Longevity and other practical benefits of monolithic silica columns in the analysis of samples with complex matrices

At the turn of the millennium, the monolithic columns invoked new chances in HPLC. Even more than their organic polymer-based siblings, the inorganic silica-based monoliths targeted the territory of classical fully porous particle-packed columns, promising many benefits. Based on the number of published articles, the monoliths attracted academics just in the first few years after their introduction to the market. Lately, as superficially porous particles and sub-2-micron fully porous particles dominated the market, they stayed in the focus of routine laboratories and those who really appreciated the high porosity of the monolithic bed. The monoliths' practical benefits cannot be easily traced in the literature when they gradually lose academics' interest. Nevertheless, after more than 20 years of our experience, we still favor silica monoliths for their low back pressure and longevity when analyzing samples of clinical, pharmaceutical, and environmental origin. At the same time, the high permeability of monoliths enabled the birth of sequential injection chromatography, the medium-pressure separation technique based on the flexible flow manifold. This minireview aims to check, discuss, and summarize the practical aspects of monolithic silica columns in HPLC and medium-pressure sequential injection chromatography (SIC) that may not be visible at first sight but are evident retrospectively.     

Improved biocompatibility of protein encapsulation in sol–gel materials

By using the fluorescent dye 6-propionyl-2-(N,N-dimethylamino) naphthalene (PRODAN) to monitor methanol generated during tetramethyl orthosilicate polymerization we have optimised the encapsulation of protein in silica sol–gel monoliths with respect to completion of hydrolysis and distillation in order to remove methanol such that protein can be added without denaturation. A minimum of 24 h at +4 °C was found to be required before hydrolysis is complete and 3–5 min of vacuum distillation at 50 °C and 300 mbar needed to remove methanol before the gel is formed. The biocompatibility of a tetramethyl orthosilicate sol–gel monolith was demonstrated by preserving the trimer protein allophycocyanin (APC) in its native form for up to 500 h. This obviates the previously essential requirement of covalently binding the trimer together in order to prevent dissociation into monomers and has enabled observation of native APC trimer in a sol–gel pore for the first time down to the single molecule level using combined fluorescence spectroscopy and confocal microscopy. The higher stability afforded by the protocol we describe could impact on the application of sol–gel materials to single-molecule studies of wider bearing such as protein folding and aggregation.     

Comparison of UV and charged aerosol detection approach in pharmaceutical analysis of statins

CAD (charged aerosol detector) has recently become a new alternative detection system in HPLC. This detection approach was applied in a new HPLC method for the determination of three of the major statins used in clinical treatment—simvastatin, lovastatin and atorvastatin.The method was optimized and the influence of individual parameters on CAD response and sensitivity was carefully studied. Chromatography was performed on a Zorbax Eclipse XDB C18 (4.6 mm × 75 mm, 3.5 μm), using acetonitrile and formic acid 0.1% as mobile phase. The detection was performed using both CAD (20 pA range) and DAD (diode array detector—238 nm) simultaneously connected in series. In terms of linearity, precision and accuracy, the method was validated using tablets containing atorvastatin and simvastatin.The CAD is designated to be a non-linear detector in a wide dynamic range, however, in this application and in the tested concentration range its response was found to be perfectly linear. The limits of quantitation (0.1 μg/ml) were found to be two times lower than those of UV detection.     

Three quinolone compounds featuring O...I halogen bonding

Ethyl 1‐ethyl‐6‐iodo‐4‐oxo‐1,4‐dihydroquinoline‐3‐carboxylate, C₁₄H₁₄INO₃, (I), and ethyl 1‐cyclopropyl‐6‐iodo‐4‐oxo‐1,4‐dihydroquinoline‐3‐carboxylate, C₁₅H₁₄INO₃, (II), have isomorphous crystal structures, while ethyl 1‐dimethylamino‐6‐iodo‐4‐oxo‐1,4‐dihydroquinoline‐3‐carboxylate, C₁₄H₁₅IN₂O₃, (III), possesses a different solid‐state supramolecular architecture. In all three structures, O...I halogen‐bonding interactions connect the quinolone molecules into infinite chains parallel to the unique crystallographic b axis. In (I) and (II), these molecular chains are arranged in (101) layers, viaπ–π stacking and C—H...π interactions, and these layers are then interlinked by C—H...O interactions. The structural fragments involved in the C—H...O interactions differ between (I) and (II), accounting for the observed difference in planarity of the quinolone moieties in the two isomorphous structures. In (III), C—H...O and C—H...π interactions form (100) molecular layers, which are crosslinked by O...I and C—H...I interactions.     

Synthesis,Structure and Characterization of Dinuclear Pentacoordinate Molybdenum(V) Complexes with Thiosemicarbazone Ligands

New dinuclear pentacoordinate molybdenum(V) complexes, [Mo₂^VO₃L₂] [L = thiosemicarbazonato ligand: C₆H₄(O)CH:NN:C(S)NHR′ and C₁₀H₆(O)CH:NN:C(S)NHR′; R′ = H, CH₃, C₆H₅) were obtained either by oxygen atom abstraction from Mo^VIO₂L with triphenylphosphine or by using [Mo₂O₃(acac)₄] in the reaction with the corresponding ligands H₂L. Crystal and molecular structure of [Mo₂O₃{C₆H₄(O)CH:NN:C(S)NHC₆H₅}₂] · CH₃CN has been determined by the single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction method.     

Protection against corrosion of iron alloys by aluminized coatings produced using two different processes

Aluminized coatings were produced on iron by means of two different processes: electron beam deposition under UHV of Al on iron samples previously covered with ⁵⁷Fe films, and hot-dipping of iron samples in molten aluminium. Aluminized samples were submitted to thermal treatments in order to promote interdiffusion at the Fe–Al interface and favour the formation of Fe–Al intermetallic compounds of composition suitable to protect the underlying iron from oxidation. Phase composition, structure and morphology of both as deposited and thermally treated coatings were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy and metallographic techniques. Significant differences among the effects of the Fe–Al interdiffusion occurring for Al layers produced with the two processes are pointed out and discussed.     

On the intersection forms of spin four-manifolds with boundary

We prove Furuta-type bounds for the intersection forms of spin cobordisms between homology 3-spheres. The bounds are in terms of a new numerical invariant of homology spheres, obtained from \(\mathrm{Pin }(2)\) -equivariant Seiberg-Witten Floer K-theory. In the process we introduce the notion of a Floer \(K_G\) -split homology sphere; this concept may be useful in an approach to the 11/8 conjecture.     

Engineering of an enantioselective tyrosine aminomutase by mutation of a single active site residue in phenylalanine aminomutase

By replacing a single active-site residue Cys107 with Ser in phenylalanine aminomutase (PAM), the enzyme gained tyrosine aminomutase (TAM) activity while retaining PAM activity and high enantioselectivity. This engineered enantioselective TAM also catalyzed formation of β-tyrosine from p-coumaric acid and may prove to be useful for the synthesis of enantiopure β-tyrosine and its derivatives.     

An ergodic theorem in the qualitative behavior of (non)linear semiflows

Take σ$\sigma$ to be a continuous semiflow on the locally compact metric space Θ$\Theta$, and let _{{A(θ)}θ∈Θ}${\left\{A\left(\theta \right)\right\}}_{\theta \in \Theta }$ be a family of (possibly unbounded) densely defined closed operators on the Banach space X$X$.