Quantification of the plant-derived hallucinogen Salvinorin A in conventional and non-conventional biological fluids by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry after Salvia divinorum smoking

A gas chromatography method with mass spectrometric detection is described for the determination of Salvinorin A, the main active ingredient of the hallucinogenic mint Salvia divinorum. The method was validated in plasma, urine, saliva and sweat using 17-alpha-methyltestosterone as internal standard. The analytes were extracted from biological matrices with chloroform/isopropanol (9:1, v/v). Chromatography was performed on a 5% phenyl methyl silicone capillary column and analytes were determined in the selected ion monitoring mode. The method was validated over the concentration range 0.015-5 microg/mL plasma, urine and saliva and 0.01-5 microg/patch in the case of sweat. Mean recoveries ranged between 77.1 and 92.7% for Salvinorin A in different biological matrices, with precision and accuracy always better than 15%. The method was applied to the analysis of urine, saliva and sweat from two consumers after smoking 75 mg plant leaves to verify the presence of the active ingredient of S. divinorum in human biological fluids as a biomarker of plant consumption. Salvinorin A was detected in urine (2.4 and 10.9 ng/mL) and saliva (11.1 and 25.0 ng/mL), but not in sweat patches from consumers.     

Membrane-assisted solvent extraction of seven phenols combined with large volume injection-gas chromatography-mass spectrometric detection

Membrane-assisted solvent extraction (MASE) was applied for the determination of seven phenols (phenol, 2-chlorophenol, 2,4-dimethylphenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, 4-chloro-3-methylphenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol and pentachlorophenol) with log Kow (octanol-water-partition-coefficient) between 1.46 (phenol) and 5.12 (pentachlorophenol) in water. The extraction solvents cyclohexane, ethyl acetate and chloroform were tested and ethyl acetate proved to be the best choice. The optimisation of extraction conditions showed the necessity of adding 5 g of sodium chloride to each aqueous sample to give a saturated solution (333 g/L). The pH-value of the sample was adjusted to 2 in order to convert all compounds into their neutral form. An extraction time of 60 min was found to be optimal. Under these conditions the recovery of phenol, the most polar compound, was 11%. The recoveries of the other analytes ranged between 42% (2-chlorophenol) and 98% (2,4-dichlorophenol). Calibration was performed using large volume injection (100 microL injection volume). At optimised conditions the limits of detection were between 0.01 and 0.6 microg/L and the relative standard deviation (n = 3) was on average about 10%. After the method optimisation with reagent water membrane-assisted solvent extraction was applied to two contaminated ground water samples from the region of Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The results demonstrate the good applicability of membrane-assisted solvent extraction for polar analytes like phenols, without the necessity of derivatisation or a difficult and time-consuming sample preparation.     

New results on the reactivity of 5,6‐diamino‐4‐hydroxy‐2‐mercaptopyrimidine

The reaction of 5,6‐diamino‐4‐hydroxy‐2‐mercaptopyrimidine with mono‐ and α,ω‐dihalocompounds has been reinvestigated. Alkyl derivatives of 5‐amino group, not previously described, have been obtained as reaction products. A comparison with the reactivity of 6‐amino‐4‐hydroxy‐2‐mercaptopyrimidine has been also performed.     

Interlaboratory comparison study for the determination of methyl tert-butyl ether in water

This is the first publication which describes the evaluation of the analytical performance and state-of-the-art of the determination of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in water at ng L^–1 concentrations. An interlaboratory comparison study for the determination of MTBE in water was carried out. Twenty-eight laboratories from seven European countries participated in the study. Twenty of those finally transmitted results to the organiser. Italian spring water, containing no detectable amounts of MTBE was fortified to yield two samples with MTBE concentrations of 0.074±0.004 µg L^–1 and 0.256±0.010 µg L^–1. The laboratories applied their regular in-house methods to analyse the water samples. Static headspace, Purge & Trap, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) or direct aqueous injection were used as sample preparation techniques. Subsequent separation and detection of MTBE were performed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) or gas chromatography/flame ionisation detection (GC/FID). After rejection of outliers, the overall arithmetic mean of laboratory results corresponded to recoveries of 78±20% (Sample A) and 88±20% (Sample B) of the reference concentrations. The between laboratory coefficients of variation (CV) were 32% and 31%, respectively. The organisation of the study and quality assurance measures at the organiser's laboratory are described. Moreover, the measurement results of the participants and the analytical methods used for the determination of MTBE are presented and the correlation between selected method parameters and data quality is discussed.     

Anion Controlled Supramolecular Self‐Assembly of Tetraprotonated Tris[2‐(benzylamino)ethyl]amine

The novel supramolecular assembly of composition [{(bz₃tren)H₄}⁴⁺ · (ReO₄)^— · 3(Cl)^—] resulted from the self‐organization of a mixture of tris[2‐(benzylamino)ethyl]amine (bz₃tren), HCl and NH₄ReO₄ at a molar ratio of 1:4.7:1 in methanol. The crystal architecture is characterized by stacks of repeating sandwich‐type building blocks that contain charge‐assisted N—H···O(Re) hydrogen bonds [N···O 2.81‐2.86Å] and weaker C—H···O(Re) interactions [C···O 3.11Å]. The stacks are further linked by N—H···Cl [N···Cl 3.03Å] and weaker C—H···Cl [C···Cl 3.47‐3.74Å] interactions into two‐dimensional layers bordered by the benzyl groups of the [(bz₃tren)H₄]⁴⁺ cations. Edge‐to‐face C—H···π interactions involving the aromatic rings occur within and between the layers. The protonation constants of bz₃tren in methanol were determined by potentiometric titration. The corresponding structures of the ligand in its different protonation states were calculated at the DFT‐level.     

A Determination of Standard Potentials and Related Primary pH Standards in the 50 Mass Percent (N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidinone + Water) Mixture at Various Temperatures

Following the IUPAC-endorsed procedure, the primary pH standards offered by the equimolal phosphate buffer (Na₂HPO₄ (0.01 mol⋅kg⁻¹) + KH₂PO₄ (0.01 mol⋅kg⁻¹)) in the (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone + water) solvent mixture of 50 mass percent composition at various temperatures have been determined from potential difference measurements with the reversible Harned cell. Since the essential prerequisite of the above procedure is the knowledge of the (hitherto unknown) standard potential difference of Harned’s cell, a parallel supplementary series of potential difference measurements has been carried out with the reversible cell, Pt|H₂|HCl(m)|AgCl|Ag|Pt according to the classical thermodynamic procedure. The problem of comparability of the pH scale in the (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone + water) solvent with that in the pure water solvent is duly discussed in terms of primary medium effects.     

Convergent Synthesis of Naphthylisoquinoline Alkaloids: Total Synthesis of (+)-O-Methylancistrocline

A highly convergent synthesis of the methyl ether derivative 2a of the naphthylisoquinoline alkaloid ancistrocline (2) is described. The key step involves a stereoselective biaryl coupling between the chiral oxazoline 3 and the Grignard reagent 4 derived from the optically active tetrahydroisoquinoline 8. The atropisomeric mixture was then converted to the separable acetamides 11 and 12, which were obtained in a ratio of 16:84 and an overall yield of 32% for the three steps. The major atropisomer 12 was then converted into O-methylancistrocline (2a), which was identical to a semisynthetic sample derived from the related alkaloid ancistrocladinine (14).     

A logic of implications in algebra and coalgebra

Implications in a category can be presented as epimorphisms: an object satisfies the implication iff it is injective with respect to that epimorphism. G. Ro?u formulated a logic for deriving an implication from other implications. We present two versions of implicational logics: a general one and a finitary one (for epimorphisms with finitely presentable domains and codomains). In categories Alg Σ of algebras on a given signature our logic specializes to the implicational logic of R. Quackenbush. In categories Coalg H of coalgebras for a given accessible endofunctor H of sets we derive a logic for implications in the sense of P. Gumm.