Ladderane Natural Products: From the Ground Up

The ladderane family of natural products are well known for their linearly concatenated cyclobutane skeletal structure. Owing to their unique carbocyclic framework, several chemical syntheses have been reported since their discovery in 2002. The focus of this review is to showcase the novel tactics that have been used to generate the ladderane core and the challenges that are associated with the synthesis of these unusual and complex natural products.     

A spectrophotometric investigation into the complex formation between bismuth(III) and 2-mercaptoethanol in aqueous solution

Complex formation between bismuth(III) and 2-mercaptoethanol was studied at 25°C and I = 1.0 mol dm^?3 HClO₄. The results were used to test the validity of an empirical equation for the calculation of formation constants.     

First direct observation of strong interaction spin-orbit effects in antiprotonic atoms

The strong ¯p-nucleus spin-orbit interaction was investigated in a measurement of the strong-interaction effects of the 9→8 transition in ¯p ¹⁷⁴Yb at the Low-Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR) at CERN. This measurement was part of an experimental programme where, for the first time, the fine-structure components of the last observable X-ray transition in a ¯p atom, which carries information on the strong ¯p-nucleus interaction, were resolved and studied individually. The observed splitting ΔE _exp=2408±26 eV consists of the electromagnetic fine-structure splitting ΔE _FS=2350 eV and an additional splitting Δ?=58±26 eV. In addition, one finds a significant difference in the level widths of Δ=195±59 eV with the larger value_?=1216±41 eV for the lower fine-structure level. This experiment follows an earlier measurement on ¯p ¹³⁸Ba, where the transition 8→7 is influenced by the strong interaction. In this case, however, the fine-structure components could not be resolved. The results for¹⁷⁴Yb may be attributed to a spin-orbit (LS) term in the complex strong-interaction potential.     

On managing the human factors engineering of hybrid productionsystems

In the transition toward total automation, contemporary manufacturing systems are predominantly composed of production equipment that is neither completely manual or automated. The development of these systems, identified as hybrid production systems, employ and integrate the capacities of human operators with intelligent machines. It is argued that human activities in hybrid automated systems are critical in achieving productivity gains. Given this importance, hybrid systems must be designed to optimize production. Optimal human factors engineering is possible only when engineers and their management are aware of the technical challenges, created by hybrid systems, and the range of options available for meeting these challenges. The authors describe these challenges and their possible solutions, specifically targeted to the management of engineering and technology-based organizations     

A molecular mechanics study of the selectivity of crown ethers for metal ions on the basis of their size

A molecular mechanics (MM) analysis is carried out on complexes of crown ethers CH₂(OCH₂CH₂)_nCH₂O, 12-crown-4 (n=3), 15-crown-5 (n=4), 18-crown-6 (n=5), 24-crown-8 (n=7), and 30-crown-11 (n=9) to determine the nature of the selectivity shown by these ligands for metal ions on the basis of metal ion size. The MM program used is SYBYL, and M-O bonds are represented using a covalent model, i.e. the M-O bonds are modelled with ideal M-O bond lengths and force constants. The previously used technique of calculating strain energy as a function of M-O bond length is used for all the complexes, and also the complexes of the non-macrocyclic polyethylene glycol analogues. It is concluded that the crown ethers fall into three groups with regard to selectivity for metal ions. Group one consists of the smaller macrocycles such as 12-crown-4 and 15-crown-5, where metal ions generally are too large to enter the cavity of the macrocycle, and the metal ion is coordinated lying outside the plane of the donor atoms of the ligand. Here factors that control selectivity are the same as in non-macrocyclic ligands, chiefly the size of the chelate ring. Group 2 contains only 18-crown-6 of the ligands studied here. 18-Crown-6 complexes have three important conformers, one of which, theD _3d , shows sharp size match selectivity, preferring metal ions with M-O bond lengths of about 2.9 . The other two conformers are adopted by metal ions too small for theD _3d conformer, and are more flexible, exerting little size-match selectivity. These other two conformers are of higher energy than theD _3d conformer for metal ions with M-O bond lengths greater than 2.55 . Thus, a genuine size match selectivity is found for K⁺ with 18-crown-6. With an ideal M-O bond length of 2.88 , K⁺ fits the cavity of theD _3d conformer of 18-crown-6 very closely. The third group consists of very large macrocycles such as 24-crown-8 and 30-crown-10. These enfold the metal ion in extremely folded conformations, but may, as does 30-crown-10, exert considerable selectivity for metal ions on the basis of their size by virtue of the conformation resulting in a set of torsional angles in the ring atoms of the macrocycle which confer considerable rigidity on the ligand.     

INAA of fluorine in plastics using the medium-flux McMaster Nuclear Reactor

The fluorine contents of plastics, ranging from about 20 μg·g⁻¹ to 66%, may be measured instrumentally using a conventional research nuclear reactor, an automated sample irradiation and counting system, and a set of well-calibrated, in-house, fluorine standards. Plastics with low to medium fluorine contents may be analyzed using ²⁰F by placing the gamma-ray detector at appropriate distances from the irradiated sample. For high-F plastics, samples may be irradiated in a cadmium lined irradiation site, using ¹⁹O and ²⁰F. Counting statistics of <3% translate into reproducibility of measurements within ±3% and analytical accuracies of ±1% to ±10%.     

Free flow electrophoresis coupled with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for a proteomic study of the human cell line (K562/CR3)

The requirement for prefractionation in proteomic analysis is linked to the challenge of performing such an analysis on complex biological samples and identifying low level components in the presence of numerous abundant housekeeping and structural proteins. The employment of a preliminary fractionation step results in a reduction of complexity in an individual fraction and permits more complete liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) analysis. Free flow electrophoresis (FFE), a solution-based preparative isoelectric focusing technique, fractionates and enriches protein fractions according to their charge differences and is orthogonal in selectivity to the popular reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fractionation step. In this paper, we explored the advantages of a combination of FFE and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry to extend the dynamic range of a proteomic analysis of a complex cell lysate. In this study, the whole cell lysate of a chronic myelogeneous leukemia cell line, K562/CR3, was prefractionated by FFE into 96 fractions spanning pH 3-12. Of these, 35 fractions were digested with trypsin and then analyzed by LC/MS. Depending on the algorithm used for peptide assignment from MS/MS data, at least 319 proteins were identified through database searches. The results also suggested that pI could serve as an additional criterion besides peptide fragmentation pattern for protein identification, although in some cases, a pI shift might indicate post-translational modification. In summary, this study demonstrated that free flow electrophoresis provided a useful prefractionation step for proteomic analysis and when combined with LC/MS allowed the identification of significant number of low level proteins in complex samples.     

Mass spectrometric analysis of chemical warfare agents and their degradation products in soil and synthetic samples

A packed capillary liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) method was developed for the identification of chemical warfare agents, their degradation products and related compounds in synthetic tabun samples and in soil samples collected from a former mustard storage site. A number of organophosphorus and organosulfur compounds that had not been previously characterized were identified, based on acquired high-resolution ESI-MS data. At lower sampling cone voltages, the ESI mass spectra were dominated by protonated, sodiated and protonated acetonitrile adducts and/or their dimers that could be used to confirm the molecular mass of each compound. Structural information was obtained by inducing product ion formation in the ESI interface at higher sampling cone voltages. Representative ESI-MS mass spectra for previously uncharacterized compounds were incorporated into a database as part of an on-going effort in chemical warfare agent detection and identification. The same samples were also analyzed by capillary column gas chromatography (GC)-MS in order to compare an established method with LC-ESI-MS for chemical warfare agent identification. Analysis times and full-scanning sensitivities were similar for both methods, with differences being associated with sample matrix, ease of ionization and compound volatility. GC-MS would be preferred for organic extracts and must be used for the determination of mustard and relatively non-polar organosulfur degradation products, including 1,4- thioxane and 1,4-dithiane, as these compounds do not ionize during ESI-MS. Diols, formed following hydrolysis of mustard and longer-chain sulfur vesicants, may be analyzed using both methods with LC-ESI-MS providing improved chromatographic peak shape. Aqueous samples and extracts would, typically, be analyzed by LC-ESI-MS, since these analyses may be conducted directly without the need for additional sample handling and/or derivatization associated with GC-MS determinations. Organophosphorus compounds, including chemical warfare agents, related compounds and lower volatility hydrolysis products may all be determined during a single LC-ESI- MS analysis. Derivatization of chemical warfare agent hydrolysis products and other compounds with hydroxyl substitution would be required prior to GC-MS analysis, giving LC-ESI-MS a definite advantage over GC-MS for the analysis of samples containing chemical warfare agents and/or their hydrolysis products.