The chemical reactivity of a known anti-psoriasis drug. Part 1: Further insights into the products resulting from oxidative cleavage

The oxidative cleavage of the known anti-psoriasis drug 1 to give 2 has been reported previously. Due to the importance of accessing medium-sized ring containing systems via oxidative cleavage, this reaction has been revisited revealing additional information about the structure of 2. Alternative reaction products were identified when the reaction was carried out in the presence of water. The conversion of 1 to 2 has also been carried out using ruthenium tetroxide. A detailed variable temperature NMR and computational study of the restricted rotation of the N-aryl ring in 2 is presented.     

The asilomar conference on ion spectroscopy,October 16–20, 2009

The ASMS conference on ion spectroscopy brought together at Asilomar on October 16–20, 2009 a large group of mass spectrometrists working in the area of ion spectroscopy. In this introduction to the field, we provide a brief history, its current state, and where it is going. Ion spectroscopy of intermediate size molecules began with photoelectron spectroscopy in the 1960s, while electronic spectroscopy of ions using the photodissociation “action spectroscopic” mode became active in the next decade. These approaches remained for many years the main source of information about ionization energies, electronic states, and electronic transitions of ions. In recent years, high-resolution laser techniques coupled with pulsed field ionization and sample cooling in molecular beams have provided high precision ionization energies and vibrational frequencies of small to intermediate sized molecules, including a number of radicals. More recently, optical parametric oscillator (OPO) IR lasers and free electron lasers have been developed and employed to record the IR spectra of molecular ions in either molecular beams or ion traps. These results, in combination with theoretical ab initio molecular orbital (MO) methods, are providing unprecedented structural and energetic information about gas-phase ions.     

Heats of formation of C(6)H(5)(•), C(6)H(5)(+), and C(6)H(5)NO by threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence and active thermochemical tables analysis

Threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence has been used to prepare selected internal energy distributions of nitrosobenzene ions [C(6)H(5)NO(+)]. Dissociation to C(6)H(5)(+) + NO products was measured over a range of internal energies and rate constants from 10(3) to 10(7) s(-1) and fitted with the statistical theory of unimolecular decay. A 0 K dissociative photoionization onset energy of 10.607 ± 0.020 eV was derived by using the simplified statistical adiabatic channel model. The thermochemical network of Active Thermochemical Tables (ATcT) was expanded to include phenyl and phenylium, as well as nitrosobenzene. The current ATcT heats of formation of these three species at 0 K (298.15 K) are 350.6 (337.3) ± 0.6, 1148.7 (1136.8) ± 1.0, and 215.6 (198.6) ± 1.5 kJ mol(-1), respectively. The resulting adiabatic ionization energy of phenyl is 8.272 ± 0.010 eV. The new ATcT thermochemistry for phenyl entails a 0 K (298.15 K) C-H bond dissociation enthalpy of benzene of 465.9 (472.1) ± 0.6 kJ mol(-1). Several related thermochemical quantities from ATcT, including the current enthalpies of formation of benzene, monohalobenzenes, and their ions, as well as interim ATcT values for the constituent atoms, are also given.     

Analysis of multiple mycotoxins in beer employing (ultra)-high-resolution mass spectrometry

The objective of the presented study was to develop and optimize a simple, high-throughput method for the control of 32 mycotoxins (Fusarium and Alternaria toxins, aflatoxins, ergot alkaloids, ochratoxins, and sterigmatocystin) in beer. Due to the broad range of their physicochemical properties, the sample preparation step was simplified as much as possible to avoid analyte losses. The addition of acetonitrile to beer samples enabled precipitation of abundant matrix components. The clean-up efficiency was controlled by ambient mass spectrometry employing a direct analysis in real time (DART) ion source. For determination of analytes, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography hyphenated with high-resolution mass spectrometry utilizing an orbitrap (U-HPLC-orbitrapMS) or time-of-flight (TOFMS) technology was used. Because of significantly better detection capabilities of the orbitrap technology, the U-HPLC-orbitrapMS method was chosen as a determinative step and fully validated. To compensate matrix effects, matrix-matched calibration was employed. The lowest calibration levels for most of the target mycotoxins ranged from 1 to 8 μg L(-1) beer and the recoveries of analytes were in range from 86 to 124%.     

Experimental and theoretical studies on Mannich-type reactions of chiral non-racemic N-(benzyloxyethyl) nitrones

The nucleophilic addition of both silyl ketene acetals and lithium enolates derived from methyl acetate to chiral non-racemic N-(benzyloxyethyl)nitrones has been studied both experimentally and theoretically. Aromatic nitrones showed lower reactivity that aliphatic nitrones and the addition of the silyl ketene acetal led to lower selectivities than the addition of the corresponding lithium enolate. Whereas low selectivity was obtained for the addition of the silyl ketene acetal, only one diastereomer could be detected in all cases for the addition of lithium enolate to aliphatic nitrones. The synthetic utility of the two chiral auxiliaries employed lies in the preparation of enantiomeric compounds. DFT theoretical calculations confirmed the stepwise mechanism for the addition of silyl ketene acetals to nitrones and are in good agreement with the observed experimental results.     

Determination of Henry''s law coefficients by combination of the equilibrium partitioning in closed systems and solid-phase microextraction techniques

This paper describes the determination of Henry's law coefficients by means of the EPICS (equilibrium partitioning in closed systems) technique in combination with SPME (solid-phase microextraction). The use of solid-phase microextraction-sampling allowed us to extend the possibilities of the equilibrium partitioning in closed systems technique with respect to the range of Henry's law coefficients which can be measured. Whereas the equilibrium partitioning in closed systems technique is limited to determine air–water equilibrium partitioning of volatile compounds with Henry's law coefficients of at least 0.06 (dimensionless), the current method allowed to measure coefficients between 0.0023 and 13.5. In this way Henry's law coefficients of 20 compounds, being in a range covering five orders of magnitude, were measured with relative standard deviations between 1.0 and 19.8% (mean standard deviation: 5.7%; median of standard deviations: 4.8%, n=99). Several types of compounds were examined i.e. aliphatic hydrocarbons, monocyclic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated and fluorinated compounds, ethers and esters, biphenyl and N-containing compounds, including compounds for which availability of experimental Henry's law coefficients is limited. Measurement of the equilibrium partitioning in the 2 to 25°C range allowed to establish relations of Henry's law coefficient as a function of temperature.     

Dependence of photoemission efficiency on the pulsed laser cleaning of Tungsten photocathodes, part 1: Experimental

3+ :YAG laser with 5^th harmonic generator, generating 16 ps duration pulses at 213 nm, with energies up to 0.5 mJ. Experimental results concerning the action of laser pulses, as well as the effects of residual pressure on the cleanliness of the photocathodes surface are presented and discussed. Influence of laser pulses and residual pressure on the work function of the metal are also investigated. Received: 15 April 1996/Accepted: 5 November 1996     

Quantitative Structure-Affinity Relationships of Dopamine D2 Receptor Antagonists: A Comparison between Orthopramides and 6-Methoxysalicylamides

A large series of orthopramides (= 2-methoxybenzamides), 6-methoxysalicylamides, and 2,6-dimethoxy-benzamides were examined for their affinity to the dopamine D₂ receptor. The binding data were correlated with physicochemical parameters and ¹³C-NMR chemical shifts using the cross-validated partial least-squares method and multiple linear regression analysis. The results quantitate the influence of electronic factors and lipophilicity to D₂ receptor binding. They also show that the N-[(1-ethylpyrroIidin-2-yl)methyl] and N-(1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl) side-chains affect the mode of binding of these compounds.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gluconobacter</Emphasis> sp. cells for manufacturing of effective electrochemical biosensors and biofuel cells

Gluconobacter oxydans bacteria exhibit a unique metabolism for quick and incomplete oxidation of a wide range of different compounds (aldoses, ketoses, mono- and poly-alcohols, etc.). Such biotransformation efficiency with simple biomass production led to the industrial applications of these bacteria in the production of several important commodities. Their respiratory activity can also be successfully studied and used in the field of bioelectrochemistry. The main aim of this review is to present various strategies to improve selectivity of assays using intact/treated cells of G. oxydans, to introduce the application of G. oxydans-based biosensors in selective monitoring of analytes during biotransformation processes and to provide information about utilizable sugars in fermentation media or in biological oxygen demand value determination. The final part of the review describes potential application of G. oxydans cells in the generation of electricity from complex fuels within microbial fuel cells by advanced direct electron transfer route between bacterial cells and electrodes.