab Initio Methods

Naringenin is a natural widespread flavanone occurring in different foodstuffs that presents several important biological activities. Although its properties are well documented, its mechanisms of action are still controversial. The present article reports a conformational analysis of naringenin, using the semiempirical AM1 and ab initio methods, at the Hartree–Fock level of theory. The 3-21G, 3-21G*, 6-31G, and 6-31G** basis sets were used. The electron correlation effects were included through the Møller–Plesset second-order perturbation theory. The solvation of naringenin has been investigated through the standard SCRF, the supermolecule (SM), and the combined SM/SCRF models. The results have shown that there are two degenerate forms of naringenin, differing mainly by the orientation of a hydroxyl group (C4—OH). The energy barrier for the interconversion between them is ca. 6 kcal.mol^–1, suggesting some conjugation between the -system of the aromatic B ring and the hydroxyl group (C4—OH).     

The reactions of iminosulfur difluorides and chlorine monofluoride

The reactions of perfluoroalkyl- and perfluoroacyl-iminosulfur difluorides with chlorine monofluoride result in the preparation of perfluoroalkyldichloroamines and a new class of compounds N,N-dichloroperfluoroamides, R_fC(O)NCl₂, via the elimination of SF₄. The amides, FC(O)NCl₂ and CF₃C(O)NCl₂, in addition to 1,2-bis-(dichloroamino)tetrafluoroethane, Cl₂NCF₂CF₂NCl₂, are reported and characterized. The reactions of CIF with other sulfur(IV) imines proceed in an analogous manner to form perfluoroalkyl-dichloroamines via the elimination of the corresponding sulfur(IV) fluoride.     

The simultaneous determination of silver,gold and mercury in high-purity lead by neutron activation analysis

A radiochemical method was developed to separate the group of the noble metals simultaneously from a lead matrix after irradiation with thermal neutrons. The resulting complex γ-spectrum was resolved by matrix calculus. Smoothing of the obtained data to determine the presence of small photopeaks among the background fluctuations, was done by convolution, based on a least squares approximation. The interference of antimony and bromine was studied. Amounts as low as 20–30 p.p.b. of Hg and less than 1 p.p.b. of Au were determined in the presence of up to 9 p.p.m. of Ag.     

A modular nanoparticle-based system for reagentless small molecule biosensing

Metalloprotein tethered CdSe nanoparticles have been generated to provide selective and reagentless maltose biosensing. As opposed to cell or protein detection by semiconducting nanoparticle bioconjugates, a modular method for small-molecule detection using semiconducting nanoparticle bioconjugates has been difficult. Here we report a method for reagentless protein-based semiconducting nanoparticle biosensors. This method uses Ru(II) complex-CdSe nanoparticle interactions and the maltose-induced conformation changes of maltose binding protein to alter the CdSe nanoparticle fluorescence emission intensity. In this proof-of-principle system, the maltose-induced protein conformation changes alter the Ru(II) complex-CdSe nanoparticle interaction, which increases the CdSe emission intensity. Altered CdSe emission intensity effects are best described as electron transfer from the Ru(II) complex to the CdSe excited state forming the nonfluorescent CdSe anion. Four surface-cysteine, Ru(II) complex-attached maltose-binding proteins have been studied for maltose dependent alteration of CdSe emission intensities. With 3.0-3.5 nm diameter CdSe nanoparticles, all ruthenated maltose-binding proteins display similar maltose-dependent increases (1.4-fold) in CdSe emission intensity and maltose binding affinities (KA = 3 x 106 M-1). For these four systems, the only difference was the sample-to-sample variation in maltose-dependent responses. Thus, very few surface cysteine mutations need to be examined to find a successful biosensor, as opposed to analogous systems using organic fluorophores. This strategy generates a unimolecular, or reagentless, semiconducting nanoparticle biosensor for maltose, which could be applied to other proteins with ligand-dependent conformation changes.     

A fast,sensitive determination of doxorubicin in rat plasma by solid-phase extraction and reversed-phase ion-pair chromatography

A very selective method is described for the determination of doxorubicin in rat plasma. Doxorubicin is extracted from the plasma on a pretreated octadecyl silane column and eluted with phosphate buffer pH 2.6/methanol (25/75, v/v) containing sodium 1-heptanesulfonate as ion-pairing agent. The extraction procedure is suitable for samples which contain doxorubicin encapsulated in liposomes if Triton X-100 is added. A portion of the evaporated eluate is used for high-performance reversed-phase chromatography with the same eluent and a fluorescence detector. Daunorubicin is used as internal standard. Extraction of doxorubicin from plasma is quantitative. The calibration graph is linear for 0.2-100 μg l^?1 doxorubicin with a limit of detection of 0.2 μg l^?1 for 0.5 ml of plasma. The relative standard error of estimate of the calibration was typically 3%.     

Selenium redox cycling in the protective effects of organoselenides against oxidant-induced DNA damage

The biological role of selenium is a subject of intense current interest, and the antioxidant activity of selenoenzymes is now known to be dependent upon redox cycling of selenium within their active sites. Exogenously supplied or metabolically generated organoselenium compounds, capable of propagating a selenium redox cycle, might therefore supplement natural cellular defenses against the oxidizing agents generated during metabolism. We now report evidence that selenium redox cycling can enhance the protective effects of organoselenium compounds against oxidant-induced DNA damage. Phenylaminoethyl selenides were found to protect plasmid DNA from peroxynitrite-mediated damage by scavenging this powerful cellular oxidant and forming phenylaminoethyl selenoxides as the sole selenium-containing products. The redox properties of these organoselenoxide compounds were investigated, and the first redox potentials of selenoxides in the literature are reported here. Rate constants were determined for the reactions of the selenoxides with cellular reductants such as glutathione (GSH). These kinetic data were then used in a MatLab simulation, which showed the feasibility of selenium redox cycling by GSH in the presence of the cellular oxidant, peroxynitrite. Experiments were then carried out in which peroxynitrite-mediated plasmid DNA nick formation in the presence or absence of organoselenium compounds and GSH was monitored. The results demonstrate that GSH-mediated redox cycling of selenium enhances the protective effects of phenylaminoethyl selenides against peroxynitrite-induced DNA damage.     

Experimental observation of light-induced solitary waves of analyte bands in capillary electrophoresis.

The phenomenon of electrophoresis in free solution has been studied theoretically down to the molecular level for decades. In addition, intermolecular photo-induced proton transfer reactions, which occur in a wide class of molecules (phenols and aminoarenes) as well as proteins (green fluorescent protein), were also studied extensively. However, the study of the effect of light-induced electrophoretic mobility changes of the analytes in electrophoresis was begun only recently. In the present work, capillary zone electrophoresis was chosen as the environment to measure the magnitude of these electrophoretic mobility shifts induced by light. Background electrolytes (running electrolytes) with high refractive indices were developed, allowing the capillary to work like an optical fiber. The experimental conditions for obtaining stable coupling and guided laser light along the liquid core are discussed. Experimental evidence of band compression is observed, leading to a solitary wave behavior of the analyte band (2-naphthol). These solitary waves result from competition between thermal diffusion (dispersion mechanism) and a nonlinear (band compression) effect due to the combined electrophoresis phenomenon and absorption of guided light by the molecules of the band (which are subjected to a "reversible intermolecular proton transfer reaction" as one of their decay routes). The possibilities of applying this effect to different methods and techniques are also discussed.     

Metabolic profiling of urinary organic acids by single and multicolumn capillary gas chromatography

High-resolution gas chromatography (HRGC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) are the techniques of choice to determine the retention indices of more than 200 organic acids as their trimethylsilyl (TMS) or oxime-trimethylsilyl derivatives. Several types of apolar and semipolar fused-silica capillary columns (OV-1, SE-52, and OV-1701), used to analyze and separate organic acids isolated from urine samples, are evaluated.     

The chemical ionization mass spectra of 2-tert-butyl-substituted 1,3-cycloalkanediol diacetates and dimethyl ethers

The chemical ionization (CI) mass spectra of the 2-tert-butyl-substituted 1,3-cyclopentane- and 1,3-cyclohexanediol diacetates and dimethyl ethers have been determined using isobutane and methane as reagent gases. From the differences in the spectra of these compounds, it clearly follows that steric and conformational effects are expresssed in the CI mass spectra. The relative impact of these effects, however, is strongly dependent on diol derivatization and 2-alkyl substitution.