Unexpected detection of 3‐aroylbenzofuran side products in the preparation of 2‐arylbenzofurans: Identification,characterization, and comparison with chalcone's fragmentation patterns using EI/MSn

A gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry study of the intramolecular Wittig reaction revealed, together with the expected 2‐phenylbenzofuran, the formation of an unexpected side product that has not been reported until now. This study reports the identification of the by‐product, ie, the 3‐benzoyl‐2‐phenylbenzofuran, on the base of its mass spectrometric behaviour using a combination of electron ionization, exact mass measurement, multiple stage mass spectrometry, and labelled compounds. This study reports the common fragmentation pathways and discusses possible fragment structures of characteristic ions from a series of 3‐aroyl‐2‐arylbenzofuran derivatives obtained as by‐product under Wittig conditions. Emphasis is laid on the formation and structure investigation of the [M‐H]⁺ and [M‐OH]⁺ ions. Our results showed interesting analogies with the mass spectrometric behaviour of chalcones.     

Untargeted Metabolomics in Forensic Toxicology: A New Approach for the Detection of Fentanyl Intake in Urine Samples

The misuse of fentanyl, and novel synthetic opioids (NSO) in general, has become a public health emergency, especially in the United States. The detection of NSO is often challenged by the limited diagnostic time frame allowed by urine sampling and the wide range of chemically modified analogues, continuously introduced to the recreational drug market. In this study, an untargeted metabolomics approach was developed to obtain a comprehensive “fingerprint” of any anomalous and specific metabolic pattern potentially related to fentanyl exposure. In recent years, in vitro models of drug metabolism have emerged as important tools to overcome the limited access to positive urine samples and uncertainties related to the substances actually taken, the possible combined drug intake, and the ingested dose. In this study, an in vivo experiment was designed by incubating HepG2 cell lines with either fentanyl or common drugs of abuse, creating a cohort of 96 samples. These samples, together with 81 urine samples including negative controls and positive samples obtained from recent users of either fentanyl or “traditional” drugs, were subjected to untargeted analysis using both UHPLC reverse phase and HILIC chromatography combined with QTOF mass spectrometry. Data independent acquisition was performed by SWATH in order to obtain a comprehensive profile of the urinary metabolome. After extensive processing, the resulting datasets were initially subjected to unsupervised exploration by principal component analysis (PCA), yielding clear separation of the fentanyl positive samples with respect to both controls and samples positive to other drugs. The urine datasets were then systematically investigated by supervised classification models based on soft independent modeling by class analogy (SIMCA) algorithms, with the end goal of identifying fentanyl users. A final single-class SIMCA model based on an RP dataset and five PCs yielded 96% sensitivity and 74% specificity. The distinguishable metabolic patterns produced by fentanyl in comparison to other opioids opens up new perspectives in the interpretation of the biological activity of fentanyl.     

(4-Vinylpyridine-Styrene) Copolymer as Host Polymer for Chromophoric Complexes with Potential Second Order Nonlinear Optical Properties

A series of new metal containing polymers for second order nonlinear optics have been prepared by grafting Cu (II) and Pd (II) chromophoric complexes on a preformed (4-vinylpyridine-styrene) copolymeric backbone. The metallated polymers have been chemically and physically characterized. They show high glass transition temperatures, high thermal stability and good solubility. Their properties have been compared with analogous metallated poly(4-vinylpyridine) samples: variations in the polymeric backbone, as well as in ligands, metal, and metallation ratio, allow to tune their properties.     

Behavior of 5,6-dihydrobenzo[h]cinnolinones towards hydrazine. Synthesis of benzo[h]cinnolinones and of 4-Aminobenzo[h]cinnolinones

Dehydrogenation and amination of 4,4a,5,6-tetrahydro and 5,6-dihydrobenzocinnolinones in refluxing hydrazine hydrate to give new benzo[h]cinnolinones and 4-aminobenzo[h]cinnolinones are reported, and reaction mechanisms proposed. Experiments were also extended to 4,4a-dihydro-5H-indenopyridazinone which underwent hydrazine induced dehydrogenation to 5H-indenopyridazin-3-one but not subsequent amination.     

Resolution of a Configurationally Stable Hetero[4]helicene

We have developed an efficient chemical resolution of racemic hydroxy substituted dithia-aza[4]helicenes (DTA[4]H) 1(OH) using enantiopure acids as resolving agents. The better diastereomeric separation was achieved on esters prepared with (1S)-(−)-camphanic acid. Subsequent simple manipulations produced highly optically pure (≥ 99% enantiomeric excess) (P) and (M)-1(OH) in good yields. The role of the position where the chiral auxiliary is inserted (cape- vs. bay-zone) and the structure of the enantiopure acid used on successful resolution are discussed.     

Colloidal TiO2 nanocrystals/MEH-PPV nanocomposites: photo(electro)chemical study

An extensive optical and photoelectrochemical study of blended systems composed of organic-capped TiO(2) nanocrystals with either a spherical or rodlike morphology and a conjugated polymer, MEH-PPV, is presented. The absorption and emission properties of the heterojunctions have been characterized both in solution and in thin films. The blended structures deposited onto conductive substrates have been employed as active layers in photoelectrochemical systems. The investigation has been focused on the photoinduced charge transfer and recombination processes at the interface between the two components, as a function of the nanocrystal shape and surface coating, and of the film thickness. The presence of a large number of interfaces available for charge transfer is believed to play a fundamental role in enhancing the photoelectrochemical performances of the dispersed heterojunctions. The reported results suggest that such MEH-PPV/TiO(2) heterojunctions may be exploited as potential active layers in future photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical devices.     

Atmospheric pressure photoionization mechanisms. 2. The case of benzene and toluene

Benzene and toluene have been proposed previously as dopants in atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) experiments on compounds exhibiting ionization energies higher than the energy of photons used for irradiation. Their low ionization energies lead to their easy photoionization and the ions so formed lead to the ionization of analytes through charge exchange. However, some measurements have shown that some protonation reactions also take place, and a series of experiments was undertaken to investigate this unexpected behavior. It was shown that, when benzene is irradiated in the APPI source, the odd-electron molecular ions of phenol, diphenyl ether and phenoxyphenol are produced in high yield, together with protonated diphenyl ether and protonated phenoxyphenol. These results have been confirmed by deuterium labelling and MS(n) experiments. A possible mechanism is proposed, based on a radical attack by benzene molecular ions on oxygen molecules present inside the APPI source, analogous to that proposed in the literature for phenyl radicals. Similar results have been obtained with toluene, proving that APPI is able to activate a series of reactions leading to highly reactive species which are highly effective in promoting ionization of molecules with ionization energies higher than the photon energy.     

Li4C60: a polymeric fulleride with a two-dimensional architecture and mixed interfullerene bonding motifs

All known fullerene polymers have interfullerene connections via either [2 + 2] cycloaddition or single C-C bonds. The high-resolution synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction technique was employed here to determine the crystal structure of the Li4C60 fulleride. We find that the ground state of Li4C60 is a two-dimensional polymer with monoclinic crystal symmetry and an unprecedented architecture, combining both the [2 + 2] cycloaddition and the single C-C bridging motifs. The small size of the Li+ cations is crucial in stabilizing the resulting tightly packed polymeric structure.