Simultaneous determination of benzodiazepines and their metabolites in human serum by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry using a high-resolution octadecyl silica column compatible with aqueous compounds

A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method using a high-resolution octadecyl silica column compatible with aqueous compounds was developed for the simultaneous determination of benzodiazepines and their metabolites in human serum. This method enabled us to determine multiple benzodiazepines, including flurazepam, bromazepam, chlordiazepoxide, nitrazepam, clonazepam, flunitrazepam, estazolam, clobazam, lorazepam, alprazolam, triazolam, brotizolam, fludiazepam, diazepam, quazepam, prazepam and their metabolites such as 7-aminonitrazepam, 7-aminoclonazepam, 7-acetamidonitrazepam, N-desmethylclobazam and N-desmethyldiazepam. The analytes spiked into human serum were subjected to solid-phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The running time was within 25 min for the measurement of 22 benzodiazepines and their metabolites. The recovery rates exceeded 58.1% for those compounds except for quazepam, which showed a recovery of 45.8%. The limit of detection ranged from 0.3 to 11.4 ng/mL. Linearity was satisfactory for all compounds. These data suggest that the present method can be applicable to routine assay for benzodiazepines in the clinical setting.     

Effects of polystyrene-b-poly(aminomethyl styrene)s as stabilizers on dispersion polymerization of styrene in alcoholic media

The effects of polystyrene-b-poly(aminomethyl styrene) (PS_n-b-PAMS_m) stabilizers on the particle size (D_n) and size distribution (PSD) in dispersion polymerization of styrene were investigated. The block copolymers, PS_n-b-PAMS_m, were prepared as follows: (i) atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene (PS-Br), (ii) ATRP of vinylbenzylphthalimide with the PS-Br (PS-b-PVBP), and (iii) treatment of the PS-b-PVBP with hydrazine. When the dispersion polymerization of styrene proceeded at 60 °C in ethanol with PS₁₉-b-PAMS₁₃₀ stabilizer, spherical polystyrene particles with D_n=0.91 μm (PSD = 1.01) were obtained. The particle size was strongly affected by the copolymer composition. With an increase in PAMS block length from m=54 to 100 in PS₁₇-b-PAMS_m, particle diameter became smaller from 1.55 to 0.91 μm. On the other hand, an increase in the length from m=20 to 82 in PS₃₄-b-PAMS_ms caused an increase in particle size from 0.35 to 0.70 μm. Titration of the particles suggests that 14–81% of stabilizers used in the polymerization system were attached on the polystyrene particle surfaces, depending on the composition of the block copolymers. Thus, for the dispersion polymerization of styrene, PS_n-b-PAMS_m block copolymers have both functions as a stabilizer during polymerization and surface-modification sites of polystyrene particles.     

Synthetic Chemistry and Function of Bacterial Cell Surface Glycoconjugates

Typical bacterial glycoconjugates are known to stimulate immunological systems of higher animals and thereby play important roles in the primary defense of animals against bacterial infection. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of gram‐negative bacteria is a representative of such glycoconjugates. LPS was first discovered as a potent bacterial toxin and named endotoxin but was soon found to exhibit immunostimulating activity. By the use of our synthetic pure preparations, the lipophilic partial structure of LPS, designated lipid A, proved to be the active entity responsible for both endotoxic and immunostimulating activities of LPS. This paper deals with our recent chemical synthesis and functional study of lipid A and related compounds. Synthesis is described of its various structural analogues, radio‐labeled compound and Re‐type LPS that contains two additional sugar moieties linked to lipid A.     

Preparation of CdSe nanocrystals in a micro-flow-reactor

A micro-reactor was utilized for continuous and controlled CdSe nanocrystal preparation. Effects of reaction conditions on optical properties of the nanocrystals were investigated; in this current system, rapid and exact temperature control of the micro-reactor was beneficial for controlling particle diameter and reproducible preparation of particles; additional effort was made towards narrower particle-size distributions.     

The direct synthesis of thioesters using an intermolecular radical reaction of aldehydes with dipentafluorophenyl disulfide in water

The combination of the water-soluble radical initiator, 2,2'-azobis[2-(2-imidazolin-2-yl)propane] dihydrochloride (VA-044), and surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), was found to be the most suitable condition for the effective direct synthesis of useful active thioesters (pentafluorophenyl thioesters) in water.     

Unconditionally secure key distribution based on two nonorthogonal states

We prove the unconditional security of the Bennett 1992 protocol, by using a reduction to an entanglement distillation protocol initiated by a local filtering process. The bit errors and the phase errors are correlated after the filtering, and we can bound the amount of phase errors from the observed bit errors by an estimation method involving nonorthogonal measurements. The angle between the two states shows a trade-off between accuracy of the estimation and robustness to noises.     

Self-assembling monolayer formation of glucose oxidase covalently attached on 11-aminoundecanethiol monolayers on gold

Glucose oxidase (GOx) has been attached covalently to form uniform enzyme monolayers on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) from 11-aminoundecanethiol (AUDT) by taking advantage of chemical oxidation of GOx carbohydrate residues followed by coupling the resulting 'aldehydic' enzyme with the terminal amino group in the SAM as characterized by AFM imaging, IR, QCM, and electrochemical measurements.