Dialkyl phosphates determination by gas chromatography: Evaluation of a microwave‐assisted derivatization†

Dialkyl phosphates are organophosphate insecticide metabolites and their urinary analysis is useful for assessing human exposure to these compounds. This study presents a sample preparation method with microwave‐assisted derivatization for two dialkyl phosphates to make the process faster before gas chromatographic analysis. The optimized conditions for derivatization procedure were: 250 μL of 2,3,4,5,6‐pentafluorobenzyl bromide 3% in acetonitrile for derivative; microwave for 5 min with intensity of 160 W. The electron ionization mass spectrometric analysis was performed using a gas chromatography with mass spectrometry QP‐2010 from the Shimadzu^® equipped with RTx^®‐5MS capillary column. Ions were monitored at selected‐ion monitoring mode at m/z 350 for diethyl thiophosphate and m/z 366 for diethyl dithiophosphate. The developed method was linear for both metabolites. The intra‐assay precision was the values ranged between 1.1 and 9.1%, for diethyl thiophosphate, and between 4.06 and 6.9%, for diethyl dithiophosphate. The interassay precision showed relative standard deviation between 10.3 and 15.1%, for diethyl thiophosphate and between 4.9 and 11.9%, for diethyl dithiophosphate. The results obtained suggests that derivatization assisted by microwave, before gas chromatography with mass spectrometry analysis, can be applied to monitoring of exposure to organophosphates once is fast, sensible, and precise method to determinate dialkyl phosphates.     

A novel approach for LC-MS/MS-based chiral metabolomics fingerprinting and chiral metabolomics extraction using a pair of enantiomers of chiral derivatization reagents

Chiral metabolites are found in a wide variety of living organisms and some of them are understood to be physiologically active compounds and biomarkers. However, the overall analysis of chiral metabolomics is quite difficult due to the high number of metabolites, the significant diversity in their physicochemical properties, and concentration range from metabolite-to-metabolite. To solve this difficulty, we developed a novel approach for chiral metabolomics fingerprinting and chiral metabolomics extraction, which is based on the labeling of a pair of enantiomers of chiral derivatization reagents (i.e., DMT-(S,R)-Pro-OSu and DMT-3(S,R)-Apy) and precursor ion scan chromatography of the derivatives. The multivariate statistics is also required for this strategy. The proposed procedures were evaluated by the detection of a diagnostic marker (i.e., d-lactic acid) using the saliva of diabetic patients. This method was used for the determination of biomarker candidates of chiral amines and carboxyls in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain homogenates. As the results, l-phenylalanine (L-Phe) and l-lactic acid (L-LA) were identified as the decreased and increased biomarker candidates in the AD brain, respectively. Therefore, the proposed approach seems to be helpful for the determination of non-target chiral metabolomics possessing amines and carboxyls.     

Biogenic aldehyde determination by reactive paper spray ionization mass spectrometry

Ionization of aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes is improved by performing simultaneous chemical derivatization using 4-aminophenol to produce charged iminium ions during paper spray ionization. Accelerated reactions occur in the microdroplets generated during the paper spray ionization event for the tested aldehydes (formaldehyde, n-pentanaldehyde, n-nonanaldehyde, n-decanaldehyde, n-dodecanaldehyde, benzaldehyde, m-anisaldehyde, and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde). Tandem mass spectrometric analysis of the iminium ions using collision-induced dissociation demonstrated that straight chain aldehydes give a characteristic fragment at m/z 122 (shown to correspond to protonated 4-(methyleneamino)phenol), while the aromatic aldehyde iminium ions fragment to give a characteristic product ion at m/z 120. These features allow straightforward identification of linear and aromatic aldehydes. Quantitative analysis of n-nonaldehyde using a benchtop mass spectrometer demonstrated a linear response over 3 orders of magnitude from 2.5 ng to 5 μg of aldehyde loaded on the filter paper emitter. The limit of detection was determined to be 2.2 ng for this aldehyde. The method had a precision of 22%, relative standard deviation. The experiment was also implemented using a portable ion trap mass spectrometer.     

Towards the chiral metabolomics: Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry based dl-amino acid analysis after labeling with a new chiral reagent, (S)-2,5-dioxopyrrolidin-1-yl-1-(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate,and the application to saliva of healthy volunteers

A novel triazine-type chiral derivatization reagent, i.e., (S)-2,5-dioxopyrrolidin-1-yl-1-(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate (DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu), was developed for the highly sensitive and selective detection of chiral amines and amino acids by UPLC–MS/MS analysis. The enantiomers of amino acids were easily labeled with the reagents at room temperature within 40 min in an alkaline medium containing triethylamine. The diastereomers derived from proteolytic amino acids, except serine, were well separated under isocratic elution conditions by reversed-phase chromatography using an ODS column (R_s = 1.2–9.0). dl-Serine was separated by use of an ADME column which has relatively higher polar surface than the conventional ODS column. The characteristic product ions, i.e., m/z 195.3 and m/z 209.3, were detected from all the diastereomers by the collision-induced dissociation of the protonated molecule. A highly sensitive detection on the amol–fmol level was obtained from the selected reaction monitoring (SRM) chromatogram. The chiral amines (e.g., adrenaline and noradrenaline) labeled with DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu were also well separated and sensitively detected by the present procedure. The method using DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu was used for the determination of dl-amino acids in the human saliva from healthy volunteers. Various l-amino acids were identified in the saliva. Furthermore, d-alanine (d-Ala) and d-proline (d-Pro) were also detected in relatively high concentrations (>5%). The ratio was higher in male saliva than in female saliva. However, the difference in the ratio of d-Ala for one day was not very high and the effect of foods and beverage seemed to be negligible. Based on the results using l-Ala-d₃, the d-Ala in saliva seemed to be produced due to the racemization with some enzymes such as racemase. The racemization reaction was reversible, i.e., d-Ala-d₃ was also racemized to l-Ala-d₃ in saliva. Thus, care should be taken during the analysis of dl-amino acids in saliva. The present method using DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu may be applicable for the determination of chiral amine metabolomics, because the resulting derivatives produce the same product ions without relation to the compounds and show highly sensitive detection in the SRM mode of MS/MS. Consequently, DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu seems to be a useful chiral derivatization reagent for the determination of amines and amino acids in biological samples.     

Late‐Stage Peptide Diversification by Bioorthogonal Catalytic CH Arylation at 23 °C in H2O

The step‐economical late‐stage diversification of tryptophan‐containing peptides was accomplished through chemo‐ and site‐selective palladium‐catalyzed C?H arylation under exceedingly mild reaction conditions. Thus, the C?H functionalization occurred efficiently at 23 °C with a catalyst loading as low as 0.5 mol %, and/or in H₂O.     

新型7-O-(芳基氨基甲酸酯)-布雷菲德菌素A的合成及其抗肿瘤活性

芳胺与三光气反应制得芳基异氰酸酯(2a~2n);2a~2n分别对布雷菲德菌素A(3)的7-羟基进行结构修饰,合成了14个新型布雷菲德菌素A氨基甲酸酯类衍生物——7-O-(芳基氨基甲酸酯)-布雷菲德菌素A(4a~4n),其结构经1H NMR,13C NMR和ESI-HR-MS表征。初步的抗肿瘤活性测定结果表明,4i~4k均丧失抑制食管癌细胞株TE-1活性。分子对接研究揭示,引入3后,4的分子空间位阻增大,导致不能与靶位结合,致使抗肿瘤活性丧失。     

柱前衍生/高效液相色谱法测定果蔬中仲丁胺残留

建立了高效液相色谱(HPLC)测定仲丁胺的分析方法。试样采用全自动凯氏定氮仪蒸馏,蒸馏液经碱中和,以9-氯甲酸芴甲酯(FMOC)为衍生剂在碱性条件下衍生,衍生产物经C18柱分离,紫外检测器(265nm)检测。实验考察了衍生剂浓度、硼酸盐缓冲溶液的p H值、反应温度与时间等因素对衍生反应的影响,结果表明,最优的衍生剂浓度为0.50 g/L,缓冲溶液p H值为8.0,反应温度为室温,反应时间为15 min。在此条件下,仲丁胺在0.001~1.000 mg/L浓度范围内与其响应信号呈良好的线性关系,相关系数为0.999 8,加标回收率为82.4%~95.2%,相对标准偏差为1.3%~6.8%,方法检出限为0.1μg/kg,定量下限为0.5μg/kg。该方法快速、简便、安全、灵敏度高、重现性好,可用于果蔬中仲丁胺残留的测定。     

柱后衍生HPLC法测定功能饮料中的牛磺酸

建立柱后衍生–高效液相色谱法测定功能性饮料中牛磺酸的含量。功能性饮料中的牛磺酸经水溶提取后与邻苯二甲醛柱后衍生,以柠檬酸三钠溶液(p H 3.2)为流动相,用AMINO–NA色谱柱分离,荧光检测器检测,激发波长为338 nm,发射波长为425 nm,柱后衍生反应温度为55℃,流量为0.4 m L/min。牛磺酸质量浓度在5.0~25.0μg/m L范围内与色谱峰面积线性关系良好,r=0.999 8,检出限(S/N=3)为0.11μg/m L,测定结果的相对标准偏差为0.73%(n=6),加标回收率在99.2%~101.6%之间。该方法灵敏度高、选择性好,可用于市售功能性饮料中牛磺酸的测定。     

丹磺酰肼衍生-高效液相色谱-荧光检测法测定包装纸中的甲醛和乙醛

建立了丹磺酰肼(DNSH)衍生-高效液相色谱-荧光检测测定包装纸中甲醛和乙醛的分析方法,并与2,4-二硝基苯肼(DNPH)衍生法进行了比较。纸张样品经衍生化试剂振荡萃取30 min,衍生化反应24 h,萃取液经PSA/C18净化管净化处理后,以Diamonsil~ C18(2)色谱柱(150 mm×4.6 mm,5μm)为固定相,用醋酸水溶液(pH2.55)-乙腈为流动相进行梯度洗脱。采用荧光检测器检测,激发波长为330 nm,发射波长为484 nm。结果表明,衍生剂、甲醛-DNSH和乙醛-DNSH在20 min内可完全分离,方法的加标回收率为81.64%~106.78%,相对标准偏差(RSD)为2.02%~5.53%(n=5),甲醛和乙醛的检出限分别为19.2μg/kg和20.7μg/kg,定量限分别为63.9μg/kg和69.1μg/kg。该法操作简单,灵敏度高,比常规方法具有更低的检出限,能很好地应用到实际样品检测中,为低含量醛类化合物的检测提供了一种新思路。     

Enantioselective analysis of bambuterol in human plasma using microwave‐assisted chiral derivatization coupled with ultra high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry

In this study, an enantioselective analytical method based on microwave‐assisted chiral derivatization coupled with ultra high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry was developed for the determination of bambuterol enantiomers in human plasma. The chiral derivatization reaction was greatly accelerated by microwave irradiation. Under the optimized conditions, both the derivatization time and separation time on column was only 3 min, and the lower limit of quantification was 2.5 pg/mL. The recoveries were in the range of 90.1–93.0% without significant matrix effect. Compared with the conventional heating chiral derivatization, microwave‐assisted chiral derivatization obtained higher chiral derivatization yields with much shorter time due to the effect of microwave irradiation. Furthermore, the racemization during the derivatization reaction was systematically investigated. The results showed the concentration of acetic acid and the reaction time had significant effects on the racemization, which could be well controlled during microwave‐assisted chiral derivatization for the short reaction time. Finally, this novel approach was demonstrated by determining bambuterol in human plasma of a clinical pharmacokinetic study in eight healthy volunteers. On the basis of the results, microwave‐assisted chiral derivatization coupled with ultra high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry as a simple and effective enantioselective analysis technique for the determination of chiral drugs in complex biological samples showed great promise.