Raman spectroscopic investigation of frozen and deparaffinized tissue sections of pediatric tumors: neuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma

Raman spectroscopy is a nondestructive technique that can provide information at the molecular level about the biochemicals in tissues. We have investigated the cellular regions in neuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma using Raman spectroscopy and compared their spectral characteristics with those of the corresponding normal adrenal gland. Thin sections from both the frozen and the corresponding formalin‐fixed paraffin‐processed (FFPP) tissues were studied in conjunction with the pathological examination of the tissues. Investigation of the spectral data shows that the normal adrenal gland tissues have higher levels of carotenoids, lipids, and cholesterol compared with the neuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma frozen tissues. However, in comparison with the frozen tissues, the FFPP tissues show a significant alteration of several biochemicals, including the complete removal of carotenoids, lipids, and cholesterol in the adrenal tissues. A quantitative analysis using chemometric methods of principal component analysis and discriminant function analysis of the Raman spectral data obtained from the frozen tissues show a clear‐cut classification among pathological groups with high sensitivity and specificity. We have validated the classification results of the FFPP tissues against a training set data obtained from the archived FFPP tissues of nine other patients. The validation process correctly identified and grouped the data with the training set of normal adrenal gland (>97% of the time) and neuroblastoma (100% of the time) tissues, whereas the validation was not so strong for ganglioneuroma. This study shows that Raman spectroscopy combined with chemometric methods can be successfully used to distinguish neuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma at cellular level in frozen tissue sections. This study also shows that formalin fixation and paraffinization/deparaffinization of tissues can alter their biochemical composition. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cobalt-Catalyzed, 2-Aminopyridine-N-Oxide-Directed C(sp2)−H Bond Functionalization with Maleimides: Facile Access to Isoindolone Spirosuccinimides

A cobalt-catalyzed, N,O-bidentate directing group-assisted C−H bond functionalization of benzamides with maleimides was developed for the facile access to isoindolone spirosuccinimides in good to excellent yields. This C−H bond activation and spirocyclization employing pyridine N-oxide as directing group provided very good substrate scope and tolerated various functional groups. Furthermore, the mechanistic investigation revealed that the C−H bond activation is the rate-determining step of this reaction.     

Synthesis of 1D β-MnO2 for high-performance supercapacitor application

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Electrochemical supercapacitors (ESs) still need to overcome development obstacles in order to realize their full potential while being acknowledged as a...     

Computational and experimental investigations on the effect of crystallinity and crystal size on Na-transport in nanoscaled Si: implications for Si-based anodes for Na-ion batteries

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - While Li transport in Si is well understood, little is known about Na transport, despite Si being considered a potential anode material for the upcoming...     

Growth and characterization of pure and Hg2+ doped thiosemicarbazide cadmium chloride crystals

Semiorganic single crystals of thiosemicarbazide cadmium chloride (TSCCC) and mercury ions doped thiosemicarbazide cadmium chloride were synthesized by slow solvent evaporation technique. The grown crystals were subjected to powder X‐ray analysis and both the crystals were found to crystallize in the monoclinic system. EDAX analysis was carried out for chemical analysis of the grown crystals. The UV‐Vis‐NIR spectrum shows that both the materials have wide transparency window in the visible and near IR region. The dielectric studies were carried out to estimate the dielectric constant and dielectric loss with respect to frequency for both the crystals. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

ChemInform Abstract: Synthesis of Novel Zerumbone Derivatives via Regioselective Palladium Catalyzed Decarboxylative Coupling Reaction: A New Class of α‐Glucosidase Inhibitors.

A strategy for the synthesis of novel zerumbone derivatives via a regioselective palladium catalyzed decarboxylative coupling reaction using arene carboxylic acids is described.     

Lewis Acid Catalysed Chemoselective Amination of Alcohols Using Heterocyclic Thiones: An Avenue to Thiotetrazole Derivatives

Herein,a protocol for the chemoselective formation of C−N bond using Cu(OTf)₂ as catalyst has been described using heterocyclic thiones. The reaction occurs preferentially at the nitrogen centre over the sulphur atom leading to C−N bond formation. Water being the only by-product, the reaction is environmentally friendly. The reaction proceeds without any additive, ligand or inert atmosphere and shows good tolerance towards variety of alcohols and thiotetrazole derivatives. Our developed protocol could be scaled up to gram scale efficiently, which highlights the efficacy of this method and might offer potential application in synthetic industry.