Measurements by microdialysis of free tissue concentrations of propranolol.

To determine the free concentration of a drug (propranolol) in the interstitial space in humans in vivo, seven male students were investigated by microdialysis of the periumbilical subcutaneous tissue. The microdialysis catheters were calibrated in vivo and the propranolol concentration was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Ten hours after intake of 80 mg of propranolol, the total plasma and free interstitial propranolol concentrations were 80 +/- 43 and 7 +/- 2 nM, respectively. After a second dose, maximum concentration was reached after 80 +/- 10 min and 98 +/- 12 min, in plasma, and the concentrations in the interstitial water were 594 +/- 138 and 27 +/- 7 nM, respectively. In a second study, microdialysis was performed on the left ventricular wall in six pigs receiving an intravenous injection of 5 mg of propranolol followed by a constant propranolol infusion for 40 min (5 mg propranolol per h). The maximum concentrations of propranolol were 97 +/- 29 and 6 +/- 2 nM in plasma and in interstitial water, respectively. The data suggest that microdialysis is a useful tool for recording the free concentrations of a drug in the interstitial space.     

Anab initio investigation of Cu2Se and Cu4Se2

Summary Experimentally known copper selenium clusters show extraordinary geometrical features, especially short Cu-Cu distances. We report the first theoretical investigation of Cu₂Se and Cu₄Se₂. Various quantum chemical methods (SCF, MP2, CPF, CCSD, CCSD(T), LDF) are applied to determine the importance of dynamic electron correlation. We find that inclusion of correlation does not essentially change the electronic structure of the clusters but has a strong influence on geometries. To reduce the computational effort we apply effective core potentials (ECPs) in combination with small, but carefully optimized basis sets. The applicability of simple modellings of correlation energies for approximate inclusion of correlation effects in SCF geometry optimizations is tested.     

Chemical structure of escherichia coli lipid A

The chemical structure of E. coli lipid A was elucidated to be $\text{2}$ by determination of the nature of the individual acyl groups bound to the two hydroxyl groups in positions 3,3′ and the two amino groups of the D-glucosamine disaccharide phosphate backbone.     

Simple <Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis> ions have cyclic oxazolone structures. A neutralization-reionization mass spectrometric and computational study of oxazolone radicals

The 2-methyloxazol-5-on-2-yl radical (3) and its deuterium labeled analogs were generated in the gas-phase by femtosecond electron-transfer and studied by neutralization-reionization mass spectrometry and quantum chemical calculations. Radical 3 undergoes fast dissociation by ring opening and elimination of CO and CH(3)CO. Loss of hydrogen is less abundant and involves hydrogen atoms from both the ring and side-chain positions. The experimental results are corroborated by the analysis of the potential energy surface of the ground electronic state in 3 using density functional, perturbational, and coupled-cluster theories up to CCSD(T) and extrapolated to the 6-311 ++ G(3df,2p) basis set. RRKM calculations of radical dissociations gave branching ratios for loss of CO and H that were k(CO)/k(H) > 10 over an 80-300 kJ mol(-1) range of internal energies. The driving force for the dissociations of 3 is provided by large Franck-Condon effects on vertical neutralization and possibly from involvement of excited electronic states. Calculations also provided the adiabatic ionization energy of 3, IE(adiab) = 5.48 eV and vertical recombination energy of cation 3(+), RE(vert) = 4.70 eV. The present results strongly indicate that oxazolone structures can explain fragmentations of b-type peptide ions upon electron capture, contrary to previous speculations.     

Quantification of free and total salicylic acid in plants by solid-phase extraction and isocratic high-performance anion-exchange chromatography

Salicylic acid (SA) is an important signaling compound in plants and is involved in various defense responses. Here we report a new method for quantification of free and total soluble SA in Arabidopsis thaliana with 5-fluorosalicylic acid (5-FSA) as internal standard. The SA was isolated from leaf extracts by solid-phase extraction with phenyl-phase cartridges and selectively eluted as the cationic iron(III)-complex. Recoveries of SA and 5-FSA were equal and exceeded 90%. Free SA was subsequently released from the iron(III)-complex by addition of 2,2-bipyridyl and high-performance anion-exchange chromatography was performed on an NH₂ column. The SA appeared as last peak with a retention time of 15 min, baseline-separated from other substances. On-line detection was performed fluorimetrically for both SA and 5-FSA at an excitation wavelength of 300 nm and an emission wavelength of 410 nm, because both substances give similar fluorescence spectra. The detection limit for SA was 5 ng g^–1 FW for a sample size of 100 mg. Thus the main advantages of the method are highly selective sample preparation, increased sensitivity, reduced analysis time compared with reversed-phase HPLC, and use of a novel internal standard detectable under the same conditions as SA. The techniques described are applicable to other plant materials.     

Simultaneous determination of radionuclides separable into natural decay series by use of time-interval analysis

A delayed coincidence method, time-interval analysis (TIA), has been applied to successive – decay events on the millisecond time-scale. Such decay events are part of the ²²⁰Rn²¹⁶Po (T_1/2 145 ms) (Th-series) and ²¹⁹Rn²¹⁵Po (T_1/2 1.78 ms) (Ac-series). By using TIA in addition to measurement of ²²⁶Ra (U-series) from -spectrometry by liquid scintillation counting (LSC), two natural decay series could be identified and separated. The TIA detection efficiency was improved by using the pulse-shape discrimination technique (PSD) to reject -pulses, by solvent extraction of Ra combined with simple chemical separation, and by purging the scintillation solution with dry N₂ gas. The U- and Th-series together with the Ac-series were determined, respectively, from alpha spectra and TIA carried out immediately after Ra-extraction. Using the ²²¹Fr²¹⁷At (T_1/2 32.3 ms) decay process as a tracer, overall yields were estimated from application of TIA to the ²²⁵Ra (Np-decay series) at the time of maximum growth. The present method has proven useful for simultaneous determination of three radioactive decay series in environmental samples.     

Polymer-protected palladium nanoparticles. Morphologies and catalytic selectivities

Colloidal palladium nanocatalysts prepared by in situ reductions of palladium chloride were immobilized and protected by either of two water-soluble polymers. The particle sizes and size distributions of the palladium colloids were determined by transmission electron microscopy. Their selectivities as catalysts were determined by comparing the extents of hydrogenation of carefully chosen pairs of small-molecule olefins. There was found to be high hydrogenation selectivity with regard to cyclic vs. noncyclic olefins. Selectivity was relatively low, however, among olefins that differed only in size (such as hexene vs. octene), or olefins differing only with regard to the positions of the double bonds (such as 1-octene vs. 3-octene). Selectivity could be improved by careful choice of the immobilizing polymer, and by its use at relatively high concentrations.     

Removal of strontium ions by a crosslinked copolymer containing methacrylic acid functional groups</p> </p>

Summary A tail-made polymer matrix is proposed to remove strontium ions from aqueous solutions. The removal behavior of strontium ions on a crosslinked copolymer containing methacrylic acid as functional groups was investigated as a function of sorptive concentration, time, temperature and pH. It was observed that an increase of these parameters enhanced the removal of Sr(II) ions from aqueous solution. It is found that a maximum adsorption of Sr(II) ions can be obtained on the crosslinked copolymer after 30 minutes and at pH 8. The increase of Sr(II) ion concentration in the solution resulted in an increase in the amount of Sr(II) ions adsorbed on the crosslinked copolymer containing methacrylic acid as functional groups. However, after a maximum of Sr(II) concentration in the solution, the percentage of adsorbed Sr(II) ions decreased. The adsorption data are well represented by the Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms. The adsorption capacity of the copolymer and the free energy change were calculated by using the D-R isotherm. For the adsorption of Sr(II) ions on the crosslinked copolymer the thermodynamic parameters (DH°,DS° andDG°) were calculated.</p> </p>     

Synthesis of stable azomethine ylides by the rearrangement of 1,3-dipolar cycloadducts of 3,4-dihydroisoquinoline-2-oxides with DMAD

1-Aryl-6,7-dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines were prepared according to a one-pot procedure involving the reaction of 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-ethylamine with aromatic aldehydes in TFA at reflux. The tetrahydroisoquinolines were treated with H₂O₂-WO₄²⁻ in methanol at room temperature to give the corresponding 3,4-dihydroisoquinoline-2-oxides. Treatment of these cyclic nitrones with DMAD in toluene at room temperature gave the corresponding isoxazolo[3,2-a]isoquinolines. These compounds were heated in toluene at reflux to give the corresponding ylides in high yields (Method A). The effect of the substituents on the rate of the rearrangement of such compounds prompted us to discuss a new mechanism involving consecutive C-C bond heterolysis and 1,3-sigmatropic shift. A one-pot reaction involving the treatment of the nitrones with equimolar amounts of DMAD in refluxing toluene also gave the ylides (Method B). The structures of the prepared compounds were elucidated by spectral means and elemental analyses.     

Solvation and Ion-Pairing Effects of Choline Acetate Electrolyte in Protic and Aprotic Solvents Studied by NMR Titrations

Choline-based electrolytes have been proposed as environmentally friendly and low-cost alternatives for secondary zinc air batteries. Choline acetate [Ch]⁺[OAc]⁻ in protic (D₂O) and aprotic (DMSO-d₆) solvents has been studied by means of concentration-dependent ¹H NMR, viscosity, and density measurements. The viscosities have been calculated on the basis of the Jones-Dole equation and showed that the dominant contribution originates from short-range ion-solvent interactions. Site-specific association affinities were assigned from NMR chemical shift titrations. In DMSO-d₆, the hydroxyl group of choline was found to have the smallest dissociation constant followed by the methyl group of acetate. The corresponding Gibbs energies at low concentration were found to be in agreement with a solvent-separated ion pair (2SIP) configuration, whereas at concentrations above 300 mM, a solvent-shared ion pair (SIP) configuration was assigned. For [Ch]⁺[OAc]⁻ in D₂O, association effects were found to be weaker, attributed to the high dielectric constant of the solvent. On time scales on the order of 100 ms, NMR linewidth perturbations indicated a change in the local rotational dynamics of the ions, attributed to short-range cation-solvent interactions and not to solvent viscosity. At 184 mM, 40 % of the cations in DMSO-d₆ and 10 % in D₂O were found to exhibit short-range interactions, as indicated by the linewidth perturbations. It was found that at about 300 mM, the ions in DMSO-d₆ exhibit a transition from free to collective translational dynamics on time scales on the order of 400 ms. In DMSO-d₆, both ions were found to be almost equally solvated, whereas in D₂O solvation of acetate was stronger, as indicated by the obtained effective hydrodynamic radii. For [Ch]⁺[OAc]⁻ in DMSO-d₆, the results suggest a solvent-shared ion association with weak H-bonding interactions for concentrations between 0.3–1 M. Overall, the extent of ion association in solvents such as DMSO is not expected to significantly limit charge transport and hinder the performance of choline-based electrolytes.