Automatic mass spectrometry method development for drug discovery: application in metabolic stability assays

High-throughput metabolic screening has been requested routinely to keep pace with high-throughput organic synthesis. Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) with a fast gradient has become the method of choice for the task due to its sensitivity and selectivity. We have developed an automated system that consists of a robotic system for in vitro incubation and a commercially available software package for automatic MS/MS method development. A short, generic LC gradient and MS conditions that are applicable to most compounds have been developed to minimize the method development time and data analysis. This system has been used to support a number of in vitro screening assays in early drug discovery phase including microsomal stability and protein binding.     

Partial cross sections and density-of-states effects in the valence-band photoemission from solid nitrogen

Photoelectron energy distribution curves from solid nitrogen were measured for excitation energies to 40 cV using synchrotron radiation. Partial cross sections for emission from 3σ_g, 1π_u and 2σ_u derived valence bands show pronounced mauna 3, 4, 2.9 and 3.0 eV above the vacuum levels, interpreted as due to high density of conduction-band final states. These states are related to π*_g negative-ion shape resonances.     

Simultaneous determination of cocaine and its metabolites with caffeine in rat serum microsamples by high-performance liquid chromatography

A single, isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of cocaine and three of its metabolites along with caffeine in serum microsamples (50 microliters). The small sample size permits the tracking of pharmacokinetic data over time in individual, small animals. The method also was used to demonstrate that cocaine, benzoylecgonine and norcocaine in rat serum samples were stable for at least a month without the presence of sodium fluoride.     

A theoretical examination of the acid-catalyzed and noncatalyzed ring-opening reaction of an oxirane by nucleophilic addition of acetate. Implications to epoxide hydrolases

Ab initio and density functional calculations have been performed to gain a better understanding of the epoxide ring-opening reaction catalyzed by epoxide hydrolase. The S(N)2 reaction of acetate with 1S,2S-trans-2-methylstyrene oxide to provide the corresponding diol acetate ester was studied with and without general-acid catalysis. MP2 and DFT (B3LYP) calculations predict, for the noncatalyzed reaction, a central barrier of approximately 20-21 kcal/mol separating the reactants from products depending on which carbon center in the epoxide is undergoing attack. From these gas-phase reactions the immediate alkoxide products are not energetically far below their associated transition states such that the reaction is predicted to be endothermic. Inclusion of aqueous solvation effects via a polarizable continuum model predicts the activation barrier to increase by almost 10 kcal/mol due to the solvation of the acetate ion nucleophile. The activation barrier for the epoxide ring-opening reaction is reduced to approximately 10 kcal/mol when phenol, as the general-acid catalyst, is included in the gas-phase calculations. This is due to the immediate product being the neutral ester rather than the corresponding alkoxide. The transition state in the general-acid-catalyzed reaction is earlier than that for the noncatalyzed reaction and the reaction is highly exothermic. Molecular mechanics calculations of 1S,2S-trans-2-methylstyrene oxide in the active site of murine epoxide hydrolase show two possible binding conformations. Both conformers have the epoxide oxygen forming hydrogen bonds with the acidic hydrogens of the catalytic tyrosines (Tyr381 and Tyr465). These two conformations likely lead to different products since the nucleophile (Asp333-CO(2)(-)) is positioned to react with either carbon center in the epoxide.     

Direct aziridination of alkenes by a cationic (salen)ruthenium(VI) nitrido complex

[RuVI(N)(salchda)(CH3OH)]PF6 (1) (salchda = N,N'-bis(salicylidene)o-cyclohexyldiamine dianion) reacts readily with 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene at room temperature in the presence of pyridine or 1-methylimidazole to give initially [RuIV(Az1(-H))(salchda)(py)]PF6 (2, Az1 = 2,2,3,3-tetramethylaziridine), which is then slowly reduced to [RuIII(Az1)(salchda)(py)]PF6 (3). 1 also reacts with a variety of aryl-substituted alkenes such as styrene and trans-beta-methylstyrene in the presence of py or 1-MeIm to give the corresponding ruthenium(III) aziridine complexes. The structures of 3 and [RuIII(Az2)(salchda)(1-MeIm)]PF6 (4, Az2 = trans-2-methyl-3-phenylaziridine) have been determined by X-ray crystallography. The Ru-N(aziridine) distances (2.1049, 2.097 A) are consistent with a neutral aziridine ligand. The C-C and C-N distances in the aziridine ligands are all indicative of single bonds.     

The Use of Versatile Distribution Families in Some Stochastic Inventory Calculations

Previous works on stochastic inventory problems have often assumed that an item's lead time demand follows a "convenient" distribution such as the normal, the γ or the Weibull. First, this paper argues that these convenient distributions may be overly restrictive and unrealistic, and points out the versatility and realism of using four-parameter distributions of the Pearson's and the Schmeiser-Deutsch's systems. Second, using these four-parameter distributions, this paper presents practical `manual" methods for computing the stock-out probability, reorder level and expected lost sales of an inventory item and for solving the lot-size reorder-point model. Some of these methods are actually simpler than the ones developed previously for the more restrictive distributions.     

Alcohol sensing membrane based on immobilized ruthenium(II) complex in carboxylated PVC and surface covalently bonded alcohol oxidase

Alcohol sensing membranes coated on overhead transparency films for the continuous monitoring of ethanol, propanol and butanol are presented. Alcohol oxidation catalyzed by alcohol oxidase in conjunction with the fluorescence quenching reaction of oxygen-sensitive dye ion-pair, tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium(II) didodecylsulphate was chosen for the determination. Alcohol oxidase was immobilized covalently on a plasticized carboxylated poly(vinyl chloride) membrane and the oxygen-sensitive dye ion-pair was entrapped in the same membrane. The sensing membrane relates oxygen consumption, as a result of enzymatic oxidation, to alcohol concentration. Measurements have been performed in air-saturated alcohol standard solutions of pH 7.0. Storage stability, reproducibility and the effect of pH on sensing membrane performance have been studied in detail. The alcohol sensing membrane proposed here is simple to prepare and has a fairly rapid response time of <1 min. It has been successfully applied to the determination of the ethanol contents in various spirits.