Determination of thiazolidine-4-carboxylates in urine by chloroformate derivatization and gas chromatography-electron impact mass spectrometry

The derivatization method of thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (TZCA) and methyl-thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (Me-TZCA) in urine with alcohol/chloroformate was achieved. TZCA and Me-TZCA were derivatized in one step in urine with ethyl chloroformate in 1 min at room temperature. The derivatives of TZCA and Me-TZCA had very good chromatographic properties and offered very sensitive response for gas chromatography-electron impact ionization-mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS). On the basis of derivatization, the method for simultaneous determination of TZCA and Me-TZCA in human urine was developed. Deuterated Me-TZCA (Me-TZCA-d(4)) was synthesized as the internal standard (IS) for the analysis of urine samples. TZCA and Me-TZCA were derivatized and extracted from urine at pH 9.5 with toluene, and then the dried extract was dissolved with 100 microl ethyl acetate and injected in GC/MS system. The recoveries of TZCA and Me-TZCA were about 102 and 103%, respectively, at the concentration of 0.05 mg/l. The method detection limits (MDL) were 1.0 and 0.5 microg/l, respectively, for TZCA and Me-TZCA in 1 ml human urine. The coefficients of variation of TZCA and Me-TZCA were less than 6% at the concentrations of 0.05 and 0.2 mg/l, respectively. To assess the formation of TZCA during inhalation with formaldehyde (FA) (about 3.1 and 38.1 ppm FA in air), urine samples from rats were taken during 3 days after initiation of treatment. The mean amount of TZCA determined was 0.07 mg/l in control group and 0.18 mg/l during treatment with 3.1 ppm. The TZCA levels increased up to about 1.01 mg/l during treatment with 38.1 ppm. It is planned to study whether urinary TZCA can be used as an indicator in the biological monitoring of exposure to FA.     

Glass Wool Catalysed Regioselective Isomerization of Styrene Oxides

Glass wool is widely used as an insulating material. Here we report for the first time, the function of glass wool as a mild heterogeneous catalyst under vapor phase conditions — particularly for the rearrangement of styrene oxides including halogen‐substituted styrene oxides to the corresponding phenyl acetaldehydes. Using this methodology, 4‐isobutyl‐α‐methyl styrene oxide is smoothly converted to 4‐isobutyl‐α‐methyl phenyl acetaldehyde which is the precursor of the API “Ibuprofen” — an important pharmaceutical agent.     

Determination of 1-deoxynojirimycin in the Larvae of the Silkworm,Bombyx mori,by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

1-Deoxynojirimycin, known to be one of the most potent α-glycosidase inhibitors, has been used as an antihyperglycemia agent. In this study, a rapid method for the determination of 1-deoxynojirimycin in the larvae of the silkworm, Bombyx mori was established, using high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with fluorescence detection after derivatization with 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate. The 1-deoxynojirimycin was efficiently extracted from the larvae using 0.05 mol/L hydrochloric acid, vortexing for 15 s at room temperature, followed by sonication for 30 min. The linear dynamic range extended from 0.7 to 28 µg/mL (r = 0.9999). The average recovery of the 1-deoxynojirimycin was 104% with a relative standard deviation of 3.30%. The limit of detection was 0.05 µg/mL at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. There were high concentrations of 1-deoxynojirimycin in the larvae, reaching 0.50% of total body mass in the gluttonous stage of the third instar and significant variation in the fifth instar, suggests that the larvae may be a valuable source of 1-deoxynojirimycin for the treatment of carbohydrate-mediated disorders.     

An improved reagent for determination of aliphatic amines with fluorescence and online atmospheric chemical ionization-mass spectrometry identification

An improved reagent named 2-[2-(dibenzocarbazole)-ethoxy] ethyl chloroformate (DBCEC-Cl) for the determination of aliphatic amines by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection and post-column online atmospheric chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (APCI-MS) identification has been developed. DBCEC-Cl could easily and quickly label aliphatic amines. Derivatives were stable enough to be efficiently analyzed by HPLC and showed an intense protonated molecular ion corresponding m/z [M+H]⁺ under APCI-MS in positive-ion mode. The ratios for fluorescence responses were I_DBCEC-amine/I_BCEC-amine = 1.02-1.60; I_DBCEC-amine/I_BCEOC-amine = 1.30-2.57; and I_DBCEC-amine/I_FMOC-amine = 2.20-4.12 (here, I was relative fluorescence intensity). The ratios for MS responses were IC_DBCEC-amine/IC_BCEC-amine = 4.16-29.31 and IC_DBCEC-amine/IC_BCEOC-amine = 1.23-2.47 (Here, IC: APCI-MS ion current intensity). Detection limits calculated from 0.0244 pmol injection, at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, were 0.3-3.0 fmol. The relative standard deviations for within-day determination (n = 6) were 0.045-0.081% for retention time and 0.86-1.03% for peak area for the tested aliphatic amines. The mean intra- and inter-assay precision for all amine levels were <3.64% and 4.67%, respectively. The mean recoveries ranged from 96.9% to 104.7% with their standard deviations in the range of 1.80-2.70 (RSDs%). Excellent linear responses were observed with coefficients of >0.9991.     

Theoretical study on the mechanism of the gas-phase elimination kinetics of alkyl chloroformates

The theoretical calculations on the mechanism of the homogeneous and unimolecular gas-phase elimination kinetics of alkyl chloroformates– ethyl chloroformate (ECF), isopropyl chloroformate (ICF), and sec-butyl chloroformate (SCF) – have been carried out by using CBS-QB3 level of theory and density functional theory (DFT) functionals CAM-B3LYP, M06, MPW1PW91, and PBE1PBE with the basis sets 6-311++G(d,p) and 6-311++G(2d,2p). The chlorofomate compounds with alkyl ester C_β–H bond undergo thermal decomposition producing the corresponding olefin, HCl and CO₂. These homogeneous eliminations are proposed to undergo two different types of mechanisms: a concerted process, or via the formation of an unstable intermediate chloroformic acid (ClCOOH), which rapidly decomposes to HCl and CO₂ gas. Since both elimination mechanisms may occur through a six-membered cyclic transition state structure, it is difficult to elucidate experimentally which is the most reasonable reaction mechanism. Theoretical calculations show that the stepwise mechanism with the formation of the unstable intermediate chloroformic acid from ECF, ICF, and SCF is favoured over one-step elimination. Reasonable agreements were found between theoretical and experimental values at the CAM-B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level.     

Sample Preparation for Determination of Neomycin in Swine Tissues by Liquid Chromatography-Fluorescence Detection

A liquid chromatography method was developed for the determination of neomycin in swine tissues. Sample clean-up was especially focused on in this research. After neomycin was extracted from tissue with 10% trichloroacetic acid (w/v) solution, several clean-up procedures using MCX, CBA, WCX, and C18 solid-phase extraction (SPE) columns were compared for the purification effects and recoveries. The best result was obtained using MCX SPE column. The purified extract was derivatized with 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate and then separated on a C18 column and detected by a fluorescence detector. The spiked recoveries at 0.2–10 mg/kg ranged from 80.8–95.3% with coefficient of variations less than 12.1%.     

Determination of Chlorophenols in Wastewater with Methyl Chloroformate Derivatization,Solid Phase Extraction,and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

The determination of chlorophenols in wastewater with methyl chloroformate derivatization, solid phase extraction, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry is reported. In order to employ this combined solid phase derivative extraction method, quantitative extraction was performed by the introduction of 100 mL of sample in 1.0 mol L^?1 sodium hydroxide into a column containing 500 mg of packed resin at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The chlorophenols were retained and derivatized quantitatively in the column by the introduction of 0.25 mL of methyl chloroformate. The derivatized analytes were eluted with 5.0 mL of hexane before the effluent was dried under a stream of nitrogen. The dried solution was diluted to a volume of 50 µL with hexane followed by analysis by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The preconcentration parameters were optimized and under these conditions: limits of detection from 0.010 to 0.423 µg L^?1, a preconcentration factor of 2500, and precision values from 4.8 to 7.7% as the relative standard deviation were obtained. The method was employed for the analysis of water samples and the recoveries of the analytes were between 76 and 103%.     

Liquid Chromatographic Analysis of Cephalexin in Human Plasma by Fluorescence Detection of the 9-Fluorenylmethyl Chloroformate Derivative

Abstract

A simple and sensitive precolumn derivatization method for the determination of cephalexin in human plasma has been developed. Cephalexin was derived with 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC-Cl) in borate buffer (5 mM, pH 8.5) for 15 min at 25°C. Optimal conditions for the derivatization were described. The derivative was chromatographed on an XDB-C₁₈ column with water–acetonitrile (10:90, v/v) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The fluorescence excitation and emission wavelengths were 268 nm and 314 nm, respectively. The standard curve in spiked plasma was linear over the range of 0.0234–58.5 µg/mL; the detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio = 3; injection volume, 10 µL) was about 0.014 µg/mL. The performance of analysis was studied, and the validated method showed excellent performance in terms of selectivity, sensitivity, precision, and accuracy.     

A mild and selective method for N-dealkylation of tertiary amines

Alkyl groups can be cleaved efficiently and selectively from tertiary alkyl amines using propargyl chloroformate. The propargyloxycarbonyl (Poc) protected secondary amines thus obtained can be deblocked under neutral and mild conditions using benzyltriethylammonium tetrathiomolybdate. The generality and compatibility of the method have been studied with a wide range of functionalities.     

Separation of the enantiomers of primary and secondary amphetamines by liquid chromatography after derivatization with (−)-1-(9-fluorenyl)ethyl chloroformate

Summary The chiral reagent (−)-1-(9-fluorenyl)ethyl chloroformate (FLEC) has been evaluated for the enantioselective analysis of amphetamines by liquid chromatography. For separation of the FLEC diastereomers conventional reversed-phase conditions were used. The conditions affording the best enantiomeric resolution and sensitivity were determined for amphetamine, methamphetamine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDE). All the amphetamines assayed could be separated with resolution factors ranging from 0.91 to 1.92. Although FLEC is typically used as a fluorogenic reagent, it was shown that UV detection is the best option for stereospecific analysis of the methylenedioxylated amphetamine derivatives (MDA, MDMA, and MDE), because different fluorimetric responses were obtained for the corresponding diastereomers. The utility of the proposed conditions for stereoselective analysis of amphetamines in different types of sample is discussed.