Closed tube sample introduction for gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry analysis of water contaminated with a chemical warfare agent surrogate compound

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is a proven technology for detection of vapor phase chemical warfare agents. The technology is suitable for field portable instrumentation due to its small size, high sensitivity, speed of analysis, and low power consumption. However, it suffers from a limited dynamic range and potential difficulties in identifying compounds in complex matrices. The use of gas chromatography (GC) coupled to IMS can overcome the difficulty of chemical identification in mixtures by separating the sample into individual components before detection. Using this approach, IMS technology has previously been adapted to detect biological aerosols using an open tube pyrolyzer and a short GC column (Py-GC-IMS). The open sample introduction tube of a Py-GC-IMS instrument would be a convenient configuration to accept aerosol particulates, and while viewed as needed for aerosol trapping, is not optimal for liquid chemical analyses. To examine the usefulness of an existing Py-GC-IMS system for analysis of chemicals in water, an existing open-port sample interface was replaced with a septum-equipped closed tube injector to contain analyte vapors resulting from liquid injection. Tributylphosphate (TBP) was used as a surrogate chemical warfare agent, and aqueous injections into both closed and open tube assemblies were performed. Sample introduction into the closed tube inlet was also accomplished using solid phase microextraction (SPME) preconcentration. The limit of detection for TBP using an open tube, closed tube, and closed tube configuration with SPME sample introduction was 0.980, 0.196, and 0.0098 mg/L, respectively.     

The use of 90°-1,3-butadiene as a reference structure for the evaluation of stabilization energies for benzene and other conjugated cyclic hydrocarbons

Reactions are described that employ 90°-1,3-butadiene as a reference structure for the evaluation of the stabilization energyof the benzenoid and other cyclic conjugated hydrocarbons. The unique benefits of this rotamer of butadiene as a reference molecule within the homodesmotic conceptual framework are discussed. Experimental stabilization energies are presented for a number of cyclic hydrocarbons.     

A designed synthetic analogue of 4-OT is specific for a non-natural substrate

The substrate specificity of 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT) is characterized by electrostatic interactions between positively charged arginine (Arg) side chains on the enzyme and the dianionic substrate, 4-oxalocrotonate. To generate specific hydrogen-bonding interactions with a monoanionic substrate analogue, we have introduced a urea functional group into the active site by replacing arginine side chains with isosteric citrulline (Cit) residues. This design was based on the complementarity between the urea functionality of citrulline and the uncharged amide function of the substrate, as opposed to the guanidinium-carboxylate electrostatic interaction between the wild-type enzyme and the natural substrate. Indeed, the synthetic (Arg39Cit)4-OT analogue catalyzed the tautomerization of the non-natural monoamide-monoacid substrate while it was a poor catalyst for the natural diacid substrate. The specificity of (Arg39Cit)4-OT for the monoamide-monoacid substrate relative to that of the diacid substrate was found to be 740-fold greater than that of the wild-type enzyme for tautomerization of the non-natural substrate as compared with the natural one. The role of electrostatic interactions in the tautomerization of the monoamide-monoacid substrate was probed in detail with several other Arg to Cit analogues of this enzyme. This study has demonstrated that chemical manipulation of the functional groups within the active site of an enzyme can modify its catalytic activity and substrate specificity in a predictable way, suggesting that the incorporation of noncoded amino acids into proteins has great promise for the development of new enzymatic mechanisms and new binding interactions.     

Modelling,optimisation and control of selectivity in the separation of aromatic bases by electrokinetic chromatography using a neutral cyclodextrin as a pseudostationary phase

A simple mathematical model describing the separation of a series of aromatic bases by electrokinetic chromatography using beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) as a pseudostationary phase is described. The model takes into account changes in electrolyte pH and the different formation constants between the neutral and charged forms of the analytes with the CD. Constants in the model were obtained within the two-dimensional experimental space defined by pH and [beta-CD] with nonlinear regression using only five experimental points. These constants agreed with expected trends in analyte-CD interactions and predicted much higher formation constants for the neutral analyte-CD complex than for the charged analyte-CD complex. Correlation between predicted and observed mobilities using additional 20 points within the experimental space gave r(2) = 0.995. Optimisation of the pH and [beta-CD] was performed using both the normalised resolution product and minimum resolution product criteria and provided two optimum separations which exhibited different selectivities. Differences between predicted and observed migration times at these optima were less than 2.5 and 5% for the normalised resolution product and the minimum resolution criteria, respectively. In both cases the correct migration order was predicted. The model was also applied successfully to the optimisation of conditions for the separation of a specific mixture of analytes or for conditions under which particular analytes migrated in a desired order.     

Synthesis,metal-exchange kinetics and X-ray structure of the nickel(II) complex of the diazacyclam ligand 1,3,6,10,12,15-hexa-azatricyclo [13.3.1.16,10]eicosane, [NiL] (ClO4)2

The preparation of the nickel(II) complex of the diazacyclam ligand 1,3,6,10,12,15-hexaazatricyclo [13.3.1.16,10]eicosane (2) by the reaction of the nickel(II) complex of N-(2-aminoethyl)-1,3-diaminopropane with formaldehyde in MeOH solution is described. The crystal structure of [NiL](ClO4)2 has been determined. The nickel atom is four coordinate and planar with Ni-N bond lengths of 1.969(4) and 1.928(3)Å in a centrosymmetric structure. The basic diazacyclam ring system has a trans III configuration with the two additional six-membered rings fused in a chair conformation.The kinetics of the metal exchange:for the nickel complexes (1) and (2) have been studied in detail. Under the experimental conditions employed, with copper(II) in at least a tenfold excess, the reaction is independent of the copper(II) concentration. The copper(II) effectively scavenges the free ligand as the nickel(II) complex dissociates. For the nickel complex (1) k = 2 × 10–4 s–1 at 60°C and H = 126 ± 5 kJmol–1 and S298 = 61 ± 15 JK–1mol–1. For the complex (2), k = 1.8 × 10–4 s–1 at 60°C and H = 99 ± 6 kJmol–1 and S298 = –21 ± 10 JK–1 mol–1.     

2-Mercaptomethyl-thiazolidines use conserved aromatic–S interactions to achieve broad-range inhibition of metallo-β-lactamases

Infections caused by multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria are a major public health threat. Carbapenems are among the most potent antimicrobial agents that are commercially available to treat MDR bacteria. Bacterial production of carbapenem-hydrolysing metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) challenges their safety and efficacy, with subclass B1 MBLs hydrolysing almost all β-lactam antibiotics. MBL inhibitors would fulfil an urgent clinical need by prolonging the lifetime of these life-saving drugs. Here we report the synthesis and activity of a series of 2-mercaptomethyl-thiazolidines (MMTZs), designed to replicate MBL interactions with reaction intermediates or hydrolysis products. MMTZs are potent competitive inhibitors of B1 MBLs in vitro (e.g., K_i = 0.44 μM vs. NDM-1). Crystal structures of MMTZ complexes reveal similar binding patterns to the most clinically important B1 MBLs (NDM-1, VIM-2 and IMP-1), contrasting with previously studied thiol-based MBL inhibitors, such as bisthiazolidines (BTZs) or captopril stereoisomers, which exhibit lower, more variable potencies and multiple binding modes. MMTZ binding involves thiol coordination to the Zn(ii) site and extensive hydrophobic interactions, burying the inhibitor more deeply within the active site than d/l-captopril. Unexpectedly, MMTZ binding features a thioether–π interaction with a conserved active-site aromatic residue, consistent with their equipotent inhibition and similar binding to multiple MBLs. MMTZs penetrate multiple Enterobacterales, inhibit NDM-1 in situ, and restore carbapenem potency against clinical isolates expressing B1 MBLs. Based on their inhibitory profile and lack of eukaryotic cell toxicity, MMTZs represent a promising scaffold for MBL inhibitor development. These results also suggest sulphur–π interactions can be exploited for general ligand design in medicinal chemistry.

Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) are major culprits of resistance to carbapenems in bacteria. A series of thiazolidines are potent MBL inhibitors, restoring the activity of carbapenems. Metal binding and sulphur–π interactions are key to inhibition.     

The effect of a coriolis force on Taylor-Couette flow

Taylor-Couette flow subject to a Coriolis force is studied experimentally and numerically. In the experiment, the Couette apparatus is mounted on a turntable with the axis of the cylinders orthogonal to the rotation vector of the turntable. The Coriolis force stabilizes the fluid against the onset of Taylor vortices and alters the velocity fields, both above and below the transition from the initial flow. At small dimensionless turntable frequencies, the transition yields time-independent Taylor vortices which are tilted with respect to the cylinder axis. At larger there is a direct transition to turbulence. We determine the first-order correction to the classical Couette initial flow, to account for the effects of the Coriolis force, by expanding in powers of. We present numerical results for the axial velocity (the only nonvanishing correction term to order) in the infinite-cylinder approximation.     

Determination of lead in rocks by radiometric isotope dilution and substoichiometric extraction

A rapid procedure is described for the determination of lead in rocks by an isotope-dilution substoichiometric method. After the sample has been digested with acid in the presence of ²¹⁰Pb tracer, the lead is separated by dithizone extractions. After the lead has been back-extracted into aqueous solution, it is reacted with a substoichiometric amount of EDTA. Excess of unreacted lead is removed by extraction with dithizone in carbon tetrachloride, and the specific activity of the aqueous complex is determined by counting ²¹⁰Pb. The standard deviation of the method is less than 10 % for replicate determinations of lead in several U.S. Geological Survey standard rocks. The agreement with literature values indicates that the method is accurate.     

Addition of benzylic and allylic organozinc and Grignard reagents to resin-bound imines to provide alpha-branched secondary amines bearing a wide variety of functional groups. Utility in the synthesis of beta-3 adrenergic receptor agonists

Benzylic and allylic organozinc and Grignard reagents have been added to resin-bound imines to provide alpha-branched secondary amines. Many functional groups, including electrophilic groups, were compatible with this methodology. Three modules--a resin-bound primary amine, an aromatic aldehyde, and the organometallic--were independently varied to produce a combinatorial library of alpha-branched secondary amines designed as beta-3 adrenergic receptor agonists.