Preparative separation of isoquinoline alkaloids from Corydalis impatiens using middle chromatogram isolated gel column coupled with positively charged reversed‐phase liquid chromatography

Positively charged reversed‐phase liquid chromatography was employed for the efficient preparative separation of isoquinoline alkaloids from Corydalis impatiens. Ten commercially available columns were compared for isoquinoline alkaloids analysis. While tailing, overloading, lower resolution, and buffer salts limited the application in purification of isoquinoline compounds of many of these columns, one positively charged reversed‐phase C18 column (XCharge C18) overcame these drawbacks, allowing for favorable separation resolution, even when loading isoquinoline compounds on a larger, preparative scale. The general separation process is as follows. First, isoquinoline alkaloids are enriched with Corydalis impatiens extract via a middle chromatogram isolated gel column. After column selection, separation is performed on an XCharge C18 analytical column, from which two evident chromatographic peaks are readily obtained. Finally, two isoquinoline alkaloids (protopine and corydamine) are selectively purified on the XCharge C18 preparative column. These results demonstrate that a middle chromatogram isolated gel column coupled with positively charged reversed‐phase liquid chromatography is effective for the preparative separation of isoquinoline alkaloids from Corydalis impatiens.     

An Ag2S@ZnS‐coated fiber for efficient,long‐life solid‐phase microextraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water

Although an efficient and stable fiber coating is essential for the development of solid‐phase microextraction technique, it remains a challenging prospect. Herein, an inorganic nanocomposite material Ag₂S@ZnS was prepared and used as a coating for fibers to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples in combination with a GC with flame ionization detector. Compared with a single ZnS material, the Ag₂S@ZnS composite shows many uneven nano‐protrusions on the surface of the microspheres. In conjunction with the relatively scattered microstructure of the coating and the effective anion‐π interaction formed between ZnS and the hydrocarbons, it has a large specific surface area, fast diffusion of the target molecule on its surface, and appropriate adsorption of the target molecules; therefore, it exhibits good extraction efficiency for the hydrocarbons. Under optimal conditions, the proposed analytical method exhibits superior performance with good linearity (0.01–500 µg/L) and low limits of detection (0.001–0.200 µg/L). Combined with high thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability, the service life of the coating was improved and could be used 200 times without a significant reduction in the extraction performance, and at least 2000 extraction–desorption cycles can be achieved. Satisfactory results were also obtained for the real samples.     

Melatonin prevents doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity through suppression of AMPKα2-dependent mitochondrial damage

The clinical application of doxorubicin, one of the most effective anticancer drugs, has been limited due to its adverse effects, including cardiotoxicity. One of the hallmarks of doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity is mitochondrial dysfunction. Despite intensive research over recent decades, there are no effective approaches for alleviating doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity. Melatonin, a natural hormone that is primarily secreted by the pineal gland, is emerging as a promising adjuvant that protects against doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity owing to its pharmaceutical effect of preserving mitochondrial integrity. However, the underlying mechanisms are far from completely understood. Here, we provide novel evidence that treatment of H9c2 cardiomyoblasts with doxorubicin strongly induced AMP-activated protein kinase α2 (AMPKα2), which translocated to mitochondria and interfered with their function and integrity, ultimately leading to cellular apoptosis. These phenomena were significantly blocked by melatonin treatment. The levels of AMPKα2 in murine hearts were tightly associated with cardiotoxicity in the context of doxorubicin and melatonin treatment. Therefore, our study suggests that the maintenance of mitochondrial integrity is a key factor in reducing doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity and indicates that AMPKα2 may serve as a novel target in the design of cytoprotective combination therapies that include doxorubicin.Subject terms: Biochemistry, Diseases     

Computational study of ion distributions at the air/liquid methanol interface

Molecular dynamic simulations with polarizable potentials were performed to systematically investigate the distribution of NaCl, NaBr, NaI, and SrCl(2) at the air/liquid methanol interface. The density profiles indicated that there is no substantial enhancement of anions at the interface for the NaX systems, in contrast to what was observed at the air/aqueous interface. The surfactant-like shape of the larger more polarizable halide anions, which is part of the reason they are driven to air/aqueous interfaces, was compensated by the surfactant nature of methanol itself. These halide anions had on average an induced dipole of moderate magnitude in bulk methanol. As a consequence, methanol hydroxy groups donated hydrogen bonds to anions where the negatively charged side of the anion induced dipole pointed, and methyl groups interacted with anions where the positively charged side of the anion-induced dipole pointed. Furthermore, salts were found to disrupt the surface structure of methanol. For the neat air/liquid methanol interface, there is relative enhancement of methyl groups at the outer edge of the air/liquid methanol interface in comparison with hydroxy groups, but with the addition of NaX this enhancement was reduced somewhat. Finally, with the additional of salts to methanol, the computed surface potentials decreased, which is in contrast to what is observed in corresponding aqueous systems, where the surface potential increases with the addition of salts. Both of these trends have been indirectly observed with experiments. The surface potential trends were found to be due to the greater propensity of anions for the air/water interface that is not present at the air/liquid methanol interface.     

Synthesis of novel 6,7‐dihydro‐5H‐pyrimido[4,5‐e][1,4]diazepin‐8(9H)‐ones

A new method was developed for the synthesis of 6,7‐dihydro‐5H‐pyrimido[4,5‐e][1,4]diazepin‐8(9H)‐one derivatives. The key to construct the pyrimido[4,5‐e][1,4]diazepine core is the intramolecular amidation of N‐((4‐amino‐6‐chloropyrimidin‐5‐yl)methyl)‐substituted amino acid esters. This methodology was validated through the preparation of 13 representative 6,7‐dihydro‐5H‐pyrimido[4,5‐e][1,4]diazepin‐8(9H)‐ones in moderate to good yields. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).     

Rhodamine-derived Schiff base for the selective determination of mercuric ions in water media

A new rhodamine-derived Schiff base (RS) was synthesized and its sensing property to metal ions was investigated by UV/vis and fluorescence spectroscopies. Addition of Hg2+ ions to the aqueous solution of RS gave a visual color change as well as significantly fluorescent enhancement, while other ions including Pb2+, Cd2+, Cr3+, Zn2+, Cu2+, Fe2+, Co3+, Ni2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+ and Na+ ions did not induce any distinct color/spectral changes, which constituted a Hg2+-selective fluorescent OFF-ON chemosensor. The Hg2+-induced ring-opening of spirolactam of rhodamine in RS resulted in the dual chromo- and fluorogenic observation.     

Kinetic data for the transmetalation/reductive elimination in palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura reactions: unexpected triple role of hydroxide ions used as base

The mechanism of the reaction of trans-[ArPdX(PPh(3))(2)] (Ar=p-Z-C(6)H(4); Z=CN, F, H; X=I, Br, Cl) with Ar'B(OH)(2) (Ar'=p-Z'-C(6)H(4); Z'=CN, H, OMe) has been established in DMF in the presence of the base OH(-) in the context of real palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura reactions. The formation of the cross-coupling product ArAr' and [Pd(0)(PPh(3))(3)] has been followed through the application of electrochemical techniques. Kinetic data have been obtained for the first time, with determination of the observed rate constant, k(obs), of the overall reaction. trans-[ArPdX(PPh(3))(2)] is not reactive in the absence of the base. The base OH(-) plays three roles. It favors the reaction: 1) by formation of trans-[ArPd(OH)(PPh(3))(2)], a key complex which, in contrast to trans-[ArPdX(PPh(3))(2)], reacts with Ar'B(OH)(2) (rate-determining transmetalation), and 2) by unexpected promotion of the reductive elimination from the intermediate trans-[ArPdAr'(PPh(3))(2)], which generates ArAr' and a Pd(0) species. Conversely, the base OH(-) disfavors the reaction by formation of the unreactive anionic Ar'B(OH)(3)(-). As a consequence of these antagonistic effects of OH(-), the overall reactivity is controlled by the concentration of OH(-) and passes through a maximum as the concentration of OH(-) is increased. Therefore, the base favors the rate-determining transmetalation and unexpectedly also the reductive elimination.     

A tandem decarboxylation and inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction of amino-thiophenecarboxylic acids with 1,3,5-triazines

The scope of 1,3,5-triazine inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder (IDA) reactions was expanded to include aminothiophenecarboxylic acids as latent dienophiles. A series of 2-amino-3-thiophenecarboxylic acids (1a-d) and a 3-amino-2-thiophenecarboxylic acid (5) were introduced as productive dienophiles in IDA reactions with various 1,3,5-triazines (2a-e). This method is useful for the one-step synthesis of both thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidines and thieno[3,2-d]pyrimidines, which should complement existing methods.     

Effects of membrane degradation on the removal of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) by NF/RO filtration processes

The impacts of membrane degradation due to chlorine attack on the rejection of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes were investigated in this study. Membrane degradation was simulated by soaking the membranes in a sodium hypochlorite solution of various concentrations over 18 h. Changes in membrane surface properties were characterised by contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy analysis, and streaming potential measurement. The impacts of hypochlorite exposure to the membrane separation processes were ascertained by comparing the rejection of PhACs by virgin and chlorine-exposed membranes. Overall, the reverse osmosis BW30 membrane and the tight nanofiltration NF90 membrane were much more resilient to chlorine exposure than the larger pore size TFC-SR2 and NF270 nanofiltration membranes. In fact, rejection of all three PhACs selected in this study by the BW30 remained largely unchanged after hypochlorite exposure and further characterisation did not reveal any evidence of compromised separation capability. In contrast, the effects of chlorine exposure to the two loose nanofiltration membranes were quite profound. While chlorine exposure generally resulted in reduced rejection of PhACs, a small increase in rejection was observed when a more dilute hypochlorite solution was used. Changes in the membrane surface morphology as well as observed rejection of inorganic salts and PhACs were found to be consistent with mechanisms of chlorine oxidation of polyamide membranes reported in the literature. Chlorine oxidation consistently resulted in a more negative zeta potential of all four membranes investigated in this study. Conformational alterations of the membrane polyamide active skin layer were also evident as reflected by changes in surface roughness before and after chlorine exposure. Such alterations can either loosen or tighten the effective membrane pore size, leading to either a decrease or an increase in rejection. Both of these phenomena were observed in this study, although the decrease in the rejection of PhACs was overwhelming from exposure to highly concentrated hypochlorite solution.