Ion chromatography of chloro complexes of the platinum group metals and gold using bonded phase silica substrates

The ion chromatography of chloro complexes of Au(III), Ir(IV), Ir(III), Os(IV), Pd(II), Pt(IV), Rh(III) and Ru(III) was investigated using anion-exchange and ion-interaction techniques involving silica-based phases. Chloride was either absent or at a very low level and the pH was high enough to enable steel-fabricated liquid chromatography equipment to be used. With anion exchange, Ir(IV), Ir(III), Os(IV) and Pt(IV) gave good stable chromatography and all produced linear calibration plots, except Ir(IV) owing to instability of the sample solution. The detection limits were Ir(III) 5, Os(IV) 10 and Pt(IV) 2 ng ml^?1. The ion-interaction technique was not so successful, only Au(III) and Pd(II) giving stable chromatography. The calibration plots were slightly curved, although acceptable, and the detection limits were 10 and 30 ng ml^?1 for Au (III) and Pd(II), respectively.     

Role of conformational effects on the regioselectivity of macrocyclic INOC reactions: two new asymmetric total syntheses of (+)-brefeldin A

We have gained some insight into the role of conformational effects on the regioselectivity of the macrocyclic intramolecular nitrile oxide cycloaddition observed in our (+)-brefeldin A synthesis. During the course of this regiochemical study, we have developed two novel stereoselective and regioselective schemes for total synthesis of (+)-brefeldin A (i.e. intramolecular nitrile oxide cycloaddition-isomerization and intermolecular nitrile oxide cycloaddition-ring closing metathesis strategies).     

Rapid estimation of biochemical oxygen demand

The feasibility of using columnar reactors containing immobilized microorganisms for the rapid estimation of BOD was demonstrated in this study. Dilutions of three types of industrial effluents were tested by the BOD₅ test and by this experimental system. A high degree of correlation (r = 0.98) was observed between results of the two tests. The mean standard error of estimation of the experimental system was 11%.     

Dynamic chelation ion chromatography of transition and heavy metal ions using a mobile phase containing 4-chlorodipicolinic acid

The chromatographic behaviour of selected transition and heavy metal ions, the lanthanides, uranium and aluminium, on a neutral polystyrene-divinylbenzene (PS-DVB) stationary phase (7 microm Hamilton PRP-1) dynamically modified with 4-chlorodipicolinic acid, was investigated to evaluate retention characteristics. Complicated retention factor against pH plots were found for these metals demonstrating changes in retention order. It was concluded that complexation between the metal ions and the ligand adsorbed on the resin was strongly influenced by the decrease in dynamic loading with increase in pH, coinciding with changes in the metal-to-ligand ratio in the mobile phase. Possible reversed-phase interactions between metal-chlorodipicolinic acid complexes and the hydrophobic PS-DVB stationary phase also could not be ruled out. An eluent of 0.25 mM chlorodipicolinic acid, I M potassium nitrate at pH 2.2 was suitable for the separation of seven transition and heavy metal ions in under 20 min on a 250 x 4.6 mm column (with 50-mm guard column), determined in a certified water sample with good accuracy (R2 > or = 0.994) and reproducibility (RSD 1-4.2%). Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) were additionally analysed in <10 min in a more complicated certified rice flour matrix, using the same eluent but adjusted to pH 1.5, again with good accuracy (R2 > or = 0.998) and reproducibility (RSD 0.48-1.38%).     

Intermolecular enolate heterocoupling: scope, mechanism, and application

This full account presents the background on, discovery of, and extensive insight that has been gained into the oxidative intermolecular coupling of two different carbonyl species. Optimization of this process has culminated in reliable and scalable protocols for the union of amides, imides, ketones, and oxindoles using soluble copper(II) or iron(III) salts as oxidants. Extensive mechanistic studies point to a metal-chelated single-electron-transfer process in the case of copper(II), while iron(III)-based couplings appear to proceed through a non-templated heterodimerization. This work presents the most in-depth findings on the mechanism of oxidative enolate coupling to date. The scope of oxidative enolate heterocoupling is extensive (40 examples) and has been shown to be efficient even on a large scale (gram-scale or greater). Finally, the method has been applied to the total synthesis of the unsymmetrical lignan lactone (-)-bursehernin and a medicinally important 2,3-disubstituted succinate derivative.     

Glycoproteomic analysis of plasma from patients with atopic dermatitis: CD5L and ApoE as potential biomarkers

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disorder that is both uncomfortable and distressing to patients, and its prevalence has been steadily increasing. It is obvious that the identification of efficient markers of AD in plasma would offer the possibility of effective diagnosis, prevention, and treatment strategies. In this study, a proteomic approach was used to analyze plasma glycoproteins from both children with AD and healthy child donors. Several protein spots showing significant quantitative changes in the AD patients were identified. Through sequential studies, it was confirmed that CD5L and ApoE were significantly up-regulated or down-regulated, respectively, in the plasma from AD patients compared with that from healthy donors. In addition, we suggest that the up-regulated CD5L in AD patients causes eosinophilia by inhibiting apoptosis or promoting the proliferation of eosinophils either in combination with or without IL-5. The glycoproteomic data in this study provides clues to understanding the mechanism of atopic alterations in plasma and suggests AD-related proteins can be used as candidate markers for AD.     

Micro-X-ray absorption near edge structure as a suitable probe to monitor live organisms

X-ray spectroscopies are very powerful tools to determine the chemistry of complex dilute solutes in abiotic and biotic systems. We have assayed their suitability to monitor the chemistry of complex solutions in a live biotic system. The impact of the probe on cells was quantified for 4 different cellular organisms differing in their resistance level to environmental stresses. We show that none of the organisms tested can survive the radiation doses needed for the acquisition of meaningful spectroscopic data. Therefore, on one hand, X-ray spectroscopy cannot be applied to the monitoring of single cells, and cellular damages have to be taken into account in the interpretation of the evolution of such systems. On the other hand, due to the limited extension of X-ray induced cellular damages in the culture volume, it is possible to probe a population of live cells provided that the culture to beam probe ratio is large enough to minimize the impact of mortality on the evolution of the biological system. Our results suggest that it could be possible to probe the volume in the close vicinity of a cell without affecting its activity. Using this setup we could monitor the reduction of selenite by the X-ray sensitive bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58, for 24 h. This method has a great potential to monitor the respiration of various metals, such as iron, manganese and arsenic, in situ under relevant environmental conditions by live microorganisms.     

Efficient intramolecular hydroamination of aminoalkynes catalyzed by a zirconium(IV) complex

The neutral zirconium(IV) bis(thiophosphinic amidate) complex was demonstrated to be an effective precatalyst for 5-exo-, 6-exo-, and 7-exo-dig intramolecular hydroamination of aminoalkynes, producing the cyclic imines in excellent yields (92-98%).