Direct targeting of human plasma for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization and analysis of plasma proteins by time of flight-mass spectrometry

A method to analyze human plasma proteins without fractionation, directly applying a plasma-matrix mixture on the target plate of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS), has been described. Peaks of ionized plasma proteins could not be detected applying a mixture of an undiluted plasma sample and a matrix solution, but they appeared when the plasma was diluted before mixing with the matrix. Tenfold diluted plasma provided well-resolved protein peaks in the m/z range from 4000 to 30,000. The addition of a simple post-crystallization washing procedure performed on the target plate further improved the quality of mass spectra. We numbered 58 peaks in the range of 4-160 kDa and 32 out of which were assigned to the plasma protein species which have been reported. Especially high sensitivity and resolution were obtained in the region < 30 kDa, where multiple isoforms of apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein A-II, apolipoprotein C-I, apolipoprotein C-II, apolipoprotein C-III, and transthyretin could be assigned. Various post-translational modifications are involved in the isoforms, e.g., proteolytic cleavage, glycosylation and chemical modifications. This method will become complementary with the present electrophoretic techniques, especially for the analysis of low-molecular-mass proteins.     

Exploiting non-abelian point group symmetry in direct two-electron integral transformations

Summary A simple and general scheme to exploit any discrete point group symmetry in two-electron integral transformations is introduced. It has been implemented together with integral pre-screening techniques in direct two-electron integral transformations. Its application has also been extended to subsequent MO integral processing steps like MP2 or solution of the coupled-perturbed Hartree-Fock equations (CPHF). Timings for representative applications are presented.     

Optimisation of chiral separation of omeprazole and one of its metabolites on immobilized α1-acid glycoprotein using chemometricsglycoprotein using chemometrics

Summary A strategy for the optimisation of direct chiral separation of omeprazole and a metabolite, hydroxi-omeprazole, in reversed phase liquid chromatography is described. A factorial design was used, where mobile phase pH, concentration of a mobile phase modifier, ionic strength and column temperature were tested as the variables and enantioselective retention, column efficiency and asymmetry factor as the responses. The experimental results were evaluated with multivariate analyses, which demonstrated that the column temperature and content of mobile phase acetonitrile were by far the most important variables. The enantiomers of omeprazole and one of its metabolites were baseline resolved within 15 minutes. The optimised chromatographic system was used for a separation of the enantiomers of omeprazole and its main metabolite in a patient plasma sample.     

Isolation of new quinidine metabolites and simultaneous determination of quinidine and its metabolites in blood and urine by direct injection HPLC analysis

Summary New quinidine metabolites, including 10,11-dihydrodiol quinidine N-oxide, 10,11-dihydrodiol quinidine and their glucuronides, were found in human urine. A quinidine monitoring HPLC method including these metabolites, is proposed by the direct injection of body fluid samples onto the precolumn for deproteinization followed by reverse phase separation in the analytical column with a column switching technique. The recovery of spiked quinidine and its metabolites in plasma was quantitative (98–102%) with good reproducibility (C.V.: 1.6–4.0%). Several clinical samples such as whole blood and urine were analyzed by the present method.     

An NMR study of methanol diffusion in polymer electrolyte fuel cell membranes

Methanol diffusion in two polymer electrolyte membranes, Nafion 117 and BPSH 40 (a 40% disulfonated wholly aromatic polyarylene ether sulfone), was measured using a modified pulsed field gradient NMR method. This method allowed for the diffusion coefficient of methanol within the membrane to be determined while immersed in a methanol solution of known concentration. A second set of gradient pulses suppressed the signal from the solvent in solution, thus allowing the methanol within the membrane to be monitored unambiguously. Over a methanol concentration range of 0.5–8 M, methanol diffusion coefficients in Nafion 117 were found to increase from 2.9 × 10⁻⁶ to 4.0 × 10⁻⁶ cm² s⁻¹. For BPSH 40, the diffusion coefficient dropped significantly over the same concentration range, from 7.7 × 10⁻⁶ to 2.5 × 10⁻⁶cm² s⁻¹. The difference in diffusion behavior is largely related to the amount of solvent sorbed by the membranes. Increasing the methanol concentration results in an increase in solvent uptake for Nafion 117, while BPSH 40 actually excludes the solvent at higher concentrations. In contrast, diffusion of methanol measured via permeability measurements (assuming a partition coefficient of 1) was lower (1.3 × 10⁻⁶ and 6.4 × 10⁻⁷ cm² s⁻¹ for Nafion 117 and BPSH 40 respectively) and showed no concentration dependence. The differences observed between the two techniques are related to the length scale over which diffusion is monitored and the partition coefficient, or solubility, of methanol in the membranes as a function of concentration. For the permeability measurements, this length is equal to the thickness of the membrane (178 and 132 μm for Nafion 117 and BPSH 40 respectively) whereas the NMR method observes diffusion over a length of approximately 4–8 μm. Regardless of the measurement technique, BPSH 40 is a greater barrier to methanol permeability at high methanol concentrations.     

测定晶体结构的系统试差法的研究(II)系统位相超解方程得改进

本文证明了|E(k)E(h-k)|的大小是由结构决定的。与原点无关, 在这种认识的基础上, 提出了用归一化结构振幅|E|估量它的三种模式。特别是通过四位相结构不变量的二级Noighborhood~[1,2]原理解决三位相不变量间的匹配问题而算出的|E(k)E(h-k)|_(QE), 这是在没有位相数据的情况下对它的理想的估量。予期它能改进系统试差法中位相超解方程的功能, 提高测得位相的准确性。     

Simultaneous determination of hydride (Se) and non-hydride-forming (Ca,Mg, K,P, S and Zn) elements in various beverages (beer,coffee, and milk), with minimum sample preparation,by ICP–AES and use of a dual-mode sample-introduction system

A method has been developed enabling direct analysis (i.e. after dilution only) of beer, instant coffee, milk, and milk powder by ICP–AES. Analysis of the beverages after dilution with a low concentration of HNO₃ was used for accurate determination of essential minor and trace elements (Ca, Mg, K, P, S, and Zn). Selenium, introduced as the hydride, was determined simultaneously with the other non-hydride-forming elements using the commercial multi-mode sample-introduction system (MSIS). To obtain accurate results, however, some simple pre-treatment was needed. Analysis was also performed after microwave-assisted decomposition of the samples. Three different modes of sample-preparation, i.e. dilution only, partial decomposition (aqua regia treatment), and complete decomposition were compared. The results obtained by use of the three different sample-preparation methods were in very good agreement. Results from analysis of certified reference material (SRM 1459 non-fat milk powder) also verified the accuracy of the methods. The limit of detection obtained for Se using dual-mode sample introduction was 0.5 ng mL^–1, which corresponds to approximately 2 ng g^–1 in beer and approximately 4 ng g^–1 in coffee and milk when using the recommended procedure.     

Investigation of the effect of epoxide structure on the initiation efficiency in isobutylene polymerizations initiated by epoxide/TiCl4 systems

The effect of the chemical structure of styrene-based epoxides, namely, styrene epoxide (SE), α-methylstyrene epoxide (MSE), p-methylstyrene epoxide (pM-SE) and α-methyl-p-methylstyrene epoxide (pM-MSE), in conjunction with TiCl₄, on the initiation efficiency (I_eff) in the carbocationic polymerization of isobutylene (IB) was investigated. SE yielded living polymerization, but the initiation efficiency was low when compared to MSE (I_eff=8% and 35%, respectively). pM-SE led to non-living IB polymerization, while pM-MSE revealed linear M_n-conversion plot and narrow MWD with a non-linear first order rate plot. Among the epoxides investigated, MSE was the best initiator to scale up the one-step synthesis of polyisobutylenes (PIBs) carrying one primary hydroxyl head group and one tertiary chloride end group. The hydroxyl functionality of these PIBs determined by ¹H-NMR was F_n=1.09±0.16 from 24 experiments.     

Easy, inexpensive and effective oxidative iodination of deactivated arenes in sulfuric acid

Two ‘model’ deactivated arenes, benzoic acid and nitrobenzene, were effectively monoiodinated within 1 h at 25-30 °C, with strongly electrophilic I⁺ reagents, prior prepared from diiodine and various oxidants (CrO₃, KMnO₄, active MnO₂, HIO₃, NaIO₃, or NaIO₄) in 90% (v/v) concd sulfuric acid (ca. 75 mol% H₂SO₄). Next, an I₂/NaIO₃/90% (v/v) concd H₂SO₄ exemplary system was used to effectively mono- or diiodinate a number of deactivated arenes. All former papers dealing with the direct iodination of deactivated arenes are briefly reviewed.     

Regioselective palladium-catalyzed phenylation of ethyl 4-oxazolecarboxylate

The efficient and regioselective palladium-catalyzed C-2 arylation of ethyl 4-oxazolecarboxylate 1 with phenyliodide is described. The different parameters (solvent, base, ligand and catalyst) for the optimal conditions of this arylation process have been screened.