Characterization of some physical and chromatographic properties of monolithic poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) columns

Monolithic capillary columns were prepared by copolymerization of styrene and divinylbenzene inside a 200 microm i.d. fused silica capillary using a mixture of tetrahydrofuran and decanol as porogen. Important chromatographic features of the synthesized columns were characterized and critically compared to the properties of columns packed with micropellicular, octadecylated poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) (PS-DVB-C18) particles. The permeability of a 60 mm long monolithic column was slightly higher than that of an equally dimensioned column packed with PS-DVB-C18 beads and was invariant up to at least 250 bar column inlet pressure, indicating the high-pressure stability of the monolithic columns. Interestingly, monolithic columns showed a 3.6 times better separation efficiency for oligonucleotides than granular columns. To study differences of the molecular diffusion processes between granular and monolithic columns, Van Deemter plots were measured. Due to the favorable pore structure of monolithic columns all kind of diffusional band broadening was reduced two to five times. Using inverse size-exclusion chromatography a total porosity of 70% was determined, which consisted of internodule porosity (20%) and internal porosity (50%). The observed fast mass transfer and the resulting high separation efficiency suggested that the surface of the monolithic stationary phase is rather rough and does not feature real pores accessible to macromolecular analytes such as polypeptides or oligonucleotides. The maximum analytical loading capacity of monolithic columns for oligonucleotides was found to be in the region of 500 fmol, which compared well to the loading capacity of the granular columns. Batch-to-batch reproducibility proved to be better with granular stationary phases compared to monolithic stationary phase, in which each column bed is the result of a unique column preparation process.     

Plasma-chemical decomposition of methane during diamond synthesis

Using a mass spectrometric sampling method, we have observed the decomposition of CH₄ in an rf plasma usedfor diamond deposition. The gas samples were extracted through an orifice located downstream of the plasma zone and analyzed online. For the experiments a dilute mixture of H₂ and CH₄ containing 0.1–3% CH₄ has been used. CH₄ is converted to C₂H₂ and C₂H₄ quantitatively. Small amounts of heavier hydrocarbons are formed. A comparison of the experimental results with a recent kinetic model treating a purely thermal environment is made and the differences between our experiment and the model are explained. The role of acetylene as a species formed in an atmosphere rich in atomic hydrogen is proposed. The electron impact dissociation process is suggested as the rare-determining step in the plasma-chemical decomposition of methane.     

Substrate affinities for membrane transport proteins determined by 13C cross-polarization magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

We have devised methods in which cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CP-MAS) solid-state NMR is exploited to measure rigorous parameters for binding of (13)C-labeled substrates to membrane transport proteins. The methods were applied to two proteins from Escherichia coli: a nucleoside transporter, NupC, and a glucuronide transporter, GusB. A substantial signal for the binding of methyl [1-(13)C]-beta-d-glucuronide to GusB overexpressed in native membranes was achieved with a sample that contained as little as 20 nmol of GusB protein. The data were fitted to yield a K(D) value of 4.17 mM for the labeled ligand and 0.42 mM for an unlabeled ligand, p-nitrophenyl beta-d-glucuronide, which displaced the labeled compound. CP-MAS was also used to measure binding of [1'-(13)C]uridine to overexpressed NupC. The spectrum of NupC-enriched membranes containing [1'-(13)C]uridine exhibited a large peak from substrate bound to undefined sites other than the transport site, which obscured the signal from substrate bound to NupC. In a novel application of a cross-polarization/polarization-inversion (CPPI) NMR experiment, the signal from undefined binding was eliminated by use of appropriate inversion pulse lengths. By use of CPPI in a titration experiment, a K(D) value of 2.6 mM was determined for uridine bound to NupC. These approaches are broadly applicable to quantifying binding of substrates, inhibitors, drugs, and antibiotics to numerous membrane proteins.     

Catalytic-kinetic absorptiostat technique with the indigo carmine—hydrogen peroxide reaction as the indicator reaction

The absorptiostat method previously described is used for the catalytic-kinetic determination of sulphur compounds (sulphide, thioacetamide. thiourea and thiosulphate) in the micromolar range by means of their catalytic action for the indigo carmine—hydrogen peroxide indicator reaction. The thiosulphate catalyst is activated by iron(III) or aluminium(III); aluminium(III) is deactivated by fluoride. On this basis, iron(III) is determined in the ng range, and aluminium(III) and fluoride in the μg range.     

Metallorganische verbindungen der lanthanoide CVIII. Synthese und strukturaufklärung monomerer organolanthanoidacetate

LnCl₃ reacts with Na(C₅Me₄¹Bu) in THF to form the organolanthanoid chlorides [(C₅Me₄¹Bu)₂LnCl(THF)] (Ln = La (1a), Lu (1b)). Compounds 1a and 1b yield in reaction with NaO₂CCH₃ the monomeric organolanthanoid acetates [(C₅Me₄¹Bu)₂LnO₂CCH₃] (Ln = La (2a), Lu (2b)). The single crystal X-ray structure analysis of 2b as well as the cryoscopic molecular weight investigation of 2a verify the monomeric structure of these complexes.     

The reaction of aromatic α,β-unsaturated ketones with 4,5-diamino-1,6-dihydropyrimidin-6-ones

The reaction of 4,5-diamino-1,6-dihydropyrimidin-6-ones 1 with one equivalent of the chalcones 2 leads in an acidic medium to the formation of the 2,4-diaryl-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-pyrimido[4,5-b][1,4]diazepin-6-ones 3a-m . The structure elucidation of the products is based on detailed nmr investigations including selective ¹³C[¹H] decoupling experiments.     

Synthesis of the alkaloids julandine and ipalbidine-use of silicon (IV) chloride

Titanium (IV) chloride and silicon (IV) chloride with high oxygen affinity are the best Lewis acid catalysts, of a number tested, for cyclisation of an enamine-ketone (1) leading to the alkaloid, julandine (2); cyclisation of (6) in methanol solution without catalyst yields $\text{O}$-methylipalbidine (7) .     

Separation of phenylthiohydantoin amino acids by capillary electrochromatography

Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) was employed as a rapid and high-efficiency method for the isocratic separation of all 20 important phenylthiohydantoin (PTH) amino acids, the end products of Edman degradation during N-terminal protein sequencing. For this purpose, 75 microm ID fused-silica capillaries were packed with standard 3 microm Hypersil octadecyl silica (ODS) particles using a two-step column fabrication process, which represents a fast, reliable and efficient means of producing long-term stable columns. The influence of solvent composition, pH, type of buffer cation, buffer concentration, and temperature on retention behavior of PTH amino acids was investigated. Same-day and day-to-day reproducibility of the retention times (over a period of two months) were found to be better than 3%. When comparing this new technique with traditional reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) methods applied in automated protein sequenators, CEC shows essentially shorter separation times and superior resolution.