含X-型液晶基元的液晶高分子的研究

以4,4′-(烷撑二酰氧)二苯甲酰氯和2,5-二羟基-1,4-苯撑双-(对乙氧基苯甲酸酯)为单体,采用低温缩聚方法,合成了含X-型液晶基元和不同柔性链长度的主链型液晶聚合物。聚合物的液晶行为用DSC、偏光显微镜和X-光衍射进行了表征。对于样品升温消光后又重新出现双折射的异常现象,初步认为是加热过程中分子量提高的结果。     

Online photocatalytic device for highly selective pre-column fluorescence derivatization of 5-hydroxyindoles with benzylamine

A fluorimetric liquid chromatographic method for the determination of 5-hydroxyindoles based on the benzylamine derivatization process mediated through an online photocatalytic oxidation has been developed. In this study, we used a photocatalytic column comprising tefzel tubing packed with TiO₂-coated glass beads, as a pre-column derivatization reactor. The fluorescence derivatization of 5-hydroxyindoles using benzylamine proceeded during their passage through the reaction column under near-UV irradiation. The 5-hydroxyindole derivatives were separated continuously on a reversed-phase liquid chromatography within 50 min, using 100 mM acetate buffer (pH 4.6)-acetonitrile (72:28, v/v; isocratic elution) containing 3 mM sodium octanesulfonate; the samples were detected fluorimetrically at 465 nm upon excitation at 350 nm. The detection limits (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) of the 5-hydroxyindoles were in the range from 160 to 360 fmol per 5 μL injection. We have applied this method, which requires minimal sample pre-treatment, to the determination of 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid in human urine.     

High performance liquid chromatographic determination of metoclopramide in plasma and urine and its application to biopharmaceutical investigations

An optimized HPLC method for the quantification of metoclopramide (MCP) in human plasma and urine is described. MCP and internal standard are extracted from alkalinized substrate into diethyl ether and back-extracted into dilute acid. The analytes are separated with a ternary mobile phase at cyanopropyl-silica and detected at 312 nm (UV detection). The lower limit of quantification is 0.5 ng/ml in plasma and 50 ng/ml in urine. Optimization of extraction, chromatography, and detection is discussed. The method is selective to numerous common drug substances with excellent accuracy and precision data. After validation, the method is applied to the samples of a pharmacokinetic study. Pharmacokinetic parameters indicate the need for a sophisticated method as tool for optimization of metoclopramide formulations.     

Monitoring multi-class pesticide residues in fresh fruits and vegetables by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

A new analytical method was developed using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry for the routine analysis of 31 multi-class pesticide residues and applied to approximately 50 fresh fruit and vegetable samples (green bean, cucumber, pepper, tomato, eggplant, watermelon, melon and zucchini). Extraction of the pesticides with ethyl acetate was carried out. The optimal ionisation conditions were selected for each pesticide in the same run. The procedure was validated and the values of some merit figures, such as recovery, precision, linear range, detection limit and quantification limit for each pesticide were calculated together with its calculated expanded uncertainty (U). The average recoveries in cucumber obtained for each pesticide ranged between 74 and 105% at two different fortification levels (n = 10 each) that ranged between 9 and 250 ng g(-1) (depending on the pesticide). The uncertainty associated to the analytical method was lower than 23% for all compounds tested. The calculated limits of detection and quantitation were typically <1 ng g(-1) that were much lower than the maximum residue levels established by European legislation.     

New approach to linear gradient elution used for optimisation in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

A new mathematical treatment concerning the gradient elution in reversed-phase liquid chromatography when the volume fraction psi of an organic modifier in the water-organic mobile phase varies linearly with time is presented. The experimental ln k versus psi curve, where k is the retention factor under isocratic conditions in a binary mobile phase, is subdivided into a finite number of linear portions and the solute gradient retention time tR is calculated by means of an analytical expression arising from the fundamental equation of gradient elution. The validity of the proposed analytical expression and the methodology followed for the calculation of tR was tested using eight catechol-related solutes with mobile phases modified by methanol or acetonitrile. It was found that in all cases the accuracy of the predicted gradient retention times is very satisfactory because it is the same with the accuracy of the retention times predicted under isocratic conditions. Finally, the above method for estimating gradient retention times was used in an optimisation algorithm, which determines the best variation pattern of psi that leads to the optimum separation of a mixture of solutes at different values of the total elution time.     

Packed capillary column supercritical fluid chromatography of fat-soluble vitamins using liquid crystal polysiloxane coated particles

Summary Liquid crystal polysiloxane stationary phases were prepared by coating two different polymers on deactivated porous silica particles (10 m diameter, 80 Å pores). Deactivation of the silica particles before coating was necessary to prepare highly efficient and inert stationary phases for supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). Fat-soluble vitamins E, A, K₁, K₂, D₂, and D₃ were separated on these columns using neat supercritical CO₂ as mobile phase. The analyses were completed within 40 min at 70 °C. The results were compared to those obtained using a capillary column packed with less ordered liquid crystalm,m-cyanobiphenyl-substituted polysiloxane coated particles. Reduced shape selectivity was observed with this cyanobiphenyl phase. The response factors of vitamins A, E, K₁, K₂, D₂, and D₃ when using the flame ionization detector (FID) were determined to be very similar.     

Thermotropic Liquid Crystals Formed by Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonding Interactions

The role of hydrogen bonding in the formation or stabilization of liquid crystalline phases has only recently been appreciated. Following the first, wellestablished examples of liquid crystal formation from the dimerization of aromatic carboxylic acids, through hydrogen bonding, several classes of compounds have recently been synthesized, the liquid crystalline behavior of which is also dependent on intermolecular hydrogen bonds between similar or dissimilar molecules. In this review the main classes of compounds exhibiting liquid crystallinity due to hydrogen bonding are presented to show the diversity of organic compounds that can be used as building elements in liquid crystals. The molecules are either of the rigid-rod anisotropic or amphiphilic types such as molecules appropriately functionalized with pyridyl and carboxyl groups, whose interaction leads to the formation of liquid crystals; amphiphilic carbohydrates and amphiphilic and bolaamphiphilic compounds with multiple hydroxyl groups whose dimerization or association is indispensable for the formation of liquid crystals; and certain amphiphilic carboxylic acids with monomeric or polymeric mesogens and amphiphilic-type compounds bearing different moieties, whose interaction may lead to the formation of mesomorphic compounds. Associated with the macroscopic display of liquid crystalline phases is the supramolecular structure, and therefore rather extended discussion of these structures are included in this review.     

Calix[2]furano[2]pyrrole and related compounds as the neutral carrier in silver ion-selective electrode

The performance of calix[2]furano[2]pyrrole and related compounds used as neutral carriers for silver selective polymeric membrane electrode was investigated. The silver ion-selective electrode based on calix[2]furano[2]pyrroles gave a good Nernstian response of 57.1 mV per decade for silver ion in the activity range 1×10⁻⁶ to 1×10⁻² M. The present silver ion-selective electrode displayed very good selectivity for Ag⁺ ion against alkali and alkaline earth metal ions, NH₄⁺, and H⁺. In particular, the present Ag⁺-selective electrode exhibited very low responses towards Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions. The potentiometric selectivity coefficients of the silver ion-selective electrode exhibited a strong dependence on the solution pH. In particular, the response of the electrode to the Hg²⁺ activity was greatly diminished at pH 2.5 compared to that at pH 5.0. Overall, the performance of the present silver ion-selective electrode based on the ionophore, calix[2]furano[2]pyrrole, is very comparable to that of the electrode prepared with the commercially available neutral carrier in terms of slope, linear range, and detection limits.     

Limited proteolysis combined with isotope labeling and quantitative LC-MALDI MS for monitoring protein conformational changes: a study on calcium-binding sites of cardiac Troponin C

Studies of protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions are important for understanding biological functions of proteins. A new technique based on the partial proteolysis of proteins combined with quantitative mass spectrometry is developed as a means of tracking structural changes after the formation of a protein-ligand complex. In this technique, a protein of interest with and without the binding of a ligand is digested with an enzyme to generate a set of peptides, followed by separation of the peptides by liquid chromatography. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) is used to identify chromatographically separated peptides, and locate their sequence alignments in the parent protein. Using an isotopically labeled protein as a sample against an unlabeled protein standard, quantitative information can be gathered. This overcomes the inherent lack of quantitative capability of MALDI MS. The utility of the technique to investigate protein-ligand interactions is demonstrated in a model system involving calcium binding to cardiac Troponin C (cTnC). Using this technique, the general location of the three calcium-binding sites of cTnC can be determined by using several different enzymes to generate overlapping peptide maps of cTnC.     

Uncertainty assessment from robustness testing applied on an LC assay for R-timolol and other related substances in S-timolol maleate

The robustness testing of a normal-phase liquid chromatographic (LC) method for the determination of R-timolol and other related substances in S-timolol maleate was performed applying a two-level Plackett-Burman design. Two qualitative and five quantitative factors were examined. Two types of responses were considered, qualitative, i.e. chromatographic performance criteria, and quantitative ones. The latter were taken into account to determine if the analytical procedure was robust. The quantitative responses were the contents of R-timolol in two S-timolol maleate samples. Even though some significant factor effects were observed on the qualitative responses, the R-timolol contents were not significantly different from those observed at nominal conditions, which demonstrated the robustness of the procedure.Since the experiments of the Plackett-Burman design can be assimilated to laboratories in an interlaboratory study, uncertainty can be evaluated using the robustness test data. The robustness test was set-up in such a way that the required variances could be estimated. It was shown that the robustness set-up allows estimating the reproducibility uncertainty without performing an interlaboratory study.