Validation of a real-time monitoring method for aniline in freshwater by high-performance liquid chromatography on porous graphitic carbon/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Aniline is an anthropogenic organic compound widely used in polymer, rubber, pharmaceutical and dye industries but also used in biodegradability assays of chemical compounds as a positive biodegradation standard. By the two approaches, the rapid determination of aniline is necessary because of the high toxicity of aniline on hemoglobin. A high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS) method for the determination of aniline in water is described here. This method, using benzylamine as internal standard, was validated. No time-consuming sample preparation was needed. A rapid separation (7 min between two chromatographic runs) of aniline and benzylamine was performed on a Hypercarb porous graphitic carbon column using a gradient of methanol and 100 mM formic acid. The obtained limits of detection and quantification were 10 and 1 ng/mL, respectively. The response for aniline was quadratic. We show that this problem could be circumvented by showing that the [calculated concentration = f(introduced concentration)] function was linear. The linearity range was 10-1000 ng/mL. An example of an application consisting of an aniline 42-day degradation kinetic in water was demonstrated.     

Molecular mechanics and dynamics study of DNA-furocoumarins complexes: Effect of methylation of the angular derivatives on the intercalation geometry

Summary Results of molecular mechanics calculations on intercalation complexes between DNA and angelicin derivatives: angelicin, 4-methylangelicin, 5-methylangllicin, 4,4-dimethylangelicin, 4,5-dimethylangelicin, 4,6,4-trimethylangelicin and 4,6,5-trimethylangelicin, are presented. The correlation between the presence of methyl groups and an increase in DNA photobinding affinity is discussed on the basis of the molecular structures. The influence of the orientation of the angelicins within the intercalation cavity is also discussed. Finally, the consequences of the dynamical behaviour of angelicin in the intercalation cite are studied.Abbreviations CNDO complete neglect of differential overlap - NMR nuclear magnetic resonance - rms root mean square - UV-A ultraviolet light of class A (320<<400 nm)     

New multiresidue analytical method dedicated to trace level measurement of brominated flame retardants in human biological matrices

A new method has been developed for the multi-residue measurement of the main brominated flame retardants (alpha- and gamma-hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBP-A) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers including decabromodiphenyl ether) in human biological matrices (serum, adipose tissue and breast milk). The proposed sample preparation procedure focused on reduced solvent and consumable consumption and associated procedural contamination, as well as reduced sample size. This protocol was fully validated and was proved to be suitable for identification of brominated flame retardant residues at ultra-trace level, as attested by preliminary results on real samples.     

Multidimensional statistical analysis applied to electron ionization mass spectra to determine steroid stereochemistry

The differentiation of stereoisomers on the basis of their mass spectra only is usually a difficult challenge even when an informative ionization technique such as electron ionization is used; this is particularly the case for steroids. In this study, multivariate statistical techniques have been applied to the mass spectra of derivatized 5xi-androstane-3xi,17xi-diols (xi = alpha,beta) in order to investigate the possibility of discrimination among the different isomers. After collection of the data from the mass spectra (20 replicates for each of the 8 isomers), each ion was considered as a statistical variable and each mass spectrum as an observation. The more discriminative variables (42 out of the 160 initial ones) were selected using the analysis of variance technique (ANOVA). Thereafter, a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) allowed us to set up a predictive model for stereochemistry determination. The two-dimensional graphical display of the 160 observations on the basis of the canonical variables derived from LDA made it possible to separate the eight isomers. The discrimination of 5alpha and 5beta isomers as well as 3alpha and 3beta was unambiguous, whereas, the discrimination of 17alpha and 17beta epimers was less obvious. The robustness of the model was checked with 40 mass spectra recorded over a 6-month period on different quadrupole mass spectrometers and under different signal acquisition conditions. The percentage of correct assignment of these 'unknown' stereoisomers was 92%; only three 17alpha and 17beta epimers were not correctly plotted in the expected zone. Nevertheless, the performance score was better than those observed with traditional mass spectral libraries. Furthermore, this statistical approach allowed us to identify the main fragment ions involved in the discrimination between isomers: m/z 256 and 421 for isomers 5a-5b; m/z 241 and 331 for isomers 5alpha3alpha-5alpha3beta; m/z 143 and 162 for isomers 5beta3alpha-5beta3beta; and m/z 255 for epimers 17alpha-17beta.     

Palladium-catalyzed synthesis of 3-trifluoromethylated 1,3-dienes from acrylate derivatives and BTP

Here we reported a Pd-catalyzed coupling reaction between acrylate derivatives and BTP (2-bromo-3,3,3-trifluoropropene) to access 3-trifluoromethylated 1,3-dienes. The reaction allows the formation of the corresponding products in good to excellent yields and moderate Z/E diastereoisomeric ratios. This method broadens the current toolbox to access 3-trifluoromethylated 1,3-dienes.     

Modulating the activity of membrane-active peptides through Zn(II) complexation

Seeking to increase the selectivity of antimicrobial peptides for prokaryotic cells, we incorporated a bis-dipicolyl amine (bis-DPA) ligand at the N-terminus of de novo designed model peptides. The Zn₂·bisDPA complex increases the interaction of peptides with anionic model membranes, while decreasing interactions with zwitterionic model membranes. Further, it improves the peptides’ antimicrobial activity and decreases their hemolytic activity without substantial changes to their secondary structure. Therefore, incorporating a Zn₂·bisDPA complex is a useful strategy to enhance the selectivity of antimicrobial peptides.     

Prediction of macroscopic properties of protic ionic liquids by ab initio calculations

We have systematically investigated combinations of anions and cations in a number of protic ionic liquids based on alkylamines and used ab initio methods to gain insight into the parameters determining their liquid range and their conductivity. A simple, almost linear, relation of the experimentally determined melting temperature with the calculated volume of the anion forming the ionic liquid is found, whereas the dependence of the melting temperature with increasing cation volume goes through a minimum for relatively short side chain length. On the basis of the present results, we propose a strategy to predict the nature of protic ionic liquids in terms of low vapor pressure and conductivity. Comparisons with previously reported strategies for prediction of melting temperatures for aprotic ionic liquids are also made.     

Structure determination of a tetradecapeptide mimicking the RXVRG consensus sequence recognized by a Xenopus laevis skin endoprotease: An approach based on simulated annealing and 1H NMR

Summary The tetradecapeptide of sequence H-Asp-Val-Asp-Glu-Arg ⁵-Asp-Val-Arg-Gly⁹-Phe-Ala-Ser-Phe-Leu-NH₂ is recognized by a putative maturation endoprotease of the Xenopus laevis skin, which cleaves between Arg⁸ and Gly⁹. A conformational search has been performed on this peptide by simulated annealing calculations. Two different models in agreement with the NMR data were found. The conformational difference between the two types of model is located in the consensus sequence, i.e., from Arg⁵ to Gly⁹.