Evaluation of the Use of QSARS for Priority Setting and Risk Assessment

Abstract Impending changes in EEC legislation have accelerated the need to define the principles and practical considerations of the use of QSARs in priority setting and risk assessment. It is important to delineate the limitations of this approach and to review whether and how this information should be used in the risk assessment. The value and limitations of QSARs for use in priority setting and risk assessment will not be discussed in detail since the European Chemical Industry Ecology and Toxicology Centre (ECETOC) has only recently established a Task Force to tackle this issue. The terms of reference of the Task Force are: (1) compare the predictions obtained with QSARs to measured data using ECETOC databases and other sources of data and comment on the validity and applicability of such QSARs; (2) identify and review software packages which are available for accessing and using appropriate QSARs; (3) identify those aspects of environmental distribution, fate and effects where the further development of QSARs is desirable and feasible; and (4) provide a scientific basis for ECETOC's contribution to the activities of the European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) in this area. In this short paper, only an initial and personal evaluation is made of when and where to use QSARs in the priority setting and risk assessment process within the regulatory framework. Some critical remarks and suggestions are provided to guide future developments and integration of QSARs in the risk assessment process.     

Choline esters of alkylenebisphosphonic acids

The reaction of the acid chlorides of alkylenebisphosphonic acids with ethylene glycol and ethylene chlorohydrin gave ethylene glycol and -chloroethyl esters of alkylenebisphosphonic acids. The quaternization of these products leads to choline esters of alkylenebisphosphonic acids.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1424–1429, June, 1990.     

Benzophenone photoreduction by heteroatom-containing donors

Nanosecond flash photolysis has been carried out on benzophenone solutions in benzene and acetonitrile in presence of oxygen- and sulfur-containing reductants such as anisole, thioanisole, dibutyl sulfide and methyl 2-octyl ether. The quantum yield of ketyl formation is compared to previous results on the quantum yields of the final benzophenone disappearance. This comparison is also related to previous data on benzophenone reduction by nitrogen-containing reductants such as amines and amides and suggests a general mechanism for benzophenone photoreduction by heteroatom-containing donors.     

Halogenation of isoflavones using thionyl and sulphuryl chlorides

The reactions of thionyl and sulphuryl chlorides on isoflavones have been found to give a number of new chloroisoflavones and isoflavanones, whose structures have been elucidated on the basis of their spectral analytical data.     

On the behavior of α-brominated dimethyl o-benzenediacetate toward nitrogen nucleophiles. Part II. Reaction of dimethyl α-bromo-o-benzenediacetate with hydrazines

Dimethyl α-bromo-o-benzenediacetate ( 1 ) condensed with hydrazine and acetylhydrazine to give respectively 1-carbomethoxy-2-amino-1,4-dihydro-3-(2H)isoquinolinone (2) and its N-acetyl derivative ( 9 ). Replacement of the bromine atom of 1 with the N-1-methylhydrazino ( 3 ) and the N-1-phenylhydrazino ( 5 ) groups occurred by allowing 1 to react respectively with methylhydrazine and phenylhydrazine. In the latter case alkylation by 1 at the N-2 also occurred which led to the formation of the 2-phenylaminoisoquinolinone ( 8 ). Derivatives 3 and 5 smoothly cyclized to the 1-earbomethoxy-5(H)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2,3-benzodiazepin-4-ones 4 and 6 . A series of derivatives of 2 were also pharmacologically tested as antiinflammatory and CNS depressant agents.     

CHARGE TRANSFER ACROSS PIGMENTED BILAYER LIPID MEMBRANE AND ITS INTERFACES

Abstract— The technique of forming bilayer lipid membranes (BLM) has made it possible to study photoreactions of pigments in an environment that is much closer to those in photosynthetic and visual membranes. A pigmented BLM system with Mg²⁺-porphyrins as membrane-bound pigments and with ferricyanide and ferrocyanide as the aqueous electron acceptor and donor, respectively, was used to illustrate the photoelectric effects due to coupled interfacial charge transfer reactions.
The steady-state continuous photoresponse was studied by means of the voltage clamp method and a null current method. The independence of the pigment conductance channel and the ionic conductance channel was demonstrated. A tunable voltage clamp method was used to study the transient pulsed photoresponses. Such a measurement permits us to characterize the photosystem in terms of an equivalent circuit model which contains a novel chemical capacitance. Molecular interpretation of this equivalent circuit model was given.
A microscopic model based on the Gouy–Chapman theory and chemical kinetics calculation leads to an equivalent circuit which is also equivalent to the previous one. Generalization of this microscopic model further leads to a physical mechanism of the generation of the early receptor potential (ERP) in visual membranes. Relevance of pigmented BLM research to photosynthesis and other disciplines was also discussed.     

Wave mechanics - the first fifty years : edited by W.C. Price,S.S. Chissick and T. Ravensdale,Butterworths, London, 1973, pp. 435, price £12.00

The free NH₃ molecule and the [Zn(NH₃)₄]²⁺ ion were studied by the kinematic coupling approach. The pure effects of this coupling were found to be small, and some modifications had to be introduced in order to get a reasonable force field. The force constants deduced for the skeletal vibrations are comparable with those of a quasi-exact force field. Calculated frequencies for [⁶⁸Zn(NH₃)₄]²⁺ and [⁶⁴Zn(ND₃)₄]²⁺ are reported in addition to those of [⁶⁴Zn(NH₃)₄]²⁺. Mean amplitudes of vibration for [⁶⁴Zn(NH₃)₄]²⁺ are given.     

Intramolecular metal—double bond interactions : VII. Intramolecular cyclization of alkenyl derivatives of lithium,aluminum, gallium and indium

The intramolecular cyclization reactions of tri-1-hex-5-enyl Group III derivatives and of 1-hex-5-enyllithium have been investigated and it is proposed that the reactions may be depicted as internal addition across the terminal double bonds of the alkenyl species. The cyclization reaction proceeds more readily for the 1-hex-5-enyl derivatives than for any other chain length and is dependent on temperature, concentration and solvent. ¹H NMR data and cryoscopic molecular weight data are presented for several diisobutyialkenyl- and diisobutylalkyl-aluminum derivatives. These data have been interpreted in terms of a direct intramolecular interaction between the metal center and the π-electron system of the olefinic site. The intramolecular cyclization reactions for the 1-hept-6-enyl, 1-oct-7-enyl- and 1-undec-10-enylaluminum derivatives also were investigated and it was found that cyclization occurred only for the 1-hept-6-enyl derivative.     

Chloride, -Hydride and -Borohydride Derivatives of Difluorenyl Thallium(III)

Chloride¹), borohydrides²) and hydrides³) of dicyclopentadienyl thallium (III) and diindenyl thallium (III) have already been reported. The present communication deals with a study on the preparation and characterization of difluorenyl thallium (III) chloride, -hydride and -borohydride.     

Alkyl–oxygen bond formation in the mass spectra of α-chloromethyl aryl sulphones

When subjected to electron-impact, chloromethyl aryl sulphones (II, X = Cl) fragment predominantly by the loss of CH₂Cl from the molecular ion followed by the loss of SO₂ and in most cases the appropriate metastable peaks are present to confirm the transitions. In addition, alkyl–oxygen bond formation in the molecular ion was revealed by the presence of prominent peaks corresponding to the [R? ?-SO]⁺ ions. In most spectra no evidence for aryl–oxygen bond formation could be found and thus the presence of the chlorine atom was able to effectively reverse the direction of skeletal rearrangement reported for aryl methyl sulphones.